Audi B5 RS4

[Leins]

Well, this isn't something I thought I'd be saying at the beginning of the year but I now own two cars, and that's down from a peak of five not so very long ago. It's taken me a while to realise it, but trying to own and run multiple cars is both a time and wallet-content consuming task, especially here in car-hating Ireland. It just meant I wasn't using them enough, so something had to give - well three BMWs to be precise, and so I've just agreed the sale of my E34 M5 3.8, to follow the departure of my E30 Alpina and E46 M3 CSL. My Mini GP has let out a sigh of relief that it has escaped the cull (actually it probably hasn't knowing my driving skills! ), and a sort of replacement turned up last weekend in the shape of an old Audi estate




So why an RS4? Well my previous Audi history is both brief and distant, being an 80 1.8S back in the late 90s, but for one reason or another I fancied a bit of a change from the BMWs. So in the place of N/A straight 6s, I've gone for a twin-turbo V6, and swapped RWD for all four wheels being powered, well some of the time anyway. But mostly it's because something about these particular cars has grabbed my imagination ever since I saw a new one pootling around the local roads 15 years ago and thought "I quite like that!" TBH there's not a whole heap of reasoning to it other than that, which to a lot of folks probably sounds crazy. But, in saying that, I absolutely love it so far, and have no regrets on selling up with the others

A drive back across North Wales on Saturday evening to the ferry, through seriously nasty weather, only helped quicken the bonding process, and once on the ferry I had to be told to get off the car deck because I spent too long continuously circling the thing





The car itself is a year 2000, 2-owner with 65k miles on the clock, and is completely standard from what I've been able to work out. It came with a stack of old invoices & MOTs, a well stamped-up service book (all Audi main dealer bar two specialist ones from the mid-00s), and I'm delighted to say very few rattles. Actually, I really do notice an improvement in build quality over contemporary cars from Munich

The performance is accessible and there's a fair old shove in the back once the turbos are on song, and whilst not the most "feelsome" of driving experiences I do love the all-weather ability the car possesses. It also seems to have a real character to it. It's not a car I've bought for weekend giggles (my Mini GP will hopefully take care of that), but more for longer trips away, especially abroad. Although it does seem to like these establishments nearly as much as my old M5 did:




Other than that, I'm getting a few bits & pieces, mainly suspension-related, replaced on it and then it's time for a bit of driving!




Thanks for reading!

Edited by Leins on Friday 20th November 19:25

[Leins]

mark.c said:

Lovely

I have a big soft spot for these and narrowly missed out on buying one from a good friend last year, same colour as yours and equally as unmodified. Have fun and if you can update this thread with how you get on with it I'll gloss over my phone not ringing over the sale of the C2.7 AND the M5

Congrats

Will do Mark. Actually there's quite a few Alpina fans in a bit of a mood with me lately for not selling them that particular car

I suspect I will be on the search for something else a bit more "old school" again in the not too distant future to go with these

Ecurie Ecosse said:

Magnificent!

Thanks very much. It's my first foray into performance Audis, but I'm very impressed already

[Leins]

^^^ Thanks James. Hard to know where the whole market is going longer-term, but I'm actually hoping for all our sakes that it sorts itself out. Too many other cars I'd also like to own down the line that are currently commanding house-like prices

[Leins]

Spoof said:

I loved mine. far from standard, but unbelievably quick.

Replaced with a B7, not anywhere near as quick, but dynamically a bit better.

Very nice. Planning to keep this one standard for the moment

Escort3500 said:

Lovely car and a nice report OP. The design of these cars is pretty timeless and they still look really good IMHO. Nicely understated, so a semi-sleeper as only those in the know are aware what they are

Thanks. There are quite a number of TDIs floating about here with "RS4" badges stuck to them, so it doesn't seem to attract too much attention - which suits me just fine!

gforceg said:

Good job Leins, it looks great. I think this is the last generation of Audi I liked and that is a bit of a favourite.

Cheers, kind of feel the same myself. I love the first three RS Audis, but just can't get as excited about the later ones, even though they might be "better" cars

Onetrackmind said:

Looks great. I'm probably going to be moving to Ireland and have noticed it doesn't seem very performance car friendly. Especially the tax. 5 cars must have been horrendous. Out of interest, is there much of a petrolhead community over there?

Thanks. No the tax is pretty horrific, so what happens is people put their performance cars away during the winter and only tax for 3 or 6 months. There is quite a bit of petrolhead stuff to do during the summer though, usually organised through some of the Irish web-sites and especially in the larger cities. Around Dublin, there are monthly Cars & Coffee meets, track days in Mondello, classic and brand-specific shows, ... So it's not too bad. Also, there are some great driving roads over here

One thing though, try and get you cars sorted 6 months before you move over here, that way you can bring them in "VRT exempt". That means you won't have to pay to register the cars here and get your Irish plates

[Leins]

^^^ Thanks very much. I'm not usually a fan of red cars, but Misano is a great colour for these cars - the mirror caps and roof rails work really well with it I think

Pity about your C5 though

[Leins]

Thanks, yes not that's anything wrong with modified or higher mileage cars, just that personally I wanted a standard, lower-miles one. It's not 100% perfect (what secondhand car is?!), but it is very tidy, just requiring a bit of time and effort to really get it to how I want. Plus the history is quite comprehensive:

Edited by Leins on Saturday 21st November 23:30

[Leins]

djdest said:

Awesome car, I loved mine!
I too had an Avus, but was modded.
I run a register for them on Audi SRS with over 500 cars on, I've also got old photos for pretty much all of them too.
If you're happy to PM me the reg I can see if its already on there, I might also have an old photo of it too

Edit:
Thread here: http://audisrs.com/about36097.html

And a gratuitous shot of my old one

PM sent, much appreciated! . That B5 looks great btw

E30M3SE said:

Have to say it does feel a little bit strange being without a single BMW for the first time in 15 years

frg530 said:

I love the colour, I had a TT240 in it, looked brilliant in the evening sunlight. I think it was the C5 gearbox that put me off, I'd traded in an SMG E46 M3 for it and had a ZF 8 speeder in my daily 530d at the time, in comparison the tiptronic 'box felt like it had come from the ark!

That gearbox really does have a terrible reputation

[Leins]

djdest said:

Yep, the B7's really suit them! I had B7 front brakes too.



As someone already mentioned, Avus looks awesome in the evening sun...

Nice! I especially love that sunset Avus pic, and really pulls out the base colour in the car. I can see why mine is down as "Mauve/Purple" on the V5

[Leins]

So suspension refresh is now complete, and the B5 is driving great. Next up is into the detailers, especially given the weather it's been subjected to over the last week or so, then it'll be getting limited use until the worst of the winter has departed

Purple really showing through this evening:

[Leins]

frg530 said:

There's one in the work car park this morning, same colour but dark B7 rims, looks exactly like djdest's old one. For a 15 year old estate car they look bloody brilliant. Maybe one day...

I think I've nearly bought it more for how it looks than how it goes. But it does go well too

djdest said:

Please email a pic of it to me if possible, it might not be on the RS4 register

On its way!

[Leins]

Few pics from its little trip into the detailers

[Leins]

^^^ Thanks v much! After years in BMWs, the way this thing was put together seems to me a step up in quality

[Leins]

^^^ No worries, and thanks again

Yep, I think there's a little bit of wear there on this one too

[Leins]

So now that the salt seems to have gone from the roads, the B5 is back out for the summer (Yes, I know these were designed for all-year round use )

Started up first time on Sunday, and took it for a spin down the road to the monthly Cars & Coffee. I've missed it!

Next up is a trip to the Audi dealers for its annual service, this time with a cambelt and water-pump change

[Leins]

Veeayt said:

Had one briefly in what seems the same spec and mauve hue, unmodified. I've done MTM stage 1 remap, which feels like a big step for a meager 40bhp. Great car!

I'm still steering clear of modifying, even though I know it would probably improve the car. However, and many probably think I'm daft for doing this, I just love the fact this one is as standard. Time might change that though!

melvster said:

Looks absolutely mega.

I'd love on of these, the potential bills can be eye watering but since i first saw Tiff Needell review it at Oulton Park i've always loved them. Imola Yellow, with Recaro Pole positions just like the Audi UK Heritage car please.

Cheers Melvster! I love the look of the PPs in them, but I also find the standard Recaros seriously comfy. If anything, I think I'd be more likely to put a set of carbon Poles in my Mini actually

djdest said:

Make sure they change the stat when they do the cambelt.
Audi will not do it otherwise! Considering the cost of the part and that it can only be accessed during a belt chance it's stupid to not do it

Thanks, yeah I've already mentioned that to them when booking it in. The standard cost that Audi are doing for a cambelt on their 4+ scheme is £599, and then another £200 for the water-pump, which for a main dealer I don't think is actually that bad. This year's major service on top is another £589, and then the thermostat and a few other bits is extra again

Again, it probably seems a bit daft to take it back to a dealers to be done, especially for a 16 year old car, but almost the full history of the car has been stamped up by Audi in the book every year, so going to carry that on

[Leins]

^^^ Very nice, another great RS colour

[Leins]

Thanks, good post! Yeah, that kind of sums up the way I feel about my cars, in that there's a bit of an emotional attachment that makes them more than just transport to me

Nice garage btw!

[Leins]

So a quick update on the car since its recent trip into Audi. It was booked in for a major service and cambelt, and in addition I asked for the water pump and thermostat to be replaced too

On inspection, the car was also found to have a slight rocker cover leak, so the gaskets have been replaced, along with all auxiliary belts. There was also a vacuum leak found which has now been rectified, and a few other odds and ends, bringing the total bill to £2600. It probably would have been cheaper at an indy, but with Audi's 3+ discount applied I didn't think it was too bad, and it keeps the (almost complete) Audi service history going

So with all the work done, the B5 is back and driving great. There's definitely a noticeable improvement in performance once the turbos come on song, not that I felt it was all that lacking beforehand. And now with the sunshine back I'm really looking forward to a weekend trip somewhere

One other thing, I've been quite critical of many a main dealer in the past (both in the UK and ROI), but Audi Belfast have definitely proven to be just about the best one I've ever dealt with. Excellent customer service, and will definitely be using them for the car's upkeep going forwards

[Leins]

Spent the evening getting the car cleaned up (I'd asked Audi not to wash it), and then took it out for a spin




Also, something I'd never noticed on it before:



Did a little research, and it seems this is the AM/FM antenna on the Avants, and the "beesting" aerial on the roof is only for the nav, which mine doesn't have

[Leins]

Out for coffee this morning. The more I drive this thing the fonder I am growing of it, and given it was tasked with replacing 3 occasional use cars (CSL, E30 Touring, M5), the fact I don't really miss them speaks volumes to me