V10 S6 Avant - thoughts?

[anonymous-user]

After my e39 530T was written off(bugger), I'm in the market for a big engined replacement. I've got down to e61 550iT or the V10 S6 Avant.

I've had 2 D2 A8s (4.2 and S8), one ate it's gearbox....What's the overall reliability etc for V10? Regular maintenance isn't a concern, unless its' regular £1,000+ maintenance....

I assume driving is similar to the older S models ie hilarious straight line performance, excellent comfort, and good but not great in the corners (although I'm not that bothered now having got old suddenly somehow... )

Thanks

[anonymous-user]

I'd probably be looking at a 06/07 model based on budget of 10-15k, so will look for some to test

[anonymous-user]

thanks guys. Anyone know of a decent independent for maintenance near Guildford/Haslemere

thanks

[anonymous-user]

Adrian E said:

The 6 speed ZF boxes are pretty much bullet proof - an oil and filter change would be a good plan to keep it that way, but they don't seem to destroy themselves as readily as the older 5 speeds used to.

S6 can be very stealthy in subtle colours - only the engine noise gives the game away!

3G nav is a definite improvement over the older 2G DVD based setups, but 2G is adequate.

Good to know re the gearboxes. I might even try for some more noise from the exhaust if I get one - it's certainly on the list if I get a 550iT.

If the only difference is navigation, that doesn't really bother me as I use google maps on my phone for all nav stuff.

Thanks for the info

[anonymous-user]

Ej74 said:

I have just covered 1k in mine over 6 days across France
Its effortless and very comfortable

All the power to overtake and if you want to press on handles pretty well at speed for a large car

Exhaust is easily rectified if you search the other Audi S6 V10 thread you will find a couple of clips - just cut out the cats and replace rear silencers (300 quid all in)

The way I summarise the car is its a Q-Car most people think its a A6 TDI of course but a press of the throttle soon changes that - its 80% of the performance with 100% luxury

Wont removing the cats be an MOT failure?

Will continue to look for both the S6 and 550i (e61 4.8) - not really swamped with either really... The BMW has the advantage of being about £3-4k cheaper, but c60bhp down on power....

[anonymous-user]

drmotorsport said:

Yes it would unless you fit sports cats instead. The other thread on v10 exhausts seems to indicate it may be the resonators rather than the cats though.

Ah, thanks

[anonymous-user]

Have given in to an impulse purchase and should be picking up an '07 S6 Avant shortly. 95,000 miles, black with silver leather.

No pics yet - will probably get an exhaust upgrade to liberate a bit more V10 noise

Didn't even manage to find a 550i to look at.

[anonymous-user]

hadenough! said:

I looked at one when I was looking to change the 530, the interior quality ruled it out for me.

Interesting as I thought it was better than the e60/61 . The A4/5/6 '13-14 interiors from cars at work were much better than the 1/3/5 equivalents, but the engines (all 2litre TDI variants) were much better in the BMWs.

I didn't fancy a Cayenne, and gave into the impulse for the S6 before I drove an e63 AMG - so no idea on those

[anonymous-user]

Picked this up yesterday, seems to be pretty good for 95,000 miles.



First steps are

1.) Rolling road to see if it has significant power drop and hence likely carbon build up. Feels fine, but hard to tell without actual numbers
2.) Engine clean if needed
3.) Paint correction & replacing scratched centre console - paint is good, but I'd like to see it as good as possible
4.) Milltek or similar resonated exhaust as it's very muted on standard pipes

[anonymous-user]

IanH755 said:

For an alternative to Milltek etc, you could consider removing the back boxes instead and replacing them with a straight pipe with RS6 tip for around £250 at MIJ in Walsall. I had my RS6 done and while the noise inside the car is raised only slightly (still resonated) it's not "droney" at all and the noise outside is awesome. Be careful though as it may be too loud, as in my case, with an angry neighbour complaining - during a cold start if you're stood outside at the back you have to shout to be heard over it but after 30secs it dies right down!

Edited by IanH755 on Monday 24th August 13:44

Interesting option - might need to look closer to home as a 300mile roundtrip might be a bit much

[anonymous-user]

IanH755 said:

I'm sure any custom exhaust place could replicate something similar and probably keep it quad-tip too, my example is about the price you should expect to pay.

I think the V10 noise should be pretty epic, from inside the RS6 only sounds V10-ish until the turbos come on boost around 3k rpm then it just sounds like a loud wind-rushing sound but from outside it's awesome.

Cheers, I agree the V10 should sound epic. I just need to find a good exhaust place in SW Surrey (ish).

[anonymous-user]

Easternlight said:

Something very odd about that photo, has it been fiddled with?

Gaussian blur to background, in about 2 mins, so a bit messy.

[anonymous-user]

Dr G said:

Mr wsurfa's S6; hope you're having fun so far

Lots of fun so far thanks

[anonymous-user]

Pazuzu said:

I had the backboxes chopped off my S6 and whilst it sounded epic it was just too much! It then went back for some vortex backboxes which quietened it down a bit but Version 3 was the original backboxes back on and the resonators removed which is the best compromise for me.

All this assumes you don't want to pay £1000 for a Milltek of course as I'm sure they are great but didn't want to pay that much.

This was mine with straight pipes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGKwU8ZC9Bc

Phil

Thanks - aarrggh - too many choices