B8 S4 Ownership

[bungle]

st. (but thanks). No idea where to start to check it out. Pest control...? Not that I've seen any. Maybe get some traps like you say.

[catso]

Mice or Squirrels.

My Sister had problems with her SLK, turned out to be rodents chewing through the under bonnet wiring, found a stash of acorns/nuts in the undertray - cost a fair bit to repair.

[silentbrown]

bungle said:

st. (but thanks). No idea where to start to check it out. Pest control...? Not that I've seen any. Maybe get some traps like you say.

It could be worse. You could have an R8!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bFdZp3eefM

... and

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

[Heres Johnny]

silentbrown said:

It could be worse. You could have an R8!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bFdZp3eefM

... and

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

Jeez - wouldn't a piece of cheese been quicker?

[Hol]

TomScrut said:

willttqs said:

Didn't they all come with nav?

My 59 reg one didn't, but it was standard later on. Not sure when though....

I didn't bother speccing it on mine in 2014, as it would have been well over a grand for something I knew I wouldn't be using daily, based on my previous (albeit used) car, which had one fitted (Forester)
.
.As things turned out, I used the £80 Garmin Satnav that was kept on hand in the glovebox only twice in three years of ownership.

To me the money was better spent on things I knew I would use and get the personal benefit out off, like Heated Supersports seats, B&O, Dynamic options and some other bits.


But, if I spent a lot of driver time travelling to places I had never visited before, and needed to use it 200-300 times, or if I was worried about residuals, then £5 a shot to use it wouldn't seem so bad.

[Easternlight]

I'm looking for a new battery as I keep getting the battery low warning, it's been past its best for a while now and even when I charge it it doesn't get to more than about 12.2 v
The battery is original and 8 years old so probably due.
I've just been given a Halfords trade card with an extra 10% off on my first purchase, so looking on their site they recommend this as the top battery
http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bulbs-blades-batt...

But sadly it's wrong, only 75ah and the original is 110!

They don't do the lifetime guarantee black battery in 110ah, the largest is this one
http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bulbs-blades-batt...

Still only 95ah but has a better than the original 900amp cranking power.

They do a 110 but it's only 5 year guarantee same 900a cranking.
http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bulbs-blades-batt...

I've had the car four years already, can't see me moving on yet but in all honesty can't imagine I'll still have it in 5 years time.
Still tempted by the lifetime guarantee battery though!

Any thoughts?

Edit to add
Any thing special I need to know about changing it, coding? etc? I was just going to use jump leads to keep the car "live"
While swapping.

Edited by Easternlight on Saturday 29th July 18:19

[ATM]

saints400 said:

My S4 is back & gearbox is ok but still getting a little bump down to 1st gear but not all the time? Off the the Beulieu meet tomorrow so I will see how it runs after a good run.

Also the Audi technician, Jason, told me that the map did not show up on their software so Audi are not aware of it. That could be handy if you have an in warranty car you want to map.

Its a little lower now as well after its latest visit to MRC.

[url]

|http://thumbsnap.com/6qDumLlm[/url][url]

|http://thumbsnap.com/Q3uALhC4[/url][url]

|http://thumbsnap.com/QcgrwEkU[/url]

Is this now on eBay?

[Adrian E]

Easternlight said:

Any thoughts?

Edit to add
Any thing special I need to know about changing it, coding? etc? I was just going to use jump leads to keep the car "live"
While swapping.

Edited by Easternlight on Saturday 29th July 18:19

Been through the same process not too long ago - bought an OEM replacement from TPS and was only a few quid more than the Halfords options (I've got a trade card too)

Battery needs coding to the car after fitting, and resetting of the battery management module. Needs VCDS to enter the new battery serial number info - instructions are on Rosstech web site

[Easternlight]

Adrian E said:

Been through the same process not too long ago - bought an OEM replacement from TPS and was only a few quid more than the Halfords options (I've got a trade card too)

Battery needs coding to the car after fitting, and resetting of the battery management module. Needs VCDS to enter the new battery serial number info - instructions are on Rosstech web site

Ok, thanks for the reply.
Fitted this today, Yuasa 110amp direct equivalent, wasn't able to find out about the coding so just swapped it over using a third battery to keep the car live.
What's going to happen if I don't code it, will I die in a ball of fire?
But seriously can someone explain what the coding does, won't the alternator just charge the battery depending on the voltage/load just like they always have?

[mpit]

Guys,

I'm looking for a B8 S4, are there any essential options?

I think the rear sports diff sounds like an attractive proposition, but I've only seen one advertised with it - is there any way to tell which ones have it?

[catso]

Easternlight said:

What's going to happen if I don't code it, will I die in a ball of fire?
But seriously can someone explain what the coding does, won't the alternator just charge the battery depending on the voltage/load just like they always have?

My understanding is that the energy/battery management system which monitors charging/usage of the battery will have 'adapted' to the original and so a new, better battery will have different charging/usage requirements, meaning it should be coded so the car 'knows' what it's dealing with.

This requires an OEM battery or at least one with a 'BEM' code and that not coding it will mean the battery may not fully charge or last as long as it should?

It can be coded using VCDS/Vagcom or by a dealer and I would think that some non-franchised garages would also have the kit/know how to do it.

I don't know how critical it is though?

[catso]

mpit said:

is there any way to tell which ones have it?

The 'My Audi' app shows the full spec of the car (at least it does for mine). You'll need the VIN no. to get it to work.

[silentbrown]

mpit said:

Guys,

I'm looking for a B8 S4, are there any essential options?

I think the rear sports diff sounds like an attractive proposition, but I've only seen one advertised with it - is there any way to tell which ones have it?

If there's no "drive select" button above the heater controls it definitely does NOT have Sports Diff.

If there's a drive select button then pressing it should bring up a menu on the MMI which under "individual" should show you the option available. Engine+Gearbox, steering weight and engine sound are the "standard" features. Sports diff, dynamic suspension and dynamic steering are options. If they're not fitted the options aren't available.

[mpit]

Thanks, that's really useful in at least weeding out the ones that aren't even worth enquiring about.

I'm pretty excited to be getting back in a fast road car. I shall report back once I've picked something up

[ATM]

silentbrown said:

mpit said:

Guys,

I'm looking for a B8 S4, are there any essential options?

I think the rear sports diff sounds like an attractive proposition, but I've only seen one advertised with it - is there any way to tell which ones have it?

If there's no "drive select" button above the heater controls it definitely does NOT have Sports Diff.

If there's a drive select button then pressing it should bring up a menu on the MMI which under "individual" should show you the option available. Engine+Gearbox, steering weight and engine sound are the "standard" features. Sports diff, dynamic suspension and dynamic steering are options. If they're not fitted the options aren't available.

I'm also thinking about trying one of these. Is there anything else I need to look out for and how do they hold up to reasonable mileage?

[MattS5]

If you cant find an S4 saloon, then the S5 sportback is a very worthwhile secondary choice.
Same size as the S4 saloon, a very practical boot, and much more practical than the S5 3 door coupe.

The spec seems to be pretty good on them too. Many of them have Supersports seats and Sat nav as standard kit.

[mpit]

MattS5 said:

If you cant find an S4 saloon, then the S5 sportback is a very worthwhile secondary choice.
Same size as the S4 saloon, a very practical boot, and much more practical than the S5 3 door coupe.

The spec seems to be pretty good on them too. Many of them have Supersports seats and Sat nav as standard kit.

Nice tip, I'm actually looking for an Avant, but had a sportback as a hire car for a few months a while back and it's enormous - more space than most people could ever need. If I didn't need the height in the boot, then I'd be looking at one of those for sure!

[silentbrown]

ATM said:

I'm also thinking about trying one of these. Is there anything else I need to look out for and how do they hold up to reasonable mileage?

Read the rest of the thread? Only 132 pages...

What age/mileage are you looking at? Service history - check particularly that DSG oil changes have been done as required (around every 40K, I think)

[Adrian E]

catso said:

Easternlight said:

What's going to happen if I don't code it, will I die in a ball of fire?
But seriously can someone explain what the coding does, won't the alternator just charge the battery depending on the voltage/load just like they always have?

My understanding is that the energy/battery management system which monitors charging/usage of the battery will have 'adapted' to the original and so a new, better battery will have different charging/usage requirements, meaning it should be coded so the car 'knows' what it's dealing with.

This requires an OEM battery or at least one with a 'BEM' code and that not coding it will mean the battery may not fully charge or last as long as it should?

It can be coded using VCDS/Vagcom or by a dealer and I would think that some non-franchised garages would also have the kit/know how to do it.

I don't know how critical it is though?

That pretty much covers it - there's a plug attached to the right hand battery clamp, as you look at it in the boot, and that needs unplugging and plugging back in to reset the battery management module as well as the coding change. If your non-OEM battery doesn't have a code on it, you can just check that it matches the spec of the old one and change one character of the serial number field and it will achieve the same result of telling the car to treat it like a new battery

[ATM]

silentbrown said:

ATM said:

I'm also thinking about trying one of these. Is there anything else I need to look out for and how do they hold up to reasonable mileage?

Read the rest of the thread? Only 132 pages...

What age/mileage are you looking at? Service history - check particularly that DSG oil changes have been done as required (around every 40K, I think)

Err no sorry.

This caught my eye which is why I ended up searching and found this thread.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/282588566311