3 years and have passed since buying the car. Distance covered is not even close to 45000km.
With 36450km on odometer I visited a trusted (and experienced on VAG cars) mechanic and the we did the following:
Engine oil
Instead of Castrol EDGE we poured OEM Audi LongLife III 5w-30 which fulfills the VAG VW 504.00 / 507.00 norm. The mechanic confided in me that he trust this oil more than Castrol. I do not know why he believes so, but I trusted him.
Oil filter
Instead of looking for the MANN HU 7020 z filter we used the OEM VW part (03N 115 562). Actually it is a MAHLE filter. There's some debate about MANN and MAHLE and which one is best but didn't pay much attention to it. The mechanic prefers MAHLE so I decided to confide in his knowledge again.
Air filter
For this item we chose the MANN C 30 005 air filter. As I saw in this forum, many of you in Russia use the C 30 004 part. This item is for cold climates, so for the warm climate of Greece we chose MANN C 30 005
Fuel filter
Again here we chose MANN. More specifically the MANN PU 8021 model. The 1.6 diesel engine owner needs to be careful not to buy the MANN PU 8014 which is for some 2.0 engines. The PU 8021 is different in dimensions if you compare it with the original 5Q0 127 177 filter. This is not a problem as MANN claims.
Although I only use the best quality of diesel available (99% of the times I use Shell V-Power diesel and 1% EKO diesel AVIO, the mechanic found traces of black sludge (asphaltenes) when he removed the fuel filter. Due to this fact, he suggested that I should do 2 things: find another gas station as well as use 2 additives that he believes are excellent: the Pro-Tec DSSC (Diesel System Super Clean) and the Pro-Tec DPFSC (DPF Super Clean).
One bottle of these additives (375ml) is sufficient to mix with with 60-80 liters of diesel. These additives should be put in the fuel tank every 3 months. He warned me that the dose should never exceed the quantity of 1 bottle!
Cabin air filter
For the cabin air filter I followed my instinct and chose the best filter MANN offers: FreciousPlus (FP 26 009). I always have Climatronic on and with the addition of the baby to our family I insisted on having the best available protection. You can find details in this web page and this Youtube video Of course we also disinfected the air ducts. Now we are ready to effectively battle the allergens of spring and the closed windows of summer trips
UPDATE: Lately VW offers the 5Q0 819 669 filter with the same characteristics but higher price)
Total cost (material+labour) was 175€