S4 B5 Anyone got one.What do you think of these cars
Discussion
nickyandsi said:
I myself drive an Audi S4.Just wondered if anyone else got one,and how you find yours.
I love mine soooo much,next step RS4 B5 one thinks.Beautiful cars,quattro and preety damn
quick. I just love Audis.
I love mine soooo much,next step RS4 B5 one thinks.Beautiful cars,quattro and preety damn
quick. I just love Audis.
Awesome car - I miss mine a lot - it was 99T, Avant, Nogaro with black leather heated recaros, sunroof, sat nav, TV, BOSE, 6CD, RS4 rear spoiler, Eibach Pro-street-S adjustable suspension, quattro GMBH anti roll bars, 18" BBS CH wheels with Pirelli P-Zeros, and was a labour of love!!
Sold it stupidly to get another 911, and now wish I hadn't...
I'm in the market to buy another Avant - S4 or RS4 if you know a high spec one for sale at decent money?
Your avant looks very nice.What is it about the Porsche your not as keen on.
Mine has not got the tv but all the standard stuff. I do love it though.Im a big,big fan of the RS4 And RS6,fantastic cars.Have you thought about these cars or are they stretching your budget. The other half is after an RS6. I went in one at one of the Audi Track days,and the RS6 was pushing 550bhp,ive never been in anything so quick.Fabulous car whilst having all the gadgets and luxury.
Mine has not got the tv but all the standard stuff. I do love it though.Im a big,big fan of the RS4 And RS6,fantastic cars.Have you thought about these cars or are they stretching your budget. The other half is after an RS6. I went in one at one of the Audi Track days,and the RS6 was pushing 550bhp,ive never been in anything so quick.Fabulous car whilst having all the gadgets and luxury.
Bought the S4 from a guy who was buying a 911 to replace it, spoke to him several weeks later and he said exactly the same, the 911 is nowhere near as user friendly or engaging to drive. Have you tried looking at :- Autometrix, RS246.com or even Autotrader.I appreciate your looking for a certain spec but its worth a try. I picked my S4 up from Autotrader,at a bargain £6,500,and only 79,000 miles.An offer not to be missed though 
nickyandsi said:
Bought the S4 from a guy who was buying a 911 to replace it, spoke to him several weeks later and he said exactly the same, the 911 is nowhere near as user friendly or engaging to drive. Have you tried looking at :- Autometrix, RS246.com or even Autotrader.I appreciate your looking for a certain spec but its worth a try. I picked my S4 up from Autotrader,at a bargain £6,500,and only 79,000 miles.An offer not to be missed though
Oh don't let anyone tell you the 911 is not as good a driver's car - the S4 Audi has relatively woolly feeling steering, and almost zero feedback through the wheel, and power delivery that all comes in a kind of soft edged "woooosh" - which is great, but a 911 is like driving a scalpel by comparison.
The feedback through the constantly writhing wheel, the adjustable chassis reacting to being fired out of corners on a fully open throttle and awesome poise at 100 - 150 mph on a twisty road are all 993 Porsche hallmarks,
It's just that on a very wet and rainy dark night having finished a days work or hill walking or something I don't want to drive a scalpel anymore!!
I want the comfort and "wooosh" turbo performance without winding the engine up to 6000 rpm, and the quattro four wheel drive and the Xenon headlamps and the BOSE sound system of the Audi!
Yes there are some saloon bargains out there for sure, and £6500 is an amazing price for so much car, with Avants a bit more expensive.
I sold mine for £11600, and have been looking on those kind of sites for a replacement. Although I haven't tried Autometrix - thanks for the tip!
So far looking at Avant S4s for £11000 - £17000 which just about gets me into the newer 4.2 V8 cars, and RS4 Avants for £17000 - £20000.
I'd love an RS6 Avant, but prices to high for me for a 3rd car at moment (have an Audi A4 as company car and Mrs. Drybeer has a Polo).
nickyandsi said:
Cool,if i see anything of any interest ill post on here for you.
Did you have any problems with your S4. Just wondered if theres anything i need to look out for really.
Did you have any problems with your S4. Just wondered if theres anything i need to look out for really.
Well.
When I bought mine, which had been "chipped" years before, it instantly developed a power problem.
When on medium to heavy throttle, when boost built up the power would seem to peak but would then bleed away, and the engine went into "protection" or "limp home" mode. This was very alarming when you were mid over-take and the engine turns from 310bhp to 100bhp.
Lots of diagnosis time went by with a new N75 boost control (in this application it not only controls how much boost the turbos give but also controls the waste gates) valve being fitted, to no avail.
Eventually a burts intercooler on the n/s/f of the car was discovered, and a new one £150 for part plus some hosing) sorted the problem.
The brakes were weak, and had a bad vibration.
So fitted new discs and pads all around, but in particular a "pulsing" through the brake pedal could be felt - it appeared at about 15mph and was there until just before the car stops.
Thinking about this logically - the ABS doesn't work below 4 mph, so this was a clue.
Now, VAG-COM diagnostic plugs into the car, and interrogates a fault computer memory. This cleverly is located in the dash insert (instrument binaccle where your speedo etc is). However the faulty ABS would not communicate with the dash and hence not with the VAG-COM either.
The ABS unit on the car (look under the bonnet, near the passenger's suspension turret) consists of two items: an electronic ECU and a mechanical pump. The pump is rarely at fault, so I started looking into fixing this. The two parts can be un-coupled.
A new ABS unit from Audi at COST price is £638 + VAT complete, so I started to look elsewhere.
I found a link on e-bay for a guy who will repair the BOSCH made ECU and give it a two year guarantee for £220. His fault description fitted exactly my circumstances!
So I despatched the item (car off the road until) and got it back fixed in just over one week!
Result!!
However the brakes still pulsed.
But as we could now interogate the fault memory, we ascertained that the fault lay with a wheel sensor.
The wheel sensors feed back revolution per wheel info the the ABS unit. Therefore it can tell if all wheels are travelling at similar speeds or not to activate ABS, ESP etc.
There are two items per wheel. 1. hubmounted speed pulse ring (undo the rear CV bolt in hub sensor and pull hub outward to reveal). 2. speed sensor in centre of hub.
Sadly on these age of vehicles the speed sensor is likely rusted into the hub centre, so it's a B******D to get out.
But once you know the fault you can replace the faulty part.
Sat Nav. If the unit gets lost each day, the antenna on the roof will be goosed. Replace - £100 should cover it.
So that combined with new Eibach coil over adjustable bound and rebound and ride height suspension (£1500 fitted at Bedrock Vee-dubs, Motherwell) and better brakes, BBS alloys, new tyres, upgraded Sat Nav software, and more cost me a bomb!!
But I got a fair price for it when I sold it.
And I thoroughly recommend upgrading your brakes to RS4 items or Porsche items or doing a suspension change before going for more power:
see Chris Ostberg's site also:
[url]www.nogaroblue.com[/url]
he really knows his stuff and will give advice too - just don't expect an instant reply - he's a busy guy!!
Edited by drybeer on Sunday 4th March 19:27
Edited by drybeer on Sunday 4th March 19:30
You will find a whole forum dedicated to this model on www.rs246.com
Yup, Got a 99 S4 Avant (possibly one of the lowest milage ones in the country for its age). Love the torque and grip I do wonder why they gave it 6 gears though when 2 or 3 max would suffice LOL.
Best (and cheapest) mod is to get a quickshift fitted.
When I got mine initial rolling road result only gave 222bhp, I diagnosed a burst TB Boot and replaced this. I also replaced the other "weaker" items Maf, diverter valves & f hose.
Next run showed 318bhp which was much more like it.
It is probably one of the overall best cars I have owned, its understated but can hold its own against nearly everything else on the roads.
Enjoy
Daz
I do wonder why they gave it 6 gears though when 2 or 3 max would suffice LOL. Best (and cheapest) mod is to get a quickshift fitted.
When I got mine initial rolling road result only gave 222bhp, I diagnosed a burst TB Boot and replaced this. I also replaced the other "weaker" items Maf, diverter valves & f hose.
Next run showed 318bhp which was much more like it.
It is probably one of the overall best cars I have owned, its understated but can hold its own against nearly everything else on the roads.
Enjoy
Daz
Edited by Big Daz on Wednesday 7th March 13:37
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