Audi S4 B5 - Potential Money Pit
Discussion
I've tried asking this in the Audi forum but no luck as of yet, so thought i should try here.
Morning guys & girls, I've been quite keen on the B5 S4 for a while now.
Starting to think sod it, why not now.
Bar the silly MPG. What kind of financial mess would i be getting myself into?
The models I am looking at are all aroung the £3.5k mark, 100,000+ miles.
Are there any specifics to look out for? Excuse my ignorance, but they're not my specialist subject.
Thanks in advance.
Morning guys & girls, I've been quite keen on the B5 S4 for a while now.
Starting to think sod it, why not now.
Bar the silly MPG. What kind of financial mess would i be getting myself into?
The models I am looking at are all aroung the £3.5k mark, 100,000+ miles.
Are there any specifics to look out for? Excuse my ignorance, but they're not my specialist subject.
Thanks in advance.
Quite a few of them now have the K04 turbos, which is a good thing. Most major failures are either turbo or turbo-related, but when they work they're a great car which make an awesome noise and have massive potential.
RS246 would be a good place to look too
ETA - Like any B5, they eat through most components of their suspension alarmingly quickly, so any knocks or untoward noises in a car you look at, factor in the cost of replacing stuff. Quite a few aluminium suspension links in there.
RS246 would be a good place to look too
ETA - Like any B5, they eat through most components of their suspension alarmingly quickly, so any knocks or untoward noises in a car you look at, factor in the cost of replacing stuff. Quite a few aluminium suspension links in there.
Edited by McSam on Saturday 19th January 11:30
My missus had one for a bit, cost us quite a lot to maintain compared to the M3 we have now. Ours seemed to constantly have sensors dying, cam sensors, EGTs, MAF etc, and this was on a FSH car. Constant boost leaks too from the myriad of hoses around the engine bay. Used to average low 20s MPG which I thought a bit excessive for 265bhp.
The worst for me though was that it was just not very good as a drivers car. Steering feel was non-existant, in fact all of the controls were over assisted and trying to get the thing turned in on any sort of sharp bend was a pain. It could probably be improved with aftermarket bits but I thought it easier just to buy a more dynamic car to start with.
That said it was a nice car just to cruise around in, they make a lovely noise and are generally a nice place to sit and the 4x4 gives good road holding in s
tty weather, but as said they're a tad heavy on maintainance. Doesn't stop me wanting a B5 RS4 though!
The worst for me though was that it was just not very good as a drivers car. Steering feel was non-existant, in fact all of the controls were over assisted and trying to get the thing turned in on any sort of sharp bend was a pain. It could probably be improved with aftermarket bits but I thought it easier just to buy a more dynamic car to start with.
That said it was a nice car just to cruise around in, they make a lovely noise and are generally a nice place to sit and the 4x4 gives good road holding in s
tty weather, but as said they're a tad heavy on maintainance. Doesn't stop me wanting a B5 RS4 though!You should be able to get a decent one for 3.5k.
Try to buy a forum car that has a few decent mods and has been maintained properly, also see if a member can go with you for a viewing/test drive. Go armed with vagcom and you can give it a scan before and after driving it to see if any fault codes are stored.
As above, front suspension arms/bushes wear, original turbos are fine but dependant on how regular the oil has been changed and if theyve been over worked due to boost leaks. That is what usually ends their life early!
Maintenance and running costs are not too bad, especially if you use one of the handful of specialist dotted around the country.
For example, an oil seal when on one of the turbos on my RS4, I had it back on the road for around £1.5k, some people pay that for a major service at a main dealers!
RS246.com is a good forum, but most B5 owners use audisrs.com these days, get on there and do some reading, plenty to learn and lots of helpful members
If you need further tempting, my RS was making this sort of noise the other day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Lz0zQyHuY
Try to buy a forum car that has a few decent mods and has been maintained properly, also see if a member can go with you for a viewing/test drive. Go armed with vagcom and you can give it a scan before and after driving it to see if any fault codes are stored.
As above, front suspension arms/bushes wear, original turbos are fine but dependant on how regular the oil has been changed and if theyve been over worked due to boost leaks. That is what usually ends their life early!
Maintenance and running costs are not too bad, especially if you use one of the handful of specialist dotted around the country.
For example, an oil seal when on one of the turbos on my RS4, I had it back on the road for around £1.5k, some people pay that for a major service at a main dealers!
RS246.com is a good forum, but most B5 owners use audisrs.com these days, get on there and do some reading, plenty to learn and lots of helpful members
If you need further tempting, my RS was making this sort of noise the other day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Lz0zQyHuY
djdestiny said:
You should be able to get a decent one for 3.5k.
Try to buy a forum car that has a few decent mods and has been maintained properly, also see if a member can go with you for a viewing/test drive. Go armed with vagcom and you can give it a scan before and after driving it to see if any fault codes are stored.
As above, front suspension arms/bushes wear, original turbos are fine but dependant on how regular the oil has been changed and if theyve been over worked due to boost leaks. That is what usually ends their life early!
Maintenance and running costs are not too bad, especially if you use one of the handful of specialist dotted around the country.
For example, an oil seal when on one of the turbos on my RS4, I had it back on the road for around £1.5k, some people pay that for a major service at a main dealers!
RS246.com is a good forum, but most B5 owners use audisrs.com these days, get on there and do some reading, plenty to learn and lots of helpful members
If you need further tempting, my RS was making this sort of noise the other day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Lz0zQyHuY
Your RS4 sounds awesome Dest, how does the RS4 stack up dynamically in comparison to the S4?Try to buy a forum car that has a few decent mods and has been maintained properly, also see if a member can go with you for a viewing/test drive. Go armed with vagcom and you can give it a scan before and after driving it to see if any fault codes are stored.
As above, front suspension arms/bushes wear, original turbos are fine but dependant on how regular the oil has been changed and if theyve been over worked due to boost leaks. That is what usually ends their life early!
Maintenance and running costs are not too bad, especially if you use one of the handful of specialist dotted around the country.
For example, an oil seal when on one of the turbos on my RS4, I had it back on the road for around £1.5k, some people pay that for a major service at a main dealers!
RS246.com is a good forum, but most B5 owners use audisrs.com these days, get on there and do some reading, plenty to learn and lots of helpful members
If you need further tempting, my RS was making this sort of noise the other day!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6Lz0zQyHuY
Cheers, listen to it with headphones on and it sounds even better! 
It wouldnt be a fair comparison to compare my old S4 to an RS4, as it was mainly an RS4 engine in it (everything apart from rods, pistons and engine block) but over all, a K03 S4 has a bit more lower end as the turbos have less lag, and different heads (amongst other things)
There is'nt much in it, but once on the go the RS obviously has a lot more torque and some of the gear ratios are different too (shorter) so it pulls better. The RS also revs another 1k higher.
The RS feels a bit more planted due to the slightly wider track, it definitely does make a difference.
Performance aside, there are a lot of subtle differences too such as dash clocks, black door handles inside instead of chrome, carbon fibre engine covers, all have double din centre console (rare option on S4's) etc etc etc. And of course, THOSE arches
It wouldnt be a fair comparison to compare my old S4 to an RS4, as it was mainly an RS4 engine in it (everything apart from rods, pistons and engine block) but over all, a K03 S4 has a bit more lower end as the turbos have less lag, and different heads (amongst other things)
There is'nt much in it, but once on the go the RS obviously has a lot more torque and some of the gear ratios are different too (shorter) so it pulls better. The RS also revs another 1k higher.
The RS feels a bit more planted due to the slightly wider track, it definitely does make a difference.
Performance aside, there are a lot of subtle differences too such as dash clocks, black door handles inside instead of chrome, carbon fibre engine covers, all have double din centre console (rare option on S4's) etc etc etc. And of course, THOSE arches
I'm not sure the extras are worth 3x S4s but RS4 values have been pretty solid the last couple of years so I guess you'll get the extra initial investment back come sale time if you look after it.
Does the wider track calm the understeer at all? Are the controls the same as the S4? I hated the over assisted brakes and feather light throttle on mine.
Does the wider track calm the understeer at all? Are the controls the same as the S4? I hated the over assisted brakes and feather light throttle on mine.
I bought one blind on eBay for £1400 in November (dark blue with black leather), decided to take a chance, only issue was the car had after market wheels, slight blow in exhaust and 180,000 miles but it had just been MOT. Being a tight git I refused to pay any one to do the work so the cost have been OK, so far I've spent,
£120 for tax,
£30 on rear wheel bearing
£350 for a set of standard wheels, (though I sold the old ones for £150, one was fked which cause the wheel bearing to go)
£60 for a timing belt kit, (I found a brand new kit on ebay going cheap, a timing belt kit is over £110)
£30 cam locking bar(this is a must for doing the belt)
£30 for a drive belt and thermostat (thermostat is a timing belt off job)
£60 two EGT repair boards (a pair of Exhaust gas temp sensor are around £240 i think)
£60 two dump valves
currently it needs the following done,
new exhaust and the aux water pump is leaking. I will get an eBay special from the likes of xspower, a full stainless from the turbo back for around £300 and I think I will just plumb the aux pump out, it also has an after market radio which I would like to change and the front drivers wing has a bit of rust on it.
£3500 in my opinion is near top money for them, I read all the problems they have like the cams wearing and stuff but I decided to not worry about it, i've seen engines on ebay go for £300 to £400. i bought mine as it was cheap and I've decided to keep it cheap, so the small things I'm not worried about, I was thinking of getting it remapped but currently I'm at two minds as at £500 which is nearly a 1/3 of what I paid for the car.
£120 for tax,
£30 on rear wheel bearing
£350 for a set of standard wheels, (though I sold the old ones for £150, one was f
ked which cause the wheel bearing to go)£60 for a timing belt kit, (I found a brand new kit on ebay going cheap, a timing belt kit is over £110)
£30 cam locking bar(this is a must for doing the belt)
£30 for a drive belt and thermostat (thermostat is a timing belt off job)
£60 two EGT repair boards (a pair of Exhaust gas temp sensor are around £240 i think)
£60 two dump valves
currently it needs the following done,
new exhaust and the aux water pump is leaking. I will get an eBay special from the likes of xspower, a full stainless from the turbo back for around £300 and I think I will just plumb the aux pump out, it also has an after market radio which I would like to change and the front drivers wing has a bit of rust on it.
£3500 in my opinion is near top money for them, I read all the problems they have like the cams wearing and stuff but I decided to not worry about it, i've seen engines on ebay go for £300 to £400. i bought mine as it was cheap and I've decided to keep it cheap, so the small things I'm not worried about, I was thinking of getting it remapped but currently I'm at two minds as at £500 which is nearly a 1/3 of what I paid for the car.
NelsonR32 said:
Unfortunately like E36 M3's you'll struggle to find one that hasn't been barried and I can't remember the last time I saw one wih under 100,000 miles.
Id like to see one that has been barried, cause Ive never seen one!?If anything, Id say its one of the few performance cars that never get barried or badly modified.
All I ever see are ones with sensible brake, suspension and engine mods.
Some S4's are coming up for 13-14 years old, so its not surprising some are over 100k, but so what?
However, there are always sub 100k cars coming up for sale on the audisrs, I sold my old S4 last January, that had 86k on it
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