Audi S4 (B6) Cabrio
Discussion
I had one and thought It was great, however you will get a lot of people soon saying the under steer was bad, and they go through tyres, and chain guides are weak. In 18 months my one never missed a beat. Fast enough, and even with standard exhaust sounds good. I only sold as 1st child came along.
I had one and thought It was great, however you will get a lot of people soon saying the under steer was bad, and they go through tyres, and chain guides are weak. In 18 months my one never missed a beat. Fast enough, and even with standard exhaust sounds good. I only sold as 1st child came along.
Lots of (older) threads on S4s around here but the search is so bad it may take you all night to find them.
The B6 S4 is a good car, the shape has aged well and that range of A4s is generally well nailed together but you are talking about what is now a 10 year old car as a minimum. Simple wear starts to play a part.
The engine is tough but its chain guides are not and cost thousands to replace. When cold starting listen for a chuntery rattling noise (see: youtube) this should be for 1-2 seconds max. Any longer or if the noise sounds like a barrel full of nails rolling down a hill then run away. You need to pull the engine to replace the chains. These engines need very regular oil (every 10k/annually) as the 20k intervals are no good for them. Running 5w40 rather than the standard 5w30 is a good idea too.
They need plugs way more often than Audi's 60k interval.
They will burn oil. Quite a lot, probably. Always have done (but the 5w40 seems to reduce this a smidge).
Some of the 'soft touch' finishes will look horrible and peel if treated badly.
Try and find one with Bose, parking sensors, heated seats and bluetooth. The sensors and bluetooth are easy retrofits. The later RNS-E DVD navigation is still OK and usable. The earlier RNS-D is a bit past it.
Fairly complicated front suspension so you're looking for worn bushes; vagueness, slop, knocks, bangs, squeaks etc.
Factory assembly and paint finish are excellent so crap repairs are easy to spot.
The roof is generally excellent and durable, slight fading is easily brought back. If the roof is slow or gets stuck the pump may well be dying. Very expensive new but refurbs are available. They can on occasion need a micro switch replacing but these are cheap.
Glove box lid will break at some point. Armrest lid will break at some point.
Door rubbers will rattle a bit (they go hard/shrink). Smear a bit of vaseline on them.
All need a noisy exhaust.
Manuals are under geared.
Auxiliary radiators leak (one behind each foglight), if the coolant level is low this is the likely cause. Rads are ~£150 each but bumper comes off to fit them so ~4 hours labour in all.
The B6 S4 is a good car, the shape has aged well and that range of A4s is generally well nailed together but you are talking about what is now a 10 year old car as a minimum. Simple wear starts to play a part.
The engine is tough but its chain guides are not and cost thousands to replace. When cold starting listen for a chuntery rattling noise (see: youtube) this should be for 1-2 seconds max. Any longer or if the noise sounds like a barrel full of nails rolling down a hill then run away. You need to pull the engine to replace the chains. These engines need very regular oil (every 10k/annually) as the 20k intervals are no good for them. Running 5w40 rather than the standard 5w30 is a good idea too.
They need plugs way more often than Audi's 60k interval.
They will burn oil. Quite a lot, probably. Always have done (but the 5w40 seems to reduce this a smidge).
Some of the 'soft touch' finishes will look horrible and peel if treated badly.
Try and find one with Bose, parking sensors, heated seats and bluetooth. The sensors and bluetooth are easy retrofits. The later RNS-E DVD navigation is still OK and usable. The earlier RNS-D is a bit past it.
Fairly complicated front suspension so you're looking for worn bushes; vagueness, slop, knocks, bangs, squeaks etc.
Factory assembly and paint finish are excellent so crap repairs are easy to spot.
The roof is generally excellent and durable, slight fading is easily brought back. If the roof is slow or gets stuck the pump may well be dying. Very expensive new but refurbs are available. They can on occasion need a micro switch replacing but these are cheap.
Glove box lid will break at some point. Armrest lid will break at some point.
Door rubbers will rattle a bit (they go hard/shrink). Smear a bit of vaseline on them.
All need a noisy exhaust.
Manuals are under geared.
Auxiliary radiators leak (one behind each foglight), if the coolant level is low this is the likely cause. Rads are ~£150 each but bumper comes off to fit them so ~4 hours labour in all.
lewis328 said:
I had one and thought It was great, however you will get a lot of people soon saying the under steer was bad,
They are a bit nose heavy, I found. I read that fitting the anti-roll bars from the RS4 sorts this out nicely, but I never got round to it. Mostly because after the initial "I wonder what it can do" phase wears off, I realised that it is a nice cruiser and started to drive it accordingly. Nice car with a nice noise. Ideal as a cruisy open top with the occasional shove in the back.
Dr G said:
Lots of (older) threads on S4s around here but the search is so bad it may take you all night to find them.
The B6 S4 is a good car, the shape has aged well and that range of A4s is generally well nailed together but you are talking about what is now a 10 year old car as a minimum. Simple wear starts to play a part.
The engine is tough but its chain guides are not and cost thousands to replace. When cold starting listen for a chuntery rattling noise (see: youtube) this should be for 1-2 seconds max. Any longer or if the noise sounds like a barrel full of nails rolling down a hill then run away. You need to pull the engine to replace the chains. These engines need very regular oil (every 10k/annually) as the 20k intervals are no good for them. Running 5w40 rather than the standard 5w30 is a good idea too.
They need plugs way more often than Audi's 60k interval.
They will burn oil. Quite a lot, probably. Always have done (but the 5w40 seems to reduce this a smidge).
Some of the 'soft touch' finishes will look horrible and peel if treated badly.
Try and find one with Bose, parking sensors, heated seats and bluetooth. The sensors and bluetooth are easy retrofits. The later RNS-E DVD navigation is still OK and usable. The earlier RNS-D is a bit past it.
Fairly complicated front suspension so you're looking for worn bushes; vagueness, slop, knocks, bangs, squeaks etc.
Factory assembly and paint finish are excellent so crap repairs are easy to spot.
The roof is generally excellent and durable, slight fading is easily brought back. If the roof is slow or gets stuck the pump may well be dying. Very expensive new but refurbs are available. They can on occasion need a micro switch replacing but these are cheap.
Glove box lid will break at some point. Armrest lid will break at some point.
Door rubbers will rattle a bit (they go hard/shrink). Smear a bit of vaseline on them.
All need a noisy exhaust.
Manuals are under geared.
Auxiliary radiators leak (one behind each foglight), if the coolant level is low this is the likely cause. Rads are ~£150 each but bumper comes off to fit them so ~4 hours labour in all.
Dr G know his stuff, I've had mine since new. I like to think the manual is geared for speed, not economy. The B6 S4 is a good car, the shape has aged well and that range of A4s is generally well nailed together but you are talking about what is now a 10 year old car as a minimum. Simple wear starts to play a part.
The engine is tough but its chain guides are not and cost thousands to replace. When cold starting listen for a chuntery rattling noise (see: youtube) this should be for 1-2 seconds max. Any longer or if the noise sounds like a barrel full of nails rolling down a hill then run away. You need to pull the engine to replace the chains. These engines need very regular oil (every 10k/annually) as the 20k intervals are no good for them. Running 5w40 rather than the standard 5w30 is a good idea too.
They need plugs way more often than Audi's 60k interval.
They will burn oil. Quite a lot, probably. Always have done (but the 5w40 seems to reduce this a smidge).
Some of the 'soft touch' finishes will look horrible and peel if treated badly.
Try and find one with Bose, parking sensors, heated seats and bluetooth. The sensors and bluetooth are easy retrofits. The later RNS-E DVD navigation is still OK and usable. The earlier RNS-D is a bit past it.
Fairly complicated front suspension so you're looking for worn bushes; vagueness, slop, knocks, bangs, squeaks etc.
Factory assembly and paint finish are excellent so crap repairs are easy to spot.
The roof is generally excellent and durable, slight fading is easily brought back. If the roof is slow or gets stuck the pump may well be dying. Very expensive new but refurbs are available. They can on occasion need a micro switch replacing but these are cheap.
Glove box lid will break at some point. Armrest lid will break at some point.
Door rubbers will rattle a bit (they go hard/shrink). Smear a bit of vaseline on them.
All need a noisy exhaust.
Manuals are under geared.
Auxiliary radiators leak (one behind each foglight), if the coolant level is low this is the likely cause. Rads are ~£150 each but bumper comes off to fit them so ~4 hours labour in all.
I had an 04' in sprint blue, Tiptronic.
Loved the car, did sound good but as someone else has already mentioned, it feels heavy. Mine was bordering on 2 tonnes with a driver on board. Also, the car seems to sit quite high from the ground. We had a 7 series sport at the time and that was lower. Good if you are cruising but I can't help but think an M3 Cab would be better for proper driving.
Loved the car, did sound good but as someone else has already mentioned, it feels heavy. Mine was bordering on 2 tonnes with a driver on board. Also, the car seems to sit quite high from the ground. We had a 7 series sport at the time and that was lower. Good if you are cruising but I can't help but think an M3 Cab would be better for proper driving.
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