A4 B7 Avant Quattro - Family Wagon
Discussion
I've had this car for a little while now and only just got around to making a thread for it to track some progress. Lets go back in time to March 2023. I part-exed a free Mk4 Mondeo my father was giving away after living with it for a year. I just didn't like the way it drove even though I'd done the usual thing of replace all the dampers and the front lower arms. Plus it wasn't getting used for the long distance stuff he used it for and I could see DPF problems becoming a factor in owning it for the shorter trips we were doing in it. Something more 'up my street' was required, but it had to be something Lady GPM would happily drive too as she was learning at the time. This particular A4 Avant in 2.0tfsi Quattro flavour appeared on Autotrader and it just looked like the right sort of thing. We made a decent length trip up to Oxfordshire from Kent to get it. The dealer made a recommendation for a pub dinner once the deal was done, and here are the pics from the pub car park of the new motor in all its glory:
It's a special edition or something, which means it got the 220bhp BUL engine, along with drilled brake discs, sports suspension, shiny pedals and Alcantara on the steering wheel, gear knob and handbrake lever. It doesn't feel especially fast but it's got 1600kg of Avant body and Quattro hardware to lug around, so I'm not surprised! Oh, and it's done >145k miles, with no history. The car had a good MOT history however, and I trusted my instinct that it was in overall good condition with maintenance having slipped only in recent years. Nothing a good bit of spannering couldn't fix. I also found the previous owner's address and wrote to them asking if they had the old service book, per chance. As luck would have it, they did, and I've got a reasonably good but not perfect bit of history now too!
Here's a shot of the engine bay too:
The first job was to give it a bit of a clean. I pressed it in to daily running immediately and literally just gave it this bit of a clean up in the first couple of months as I was so busy with life/universe/everything. The interior wasn't terrible but hadn't had a deep clean for a while. I thought the steering wheel was grey leather at first. Only once I'd cleaned it did I realise it was Alcantara...
The gear knob and handbrake lever came up similarly well. Virtually as new:
The exterior got a quick wash, and to date all I've done is run the clay bar over it. I've not had time to do any detailing stuff and it's really swirly/scratched but that can wait for another day!
More usage, more miles. I parked it under a tree around the corner from my house once. That was a mistake:
Then this happened:
I had to drive around for a couple of days with no clutch at all while waiting for the new clutch line to arrive at my local dealer. That wasn't fun... To top it off, it's a pig of a job to change. I had to remove the ECU and its water proof box just to see where the clutch line left the master cylinder on the clutch pedal:
You can see the start of the clutch line here, the metal pipe low down in the bulk head with absolutely no room to wiggle it unless you have the hands of a child:
The offending part of the clutch line was the rubber bit. It had rubbed on something and gone pop while I was sitting with my foot on the clutch in traffic. The car lurched at the car in front when I was stopped at a set of lights and instantly stalled as I had the handbrake on.
I also had the notorious rear washer pump problem so I ordered a brand new pump and plumbed that in, only to find the flexi plastic pipe that carries the screen wash to the rear pump had split too! after a bit of digging around I found the split and fixed it:
By now, several months had passed and I'd done precisely zero servicing work on the engine. I have no idea what oil was in there but it was black and filthy. The engine wasn't sounding very happy over 4k rpm on load so I really needed to get on with it. I amassed some parts and made sure I had a couple of free days in my rather hectic schedule so work could begin:
The easiest way to do a big service on this car is to take the front completely off, which is surprisingly easy to do. Within an hour or so it looked like this:
New cam belt and water pump was a must. Stamps in service books don't show that the belt's been changed, and the one I took off didn't look very fresh. It was genuine VAG though, which was nice because the original definitely wouldn't have lasted 150k miles, so it's been changed at some point!
The old thermostat was lazy and stuck slightly open so that got changed too:
The engine mounts were totally dead. You can see the red witness marks of the hydraulic fluid that leaked out a long time ago and the engine moved far too much. The driver's side one was a bit tight to get at because of the proximity of the turbo and the heatshield to protect the mount. You also have to lower the front of the subframe, but that's quite straightforward to do.
Engine mount and extra piece of subframe out too:
Plenty of space on the passenger side by comparison:
And the driver's side buttoned back up:
Which just left a quick oil and filter change and then I could stick the front back on! It's quite modular which means it all comes off in one big unit as below. Quite handy:
If you look closely you'll see a new expansion tank and A/C condenser in there too. I did those at the same time, although I noticed a dodgy A/C pipe which is probably why the system was empty in the first place. I need to have a look at that before I get it gassed back up again. When i have some time I'll delve in to it, but it's a bit low in the priority list.
That's all for this time but plenty more work has happened recently to get this thing back up to scratch as a nice family wagon for Lady GPM, who by this time has passed her test and christened the car 'Ladybird'. No, I don't know either.
It's a special edition or something, which means it got the 220bhp BUL engine, along with drilled brake discs, sports suspension, shiny pedals and Alcantara on the steering wheel, gear knob and handbrake lever. It doesn't feel especially fast but it's got 1600kg of Avant body and Quattro hardware to lug around, so I'm not surprised! Oh, and it's done >145k miles, with no history. The car had a good MOT history however, and I trusted my instinct that it was in overall good condition with maintenance having slipped only in recent years. Nothing a good bit of spannering couldn't fix. I also found the previous owner's address and wrote to them asking if they had the old service book, per chance. As luck would have it, they did, and I've got a reasonably good but not perfect bit of history now too!
Here's a shot of the engine bay too:
The first job was to give it a bit of a clean. I pressed it in to daily running immediately and literally just gave it this bit of a clean up in the first couple of months as I was so busy with life/universe/everything. The interior wasn't terrible but hadn't had a deep clean for a while. I thought the steering wheel was grey leather at first. Only once I'd cleaned it did I realise it was Alcantara...
The gear knob and handbrake lever came up similarly well. Virtually as new:
The exterior got a quick wash, and to date all I've done is run the clay bar over it. I've not had time to do any detailing stuff and it's really swirly/scratched but that can wait for another day!
More usage, more miles. I parked it under a tree around the corner from my house once. That was a mistake:
Then this happened:
I had to drive around for a couple of days with no clutch at all while waiting for the new clutch line to arrive at my local dealer. That wasn't fun... To top it off, it's a pig of a job to change. I had to remove the ECU and its water proof box just to see where the clutch line left the master cylinder on the clutch pedal:
You can see the start of the clutch line here, the metal pipe low down in the bulk head with absolutely no room to wiggle it unless you have the hands of a child:
The offending part of the clutch line was the rubber bit. It had rubbed on something and gone pop while I was sitting with my foot on the clutch in traffic. The car lurched at the car in front when I was stopped at a set of lights and instantly stalled as I had the handbrake on.
I also had the notorious rear washer pump problem so I ordered a brand new pump and plumbed that in, only to find the flexi plastic pipe that carries the screen wash to the rear pump had split too! after a bit of digging around I found the split and fixed it:
By now, several months had passed and I'd done precisely zero servicing work on the engine. I have no idea what oil was in there but it was black and filthy. The engine wasn't sounding very happy over 4k rpm on load so I really needed to get on with it. I amassed some parts and made sure I had a couple of free days in my rather hectic schedule so work could begin:
The easiest way to do a big service on this car is to take the front completely off, which is surprisingly easy to do. Within an hour or so it looked like this:
New cam belt and water pump was a must. Stamps in service books don't show that the belt's been changed, and the one I took off didn't look very fresh. It was genuine VAG though, which was nice because the original definitely wouldn't have lasted 150k miles, so it's been changed at some point!
The old thermostat was lazy and stuck slightly open so that got changed too:
The engine mounts were totally dead. You can see the red witness marks of the hydraulic fluid that leaked out a long time ago and the engine moved far too much. The driver's side one was a bit tight to get at because of the proximity of the turbo and the heatshield to protect the mount. You also have to lower the front of the subframe, but that's quite straightforward to do.
Engine mount and extra piece of subframe out too:
Plenty of space on the passenger side by comparison:
And the driver's side buttoned back up:
Which just left a quick oil and filter change and then I could stick the front back on! It's quite modular which means it all comes off in one big unit as below. Quite handy:
If you look closely you'll see a new expansion tank and A/C condenser in there too. I did those at the same time, although I noticed a dodgy A/C pipe which is probably why the system was empty in the first place. I need to have a look at that before I get it gassed back up again. When i have some time I'll delve in to it, but it's a bit low in the priority list.
That's all for this time but plenty more work has happened recently to get this thing back up to scratch as a nice family wagon for Lady GPM, who by this time has passed her test and christened the car 'Ladybird'. No, I don't know either.
stevemcs said:
Looks tidy, the B7 looks much nicer than the B8. While you have those spanner’s out, drop the sump and check the pickup pipe.
There's a white B8 Avant nearby. Perhaps it's the colour and spec. but it's growing on me possibly as I am passing as a pedestrian or cyclist so don't often look at it front on.I wasn't impressed with the A5 Coupe looks mainly due to the rear sideglass when they came out but having seen the coke bottle hips on the flank while I was on a motorcycle they've grown on me. I parked beside a white one over the weekend but as the NS seat was folded forward I got back in my shed and moved it to another space.
If the door open display doesn't show the bonnet being open when the bonnet is open check the leads to the microswitch on the bonnet catch. If the leads are there and not bare perhaps put some tape around them or give them a bit of water repellant spray?
Edited by carinaman on Monday 6th November 12:31
stevemcs said:
Looks tidy, the B7 looks much nicer than the B8. While you have those spanner’s out, drop the sump and check the pickup pipe.
Thanks. Yes I'll get around to doing that. It's another 'just drop the subframe' job though. Dan_Cart_94 said:
Looks very smart. Nice to see these B7’s getting some love, I have a B8 Avant and missing cruise control aside, it’s a great car
No cruise control here either. I'm going to see how Drewwa gets on with retrofitting his and then shamelessly steal his idea.drewwa said:
Good to see your car getting some tlc. 
These B7s are surprisingly easy to work on for the most part, aren't they?
Cheers,
Drew.
Standard service stuff: yes. Everything else? Not really. Well, it's not *that* bad but certainly not plain sailing as you'll see in the next update. I may have time later on to enlighten the PH collective! These B7s are surprisingly easy to work on for the most part, aren't they?Cheers,
Drew.
E90_M3Ross said:
Great to see these old cars getting some love. No reason they can't go on for many more miles yet and they're decent cars!
Thanks, It doesn't drive too badly now, does it. You know more than everyone else currently though 
Dr G said:
Remember these fondly, and yours is in a really good colour combination.
No reason the belt couldn't be original, they have a 120k interval and you're not that far over:
That car will do loads more miles with sensible maintenance, and sounds like you're getting right on top of it.
Thanks, I love the Misano Red. It's actually metallic but you have to look closely and everyone most likely thinks it's a flat red. When it's clean, and if I get around to 'detailing' it, the colour really pops. It's got a lot of metallic orange flake and it looks brilliant. No reason the belt couldn't be original, they have a 120k interval and you're not that far over:
That car will do loads more miles with sensible maintenance, and sounds like you're getting right on top of it.
The interior leather is two-tone black with grey inserts. I've grown to like it, and it matches the steering wheel/gear knob/handbrake handle too. It seems to last pretty well to boot.
I didn't know the belt interval was 120k miles. It may well have been original then! I guessed about 80-100k and expected it to have had a belt change at some point in the past. I'm even more pleased I've got it sorted now! Where did you get the maintenance schedule by the way? It's probably something that would be very useful to me.
Time for another update, to bring us bang up to date and in the present with maintenance!
The MOT was looming and when I did the previous batch of work above I noticed a few things that were definitely not going to pass. These needed addressing and I had only a couple of weeks to get it sorted before the MOT expired. Sounds easy, but I work a shift rota and also have a house renovation project on the go!
The car needed a good suspension overhaul, all of the front arms had worn bushes or ball joints, or the boots on the ball joints were split. The front brake discs were shot, yet someone had recently put new pads on?! The rear pads were getting rather thin and the disc had a big lip too. One of the front dampers was leaking and I had a wheel bearing rumble starting to develop too. Lots of large boxes from AutoDoc arrived in the post and I got cracking.
The problem with Audi suspension is it seems to be needlessly complicated. The B7 shares the same platform as the Mk5 Golf as far as I'm aware, except it then gets 'Audified' with lots and lots of suspension arms. Four of them each side, and of course the bolt that secures the top two arms' ball joints *always* seizes in place through dissimilar metal corrosion. So does the bolt securing the track rod end...
The long bolt that secures the top arms in the hub required much persuasion and heat but I got it out after a reasonably serious fight:
I cut the track rod with my grinder to make it easier to work on the securing bolt. Again, heat, persuasion of the hammer variety and some patience had it out of the way:
Which left the wheel arch looking like this. No idea why I didn't just disconnect the ABS sensor beforehand instead of leaving it connected and propping the hub up on blocks of wood. I made life much easier for myself on the other side!
The damper, top mount and top arms come out as one piece. That's handy, because you need to set the arms in their correct place so the bushes aren't twisted when the car is at rest on the suspension. I just did one arm at a time so I could use the old one as a guide and then the first replacement arm as a guide for the second. It worked a treat.
I'd obviously had enough that day as I didn't take any more pictures, so lets move on to the passenger side where I documented a bit more. This side was much easier from the off, as I'd honed my technique on the driver's side. The seized bolts were managed with relative ease and I was bowling along quite happily now:
A worn bush that holds the bottom of the damper:
A worn top arm bush:
A leaky damper, (see the stain on the bump stop. The stuff on the spring was probably penetrating spray from the seized bolt removal!)
I ran out of time on that particular day and left the Audi looking sorry in my sorry excuse for a garden. (I did tell you the house was a renovation project, right?)
Next on the list was the wheel bearings. I took the four bolts out from the rear of the hub and this made absolutely no difference to removing the wheel bearing unit. It was completely welded in place through dissimilar metal corrosion. I had to put quite a lot of pressure on it using my vice before it popped off the hub with a large bang!
I then had to cut the old bearing race off the hub being careful not to cut the hub flange itself. Well, not too much anyway... Then I pressed on the new bearing making sure to support it correctly otherwise it splits in to component pieces and you have an unuseable bearing:
The bearing was bolted back on to the hub after a bit of cleaning up.
Have a picture of old damper/bump stop vs. new:
With the new arms and old top mount in place:
Now on to the brakes. Front discs were ridged and lipped and looking rather sorry, but had almost new pads. They were scrap because they'd worn to all the ridges of the rubbish discs. I got some new TRW pads and discs:
The old rear pads were quite thin but not as bad as I thought, or as this picture makes out. The lip of the disc hides a couple of mm of pad! It all needed replacing though, so new TRW pads and discs for this end too:
I put new brake hoses on all around too, because the rear ones were showing large cracks that would definitely have failed the MOT, plus no-one ever changes brake hoses and they're a pretty important thing to do. Especially on a car with 150k miles that is 15 years old. I bled it all through with ATE Typ200 as I had some on the shelf. The brakes feel rather brilliant now
The MOT was passed without an advisory although I know I have a bit of an oil leak. It's either the gasket between the oil filter housing and the block or the gasket between the oil filter housing and the oil cooler. Either way, I've got a new oil filter housing as it's plastic and apparently these things warp with age and heat cycles. When I have some spare time I'll change that and drop the sump to clean the pickup pipe. After that lot it just leaves the timing chain at the back of the engine to swap out! I'm sure there will be a few other odds and ends too. Watch this space
The MOT was looming and when I did the previous batch of work above I noticed a few things that were definitely not going to pass. These needed addressing and I had only a couple of weeks to get it sorted before the MOT expired. Sounds easy, but I work a shift rota and also have a house renovation project on the go!
The car needed a good suspension overhaul, all of the front arms had worn bushes or ball joints, or the boots on the ball joints were split. The front brake discs were shot, yet someone had recently put new pads on?! The rear pads were getting rather thin and the disc had a big lip too. One of the front dampers was leaking and I had a wheel bearing rumble starting to develop too. Lots of large boxes from AutoDoc arrived in the post and I got cracking.
The problem with Audi suspension is it seems to be needlessly complicated. The B7 shares the same platform as the Mk5 Golf as far as I'm aware, except it then gets 'Audified' with lots and lots of suspension arms. Four of them each side, and of course the bolt that secures the top two arms' ball joints *always* seizes in place through dissimilar metal corrosion. So does the bolt securing the track rod end...
The long bolt that secures the top arms in the hub required much persuasion and heat but I got it out after a reasonably serious fight:
I cut the track rod with my grinder to make it easier to work on the securing bolt. Again, heat, persuasion of the hammer variety and some patience had it out of the way:
Which left the wheel arch looking like this. No idea why I didn't just disconnect the ABS sensor beforehand instead of leaving it connected and propping the hub up on blocks of wood. I made life much easier for myself on the other side!
The damper, top mount and top arms come out as one piece. That's handy, because you need to set the arms in their correct place so the bushes aren't twisted when the car is at rest on the suspension. I just did one arm at a time so I could use the old one as a guide and then the first replacement arm as a guide for the second. It worked a treat.
I'd obviously had enough that day as I didn't take any more pictures, so lets move on to the passenger side where I documented a bit more. This side was much easier from the off, as I'd honed my technique on the driver's side. The seized bolts were managed with relative ease and I was bowling along quite happily now:
A worn bush that holds the bottom of the damper:
A worn top arm bush:
A leaky damper, (see the stain on the bump stop. The stuff on the spring was probably penetrating spray from the seized bolt removal!)
I ran out of time on that particular day and left the Audi looking sorry in my sorry excuse for a garden. (I did tell you the house was a renovation project, right?)
Next on the list was the wheel bearings. I took the four bolts out from the rear of the hub and this made absolutely no difference to removing the wheel bearing unit. It was completely welded in place through dissimilar metal corrosion. I had to put quite a lot of pressure on it using my vice before it popped off the hub with a large bang!
I then had to cut the old bearing race off the hub being careful not to cut the hub flange itself. Well, not too much anyway... Then I pressed on the new bearing making sure to support it correctly otherwise it splits in to component pieces and you have an unuseable bearing:
The bearing was bolted back on to the hub after a bit of cleaning up.
Have a picture of old damper/bump stop vs. new:
With the new arms and old top mount in place:
Now on to the brakes. Front discs were ridged and lipped and looking rather sorry, but had almost new pads. They were scrap because they'd worn to all the ridges of the rubbish discs. I got some new TRW pads and discs:
The old rear pads were quite thin but not as bad as I thought, or as this picture makes out. The lip of the disc hides a couple of mm of pad! It all needed replacing though, so new TRW pads and discs for this end too:
I put new brake hoses on all around too, because the rear ones were showing large cracks that would definitely have failed the MOT, plus no-one ever changes brake hoses and they're a pretty important thing to do. Especially on a car with 150k miles that is 15 years old. I bled it all through with ATE Typ200 as I had some on the shelf. The brakes feel rather brilliant now
The MOT was passed without an advisory although I know I have a bit of an oil leak. It's either the gasket between the oil filter housing and the block or the gasket between the oil filter housing and the oil cooler. Either way, I've got a new oil filter housing as it's plastic and apparently these things warp with age and heat cycles. When I have some spare time I'll change that and drop the sump to clean the pickup pipe. After that lot it just leaves the timing chain at the back of the engine to swap out! I'm sure there will be a few other odds and ends too. Watch this space
stevemcs said:
The poxy arms are truly awful on these, our A4 for whatever reason would split the ball joint dust covers every year in the 3 years we had it. I think it was because someone had taken an se and tried to make it drug dealer s line spec with some lowering springs and 19” replicas.
Mine were the original arms so they lasted pretty well at 150k miles and 15 years old. Absolutely nothing apart from routine servicing had been done on this car before I owned it, so it goes to show that they do last. Age had just caught up with this one so things need to be refreshed. You might find your car just had cheap arms replaced with cheap arms. IME they don't last. I've gone for 'Vaico' branded arms on my car because they came as a complete set including bolts and didn't cost the earth while claiming to be of OEM quality. They certainly seem ok but time will tell! drewwa said:
Nice work!
What diameter were your front discs and where did you get the drilled versions?
Mine seem to be the weedy 288x25mm, so might consider upgrading when the time comes.
Cheers,
Drew.
Cheers! My discs are 320mm as per this link: https://www.autodoc.co.uk/trw/7620315 The discs are standard for my car as per our discussion on your thread but I don't know if they'll go on your car without new hubs/calipers. Also, it's a common myth that bigger brakes mean you'll stop better. If your brakes are feeling a bit weedy I'd recommend checking the pads and discs are of decent quality and your calipers are working correctly. It wouldn't be a bad idea to change the flexi hoses given your car is about the same age as mine, and lastly put some good quality brake fluid in. Fresh fluid makes a world of difference coupled with good quality discs and pads.What diameter were your front discs and where did you get the drilled versions?
Mine seem to be the weedy 288x25mm, so might consider upgrading when the time comes.
Cheers,
Drew.
Jesus, that's a monumental effort.
How does it compare to your B5? I've the 2.8 which i really enjoy. Other then it's MOT next week and a cat has just failed. :angry:
Where did you get your replacement sport shocks from? Seems to be a bit of a minefield finding the appropriate sport spring/shocks.
How does it compare to your B5? I've the 2.8 which i really enjoy. Other then it's MOT next week and a cat has just failed. :angry:
Where did you get your replacement sport shocks from? Seems to be a bit of a minefield finding the appropriate sport spring/shocks.
Scoobydrew95 said:
Jesus, that's a monumental effort.
How does it compare to your B5? I've the 2.8 which i really enjoy. Other then it's MOT next week and a cat has just failed. :angry:
Where did you get your replacement sport shocks from? Seems to be a bit of a minefield finding the appropriate sport spring/shocks.
Haha, yes it was a bit of effort but the car feels good now and I'm happy for LadyGPM to drive it around knowing that everything is fresh. How does it compare to your B5? I've the 2.8 which i really enjoy. Other then it's MOT next week and a cat has just failed. :angry:
Where did you get your replacement sport shocks from? Seems to be a bit of a minefield finding the appropriate sport spring/shocks.
The B5 I had was very tired but had that feel of being really solidly built. It felt pretty unkillable. The B7 is a bit less of that but still feels well screwed together. My mk5 Golf GTi felt cheap and plasticy by comparison.
I got the dampers on AutoDoc and just had a dig around on the site until I found the correct ones. I checked the PR codes for my car to work out that the OE suspension was the sports one. If you can wait for delivery then AutoDoc are worth using. They seem to have decent prices and good availability of parts and different brands.
Alex_225 said:
As family cars go that looks pretty ideal! Fair play to you with all the mechanical work, well beyond my abilities!
What impressed me most was the state of it after parking under that tree! haha
Cheers! It's a good family car and it ticks my PH tendancies as a quirky 4x4 estate. From what I've read it's actually a permanent 4wd system on this because the engine is in-line and there is no Haldex. The power is split front to back via a Torsen diff and should be roughly 50:50, and there is a standard open diff at the back. I'd be intrigued as to whether you can fit LSD's...What impressed me most was the state of it after parking under that tree! haha
That pic of it after the tree incident was pretty epic. It had been sat at the side of that road only for 24 hours. It rained and there is a building site further up the road so loads of mud washed down and got splattered up the side of it with other cars passing by. Then the tree shed a load of bits and pieces on top
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