Audi S5 full fat version

[89forever]

why? because it's not the condition I want and because I can....

[89forever]

I've not driven it in anger yet, the driveway's not really the place for throwing my S5 about lol...
Others who have installed have noticed improved gear changes and less shunt.

My window regulators were just changed before I bought her.

[89forever]

deebs said:

Since you've been tinkering in the transmission area.....do you have any info on trans oil change intervals? The service book makes no mention, my car's a manual (2008) on 63k . I've a 2008 cayman which is due a gearbox oil change shortly and it got me thinking about the Audi.....

Cheers!

Audi's technical documentation states the gearboxes are sealed for life, which in their terminology means 100,000 miles....
It's on my list of things to change the gearbox, rear diff and centre diff to Redline oils as have had great results with their stuff over the years.

[89forever]

Having kept myself busy with the old man's TT for the last couple of weeks, the S5 needed a damn good clean (although if i'm honest it wasn't dirty, just dusty)... yesterday was spent doing the normal deep clean routine...

Wash, clay, wash again, correct any marks, wash again, polish, wax and ceramic coating.




I got this a while ago as a free sample to try, I've used it exclusively on the wheels but never on the bodywork... time will tell...

This was at close of play yesterday evening, that was 6 hours well spent...




Whilst washing it yesterday I thought the headlights looked a little peppered from road rash etc, they are 12 years old after all



the offside being worse than the near side I thought i'd give them a bit of love this morning.

Armed with this little lot, a bucket of warm soapy water (the only time Fairy liquid is allowed anywhere near a car)




Masked up and hit it with the 320 Grit first



Halfway through, this was after the 1500 Grit and about 2 hours in



All the way to the 2500 Grit, I then used a 3" light cut pad, with Farcela G3 cutting compound




and then polished, waxed and a final seal with the C2 ceramic coating



After all that sanding I feel like I've been tossing off an Elephant, the other side can wait until next weekend.
Annoyingly I can now see the dust within the headlight more clearer now, 1 job finished creates another...…..!!!

[89forever]

Finally had to bite the bullet and order some new tyres, the Goodyear's that I bought the car with had performed ok they are now at the limit of what is legal, but I've always preferred Pirelli's.
4 of P Zero's ordered and will be here in the week.... whilst waiting I have a quandary... I think it's time to change the wheel colour again, i'm thinking going back to Hyper Silver on the original wheels...

I blame my old man's new TT, it's a similar colour to the S5 and just looks fresher with the silver wheels... onto axle stands tomorrow and wheels are off the be acid dipped and re-powdercoated...

[89forever]

I always have a project on the go on one or the other vehicles.... however I have now by far the biggest project to contend with in my life with the very safe arrival on Sunday night of my beautiful baby daughter, it's fair to say she is definitely going to be a petrolhead of some shape size or form...

Whilst all that was going on over the weekend I did find a bit of time to order the S5 some new boots, they arrived today... Just need the energy from the lack of sleep to remove the wheels and get the old tyres off so I can get them acid dipped and re-powdercoated zzzzzzzzzz



Pirelli is the flavour of choice, not that I kerb my wheels at all but these do have the rim protection should the other half ever dare drive it

[89forever]

Thornaby said:

Congratulations.

That'll be the end to any spare time you once had! Good luck.

my excuse will be training the next generation... the skills have to be passed on....

[89forever]

As life slowly gets back into a normal routine with our new arrival, I had a spare couple of hours today so it was wheels off for stripping



They've been loaded up to be taken into work to be stripped and re powdercoated and then the new tyres fitted.
As the old girls hovering about again



the wheel arch liners do my nut in, they always look grey and gritty



I got one side removed and cleaned under the arches




and then the rear



all cleaned but then I discovered a horror, the starting's of a rust bubble on the rear chassis leg



so the plan is next weekend if weather allows to strip all the surrounding parts and treat this and repaint....

Edited by 89forever on Monday 20th April 14:56

[89forever]

Wheels freshly done so the tyres are on.... and covered in the goo tyre fitters use


filthy, but look at the sparkle


Washed, waxed and sealed... sat in the evening sun and a good bit more sparkle


Couldn't resist a cheeky offer up


Weather permitting at the weekend it will be a case of stripping the surface corrosion found under the arch and treating and painting that, finish off cleaning the arch liners and get it built back up....

Edited by 89forever on Monday 20th April 14:57

[89forever]

the day started wet and then by 10am the sun came out and 30 minutes later we had a dry day...… couldn't believe it!!!
The first priority I wanted to address was the rust bubble underneath the NSR arch.
Attacked it with a wire brush on an angle grinder to remove the lose, luckily it was all surface rust, nothing serious.



then I applied the Bilt Hamber Deox gel and left it wrapped it cling film whilst I got on with removing the final wheel arch liners and deep cleaned behind.
The clips which hold the liners on distort after removing, so new ones were bought.



and the 3 arch liners after having dried were reattached.

By that time the gel had worked it's magic and I could etch prime, high build prime and top coat, this area of the arch isn't actually body colour, so had a bit of a ball ache trying to match the colour...



matched quite well in my opinion....

Once that was dry I rebuilt the arch liner back in and then the grand finale of actually getting the wheels back on...




Makes the car look totally different now... but am happy with how it looks

Edited by 89forever on Monday 20th April 14:57

[89forever]

Nothing exciting to report, just the annual MOT test... passed with flying colours and no advisories.... I use the test as an opportunity to have a good look underneath.... job for next summer is the rear subframe needs to come off and be stripped and refinished.... it looks bloody awful and scabby... definitely not built to last like the Audi's of old

[89forever]

alfabeat said:

Fantastic thread. Thanks for sharing all the detail, especially the exhaust info. How is that coming along? I love pictures of well made exhausts! I had manifolds to back box made by Wizard for my Alfa - they looked so good it was a shame to put them on. Clever guys.

Thank you for the comment.
Well another piece of the puzzle is in place. Just installed a 2 post lift at work.... Not really needed at a construction company but needs must...
The parts list is finalised, i have the mandrel bends, material for the hangers now i just need to order the rest of the tubing, v-bands and silencers....

[89forever]

maestronakagata said:

Excellent thread, you're doing a great job. Watching this thread with interest because I have a C6 Allroad with the same engine:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Alas a bit unlucky since the engine committed harakiri on April due to excessive sludge, but I had it rebuilt and works a threat.

Now that's a rarity... Nice ride. I have never bought into the long life deciding, whilst I can't control servicing before my ownership, I can during. Oil is dropped once a year, or every 10k miles on all my cars... My bike has it done every 6months.
You we're certainly unlucky and fair play to sticking with it.... Good job!!!

[89forever]

maestronakagata said:

Thanks, usual schedule on my cars is 1 year/10kkm. So far the switch to Shell Helix Ultra 5w40 has proved to be the right choice: oil is still Cristal clear and has done 5000kms without the need to add any. How is your average oil consumption and what oil do you use?

I'm also planning to buy new coil plugs since it has a slightly rough idle and VCDS showed one misfire in cylinder 7.

before splashing out on 8 new coils... move the coil from cylinder 7 to another cylinder and see if the fault follows it.... if it remains on cylinder 7, it's not the coil...

What are your spark plug gaps?
what are the condition of the plugs?
How old are the injectors?

I'd move each and every one of them at a time, in turn and see which one the fault moves with....

I use Mobil 1 5w30 oil by the way

[89forever]

SHutchinson said:

Does the billet insert make a noticeable difference? I've ordered one based on your post.

Now having driven it in anger... simple answer is yes...

[89forever]

maestronakagata said:

Been there, done that: already swapped coils and checked with VCDS. Coil was the culprit. Bought one in a hurry (I was leaving for holidaysd) and it did improve things a bit. I'll do the remaining ones once the car hits its first 10kkm with the rebuilt engine.Spark plugs have less than 15kkm.

You swapped out the coil and yet still have the misfire? or did I read that wrong?
I change the plugs every oil change as well, maybe overkill but I prefer peace of mind.

[89forever]

maestronakagata said:

No more misfires, but idle is still rough and VCDS shows nothing.

with the MAF disconnected does your idle stabilise?
failing i'd go with a dying spark plug, or a vacuum leak somewhere...

[89forever]

every time I go under the bonnet it bug's the living bejesus out of me that the decal on the slam panel is coming away.... having seen what another enthusiast had produced for his own TT in replacing the under bonnet decals I sent a cheeky message as for his help....
I originally went down the path seeing if it was still available from my Audi dealer, nope... absolutely NLA
Any way a pic was sent of the offending decal....

wrinkled at one end and the adhesive non existent at the other... the masking tape was just there to hold it flat whilst a pic was taken...
Today I received a message saying the artwork is done... ready for printing next week....


Can't wait......

[89forever]

As she's been laid up for winter there hasn't been much to report..... regularly cleaned and polished and ran up....

I always have the battery conditioner on to keep the battery in top form, however something went awry with the current battery, so a new one was sourced and as ever it's never just a simple job. As the car was dead electrically to get the boot open you have to go in through from the rear seats.... great, you can't move the front electric seats without electricity...!!!
So having contorted myself into the back seat, then having got into the boot space..... bugger might have helped to remember the damn torch...!!!
Now with torch at hand.... there is a plastic bung on the rear panel which once removed allows to mechanically pop open the boot.... so, old battery removed, new one plugged in....
You have to tell the Central Electrics you have fitted a new battery, with the assistance of VCDS
19 - CAN-Gateway
Long Adaptation-0A Channel 004
Now if you are fitting a genuine Audi battery it will have a new "BEM" number to input, what do you do if you don't have a battery with a "BEM", all I did was delete enough numbers from the original serial number as shown on VCDS and then input the new battery's serial number....

Now to get her off the SORN and use her in decent weather...!!!

Saved, all done and now showing a healthy 100% again... I now need to find another decent long term battery conditioner.... opinions?

[89forever]

SHutchinson said:

My S5 went this weekend. Got an RS3 saloon and a Tiguan R-Line now. It means I'll be living vicariously through this thread so keep the updates coming.

Noooooooo...... you’ll miss the engine lol

Although the RS3 is far more tuneable, the 5 cylinder is a great engine