Audi A4 Avant 2.5TDi, Any Good?

[Matthew_Eames]

Whats everyones thoughts on these? (180bhp sport manual), I fancy an Avant to lug bikes (and potentially ski's) around but not sure if these are worth looking at or whether I should wait until the B7 3.0TDi comes into price range (7.5-8.5k) with the chain driven 200bhp (common rail?) engine

Currently have an E46 330Ci which is very impressive however getting a bike in the back is awkward and to be perfectly honest I don't use all the power. Have previously always owned diesels (2x 306's) so the lump of torque low down does appeal and extra economy is useful (currently getting 29/37mpg in the BMW mixed/m-way) will the Audi better this much?...I don't do massive mileage mind so not a crucial issue, refinement comes 1st...hence not looking at the 4cyl)

Will this be a step backwards? I expect it not to be as sharp but I'm not one to throw the car around much anyway and the 4wd appeals.

What do you think, going to try and test drive an a4 with this engine at some point to see if it's worth going forward with or just to hang fire.

[ribenavrs]

had one for a couple of years and loved it

ebony black with alcantara/leather. nice place to be

a bit nose heavy but certainly hung onto the road well, road conditions never seemed to make a difference to progress

not the largest spacewise but will cope better than the BM

I had mine re-mapped to 200bhpish and economy was around the same if not a little less

makes an interesting noise too

personal preference is the B6 shape and would have another but the 3.0 engine is supposed to be great and even better with a map ??

[neiljohnson]

Great car when looked after but a bad one will bankrupt you. The engines not very refined either imho. Be careful with earlier ones as they suffer turbo & fuel pump failures. Seem like a lot of cars these days to be designed to do a certain mileage then go horribly wrong. Dont get me wrong have seen ones with trouble free 200k but they seem to be the exception rather than the rule.
The 1.9 tdi is in real terms not much differant in performance terms & is more reliable.

[martin mrt]

I bought a B5 version of these last year that had a power steering fault, and after repairing it I got shot of it right away as EVERYTHING engine wise looked to be a nightmare to do, big engine in a rather small (for the size of car) engine bay

On the plus side it had done 150,000 miles and drove like new, I really really liked it to drive and sit in but The constant fear of something giving up with the V6 TDi lump prompted me to get rid. It did make a terrific noise for a diese though.

[Chris Hinds]

A good friend bought one of these (B6) in 2001. He's still got it 9 years on with 189k on the clock, still enjoys the car and it's always been serviced on time. The 3.0TDI is more refined but at the moment these are rare as rocking horse excrement at any price level, especially if you want any toys (most of them were options). As others have said, beware of abused engines though.

Regards

Chris

[wrighty78]

I had this engine in an Allroad a couple of years back. Really liked it. Bags of go and worked well with the Tiptronic box.

If you get one, make sure it's had the cambelt changed (80k mile interval, if memory serves). You basically have to take the front end off the car to get to it. Over £1k at a main dealer.

And not particularly fuel efficient. But maybe the A4 is better than the Allroad was.

Might be worth you doing a trawl through the VAG / Audi forum. Loads of info on there.

[Matthew_Eames]

Thanks for the feedback, seems like it's not worth it considering the potential pitfalls and relative lack of economy when I only do limited mileage. I will hang onto the E46 for a fair while and look at a B7 3.0 TDi once they fall into budget and as and when my circumstances change (probably 18 months - 2 years away at least). The 3.0 is a big step forward looking at it, with the 2.5 being a final evolution of an older engine.

Thanks again

Edited by Matthew_Eames on Sunday 8th August 21:03

[ribenavrs]

if you want the V6 the 3.0 would be the one to go for, however with hindsight if I was buying one again I would get a 1.9tdi and get it mapped

same performance with far better economy

they are rare tho' especially with a good spec

[Matthew_Eames]

2.5 is out.... Scary issues with these. Thinking a 1.9 sport avant quattro and a mk1 MX5 would be a good combo?...or should I hold out for the B7 3.0 TDi or even a 2.0 TDi 170, or just stick with the Beemer.....choices choices

I guess it comes down to having one all rounder (BMW or V6 Audi) or two distinctly different cars.

[volumeone]

the 2.5TDI is not that frugal and is very noisy. i wouldn't have one.

[ribenavrs]

Matthew_Eames said:

Thinking a 1.9 sport avant quattro and a mk1 MX5

Hey, thats my ideal real world garage

You can't have it as well

Have searched many times for a decent spec 1.9, but they really are like rocking horse st

Good luck