since when has an A8 been the more economical option....
Discussion
Having had to use the S5 as an everyday car since the company car went back the fuel costs with the mileage i'm doing has been horrendous.... and i really don't want to be putting this daily mileage onto the poor thing.....
So the hunt was on for something a lot more economical.....
So what's a petrolhead to do who has an obsession with Audi V8's???
Well it is technically a lot more economical than the S5.....
It is a 2007 A8, decent condition, low miles... but needs some love
Not a huge fan of the wheels but they are in good condition, needs spacers and lowering (has the air suspension so can do that with VCDS)
Electric everything.... and even has a full Alpine system in the rear and screens in the headrests for the children in the back....
Plans? clean it and make the paintwork better....
and a remap just because....
then hunt for stuff to make it OEM+
rear lights on the drivers side need replacing
clean out the drain tubes and scuttle area as it's a rain forest of crud waiting to leak.
Huge amount of car for not a lot of money
So the hunt was on for something a lot more economical.....
So what's a petrolhead to do who has an obsession with Audi V8's???
Well it is technically a lot more economical than the S5.....
It is a 2007 A8, decent condition, low miles... but needs some love
Not a huge fan of the wheels but they are in good condition, needs spacers and lowering (has the air suspension so can do that with VCDS)
Electric everything.... and even has a full Alpine system in the rear and screens in the headrests for the children in the back....
Plans? clean it and make the paintwork better....
and a remap just because....
then hunt for stuff to make it OEM+
rear lights on the drivers side need replacing
clean out the drain tubes and scuttle area as it's a rain forest of crud waiting to leak.
Huge amount of car for not a lot of money
ndtman said:
Still a nice looking car 
(not sure about the wheels).
Bookmarked and enjoy your other Audi threads
the wheels actually look better in the flesh to be honest, but they are easily changed..... the S5 wheels would actually look great on this, with spacers to fill the arches and once lowered.... but i'll probably hunt for a set of the original set of RS6 style it should be fitted with, or even the older fat fives...... i'm not a fan of diamond cut faced alloys (not sure about the wheels).Bookmarked and enjoy your other Audi threads
and thank you, i'm glad you enjoy the other threads
89forever said:
Having had to use the S5 as an everyday car since the company car went back the fuel costs with the mileage i'm doing has been horrendous.... and i really don't want to be putting this daily mileage onto the poor thing.....
So the hunt was on for something a lot more economical.....
So what's a petrolhead to do who has an obsession with Audi V8's???
What's with the white part of that lens having a hump on the bottom?So the hunt was on for something a lot more economical.....
So what's a petrolhead to do who has an obsession with Audi V8's???
That's a great car!
Back in the earlier 2000s when I last had a proper job my employer had an account with a chauffeur company to get us to and from London airports and I had a few trips in A8s that were always relaxing.
But I think both the ones I was in were petrols, one a V6 IIRC although obviously the boss had a full-on V8 petrol!
Good luck with your economy drive anyway.
Back in the earlier 2000s when I last had a proper job my employer had an account with a chauffeur company to get us to and from London airports and I had a few trips in A8s that were always relaxing.
But I think both the ones I was in were petrols, one a V6 IIRC although obviously the boss had a full-on V8 petrol!
Good luck with your economy drive anyway.
Nothing more frustrating than buying a new car and wanting to get stuff done and the weather being dismal... wet.... and just bleaugh
The outside of the house whilst flat, it wasn't flat enough.... what's a man to do? go use the 100,000 sqft facility he works in.
The mission this morning was to get the suspension lowered via VCDS. There are many online "how to's". The one thing none of them mention is when you need to take your actual wheel centre to arch dimension.
Once you've gone into the actual Adaption phase and the car has raised and lowered and it is the actual point of changes the dimensions, that is the point to actually measure the gap, just before you change the measurements...
I went for a 20mm lower at the front and 15mm at the rear.
armed with the trusty laptop and VCDS all plugged in.....
before dropping it down
and after.... subtly different. I have a set of S5 wheels to go on, with spacers.... but the weather.... say no more
The A8 has the TV tuner installed, my first ever Audi that has ever had this feature.... so of course it needs the speed limiter removing for VIM.
I found a great tutorial on how to remove the VIM
https://trick77.com/tools/mmi2g_vimcode.php#bottom
Just follow it to the letter and it worked perfectly.
Then got home and the weather is still..... bleaugh
So, the list of things which need attention. In no particular order
drivers side rear lights need replacing
drivers side front fog lamp needs replacing
Brake hoses need changing out for a set of Hel Performance brake lines and the whole system purged and bled.
Wheel spacers and wheels swapping out, i will need to swap the tyres from these wheels to the new ones as they are 255/40-19 as fitted and the new wheels are 255/35-19
The interior needs a bloody good clean, the leather wants deep cleaning and the steering wheel is shinier than the bodywork and feels disgusting, same with the gearknob
Keys need new batteries, on my old S8 i had a new key made based on a Bentley keyfob, i'd like to look into doing that again as it was a lovely key.
Arch liners all need removing and deep cleaning behind, definitely not the weather at present.
Paintwork needs a thorough clay barring and polish.
Remap... because it has turbo's and is an easy upgrade.
Interior lights need all swapping out for LED.... will be going the tried and trusted route of using good old Trupp.
The interior window switches can be swapped out for the chrome tipped versions as fitted to the facelift A3 Sportback..... so that's on the list.
plus whatever other retrofits i can find
The outside of the house whilst flat, it wasn't flat enough.... what's a man to do? go use the 100,000 sqft facility he works in.
The mission this morning was to get the suspension lowered via VCDS. There are many online "how to's". The one thing none of them mention is when you need to take your actual wheel centre to arch dimension.
Once you've gone into the actual Adaption phase and the car has raised and lowered and it is the actual point of changes the dimensions, that is the point to actually measure the gap, just before you change the measurements...
I went for a 20mm lower at the front and 15mm at the rear.
armed with the trusty laptop and VCDS all plugged in.....
before dropping it down
and after.... subtly different. I have a set of S5 wheels to go on, with spacers.... but the weather.... say no more
The A8 has the TV tuner installed, my first ever Audi that has ever had this feature.... so of course it needs the speed limiter removing for VIM.
I found a great tutorial on how to remove the VIM
https://trick77.com/tools/mmi2g_vimcode.php#bottom
Just follow it to the letter and it worked perfectly.
Then got home and the weather is still..... bleaugh
So, the list of things which need attention. In no particular order
drivers side rear lights need replacing
drivers side front fog lamp needs replacing
Brake hoses need changing out for a set of Hel Performance brake lines and the whole system purged and bled.
Wheel spacers and wheels swapping out, i will need to swap the tyres from these wheels to the new ones as they are 255/40-19 as fitted and the new wheels are 255/35-19
The interior needs a bloody good clean, the leather wants deep cleaning and the steering wheel is shinier than the bodywork and feels disgusting, same with the gearknob
Keys need new batteries, on my old S8 i had a new key made based on a Bentley keyfob, i'd like to look into doing that again as it was a lovely key.
Arch liners all need removing and deep cleaning behind, definitely not the weather at present.
Paintwork needs a thorough clay barring and polish.
Remap... because it has turbo's and is an easy upgrade.
Interior lights need all swapping out for LED.... will be going the tried and trusted route of using good old Trupp.
The interior window switches can be swapped out for the chrome tipped versions as fitted to the facelift A3 Sportback..... so that's on the list.
plus whatever other retrofits i can find
a fantastic quick break in the awful weather had this big yellow glowy thing make an appearance.....
Good time to tackle the awful steering wheel..... only a quick hit
I'll revisit and redye also when i have more time
what we started with, minging and felt awful
gearkbob was no better
quick rub and wipe with my normal go to cleaner
30 minutes later
much much better... smells better in there too
Good time to tackle the awful steering wheel..... only a quick hit
I'll revisit and redye also when i have more time
what we started with, minging and felt awful
gearkbob was no better
quick rub and wipe with my normal go to cleaner
30 minutes later
much much better... smells better in there too
Following with interest. I had the pleasure of driving my old bosses q7 4.2tdi from Manchester to the French Alps and back. Next to my Jag, one of the most comfortable cars I've been in to do such a trip, mostly due to the engine. 100 litre fuel tank, we averaged 25mpg overall with 3 up and 2 bikes on the roof. Remember my boss in the passenger seat encouraging me to give it the obligatory F1 pull away from a toll booth and being suitably impressed at how it shrugged off its mass and went! Made a good noise too for a diesel.
With a little decent weather this weekend, i tried the S5 wheels, hated it....
I had a spare set of spacers, so stuck them on with the original wheels and gave them a thorough deep clean... they came up like new, not a kerbing in site.... i think i've decided i actually like them.... funny old world.
20mm on the rear, 15mm on the front, need to drop it a little more.....
i was curious what the scuttle area was like.... knowing that 99% of car owners don't tend to clean the inner workings of their car....
Prepare yourself... it was grim, proper grim....
Armed with TFR, a brush, a hose and a full Haz-Mat suit, i dived in
can now see the paintwork colour in there lol....
The whole engine bay was TFR'd and then a thorough splashing of 303 and a wipe later
All the plastics which go over the scuttle area were also cleaned and 303'd
I then Clayed the car, well a first hit..... f
k me it's a big car...!!!!
I had a spare set of spacers, so stuck them on with the original wheels and gave them a thorough deep clean... they came up like new, not a kerbing in site.... i think i've decided i actually like them.... funny old world.
20mm on the rear, 15mm on the front, need to drop it a little more.....
i was curious what the scuttle area was like.... knowing that 99% of car owners don't tend to clean the inner workings of their car....
Prepare yourself... it was grim, proper grim....
Armed with TFR, a brush, a hose and a full Haz-Mat suit, i dived in
can now see the paintwork colour in there lol....
The whole engine bay was TFR'd and then a thorough splashing of 303 and a wipe later
All the plastics which go over the scuttle area were also cleaned and 303'd
I then Clayed the car, well a first hit..... f
k me it's a big car...!!!!Love these cars, they always provoke a visit to auto trader when they appear as a readers car thread.
Is the scuttle area on these the same as a lot of vag cars in that it has poor drainage?
They often have little rubber bungs in the bottom that savvy owners knock out to keep the area clear.
Is the scuttle area on these the same as a lot of vag cars in that it has poor drainage?
They often have little rubber bungs in the bottom that savvy owners knock out to keep the area clear.
89forever said:
The drains on all A8’s seem to suffer with clogging, which in extreme cases floods the interior and has been known to cause electrical gremlins....
It’s worth regular inspections, especially if there’s a sunroof fitted.... keep the drains clear
I just found this out the hard way with my A6 C6. I had already removed the rubber bungs as mentioned above but the A6 has channels running under the car (green) and the drains from this (3&4) were blocked.It’s worth regular inspections, especially if there’s a sunroof fitted.... keep the drains clear
The only way for the water to go then was UP (1&2) into the rear foot wells!
Stupid design....
having a bit of a hunt for what can be tweaked OEM style i saw a thread where someone had swapped out a set of chrome switches from an S5 steering wheel.... well for once i had something in stock having had a spare wheel for my S5 from ages ago....
what we started with...
and the switches... but bugger... first issue... steering wheel was from a manual car, so no flappy paddles. hmmmmm....
So i took one switch to bits, there is a tiny torx bit on the reverse. With that undone the front unclips from the rear case. Could i just swap the fascia over?
nope, wouldn't clip in.... bugger... would i be lucky enough that i could swap the inner PCB boards from the chrome, to the none chrome.....
yup...!!! woohoo
I always have the engine running so i can rotate the wheel so the screws will be at 12 o'clock
Do not disconnect the airbag with the engine running, or the ignition on...!!!
to get the switches out you need to remove this trim piece, after you have removed the airbag (with ignition off).
all inner gubbings swapped over and built back up and airbag back in and all now nice and chromey....
chrome window switches needed from an A3 8P Sportback next....
what we started with...
and the switches... but bugger... first issue... steering wheel was from a manual car, so no flappy paddles. hmmmmm....
So i took one switch to bits, there is a tiny torx bit on the reverse. With that undone the front unclips from the rear case. Could i just swap the fascia over?
nope, wouldn't clip in.... bugger... would i be lucky enough that i could swap the inner PCB boards from the chrome, to the none chrome.....
yup...!!! woohoo
I always have the engine running so i can rotate the wheel so the screws will be at 12 o'clock
Do not disconnect the airbag with the engine running, or the ignition on...!!!
to get the switches out you need to remove this trim piece, after you have removed the airbag (with ignition off).
all inner gubbings swapped over and built back up and airbag back in and all now nice and chromey....
chrome window switches needed from an A3 8P Sportback next....
as curiosity always gets the better of me, out into the garage this morning and dug through the box of parts....
AMI is definitely MOST, so is compatible...!!!
Just need to find out what cable i need to connect it as OE to the A8.... any suggestions???
Having a play about with other things... the Alpine system wasn't working.... screens would illuminate and DVD's would cycle but nothing was playing... started with all the basics. All new batteries in the remote control and both headphones was all it needed....
Got to love a cheap fix
AMI is definitely MOST, so is compatible...!!!
Just need to find out what cable i need to connect it as OE to the A8.... any suggestions???
Having a play about with other things... the Alpine system wasn't working.... screens would illuminate and DVD's would cycle but nothing was playing... started with all the basics. All new batteries in the remote control and both headphones was all it needed....
Got to love a cheap fix
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