B8 S4 Ownership

[jimmyjimjim]

DonkeyApple said:

jimmyjimjim said:

You can with the DSG.
I had that done as it bugged me

Is it a coding thing to set it as an option for that display?

Yes. Can be done with Vagcom. I had the dealer do it as I couldn't be bothered to get myself a vagcom cable for just the single change.

[DonkeyApple]

jimmyjimjim said:

DonkeyApple said:

jimmyjimjim said:

You can with the DSG.
I had that done as it bugged me

Is it a coding thing to set it as an option for that display?

Yes. Can be done with Vagcom. I had the dealer do it as I couldn't be bothered to get myself a vagcom cable for just the single change.

Thanks. Is it just added as a scroll option or some kind of permanent fixture?

[DonkeyApple]

RoVoFob said:

Adrian E said:

18 months/2 years ago my old S5 Sportback was worth about £8-10k with 85-90k - now it's more like £4500 with 100k+ (the ex has it and the values have been discussed recently for financial disclosure!). That's definitely bottom end of the market (deliberately) from WBAC, but even so it's 14 years old so hardly surprising really.

Similar age/mileage S5 Sportback here (and similar financial disclosure shenanigans too!). WBAC valued my car at around £4,100 although that s pretty meaningless in private sales terms. I d hope around £8-£9k would be possible for a particularly high spec, decent nick model, but it is a strange market.

These are the exact sort of cars that have been topped and tailed on values. They were massively over bid when the Covid cash was all washing around and desperate to be hurled at anything and they are now being underbid because the number of people who can afford to run such cars on a daily basis has shrunk dramatically.

And through that you have the 100k effect on buyers. Every car that gets towards or over 100k is on life support in the minds of buyers. That said, my experience when searching to buy my S4 is that almost no one seemed able or willing to pay to look after them the second they were off VW's books. Almost every car I looked at had been in the hands of at least one vampire.

Like all performance versions of generic cars they're an absolute magnet for vampires and the older they get the more of them are likely to have sucked the life from them.

[Adrian E]

Indeed - I know my ex is planning to sell the S5 at some point in the near future - we've owned it since it was 2 years old and have filled a large A4 folder with paperwork. Serviced religiously every year, irrespective of mileage, and lots of preventative maintenance. Cost of tax and insurance, plus being a pre-facelift the fuel economy is worse, means it probably will make no odds to what it will sell for, but hopefully gives confidence to anyone looking at it. I suspect she'll end up part-exchanging it and the paperwork will end up in the bin 'because GDPR'.

[DonkeyApple]

Adrian E said:

Indeed - I know my ex is planning to sell the S5 at some point in the near future - we've owned it since it was 2 years old and have filled a large A4 folder with paperwork. Serviced religiously every year, irrespective of mileage, and lots of preventative maintenance. Cost of tax and insurance, plus being a pre-facelift the fuel economy is worse, means it probably will make no odds to what it will sell for, but hopefully gives confidence to anyone looking at it. I suspect she'll end up part-exchanging it and the paperwork will end up in the bin 'because GDPR'.

Something like that would be a real keeper for a smart buyer.

[jimmyjimjim]

DonkeyApple said:

Thanks. Is it just added as a scroll option or some kind of permanent fixture?

Permanent. Just S7 or D5 or whatever displayed instead of S or D.

[DonkeyApple]

jimmyjimjim said:

DonkeyApple said:

Thanks. Is it just added as a scroll option or some kind of permanent fixture?

Permanent. Just S7 or D5 or whatever displayed instead of S or D.

Ah, I was hoping for the entire centre screen to be enabled to show the gear as speed can be selected. Even then, it wouldn't be as preferable as just being able to hear the exhaust note as that's the key information ultimately.

[InfamousK]

Adrian E said:

Assuming it's the red one, it's the price, combined with the age, and the fact it's modified.

Spec is very good - maybe mention if common stuff has been done like thermostat, mechatronics, gearbox services etc

Get prices from Motorway etc and aim to add 10% to that for private sale, but the market is limited, as they're of an age and value that it's a gearbox rebuild away from being uneconomic to repair.

Cheers for that, all of this stuff has been done and I'll mention it. I'm hoping I'll get more biters on eBay.
Although that night I put it on during a night shift, I received a phone call in the morning "What's the lowest price you'll take?" zero questions about the car. fking time waster.

[DonkeyApple]

InfamousK said:

Cheers for that, all of this stuff has been done and I'll mention it. I'm hoping I'll get more biters on eBay.
Although that night I put it on during a night shift, I received a phone call in the morning "What's the lowest price you'll take?" zero questions about the car. fking time waster.

Just add a different number for specific enquires regarding the lowest price that you'll take. Use a number like the EDF customer services one as they're fking time wasters so you'll be matchmaking like minds.

[catso]

jimmyjimjim said:

DonkeyApple said:

Thanks. Is it just added as a scroll option or some kind of permanent fixture?

Permanent. Just S7 or D5 or whatever displayed instead of S or D.

Surely that's how it is as standard?

At least mine shows that, in the small text under the central speed (or whatever selected) indication and I never activated it.

[DonkeyApple]

catso said:

jimmyjimjim said:

DonkeyApple said:

Thanks. Is it just added as a scroll option or some kind of permanent fixture?

Permanent. Just S7 or D5 or whatever displayed instead of S or D.

Surely that's how it is as standard?

At least mine shows that, in the small text under the central speed (or whatever selected) indication and I never activated it.

Far too small to ever be usable in situations where you'd quickly like to know what gear you're in. I'd just like some massive Sesame Street style number taking up all the real estate between the dials.

[catso]

DonkeyApple said:

catso said:

jimmyjimjim said:

DonkeyApple said:

Thanks. Is it just added as a scroll option or some kind of permanent fixture?

Permanent. Just S7 or D5 or whatever displayed instead of S or D.

Surely that's how it is as standard?

At least mine shows that, in the small text under the central speed (or whatever selected) indication and I never activated it.

Far too small to ever be usable in situations where you'd quickly like to know what gear you're in. I'd just like some massive Sesame Street style number taking up all the real estate between the dials.

I quite like the setup as it is with the speed in big numbers, I find it much easier than looking at the dial (old eyes).

The dash on my motorbike does what you want - the big central number being the gear selected and the smaller number underneath the speed.

[DonkeyApple]

catso said:

I quite like the setup as it is with the speed in big numbers, I find it much easier than looking at the dial (old eyes).

The dash on my motorbike does what you want - the big central number being the gear selected and the smaller number underneath the speed.

Agreed in terms of the speed display. The dials on my car are Dunelm spec, grey on grey on grey and a quick glance simply doesn't give you the required information like a sensible white on black dial. It's not old eyes, just trendy wk over common sense.

[ninjag]

catso said:

ninjag said:

The only negative is fuel economy, which is about 35mpg on a gentle motorway run.

The most I've ever seen on a gentle run from my 2014 S4 is around 33mpg, average is more like 26mpg. Is the CREC engine more economical or should I get some lighter driving shoes...

But yes I agree, car ticks all the boxes and I'll be keeping it as long as practicable.

My local runs can be anything from 17mpg to low 20's, depending on how hard I press with my hoof. Glad petrol isn't too expensive at the moment lol

[RoVoFob]

Is there any consensus on the best replacement suspension for S4s/S5s with adaptive suspension?

Is it best to go for Audi parts or are there any better aftermarket adaptive options? Thanks.

[Dr G]

Nagengast (Poland) will rebuild your original dampers.

I've never come across a drop-in replacement part from anyone other than Audi directly.

[RoVoFob]

Dr G said:

Nagengast (Poland) will rebuild your original dampers.

I've never come across a drop-in replacement part from anyone other than Audi directly.

Thanks Dr G.

Surely there must be alternative manufacturers for adaptive suspension for 15 year old cars by now? Would rather not post my shocks to Poland if I can avoid it.

Looks like shock cost would be around half that of Audi, who came in at £2,508 for new parts. Seems pretty expensive to me, but most things are these days…

What do people here with adaptive suspension do when it needs renewing? Pay the Audi prices, go for third-party parts (if there are any) or replace them with non-adaptive stuff…?

[Adrian E]

KW do kits to replace OEM adaptive dampers. They're called 'DDC plug and play' but I can only find retailers listing the 'DDC ECU' version for the S4, which is a full retrofit for circa £3k.

I remember looking into it years ago - might be worth e-mailing them to ask about availability now?

[RoVoFob]

Adrian E said:

KW do kits to replace OEM adaptive dampers. They're called 'DDC plug and play' but I can only find retailers listing the 'DDC ECU' version for the S4, which is a full retrofit for circa £3k.

I remember looking into it years ago - might be worth e-mailing them to ask about availability now?

Thanks. The KW DDC ECU was the one setup I found, at £3,367 for the S5 Sportback. This seems to be app-controlled, compared with the plug and play one, which enables control through the Drive Select system. Will see if I can find an email address…

Don’t imagine it’s worth nearly £900 more than the Audi OEM parts but who knows. Audi parts guy was pretty unclear about whether the parts he quoted prices for were the adaptive setup, but he said there was only one set of parts show and mine has factory adaptive suspension, so fingers crossed that’s the right one…

[Adrian E]

Hopefully the plug and play option is cheaper, given you don’t need the ECU or wiring. I was looking at the full retrofit, but wanted it to interface with ADS rather than via app. When shock misting stopped being listed as an advisory I stopped worrying about it!