Audi B6 S4 Avant....

[PHHB]

Hi,
Long time lurker, first time poster. Can anyone shed any informative light on the aforementioned. I'm interested in potential pitfalls, running costs, anything to be wary of etc. I'm aware that its going to be a bit thirsty to say the least, and i hear that the range is in the 250 - 300 mile area. The car i am looking at has done around 90,000 miles. Should anything have been replaced or due to be shortly ?
There is something very appealing about a stealthy 340 odd hp estate with a V8 under the bonnet that i am finding hard to resist.
Hopefully any responses will sell it to me rather than the exact opposite.

Thanks

[sulli]

Check for chain rattle on startup - anything more than a second or so may indicate worn tensioners or wrong oil.
Check for oil consumption - they all seem to use up a bit - from a litre every 750 miles to a litre every 5k. Neither extreme is really an issue, more than a litre every 750 miles on normal driving may indicate an issue.
Check history - they are often on longlife service from new, which is daft. Most owners change to fixed interval - every 10k or annual. Just check what it has been on, and if you get one change to regular servicing.
Go for higher spec if you can spec can vary widely. Took me a while to get a fully loaded one with cruise, nav, full leather recaros and manual. All are important to me, but if you find a lower sopec one, barter.
Some have upgraded with MillTek exhaust - must have really, pricey but perfectly matches the car and brings out the V8 just right.
Finally - do it! Best car I have owned, and having had some corkers that is saying something. Handling and grip is sublime (although I have uprated ARBs all round), keeps on pulling, lovely place to be.

[PHHB]

Thanks a lot for the informative response. Can you shed any more light on the longlife service that you mention ? I haven't heard of this. I'm assuming in terms of build quality, electrics, rust etc its pretty bomb proof ? Do you know what tax bracket and what the ££ is for that bracket ?
Apologies for the barrage of questions.
Thanks

[jason s4]

Yep, pretty much as above.

Nearly ALL of the V8's rattle on start up, but this should not last longer than a second.

Aux rads were also a problem on the B6, although the B7 design had addressed the issue.

90,000 is a more than i would like to see but given the age its probably about right.

North of 100K is an unknown, but there has been talk of possible timing chain and tensioners needing replacing, and if so, you are looking at 000's as the engine has to come out.

Had my B7 avant a couple of years now and i really dont know what i would replace it with when the time comes.

Pre March 06 will get you a RFL of around 260.

[blaineuk]

Great cars, had mine for a couple of months now, best all rounder I have had, but up for sale on here now, but only because I am a serial car changer, although I have no idea what to replace it with.

[E24man]

B6 S4 aux rads always leak - 350+ gbp to change and it will then still leak or check every 500 miles and top up half a cup full of fresh.

B6 V8 start up rattle can be up to 3 or 4 secs until you change from 0/30 to 5/30 and then it's one second with far less wear worries. Less oil use with 5/30 as well.

Stealth performance, excellent ride compared to the RS4 and half the parts costs (all service items; brakes/clutches/pads/filters etc) of an RS4. Stick with 17 or 18's and don't be tempted with 19's.

Manual cars have an offside exhaust valve that can be jigged to stay open all the time; auto's have no complications.

Tiptronic is slow compared to Alpina Switchtronic but auto works fairly well and is a bonus if using for traffic commuting.

Plenty of OEM ICE upgrades if you want to spec up.

Cab roof is very quiet at speed and do-able at traffic lights when it pisses it down.

All in all, very quick, keep an eye on the levels, switch to 5/30 and the job's a good'un.

HTH

[sulli]

PHHB said:

Thanks a lot for the informative response. Can you shed any more light on the longlife service that you mention ? I haven't heard of this. I'm assuming in terms of build quality, electrics, rust etc its pretty bomb proof ? Do you know what tax bracket and what the ££ is for that bracket ?
Apologies for the barrage of questions.
Thanks

Longlife servicing is something that Audi does to give owners longer between services. they use longlife oil that allegedly doesn't degrade as much. Load of crap for a powerful V8 - best thing you can do for an engine is give it fresh oil regularly. Nevertheless, there's many that have done 150k with no problem - I hope to keep mine for another 100k to 200k!
Yes the rest is bombproof (touch wood), everything works as it should and very solid build.
It has been cheaper to run than my E39 M5, fuel isn't too bad - averaged 25mpg for last 8k miles, 30+ achievable on a run.
You won't get much better for your money - can't believe the cheap price of some....

[PHHB]

Thanks everyone,
Can i be be very ignorant and ask what aux rad's are ? and 5/30 ?
is the rattle on start up pretty easy to identify from the V8 burble ?
how stiff is the ride ? i'm trying to pass this one off from the wife that its a practical 5 door Audi estate, she doesn't need to know about the Q car appeal.......but the ride may be slight give away !?

[E24man]

PHHB said:

Thanks everyone,
Can i be be very ignorant and ask what aux rad's are ? and 5/30 ?
is the rattle on start up pretty easy to identify from the V8 burble ?
how stiff is the ride ? i'm trying to pass this one off from the wife that its a practical 5 door Audi estate, she doesn't need to know about the Q car appeal.......but the ride may be slight give away !?

The V8 has an additional (auxiliary) radiator on the offside front to aid cooling when the engine is pushed - the radiator has a steel core and plastic end caps which leak a little when it isn't used that often - with typical Audi/VAG efficiency it isn't used that often.

The rattle is obvious on all B6 V8 cars from a cold start up unless they are running gloopy thick oil which is bad for the fine tolerances on the engine. Anecdotal evidence suggest there was a rattle from brand new cars of about a second which extends with life leaving learned people to believe it is the tolerances in the tensioner that wear slighty - with the 5/30 oil rather than the original 0/30 weight oil being the cure to the tensioner losing all it's latent (resting) tension.

The ride is very good for a performance car; Grannies and Grandads are as happy as babies so no problems there.

Definite Q-car so the little Lady won't suspect a thing - go for it

but an E39 Alpina B10 V8 is a far better car if you can find a Touring

[sulli]

E24man said:

The rattle is obvious on all B6 V8 cars from a cold start up unless they are running gloopy thick oil which is bad for the fine tolerances on the engine. Anecdotal evidence suggest there was a rattle from brand new cars of about a second which extends with life leaving learned people to believe it is the tolerances in the tensioner that wear slighty - with the 5/30 oil rather than the original 0/30 weight oil being the cure to the tensioner losing all it's latent (resting) tension.

I thought 5w30 was the standard, and most use 5w40 to cure chain rattle - some say the ester based oils do this better.
Good resources here:
www.rs246.com
www.audisrs.com

[JCW78]

sulli said:

I thought 5w30 was the standard, and most use 5w40 to cure chain rattle - some say the ester based oils do this better.
Good resources here:
www.rs246.com
www.audisrs.com

Yeah the handbook says 5w30 but 5w40 is the way go to reduce rattle. Fuchs Titan pro race s 5w40 worked wonders on mine. As mentioned it can drink the stuff, I was getting through 1 litre per 1k miles.

At that mileage look out for the clutch, as its a £2k job

In 18 months I averaged 16 mpg (around 200 miles on a tank) and the handbook says super unleaded or decreased performance

But it is a lovely car and with a milltek exhaust there isn't much that sounds better for the money

[sulli]

JCW78 said:

Yeah the handbook says 5w30 but 5w40 is the way go to reduce rattle. Fuchs Titan pro race s 5w40 worked wonders on mine. As mentioned it can drink the stuff, I was getting through 1 litre per 1k miles.

At that mileage look out for the clutch, as its a £2k job

In 18 months I averaged 16 mpg (around 200 miles on a tank) and the handbook says super unleaded or decreased performance

Did the Pro S reduce oil consumption or just sort the chain rattle? I use VW spec 502.00 505.00 5w40, which is the right spec and slightly increased thickness. I was thinking of getting the Pro s but I don't want to be shelling out £120 for 10 litres then find I have to get another 5 or 10 litres just for top ups.

[JCW78]

sulli said:

Did the Pro S reduce oil consumption or just sort the chain rattle? I use VW spec 502.00 505.00 5w40, which is the right spec and slightly increased thickness. I was thinking of getting the Pro s but I don't want to be shelling out £120 for 10 litres then find I have to get another 5 or 10 litres just for top ups.

Didn't notice much of a change in consumption but definitely reduced noise

If you catch a special offer at opie oils you should be able to get 10 litres for under £90

[E24man]

My mistake; a wine induced mistake; yes, 5/40 instead of the original 5/30 as other learned posters have pointed out.

[PHHB]

Thanks all, much appreciated
As i feared, this has only gone and strengthened my yearning for the car. The clutch worries me slightly but i will be on the look out for that.
I am a big Alpina fan, E24Man, but the age of the car would be a very tricky one to get past the other half.