Total man hours were 23 on the swap. After learning a few things along the way I believe I can complete this repair with engine in place in apx 17-19 hours.
As for why. I dunno. I had people doing it that work for me. I said on 15 occasions that it will probably be best to remove the entire engine/trans but they had their plan. I pretty much didnt care as long as it got done and put back to spec and if doing it their way breaks anything then they pay for it.
It did show me many things that piss me off about Audi dealers as before thats the only place the car was serviced. One was the charge pipe that feeds the throttle body was missing one bolt, the AC line under the fans was never attached, they charged for two upstream sensors to previous owner yet only one was replaced, the passenger side engine mounts sensor was broken off and zip tied out of the way (will order some new ones I guess), and there were a few more bolts missing here and there that we were fortunate enough to have access to an Audi/VW bolt bin. lol
On the bright side I got a good look at my turbos and they are in great shape, the coolant pipes dont leak, rear main is dry and the only rust anywhere was on the mounting bolts that were there (but not being used) for the AC line below the fans. Also blowing apart all the control arms I checked the ball-joints and they were not as solid as brand new but you couldnt move them with one finger so thats a plus.
Big plus is the trans shifts soooooooooooooooooooooo much better now. I did try "S" for a bit and its snappy but not banging like it did before and in "D" its so silky smooth on shifts you dont even notice. And a big plus is now when in TIP mode it wont downshift any more no matter how hard you press the go pedal.