Advice on B8 S5
Discussion
Hi all
Been a member of Pistonheads for many years, spending a lot of time browsing the plethora of knowledge on the forums for enjoyment.
Recently, after years of building my career and earnings and buying a house, I have finally reached a position whereby I can afford a cheap diesel dedicated to work duties (I cover high miles for work) as well as something a bit more fun for the personal miles.
As such, said car needn't be good on fuel, but should be have a fair amount of mod-con and be comfortable for long distance cruises with the other half (think trips to south of France/Italy). Of course the fruitier the exhaust note and more blistering the performance the better (unfortunately there is still a budget!)
Since I've got around £13k to play with currently (this can rise as savings come in monthly) I have considered things like 335i/135i Coupe but have become particularly interested in B8 V8 S5 Coupe or B8 V6 S4 Avant/Saloon.
So finally to come to the question... while doing the due diligence checks, I've noticed that a number of S5s of the earlier vintage appear to have problems with clutch on the manual box. Is there a known number/age of these effected and how should one check if an individual example has had work undertaken on this/might be susceptible to likely failure?
I appreciate no one has a crystal ball and of course, reading forums don't highlight the number of cars out there running flawlessly. But worth asking the question all the same.
Also, should anyone else have any recommendations of cars in this sort of budget that fit the bill then do say!
Thanks
Been a member of Pistonheads for many years, spending a lot of time browsing the plethora of knowledge on the forums for enjoyment.
Recently, after years of building my career and earnings and buying a house, I have finally reached a position whereby I can afford a cheap diesel dedicated to work duties (I cover high miles for work) as well as something a bit more fun for the personal miles.
As such, said car needn't be good on fuel, but should be have a fair amount of mod-con and be comfortable for long distance cruises with the other half (think trips to south of France/Italy). Of course the fruitier the exhaust note and more blistering the performance the better (unfortunately there is still a budget!)
Since I've got around £13k to play with currently (this can rise as savings come in monthly) I have considered things like 335i/135i Coupe but have become particularly interested in B8 V8 S5 Coupe or B8 V6 S4 Avant/Saloon.
So finally to come to the question... while doing the due diligence checks, I've noticed that a number of S5s of the earlier vintage appear to have problems with clutch on the manual box. Is there a known number/age of these effected and how should one check if an individual example has had work undertaken on this/might be susceptible to likely failure?
I appreciate no one has a crystal ball and of course, reading forums don't highlight the number of cars out there running flawlessly. But worth asking the question all the same.
Also, should anyone else have any recommendations of cars in this sort of budget that fit the bill then do say!
Thanks
jay4636 said:
Hi all
Been a member of Pistonheads for many years, spending a lot of time browsing the plethora of knowledge on the forums for enjoyment.
Recently, after years of building my career and earnings and buying a house, I have finally reached a position whereby I can afford a cheap diesel dedicated to work duties (I cover high miles for work) as well as something a bit more fun for the personal miles.
As such, said car needn't be good on fuel, but should be have a fair amount of mod-con and be comfortable for long distance cruises with the other half (think trips to south of France/Italy). Of course the fruitier the exhaust note and more blistering the performance the better (unfortunately there is still a budget!)
Since I've got around £13k to play with currently (this can rise as savings come in monthly) I have considered things like 335i/135i Coupe but have become particularly interested in B8 V8 S5 Coupe or B8 V6 S4 Avant/Saloon.
So finally to come to the question... while doing the due diligence checks, I've noticed that a number of S5s of the earlier vintage appear to have problems with clutch on the manual box. Is there a known number/age of these effected and how should one check if an individual example has had work undertaken on this/might be susceptible to likely failure?
I appreciate no one has a crystal ball and of course, reading forums don't highlight the number of cars out there running flawlessly. But worth asking the question all the same.
Also, should anyone else have any recommendations of cars in this sort of budget that fit the bill then do say!
Thanks
Sad to see that nobody has responded and my suggestion would be to look through the B8 S4 thread, as the cars share the same drivetrain, electronics and may of the same pluses and minuses.Been a member of Pistonheads for many years, spending a lot of time browsing the plethora of knowledge on the forums for enjoyment.
Recently, after years of building my career and earnings and buying a house, I have finally reached a position whereby I can afford a cheap diesel dedicated to work duties (I cover high miles for work) as well as something a bit more fun for the personal miles.
As such, said car needn't be good on fuel, but should be have a fair amount of mod-con and be comfortable for long distance cruises with the other half (think trips to south of France/Italy). Of course the fruitier the exhaust note and more blistering the performance the better (unfortunately there is still a budget!)
Since I've got around £13k to play with currently (this can rise as savings come in monthly) I have considered things like 335i/135i Coupe but have become particularly interested in B8 V8 S5 Coupe or B8 V6 S4 Avant/Saloon.
So finally to come to the question... while doing the due diligence checks, I've noticed that a number of S5s of the earlier vintage appear to have problems with clutch on the manual box. Is there a known number/age of these effected and how should one check if an individual example has had work undertaken on this/might be susceptible to likely failure?
I appreciate no one has a crystal ball and of course, reading forums don't highlight the number of cars out there running flawlessly. But worth asking the question all the same.
Also, should anyone else have any recommendations of cars in this sort of budget that fit the bill then do say!
Thanks
I had a new S4 for three years.
I was not a fan of the auto box and the OE tyres were rubbish, but apart from that it was fine as a daily.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Edited by Hol on Friday 7th July 14:11
I hadn't noticed there were replies here, no email reminder for some reason!
So I went ahead and bought a seemingly good example of a 2008 V8 S5. It's a manual in dark blue and has many of the extras such as white, heated supersport seats with memory, B&O sound, xenon lights, DAB etc. etc. Body and interior in great nick by all accounts, you would certainly give it less than the 84k it has covered.
Thus far I'm really enjoying it, though I have found a few issues already in the two weeks of ownership so for the benefit of any others who were potentially looking at these, see below:
• Gear stick was squeaky changing gears - this was sorted by removing a piece of trim and lubricating the rubbers around the shifter that obviously dry out over time. (I also scratched some trim while doing this which was heartbreaking! But fortunately with some help from members here have polished the scratches back to almost invisible.)
• Fuel filler flap is very hit and miss as to weather you can open it or not - half the time you need to go into the boot and pull the emergency release cord. Oddly not something I tested when I drove it, but something that fortunately doesn't seem too big of a DIY job (http://www.a5oc.com/forums/audi-a5-s5-tech/23592-fuel-flap-locking-actuator.html)
• Save the worst for last: The passenger side window actuator mechanism failed meaning the window was stuck 1/4 of the way up and I had to drive home through a heavy shower - This one was most frustrating as when I initially looked at the car the anti trap mechanism did trigger a couple of times on this window, but the car was just cleaned and I've had that happen before when glass becomes squeaky clean. It went up fine after so I thought nothing more of it. The previous owner had said that he'd had the drivers side done before so I'd be surprised if he didn't have an idea the same was about to happen on the passenger side. Fortunately, I got a recon unit of a chap that takes your old one in exchange so the fix should only cost me about £90 vs the several hundred the dealer wants. But it's still a sour taste so early in the ownership.
All in all a few issues for just two weeks of ownership and certainly more than I had bargained for straight away. Lesson learned; take more time in looking over the car in the first instance! Test everything!
But otherwise it's a great car and an excellent overall package, from performance to luxury. I'm thinking about doing something to the exhaust to let the V8 sing just a little louder too, as it's a bit too muted for my liking.
So I went ahead and bought a seemingly good example of a 2008 V8 S5. It's a manual in dark blue and has many of the extras such as white, heated supersport seats with memory, B&O sound, xenon lights, DAB etc. etc. Body and interior in great nick by all accounts, you would certainly give it less than the 84k it has covered.
Thus far I'm really enjoying it, though I have found a few issues already in the two weeks of ownership so for the benefit of any others who were potentially looking at these, see below:
• Gear stick was squeaky changing gears - this was sorted by removing a piece of trim and lubricating the rubbers around the shifter that obviously dry out over time. (I also scratched some trim while doing this which was heartbreaking! But fortunately with some help from members here have polished the scratches back to almost invisible.)
• Fuel filler flap is very hit and miss as to weather you can open it or not - half the time you need to go into the boot and pull the emergency release cord. Oddly not something I tested when I drove it, but something that fortunately doesn't seem too big of a DIY job (http://www.a5oc.com/forums/audi-a5-s5-tech/23592-fuel-flap-locking-actuator.html)
• Save the worst for last: The passenger side window actuator mechanism failed meaning the window was stuck 1/4 of the way up and I had to drive home through a heavy shower - This one was most frustrating as when I initially looked at the car the anti trap mechanism did trigger a couple of times on this window, but the car was just cleaned and I've had that happen before when glass becomes squeaky clean. It went up fine after so I thought nothing more of it. The previous owner had said that he'd had the drivers side done before so I'd be surprised if he didn't have an idea the same was about to happen on the passenger side. Fortunately, I got a recon unit of a chap that takes your old one in exchange so the fix should only cost me about £90 vs the several hundred the dealer wants. But it's still a sour taste so early in the ownership.
All in all a few issues for just two weeks of ownership and certainly more than I had bargained for straight away. Lesson learned; take more time in looking over the car in the first instance! Test everything!
But otherwise it's a great car and an excellent overall package, from performance to luxury. I'm thinking about doing something to the exhaust to let the V8 sing just a little louder too, as it's a bit too muted for my liking.
hey dude well done on the buy.. and shame about the issues... they do seem kinda minor though. as far as i know the v8 is a reliable engine.
I recently got a 2010 s5 v8 with the auto and i love it.
let me know what exhaust you get. I've looked into it and Im thinking of getting a miltek non res cat back for 1.2k all in. my insurance premium will be £400 extra though
I recently got a 2010 s5 v8 with the auto and i love it.
let me know what exhaust you get. I've looked into it and Im thinking of getting a miltek non res cat back for 1.2k all in. my insurance premium will be £400 extra though
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