I absolutely agree with reading the chapters first before watching the lectures - I did the same thing!  I don't like going into the lectures blind as to what they will be discussing.

I felt like I did well on the exam - very similar to Becker Homework Questions.  I think I lucked out and got easy simulations so they were not too bad, but I would HIGHLY recommend doing all the simulations as some of the tabs on my sims were similar to ones I had seen before on Becker.  I actually finished AUD with an hour left even though I reviewed all my questions (but I am fast at MCQ).  I think the key to the AUD exam is doing as many practice questions as many times as you can as well as doing all practice simulations.

I work full-time and took a vacation in the middle of my studying so I ended up studying over a 2.5 month period.  I always overstudy as well so take that into consideration in my response.  I think that 6-8 weeks of studying for Audit if you are working full-time is more than sufficient to pass the AUD exam.  I studied about 2-3 hours each day during the week and a total of 4-8 hours on the weekends depending on my schedule.  I got through my lectures during the first 5 weeks and spent the last 5 weeks mainly doing flashcards and studying my weak areas.

Good Luck in your studying!