Depression beater…

[89forever]

Having taken a year off from life…. It all just got a bit meh and I focused on family and health. All things car really just took a back seat.
I got rid of my old S5, my Fireblade went. My A8 has sat dormant in mothballs on the driveway. The other half’s A3 got written off just before Christmas and that was replaced with an immaculate A4 Avant B8, nothing flash but just a nice daily for she who must…. to use.
So why the title thread? Well what’s a true petrolhead without something petrol in his life…..
For those that have ever read any of my threads will have seen I’m very loyal to Audi…..

So what have I got to drag my mood up out of the doldrums?



Yet another S5….. this time a 2008, so yet another Full Fat one….
Deal completed today and feel a little buzz of excitement for things with wheels again.
Needs some love, and whoever fitted the front Rings needs beating with a stick…!!!
Will stick some more images up tomorrow

Gets delivered next week….

[89forever]

Images are off the dealer…. Great guy to deal with.

Nothing needs immediate attention but just a good going over. Then the list of what it needs will be made.

Definitely not joined the electric brigade yet and this is not planned on being a daily driver…!!!
Car shows for me and my daughter I think….!!!

Edited by 89forever on Wednesday 8th February 21:13

[89forever]

Monster Mash said:

Pleased to hear you’re back on track 89forever, that’s a lovely looking S5.

Strangely enough I was thinking the other day that I hadn’t seen any thread updates on your cars for a while, quite enjoy seeing the work you do to your Audi’s. How is your dads TT going?

Hopefully she’ll be more lovely…. It was wrenching letting my last S5 go but it needed to….
I’ve not touched Dads TT in ages, had the last year away from anything automotive…. Properly lost all my mojo for it all, can’t really explain it…. It was like that part of me stopped being me. Been getting a small fix by looking at Readers Cars daily but more of a stalker lol
I did go back all over the previous images today of my old S5 and thought that I’ll make this even better.

[89forever]

raucousV8 said:

That's a pleasing number of cylinders Looks great too, bookmarked - hope you have many happy miles.

Just the right amount to please the soul….

[89forever]

CG2020UK said:

Cracker of a car!

I was seriously tempted by one of these but it wasn’t the right time for me.

Thank you, hopefully she’ll be. In my mind she’s new enough for the techno fix, but old enough to have classic lines…..

Now’s the time as hopefully prices have bottomed out as they become more enthusiastic owned.

[89forever]

few more pics as well... why the hell not...!!!

current plan is to remove the blacked out rings and put the Chrome versions back and ensuring the front rings are back in the correct location. I quite like the RS5 style grill as they have also replaced the fog light grills to match. If the quality is naff then i'll hunt for a "black edition" S5 grill as on my last S5.

I can't tell if the aluminium mirror caps have been wrapped, or replaced. They need to go back to the aluminium versions also.

The black edition window trims appear to have been painted and it looks flaky in a few places, that'll be removed and repainted black as i prefer that.

the interior has the same silver leather as my old S5 and has worn the same, so i'll treat that as previous.







the rear lights are curious, i wasn't aware that tinted aftermarket lights exist. Fingers crossed they are just sprayed and with a sand and polish they can be brought back to the original red.

time will tell

[89forever]

CSK423 said:

Brilliant cars, had a 2008 around 10years ago. Owned for about 5 years, phantom black with black interior. The noise is addictive and nice to see you've chosen a manual.

I suspect the window surrounds are wrapped as they came chrome with no option to black out on that year. I would remove the after market window tints and as you've said return to colour the rear lights. I asked the Audi dealer to change mine to the facelift LED lights, circa £800 back then, just modernised it slightly but still

You suspect wrong lol, they are painted, as we’re mine on my 2007 S5. The caveat here is that I removed mine in their entirety and removed all the anodising and painted them properly. It (IMHO) these may have been painted in situ and hence why the paint is peeling…. These will be done properly.

The rear tints are too chav and not for me, they’ll be removed at the earliest opportunity.

The noise is indeed addictive and is not my first foray into an Audi V8, this being a toy and won’t be a daily it could only ever be a manual….

[89forever]

Monster Mash said:

The main thing is that you’re getting back on track and feeling yourself again. I can kind of relate in a small way, I usually can’t wait to spanner on my summer toy or head out on a road trip but in 2022 I didn’t have my usual enthusiasm for it all and still have the parts stacked up that I collected last winter. I managed one show but wasn’t too interested in the cars - catching up with mates was good though. Hopefully this thread inspires me to get things back on track!

Hope your dad is still enjoying the TT, I have a soft spot for them!

Every day forward is a good day..... talking of good days.... something black and sinister turned up today (my fault it was a day later)



is it greedy having 2 V8's now in today's climate? of course SWMBO is chewing my ear that we don't need 3 cars, my suggestion she walk and i get rid of her car met with an unhappy face......



quick VCDS scan revealed absolutely no issues, quick recoding of various modules to change things to how i like and then have a look around.
The day is that miserable wet small rain where everything feels manky and bleaugh so no going underneath.

Interior needs a proper going over



if any one remembers my last S5 i made that look new, i expect the same with this.

and then the best part



it's a petrol V8... missing the main cover sadly but no obvious issues, or faults. No idea what's happening in the coolant but i want a new bottle and fresh coolant in there asap...

can i order some sunshine please?

[89forever]

Brett748 said:

A V8 makes everything better. Best of luck with the car, family and health.

They do indeed….. in an ever growing world of EV it’s nice to have a V8

[89forever]

deebs said:

Like the light coloured interior

Once cleaned and treated it’ll look a lot better, but it is one of my favourite colours and brightens up a dark coloured car.

[89forever]

Mr Tidy said:

Good to know you have got your car mojo back.

Now enjoy that V8!

I wouldn’t say it’s fully back but I’m working on it…. I loathe this time of year as the weather is wet and miserable and cold….. I’m definitely a summer person…!!!

[89forever]

deebs said:

I have the same car with red interior. I quite like it, and it's faired well, when it's clean and treated it looks great.

What mileage is the new car on?

she shows 121,000 which for a 15 year old car averages 8k a year which i don't thinks to bad. She certainly doesn't look high mileage.
I expect her to be very sparkly by the time i've given her a good going over.

[89forever]

fred bloggs said:

I love the look of these.

i'm quite partial myself lol, this being my 2nd S5 and having owned numerous S2 Coupes and ur quattro's over the years. I do like Audi coupes lol

[89forever]

Evil.soup said:

I like the look of this and love a thread where people simply put a car right with some TLC, always makes a great read. Good luck with it!

she will get the correct TLC in all the right places and a few OEM+ type tweaks, nothing barry obviously lol

[89forever]

the black rings were bugging me so much that i've taken them off, i don't like the badgeless look either but it's preferred to the black rings lol.



apparently under all the dirt my S5 is black....



both badges had been stuck up with B&Qs finest bathroom sealant and were barely stuck on, so neither put up much resistance to coming off, why do people bodge things???

I'll order a rear badge from Audi, i have a chrome front grill in the parts stash somewhere but the aftermarket grill doesn't have the provision for attaching it.

Curious to know what others have done which doesn't involve black bathroom sealant???

[89forever]

So what have we learned today? the wheels are off balance, no biggie.

It was a nice surprise to see the wheels had been freshly refinished (poorly), the inside of the barrels haven't had any of the old weight glue removed and has just been blown over.... the outer faces look presentable but i'll redo them properly when i fit new (decent) tyres, currently got a mismatched set of ditchfinders....

This made me chuckle as the expert balancing stood out and probably accounts for the wobble, never ever seen double stack weights in over 30 years of vehicle ownership hahaha



the wipers wipe awfully.... this probably explains why? surely this is basic maintenance?



both are the same

and i even washed the S5 and the A4, despite it raining today.... was quite therapeutic washing them in the rain hahaha



i have to admit that 3 Audi's is too greedy, i need help... but in my defence only 2 are quattro...

[89forever]

Evil.soup said:

There is a list of other jobs that need doing as well, maybe I should start a thread to get me going lol!

all that is stopping you is you..... get it done!!!

[89forever]

so onto today... the new v5 arrived and immediately transferred the nonsensical private plate off and got rid of.
Insurance updated etc.
Original registration reapplied which could only mean one thing, time to buy some new number plates.
Any new car (new to me) i have bought i have always put brand new plates on, the car isn't mine until i have done this ritual...
It serves a number of functions

1, gets rid of old rubbish dealer plates (i'm doing free advertising for no one lol)
2, allows me to clean the years of laziness and abuse always found under any number plate
3, ensures the plates are fitted straight, how people get them on the wonk is beyond me...!!!

I'm neither bling or a chav and just prefer a standard script, stock background, standard font number plate.
To me it looks far cleaner. My only rebellious streak is i refuse to have the postcode and BS script on the plates... i know, i know i'm going straight to jail.....!!!!

Plates ordered and hopefully arrive in time for the weekend.

Evan had a comment from the OH that it looks far sleeker than the old S5, apparently she prefers them black... (i raised my eyebrows)

Edited by 89forever on Thursday 23 February 17:57

[89forever]

Boozy said:

Big fan of these and have been tempted by them several times....I'm glad you're on the mend head space wise, it's important to recognise when you're not. I couldn't help but notice you appear to be a cone head in your picture from Monday :-)

Spitting image….!!!

[89forever]

Monster Mash said:

Keep up the good work 89forever - making a car your own and improving it in the early stages is one of the most exciting parts of getting a new car for me

Thank you and absolutely it's all a part of the fun for me and it's a constant journey of enjoying it as a project. Make a vision of the end goal and work towards it.