2005 Audi A3 2.0T DSG

[LiamB]

Finally got myself a kind of PH worthy car. I got rid of the Clio as I just wasn't getting along with it anymore, it was too slow, too heavy on fuel (for a 1.2) and the interior was quite basic.

Was looking around at BMW E46 Tourings, A4s, Clio 182s and pretty much anything that was quicker than the Clio. Almost went to view a E36 328i Touring when I saw this just down the road from me with the quite hard to find 2.0Tfsi engine and pretty much every option ticked.

It has from the top of my head;
-Bose System
-Audi Xenons
-Sat Nav
-DSG
-CD Changer
-Full Leather
-Heated Seats
And more I have probably forgot about

Some pictures after cleaning it.












The only problems there are, is the splash guard on the bottom is knocking which is a common issue, and the previous owner fitted a stupid Parrot bluetooth system but didn't get it installed correctly, resulting in whining and interference through the speakers. I have it booked in to get it ripped out tomorrow though.

First impressions after coming from the Clio are that it is obviously a hell of a lot quicker. On my first drive home I was giggling like a child when I put my foot down and it shot off and made little DSG farts when changing up a gear. I love it!

Only plans I might do for it are a Bluefin Remap, a Miltek catback, some 40mm lowering springs and Audi TTRS wheels, whether I do them or not is another thing..

[LiamB]

Thanks for the comments guys

Parrot system is now out and has stopped the whining!

Next up is to replace the plastic panels in between the doors on both sides and some minor refresh work such as CV joints, check the suspension plus anything else I can when it's lifted up and a service.

[LiamB]

Thanks for all the comments

1000 miles in so far and I am loving it! Been up to Buckingham twice in it (The back ways, I never use the motorway to get there) and it has been amazing. It is so much easier to cruise at speed than the Clio and a couple of times I had to ease off on a duel carriageway as I'd hit 100 without realizing!

I have accidentally bought some parts for it, some coilovers as there is a faint knocking coming from one of the rear shocks but will only be lowered 20/30mm, Heko wind deflectors as I am a dirty smoker and they work wonders, a CV joint kit as that will need doing soon so may as well get it out the way, and an unofficial sat nav disc which includes 7 digit post codes and speed camera warnings as mine is scratched and does not work.

Only other plans I have for the future are a Bluefin plug and play remap, Miltek catback and possibly some TTRS wheels. But they won't come until I am sure everything is okay with the car

Have a picture (It's filthy now )

[LiamB]

Thanks again for the comments, good to see a boring A3 can be appreciated here

Unfortunately I have bad news.
I've just moved to from Ruislip to Stanmore with my OH and she still works in Ruislip so on Saturday I took her to work as usual and everything was fine, I leave to go back an hour before she's out so I can have a drive and once the engine got up to temperature I gave it a bit of a boot up a dual carriageway and noticed a rather strange whine when coming off the throttle which progressively got worse as I got to Ruislip. Pulled over and opened the bonnet and got a friend to rev the engine I thought the sound was either some sort of hose issue or something along the Aux belt as it was coming from around the alternator area (so I thought)...

I drove to the OHs work with the noise now very loud on idle but still going away when I have any throtttle applied, I was stting myself. I started to drive home making sure to keep the revs at less than 3k, which is when I tried to pull out onto a roundabout and lost all power. Luckily I managed to coast to a parking space just off the roundabout to kick the car and regret my life choices

After (pointlessly) hoping it would be something minor, I got a lift back to the car on Sunday morning to get it recovered home and find out what's wrong and it's theeeeee

Mother fking timing belt which was supposedly changed less than 10k ago.

I got it home after hating the feeling of being towed and shouted and shouted some more and a bit more for good luck before I looked for a mechanic in my new area, I found one who luckily was able to send recovery for my car tonight (he came at about half 10!) ready to start on it straight away today.

I'm fully expecting valve damage but hopefully nothing internal as I am going to get this repaired if it isn't too much as I really really love this car.

Oh well.

[LiamB]

Cheers guys I can only hope for a cheap fix but this is the list I've asked him to change and that's without my mechanic even seeing the engine.

All the valves
New head gasket
New oil and filter
New timing kit and water pump
And I am going to get my CV joint and suspension posted over to him so I can get that sorted too. It's going to come to over £1k I'd say..

[LiamB]

Love the Bose system in it, my Mum had an 05 3.2 V6 a couple of years ago with the same system so I knew I needed it if I was to get an A3, it saves me faffing around trying to wire a sub in to the ancient Audi RNS E System. I may eventually get a nicer head unit in to support bluetooth, USB and aux as I currently only have CDs, an FM transmitter and the radio which some what limits things as the FM transmitter can sometimes play up. I didn't own many Cds at all before I had this, but now my collection is rather large

Deleted the previous post as we have gone down a different route now, my car has gone from Enfield to Basildon and is getting a new (to the car) engine for less than was quoted before from a place that has an engine in stock and fit them too. The new engine only has 55,000 miles and comes with a new timing kit and all fluids and st. It's all a bit of a faff but the previous seller is a really nice guy and is covering the cost of the repair and recovery from my mechanics to the place in Essex. Turns out the garage that put the engine in before lied to us and the mechanic my car was with to get out of paying for anything after they bodged the st out of it. When the car is done I'll be getting the work inspected before I drive it back from Basildon which gives me chance to test the new sat nav disc I got which unlocks 7 digit post codes and speed camera warnings which will be nice.

In the mean time, I have a real sweet (not) 2016 Polo TSI hire car, which I believe is a 1.0 eco turbo thing. Nice spec but really annoying to drive because it isn't my car and is completely gutless.

[LiamB]

Just been told my car will be ready by next week. I hate waiting

[LiamB]

benjijames28 said:

Gutted for you mate. I've got a older work mate who is obsessive with his cars. If he buys a used car more than a few years old he will change the cam belt, assuming it has one, logic been u never know if it's really been changed, what quality part they used, and what Muppet fitted it.

As for my previous mistake on this engine, I got confused with the newer model which do use chains.

I think that's what I'll be doing from now on I think after this. I got away very lucky with this one and had the repair paid for and I've found a friendly good Audi specialist in Enfield where the car got recovered to at first (he didn't even charge me for diagnostics just the recovery)

Believe it or not I was actually going to get the belt changed in a few weeks when I had the money again. Typical really

I'm learning more about these engines as time goes on, I actually bought it without knowing much about the engine at all, I just saw a well specced 2.0 petrol A3 with FSH in my budget very close to me and went for it! It was only when I was driving home from picking it up that I put my foot down and realised it had 200hp! I drove it around for 250 miles that evening

[LiamB]

Thanks for the comments

After this I will definitely be getting a Bluefin plug and play remap in the new year once I've got the handling side of things sorted!

I want my car back, I hate the Polo

[LiamB]

I was looking at MK5 Golf GTi's which I now know has the same engine as mine in the earlier versions before they got the BWA engine (Which is still pretty much the same) but I am kind of glad I didn't go for the GTi for the fact I would of had people up my ass all the time which really really bugs me. The Audi goes largely unnoticed, I have only had one comment on it from someone saying they didn't know you could get a 2.0 Turbo petrol version of the A3 which is fair enough because every single other one I have seen recently has been a 2.0 TDI!
I may have also had a play with a couple of bikes up to 120 but we don't talk about that here the car was very capable before it went pop so I am hoping with a sorted engine it might have a bit more oomph

The garage where the car is, are apparently very busy and I should have my car back by the weekend... apparently. They are useless with returning calls too which is annoying.

I miss my car, I've done over 1000 miles in the Polo and it's incredibly boring, the speakers are st and the engine makes lots of noise for minimal movement. 50mpg on a run the other day though, 25mpg up from my car

[LiamB]

Still waiting for the car... Every time I call it's 'It will be ready later today if not definitely tomorrow' which I have heard for 3 days now. I've lost my lift to Basildon now too so have to pay for a fking Uber all the way there. It's all just a bit of a faffery that I could be doing without, but such is life!

[LiamB]

Found out why the belt snapped.. one of the engine mounts had been welded on badly and the engine slipped a bit at some point meaning the belt rubbed against it and eventually snapped which could explain the high pitched noise I was hearing when it died.. they have put on a new engine mount for me free of charge because at the same time I got them to replace the turbo too as he offered to do it half price while they have access too it due to the impeller having some slight play in it. So I thought I'd get that done before it throws up some more problems. Only cost £100 for a 50,000 mile turbo.

So when the car comes back it will have:
- a reconditioned 55,000 mile engine
- new cam belt kit including tensioner and water pump
- new engine mount
- reconditioned 50,000 mile turbo

And I have my coilovers and heko wind deflectors to go on too eventually.

I SHOULD hopefully be getting it today. I have to get an uber all the way to Basildon

[LiamB]

We probably do but I'm a bit weird and owned a Juke

That Astra is a tidy car, but I can't bring myself to buy another Vauxhall after having my 1.0 Corsa B. Was almost tempted by something in VXR flavour before buying this but decided against it!

I still don't have the car but the good news is that it started today I should hopefully (I'm begging) be getting it back tomorrow and I can't wait, even if I do have to drive on the M25 to get home.. I'm also looking forward to trying out the 'launch control' which I read about recently.. red light races are going to be fun!

Another thing on the to do list is to get the DSG box serviced for peace of mind. Definitely don't want anything going wrong with that!

[LiamB]

Well I have the car back.. and it's still broken but drivable. EML is on and throwing up a code for low fuel pressure so I had to make sure it was okay to drive until I can get it sorted, hopefully next week. I then drove it slowly home as it doesn't go above 3k (80 in 6th which was annoying on the M25, I got stuck in the outside lane at one point ) the guys that had it replaced the fuel pump, fuel filter and a few other things to no avail so I'm going to take it back next week for new injectors which could be the cause.

At least I have it back I suppose

[LiamB]

The garage knew about the fault after all the engine was in and it started but I really needed the car for the weekend so went knowing the fault. I'm going to have to live with it until next Wednesday when it will be going back. I'll be getting it done cheaply as I have already spent enough with them and they're offering a huge discount.

After this is fixed the whole engine will be sweet as a nut and I have warranty for the work too, although if anything else goes I will consider selling it, I just can't be bothered with the hassle of that at the moment because I do still love the car.

[LiamB]

Still driving it broken. Over 1000 miles now, I've forgotten what it's like to go fast.. or even how it feels when I put my foot down

Car is going back in the new year to get EVERYTHING sorted. Get this problem sorted (hopefully it's just the injectors), a couple of wheel bearings, a service and a check over underneath to see what bushes etc need changing.

My current thinking process is to get rid when it's fixed, but then I look on eBay and other than a 330ci there's not much else I'd rather have in my price range that will be as comfortable or as quick. I don't think I could be without the DSG box, the heated leathers or Bose

Edited by LiamB on Friday 30th December 16:17

[LiamB]

The car is going back to the garage next week and I'm going back to my first car.. a 1.0 Corsa B

Going to rag the little blue turd around until the Audi is fixed and sold and then I'm going to buy myself a Corsa VXR I think. I keep coming back to them when looking for a replacement and I'd love to try one.

[LiamB]

TheLordJohn said:

Don't know your taste but I can recommend a Renault Sport Clio, too.
I've had a couple of 200's and they were properly great.

I have been looking at some sort of Renault Sport Clio either a 182 Cup or a 197 but it's the interior that puts me off really! Silly reason but I drive an awful amount so like a nice interior (he says as he considers a Corsa VXR.. I like the seats though )

problemchild1976 said:

what a topic!! such bad luck

firstly.... what the hell is a PH worthy car??

i was gonna say that all cars are worthy and if you had a 1.2 clio and did your own services etc you would have become a PH'er and thus has a PH car.

I'd say a PH worthy car is something that isn't dog slow! The Audi has 200hp as standard and gets to 60 in less than 7.5 seconds rather than the 70 odd (I don't know or care) the Clio had. I wouldn't really call it underpowered tbh.

Out of interest what would you suggest with a 4K budget? Please don't say a bloody smart car

Jimmy Recard said:

What's made you fall out with the Audi? Just the frustrations of all the problems?

Yeah which is a shame really as I'd love to keep it as it's perfect for me but I'll just be living in fear of a huge bill so I think it's for the best. By driving my Corsa again it gives me time to find the right car rather than having to find a car straight away like when the Clio went.

[LiamB]

Jimmy Recard said:

I know I sound like a stuck record (I'm biased because I have one), but these are overlooked:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

Though you do miss out on the nice seats (these are comfortable but plain) and stereo in the Audi, and the tax is high

Nice cars but not for me I'm afraid! I've got a friend with a 1.4 version and I'm not too keen on the interior (im such a fussy bd) but I'm sure they drive nicely! If I'm going to get another Vauxhall to go alongside my erm.. other Vauxhall, it will have to be a Corsa VXR!

I notice I did say I wouldn't get another Vauxhall earlier in the thread but after seeing I can get a decent VXR in budget that went right out the window

sleepera6 said:

Liam,
Have you considered this?
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/secure/signin?after-s...

What? Signing in to auto trader?
Link doesn't seem to work I'm afraid mate!

[LiamB]

Thanks for the suggestions chaps!

I've kept my eye on BMWs of every flavour I almost bought an e36 328i touring before the Audi and I'm always looking out for a decent 330ci maybe even a clubsport I didn't however know the e90 shape was in budget but I imagine they will all be a bit leggy?

Id say the only ideas I have at the moment are a VXR, any 330ci or 330 touring or a 328i sport but they're rare to find and big bills wouldscare me away from any that are in budget

I'm so confused!

ETA: That second 330 you posted has a lovely spec! That's going on the Auto trader list..

Edited by LiamB on Saturday 7th January 17:28