RE: Audi S4 (B5): Spotted
Discussion
I don't know why one doctor owner implies it's been looked after, I just see a very busy person, lots of short journeys, many in the middle of the night to dodgy built up areas, having to park all over the place and not really having much time to do anything car maintenance wise because they're too busy doing 72 hour weeks.
Great choice! I loved mine, it was running 330hp, towed my 6m boat everywhere, went camping all over the country with the bikes and the kayaks and went like the clappers!! I miss that car, I don't think I've ever polished a car so much in my life!!
Edited by zed4 on Thursday 20th November 14:10
I have an s reg avant ming blue with black leather and blue nogaro alcantara interior i have had it for 18months and is my daily driver .I have however spent appx £5k on her in my ownership the front suspension , wheel bearings , the abs , pixels on the central display etc,etc but i love this car mine is not chipped but it does have a bad boy exhaust on it ,yes it is expensive to run if you put your foot down mpg drops to mid teens but it is solid , super reliable and drives like new .If you can find an unmolested version and possibly a facelift one i would recommend but make sure the front suspension top and bottom arms are ok as they can crack and this is a £1k plus job also the abs module can and will fail , also check for notchy gearchange otherwise i have not seen another one on the road so rarity value too
Over time I've become less & less impressed by Audi's RS products (the RS2 excluded, I've have a blue one please with the blue alacantara & black leather interior, please) but like the S products more & more.
The S cars seem to handle better and are nearly as quick in real world driving as an RS car. This one looks no different to the same vintage TDi (bar the RS2 blue interior - I love it by the way), great Q car.
The S cars seem to handle better and are nearly as quick in real world driving as an RS car. This one looks no different to the same vintage TDi (bar the RS2 blue interior - I love it by the way), great Q car.
Yeah, the ABS failed on mine, spectacularly! I had to brake heavily to avoid a broken down car round a blind bend on a country lane. I stopped in time, went around the car and carried on my way. But the car was pulling to one side violently. I had to stop and be recovered as one brake had locked on and wouldn’t free up!
I took the ABS module off and bought a replacement one from a salvage yard. Fitted it myself and tried to bleed the brakes. All bled fine, except the one which had locked on. It wouldn’t pass any fluid at all. Strange. After many hours of messing around we took the flexi hose off and found fluid would come out of the copper brake pipe, but not the flexi. Something was blocked in the flexi hose! I removed it from the car completely and put the airline on it. After a second or so, something flew out of the end of the flexi brake pipe. Not sure what it was, presumably a part of the old ABS module. Put it all back together with the replacement module and the now cleared brake pipe and it bled through fine, and was perfect thereafter.
I took the ABS module off and bought a replacement one from a salvage yard. Fitted it myself and tried to bleed the brakes. All bled fine, except the one which had locked on. It wouldn’t pass any fluid at all. Strange. After many hours of messing around we took the flexi hose off and found fluid would come out of the copper brake pipe, but not the flexi. Something was blocked in the flexi hose! I removed it from the car completely and put the airline on it. After a second or so, something flew out of the end of the flexi brake pipe. Not sure what it was, presumably a part of the old ABS module. Put it all back together with the replacement module and the now cleared brake pipe and it bled through fine, and was perfect thereafter.
All this talk of turbo replacement is quite frustrating. Yes, turbos eventually fail, just like 99% of car parts. Timelines on failure vary dramatically; I've got a friend with a Noggy blue B5 S4 Avant - it's currently on 220k miles, on it's original turbos, and believe me when I say it performs exactly as it should. That said, I've heard of examples of the 2.7T in need of turbo replacement at 80k.
As with all performance engines, especially forced induction, proper maintenance is key. I currently drive an Allroad with the B5 S4 engine, and it was meticulously looked after prior to my ownership. I've now had the car for 6 months+, and have only performed an oil change thus far. It's smooth, responsive and manages to shock a great many drivers in much more expensive metal.
A lot of talk of looking for examples with K04 turbo upgrades too - it they're not genuine Borg Warner units, or a reputable manufacturer's replacements, you're probably going to be looking at more than petrol receipts in the long run.
As with all performance engines, especially forced induction, proper maintenance is key. I currently drive an Allroad with the B5 S4 engine, and it was meticulously looked after prior to my ownership. I've now had the car for 6 months+, and have only performed an oil change thus far. It's smooth, responsive and manages to shock a great many drivers in much more expensive metal.
A lot of talk of looking for examples with K04 turbo upgrades too - it they're not genuine Borg Warner units, or a reputable manufacturer's replacements, you're probably going to be looking at more than petrol receipts in the long run.
Great timing, I'm about to do my two year round up here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=3&a...
Pic taken at MBW SS the other week:
A real pleasure to own, drive and run.
Mine has been a fantastic car, very dependable, definitely a keeper.
As for the talk of turbos failing, with all things mechanical......treat them right (warm up and cool down properly) look after them (regular oil and filters)) and they will look after you.
Mine uses NO oil between services, NO smoke NO leaks.
To quote myself from the other thread:
).
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=3&a...
Pic taken at MBW SS the other week:
A real pleasure to own, drive and run.
Mine has been a fantastic car, very dependable, definitely a keeper.
As for the talk of turbos failing, with all things mechanical......treat them right (warm up and cool down properly) look after them (regular oil and filters)) and they will look after you.
Mine uses NO oil between services, NO smoke NO leaks.
To quote myself from the other thread:
y2blade said:
AFAIK you are right the "biggy" is the turbos failing.
Just to put that into perspective, it won't cost any more than the clutch,DMF replacement I did on the S60.
The engines are strong and mine has the revised/improved oil feed to the turbos.
As with all my cars/bikes: I look after her, always warm-up and cool down, she gets regular oil and filters using high quality oil. I'm a Firm believer of "Look after her, she'll look after me".
If you avoided all cars with overblown internet faults you'd never buy anything interesting.
My ONLY complaint is that the seats start to feel hard after about 200miles in them without a break (I'd kill for a set of Volvo seats in her Just to put that into perspective, it won't cost any more than the clutch,DMF replacement I did on the S60.
The engines are strong and mine has the revised/improved oil feed to the turbos.
As with all my cars/bikes: I look after her, always warm-up and cool down, she gets regular oil and filters using high quality oil. I'm a Firm believer of "Look after her, she'll look after me".
If you avoided all cars with overblown internet faults you'd never buy anything interesting.
).Oil changed mine every 6 months, warmed up and down etc but the turbo's still blew up. It isn't an overblown internet fault either, if your paying £3500 for an S4 then you get a bill 10k miles down the road for £4K then its worth knowing. It wouldn't put me off buying one. I estimate in 6 years i've spent £13-15K to keep it on the road.
The abs controller went also, had to get a salvage part for £250. Lost count of number of suspension arms. Oxygen sensors are a pain in the a**e to try and fit plus the mass airflow sensor is prone to clogging, £250 for new one. Most addictive car i've ever owned
The abs controller went also, had to get a salvage part for £250. Lost count of number of suspension arms. Oxygen sensors are a pain in the a**e to try and fit plus the mass airflow sensor is prone to clogging, £250 for new one. Most addictive car i've ever owned
I've had two of these, both had over 150K miles on them when I crashed one and sold one.
Both were mapped, and felt really quick, estimate is about 320bhp.
I would recommend to anyone, one of the best cars I have ever owned.
But they NEED a health check from a specialist, to perform properly
Both were mapped, and felt really quick, estimate is about 320bhp.
I would recommend to anyone, one of the best cars I have ever owned.
But they NEED a health check from a specialist, to perform properly
surely this isn't very Pistonheads to talk about having to spend 4k replacing the turbos, shouldn't it be "engines got to come out for new turbos, shall I get the heads done and how big can the turbos be I get in there" come on people piston-up!! lol
Just for info, I looked at one of these a couple of years back, but bought the bigger heavier B6 purely cause of that V8 (mmmm) and only paid 1k more than that for a newer (54 plate) and less leggy (73k), loved the understated looks and getting double takes from people as a rumbled off
Just for info, I looked at one of these a couple of years back, but bought the bigger heavier B6 purely cause of that V8 (mmmm) and only paid 1k more than that for a newer (54 plate) and less leggy (73k), loved the understated looks and getting double takes from people as a rumbled off
Edited by Blanchie on Thursday 20th November 16:37
crusty said:
I've had two of these, both had over 150K miles on them when I crashed one and sold one.
Both were mapped, and felt really quick, estimate is about 320bhp.
I would recommend to anyone, one of the best cars I have ever owned.
But they NEED a health check from a specialist, to perform properly
Good post.Both were mapped, and felt really quick, estimate is about 320bhp.
I would recommend to anyone, one of the best cars I have ever owned.
But they NEED a health check from a specialist, to perform properly
Yeah mine went to MRC just before I got it full clean bill of health from them, I do boost leak tests periodically too.
I too would recommend one to anyone, esp over the V8 version (the V8 is a great unit however the motor isn't suited to this application, was better suited to the D2 A8)..The B5 S4 is a more interesting and rewarding car to drive.
Hence the V6 BiTurbo is rapidly becoming a more sought after version than the B6 (V8) S4, selling prices have been reflecting this even in the relatively short period (two years) I've owned mine.
thats a good point about being 'un-pistonhead', these cars will appeal to the younger generation though, living on a Lemonade wage living a champagne lifestyle:-) I recently just sold my RS4 to a 19 year old, appears the S4 and RS4 have moved insurance groups and now within easy reach of teenagers. When i sold the car to the young lad i said to him not to purchase unless you have 4K in the bank when something goes wrong, he laughed nervously.....
"Eight Cars on the driveway..."
I'm the seller. I'm not a trader, I'm a true enthusiast. I'm only selling this Audi S4 because I have a turbo kit on my R32 to pay for.
If I was a trader I wouldn't have sent the log book off months ago or had all this extra maintenance work done.
Thanks for the all the positive comments guys and thanks to Pistonheads for the feature!
I'm the seller. I'm not a trader, I'm a true enthusiast. I'm only selling this Audi S4 because I have a turbo kit on my R32 to pay for.
If I was a trader I wouldn't have sent the log book off months ago or had all this extra maintenance work done.
Thanks for the all the positive comments guys and thanks to Pistonheads for the feature!
Agree about the V8, test drove a few and found them to be woefully slow compared to a mapped S4. Also every one i looked at had been a family hack, just gave you the feeling that they weren't quite as exclusive as the B5's, also the build quality in the interior didn't feel as good either:-(
The V8 wont/didn't feel as fast as the bi-turbo it is a totally different character of a car.
The Bi-turbo prices will go up as they appeal more to the tuning brigade thanks to numerous u tube vids of these running some serious power, where as the V8 takes a different form of intelligence to tune up and a fair amount more cash.
The Bi-turbo prices will go up as they appeal more to the tuning brigade thanks to numerous u tube vids of these running some serious power, where as the V8 takes a different form of intelligence to tune up and a fair amount more cash.
Hoppelemine said:
Nearly four and half grand sounds like a lot of money for a 15 year old Audi. A regular A4 of that age is probably a grands worth of car at best. Does being an S4 really make it worth for 4 and a half times as much??
to use a cliche it's worth what someone will pay for it, and given that these are getting rarer and this one seems in good nick someone might pay somewhere near the asking priceGassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff