C5 RS6 Avant... again
Discussion
Some people don't learn. Having read the Brave Pill article and then the stream of derisory comments including one from GlaphamGT3 who said, "Why anyone would buy one of these piles of steaming dung when there are so many better alternatives out there, I just don't know", I started to miss my '03 Mugello blue Avant running on standard DRC, which I had sold in 2013.
So for the last few weeks I've been browsing PH, eBay and Autotrader looking for a decent one. I didn't want a silver one, and Mugello blue is lovely but very conservative. I had my eye on two Pluses in Sprint blue but they were £20k and as much as I love them, this is a weekend toy and I don't have that kind of money to blow on it. So I switched to Misano red; a couple came up but one in particular had a very odd history - I put in a low ball offer but it was rejected.
Then I had a look at Gumtree (which I tend to avoid like the plague) and there was - bizarrely - a relatively low mileage red one for sale 20 miles away from me. I phoned the owner, had a chat and went to view it this afternoon. An hour after arriving I am - once more - the owner of a C5 RS6 Avant. It's very tidy and is sitting on coilovers, largely standard except for a Milltek resonated exhaust. There is no chrome so it looks a bit Plus-like.
What to do now?
> Fix the remote fob receiver (as neither fob is working, even with new batteries)
> Change the wheel colour back to grey from black
> Get a rust spot on the tailgate looked at
Here is the obligatory fuel stop shot:
Wish me luck! This one is a keeper...
So for the last few weeks I've been browsing PH, eBay and Autotrader looking for a decent one. I didn't want a silver one, and Mugello blue is lovely but very conservative. I had my eye on two Pluses in Sprint blue but they were £20k and as much as I love them, this is a weekend toy and I don't have that kind of money to blow on it. So I switched to Misano red; a couple came up but one in particular had a very odd history - I put in a low ball offer but it was rejected.
Then I had a look at Gumtree (which I tend to avoid like the plague) and there was - bizarrely - a relatively low mileage red one for sale 20 miles away from me. I phoned the owner, had a chat and went to view it this afternoon. An hour after arriving I am - once more - the owner of a C5 RS6 Avant. It's very tidy and is sitting on coilovers, largely standard except for a Milltek resonated exhaust. There is no chrome so it looks a bit Plus-like.
What to do now?
> Fix the remote fob receiver (as neither fob is working, even with new batteries)
> Change the wheel colour back to grey from black
> Get a rust spot on the tailgate looked at
Here is the obligatory fuel stop shot:
Wish me luck! This one is a keeper...
Uggers said:
Welcome back. And good luck!
Certainly looks nice and bright, looks great.
I said I'd keep mine for a year and sell on before it blew up.
That was 9 years ago and it still hasn't blown up. And if it did, I'd fix it and keep going. Still an incredible machine and getting very rare on the roads now.
Which is when I bought my last one! Great to hear. It was bizarre - I went out for 90 minutes this afternoon with my son pottering at legal speeds. Every single car I came up behind let me past. We do love somewhere very rural, but that was special. And we got waves back from 3 cars going the other way including a fast Jag, fast BMW and Mk 2 Golf GTi. Really enjoying this.Certainly looks nice and bright, looks great.
I said I'd keep mine for a year and sell on before it blew up.
That was 9 years ago and it still hasn't blown up. And if it did, I'd fix it and keep going. Still an incredible machine and getting very rare on the roads now.
Uggers said:
Is your trim sprayed or wrapped? I wanted mine doing apart from the front grilles which are + items already. Quoted £450 to wrap the trim but wasn't sure what the finished product would look like, especially the roof rails.
I'm told it was optioned at build, but I haven't de-coded any of the options in the handbook yet.
What can I add a few weeks in?
The belts need doing so I’d like to combine that with brake fluid, auto box oil, water pump, coolant and a general look around underneath. As much as I would like to take it to Unit 20 I’m very time poor. So the aim would be to take it to RPM Kessington in Bearsden and take it from there. There are some loose heat shields and some rusty ARBs. It drives like a dream and although it’s not perfect it’s pretty good. I’ve enjoyed 3rd gear flappy paddle mode which is good for overtaking anything anywhere and I’m glad to have set a sensible speed limit on the buzzer. I had my last one up to some quite fun speeds but in the intervening 6 years it’s just not worth the risk. So I am enjoying mostly legal speeds and loving the sound of the non-res Milltek at 4K rpm. I’m sure there are big bills round the corner but it will be worth it. And Misano red is the best colour! I need to get those wheels back to silver though…
The belts need doing so I’d like to combine that with brake fluid, auto box oil, water pump, coolant and a general look around underneath. As much as I would like to take it to Unit 20 I’m very time poor. So the aim would be to take it to RPM Kessington in Bearsden and take it from there. There are some loose heat shields and some rusty ARBs. It drives like a dream and although it’s not perfect it’s pretty good. I’ve enjoyed 3rd gear flappy paddle mode which is good for overtaking anything anywhere and I’m glad to have set a sensible speed limit on the buzzer. I had my last one up to some quite fun speeds but in the intervening 6 years it’s just not worth the risk. So I am enjoying mostly legal speeds and loving the sound of the non-res Milltek at 4K rpm. I’m sure there are big bills round the corner but it will be worth it. And Misano red is the best colour! I need to get those wheels back to silver though…
Bit of a footnote. When I had the blue one most people didn’t know what it was, which was great in many ways. With the red one - and with almost none of them around any more - I get people pulling over to let me past; I get waved out of junctions; and I get waves from other interesting cars. It’s a joy to own. My other car is a 20 year older Defender and it’s the same too in terms of people being nice and other Defender owners waving. Long may it last!
A minor update but one which has pleased me - I've had the wheels re-done in RS6 Plus Titan Grey to replace what my teenagers respectfully call 'Community Pharmacist Black'. I think it's made an enormous difference and as the rest of the car has been optioned in Plus spec, i.e., largely de-chromed, I thought I would complete the look.
Done at We Restore Alloys in Stirling, who seem to have done a great job which took three days:
Before
After
After
All I need to do know is find someone who will change the belts and flush the gearbox. After much searching I think Unit 20 might be on the cards so a trip south is in the planning stages.
Done at We Restore Alloys in Stirling, who seem to have done a great job which took three days:
Before
After
After
All I need to do know is find someone who will change the belts and flush the gearbox. After much searching I think Unit 20 might be on the cards so a trip south is in the planning stages.
Batch 7.5R said:
I’m going to echo what many others have said:
1) Stunning car - the definitive fast estate
2) Wheels look much better now and have enhanced the whole car
3) Nearly bought one a few years back!
When we found out we were expecting I looked at one to replace our 2015 S3 Sportback. Mugello blue, Plus Performance Pack, Bilstein coilovers, Milltek, all the expensive bits done and only about 53k miles I seem to remember? Sadly it would have been our only car and I didn’t want to kill what should be an appreciating classic with daily driving, short journeys and car parks. Plus Mrs B wasn’t keen on the step back in age!
I WILL scratch the itch one day though. Same car has been up for sale a couple more times since which rubs it in!
I get that. I kept my last one from 2012-13 (18 months) and it was a daily driver. Weekly really as I was driving to the airport on a Monday and back on a Friday. It was collector condition and two things made me move it on: I thought it was too good to use daily, and I thought I would lose my licence. I’m now in the position where I can have this one as a toy that is stored over winter, and I am almost 10 years older!1) Stunning car - the definitive fast estate
2) Wheels look much better now and have enhanced the whole car
3) Nearly bought one a few years back!
When we found out we were expecting I looked at one to replace our 2015 S3 Sportback. Mugello blue, Plus Performance Pack, Bilstein coilovers, Milltek, all the expensive bits done and only about 53k miles I seem to remember? Sadly it would have been our only car and I didn’t want to kill what should be an appreciating classic with daily driving, short journeys and car parks. Plus Mrs B wasn’t keen on the step back in age!
I WILL scratch the itch one day though. Same car has been up for sale a couple more times since which rubs it in!
I don’t think these are realistic daily drivers and the mileage on this is fairly low for its age, so the plan is to keep it for a while and see whether we get pushed off the road by legislation. Even Mrs w1bbles thinks it sounds fantastic but she’s a sucker for a V8. I’ve lost count of how many V8s we’ve had…
Actually, I’ll try.
RR Classic (1984)
Ninety V8 3.5 (1988)
Ninety V8 3.9 (1985) still have this
C5 RS6 (2003)
C5 RS6 (2002) still have this
Disco 3 4.4
Erm.. that’s 6. Maybe need more!
A quick update for anyone interested. While the RS6 had only done about 4,000 miles since its last cambelt and water pump change, it had been done 4 years ago while the service interval is three years. I couldn't find anyone in Scotland who would do it so I thought a trip to Unit 20 would be sensible. I combined it with a trip to Wales and left the car at Unit 20 for a couple of days.
Rather inconveniently one of the exhaust flexible couplings blew out within 20 miles of leaving home so it was a VERY LOUD trip south, which left me with ringing ears and utter exhaustion! Grizz at Unit 20 kindly patched it up but it needs a new coupling welded in (which is currently under way).
I had asked for a complete health check while it was there, so as well as cambelts, water pump and gearbox oil flush and change it got a comprehensive once-over. I was pretty nervous about this, but the key things were:
Engine sump needs to be replaced at some point due to (a) corrosion, and (b) having bottomed out in the past.
One of the oil cooler pipes has some corrosion and needs to be replaced in due course.
The air quality sensor is goosed.
Both rocker covers are leaking and need to be re-sealed (not urgently).
The rear suspension has some corroded bit (ARBs) and some elderly bushes.
One of the rear callipers is binding a bit.
So I'm going to work through these over the next year or so - a trip back to Unit 20 next year will get this properly under way.
All in all I'm pretty relieved. Their general consensus was that it's a good one.
That's about as little borkage as I could have hoped for! The car is now in dry storage for the winter. Back in spring...
Rather inconveniently one of the exhaust flexible couplings blew out within 20 miles of leaving home so it was a VERY LOUD trip south, which left me with ringing ears and utter exhaustion! Grizz at Unit 20 kindly patched it up but it needs a new coupling welded in (which is currently under way).
I had asked for a complete health check while it was there, so as well as cambelts, water pump and gearbox oil flush and change it got a comprehensive once-over. I was pretty nervous about this, but the key things were:
Engine sump needs to be replaced at some point due to (a) corrosion, and (b) having bottomed out in the past.
One of the oil cooler pipes has some corrosion and needs to be replaced in due course.
The air quality sensor is goosed.
Both rocker covers are leaking and need to be re-sealed (not urgently).
The rear suspension has some corroded bit (ARBs) and some elderly bushes.
One of the rear callipers is binding a bit.
So I'm going to work through these over the next year or so - a trip back to Unit 20 next year will get this properly under way.
All in all I'm pretty relieved. Their general consensus was that it's a good one.
That's about as little borkage as I could have hoped for! The car is now in dry storage for the winter. Back in spring...
Ecurie Ecosse said:
Great stuff, I really miss my 2004 Mugello C5 and the trips to Unit 20.
If you plan it right you can fit in a visit to Portmeirion, where they filmed The Prisoner, whilst the car is being serviced.
That would have been sensible but instead my wife followed me to Unit 20, where I dropped it off. We then drove to Cardiff in the Disco and went to a gig, then drove back through mid Wales and picked it up. Then we drove in convoy to Bedford to stay with friends… and then drove back in Convoy to Perthshire. As we drove through COP 26 convoys on the M74 I did wonder what they would think of the trip!If you plan it right you can fit in a visit to Portmeirion, where they filmed The Prisoner, whilst the car is being serviced.
Fuel - ouch. Although due to the horrendous weather and the RS6’s appetite for aquaplaning I drove to Liverpool at 50mph, contributing to a trip average of 22.6 mpg according to the trip computer. I suspect that’s optimistic but as it normally tells me I’m doing 17mpg, that’s ok in my book.
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