The Audi Thread

[ubercal]

eish i dont trust Mr Turbo stuff.Looks like chinese junk / knock offs.Personally going to be purchasing an original garrett turbo directly from one of the official Garett distributors overseas soon.

 

[PhireSide]

Which engine does your A4 have? My B6 A4 had twin SMIC’s but I haven’t seen a similar setup in a while.

2.0T BWE, so the setup looks similar to the below (well, mine doesn't, but it should):

 

[PhireSide]

eish i dont trust Mr Turbo stuff.Looks like chinese junk / knock offs.Personally going to be purchasing an original garrett turbo directly from one of the official Garett distributors overseas soon.

Mine was a remanufactured part, and it came in a box labelled EURO TURBO. It looked to be pretty high quality, the only difference being the compressor was billet on this one vs the stock core I removed. I suppose only time will tell whether it will last.

 

[Neuk_]

2.0T BWE, so the setup looks similar to the below (well, mine doesn't, but it should):

View attachment 1333890

Pretty much the same as what my old B6 A4 ran, still got a bit of heat soak but nowhere near as bad as single SMIC cars like my 9n Polo 1.9 TDi.

 

[Sharan]

Anybody in Hatfield willing to do a vehicle inspection for me? PM me

 

[PhireSide]

One other resource that I failed to mention is AUDI ERWIN.

It is an Audi system that workshops can use to gain access to technical data. It's not free, but you can pay to gain access for a fixed time period, and then you can download as much as you want.

I think I paid around R100 for an hour access, which was enough to grab all the B7 A4 documents that I needed for my car.

erWin Flatrate not logged on (audi.com)

Pricing:


Info available:

 

[PhireSide]

I finally replaced my driver's side window switches, as some of them were a bit funky and looking worse for wear. Out with the old and in with the new:



I also took the opportunity to fit the puddle lamps that I bought a while back. They're pretty bright when it's dark out, also that blue ring around the logo isn't as noticable in person. The camera seems to pick up more on it for some reason.

 

[6spdmanual]

I finally replaced my driver's side window switches, as some of them were a bit funky and looking worse for wear. Out with the old and in with the new:

View attachment 1337904

I also took the opportunity to fit the puddle lamps that I bought a while back. They're pretty bright when it's dark out, also that blue ring around the logo isn't as noticable in person. The camera seems to pick up more on it for some reason.

View attachment 1337912

Loving this! Keep at it. Once I have matured a bit and don't spend money like a fool, I plan on doing something similar. Would love a 335i Touring I can work on like this.

 

[PhireSide]

Loving this! Keep at it. Once I have matured a bit and don't spend money like a fool, I plan on doing something similar. Would love a 335i Touring I can work on like this.

Some say we never grow up...we only grow old

I'm honestly loving it, plus it's old enough to not be too filled with electronic wizardry so most things I can sort out at home. Still loving the ride, still hating the fuel consumption, but I take my wins where I can get them.

If you haven't already, you should check out M539 Restorations' playlist on the E46 Touring - it sounds like it might be right up your alley.

 

[wingnut771]

I finally replaced my driver's side window switches, as some of them were a bit funky and looking worse for wear. Out with the old and in with the new:

View attachment 1337904

I also took the opportunity to fit the puddle lamps that I bought a while back. They're pretty bright when it's dark out, also that blue ring around the logo isn't as noticable in person. The camera seems to pick up more on it for some reason.

View attachment 1337912

Where you get the parts?

 

[PhireSide]

Where you get the parts?

The window switch I picked up at Goldwagen, cost was around R350 or so. The puddle lamps I got off Takealot and they were R500 I think. I ordered a pair from AliExpress a few months back but they never arrived. Would have liked to put them in the rear doors but oh well.

 

[Neuk_]

I finally replaced my driver's side window switches, as some of them were a bit funky and looking worse for wear. Out with the old and in with the new:

View attachment 1337904

I also took the opportunity to fit the puddle lamps that I bought a while back. They're pretty bright when it's dark out, also that blue ring around the logo isn't as noticable in person. The camera seems to pick up more on it for some reason.

View attachment 1337912

VAG interior soft tough surfaces have at least gotten better over the years The B5 and B6 A4/MkIV Golf/9n and 9n3 Polo platforms interiors really aged badly if they weren't looked after properly.

 

[PhireSide]

VAG interior soft tough surfaces have at least gotten better over the years The B5 and B6 A4/MkIV Golf/9n and 9n3 Polo platforms interiors really aged badly if they weren't looked after properly.

I absolutely detest the 'soft touch' rubber that inevitably starts to become gunky and peel off after a few years of exposure to the sun, and I know these were commonplace on the E39/E46 BMW's as well.

The B6 and B7 are pretty similar as far as the interior goes, I think the main difference being that on the B7 they added steering wheel controls which were a nice touch. They both had awful cupholders, though.

The B6/B7 interior aged well, considering the B6 was launched 22 years ago:

 

[Neuk_]

I absolutely detest the 'soft touch' rubber that inevitably starts to become gunky and peel off after a few years of exposure to the sun, and I know these were commonplace on the E39/E46 BMW's as well.

The B6 and B7 are pretty similar as far as the interior goes, I think the main difference being that on the B7 they added steering wheel controls which were a nice touch. They both had awful cupholders, though.

The B6/B7 interior aged well, considering the B6 was launched 22 years ago:

View attachment 1338008

Oof Alcantara, CF, SatNav, manual, etc. I do miss my B6 A4 at times, despite having the red headed step child 1.8T engine it just drove so well, good fuel consumption, gave me minimal issues and was cheap to maintain.

 

[PhireSide]

Oof Alcantara, CF, SatNav, manual, etc. I do miss my B6 A4 at times, despite having the red headed step child 1.8T engine it just drove so well, good fuel consumption, gave me minimal issues and was cheap to maintain.

I could honestly never figure out Audi's spec levels. But granted, I would also imagine that many cars were specced differently at the factory so that also could explain why certain cars have things from a different spec level.

For example, mine has xenons but no adaptive headlights, Sat Nav and phone package but no Audi AMI, heated seats but with manual adjustment, rear PDC but no tilting rear-view mirrors...it's an odball package for sure.

 

[Neuk_]

I could honestly never figure out Audi's spec levels. But granted, I would also imagine that many cars were specced differently at the factory so that also could explain why certain cars have things from a different spec level.

For example, mine has xenons but no adaptive headlights, Sat Nav and phone package but no Audi AMI, heated seats but with manual adjustment, rear PDC but no tilting rear-view mirrors...it's an odball package for sure.

Yep, Audi and VW have basic trim levels and then lots of individual options, so you get some bizarre creations out there in especially the mid level cars.

 

[Wrath of Khan]

Anyone ever changed a front lower control arm, or the sway bar bushings?

My A5 model is 9 years old, and it's always had a creak going over speedbumps at an angle, but turning 90 degrees at low speed like 10kph and going up hill (if that all makes sense) like turning into a steep driveway.. and the car sounds like its a spring winding up, doesn't sound nice.

Now of late if I park and then reverse and turn out, there is a clunk from around my feet (both sides I think)

I'm thinking either lower control arm, or sway bar bushings? I'll remove the plastic plate underneath later but this is my one lower control arm, you can see the bushing looks stuffed.. do you think that is the culprit? mmmm

 

[wingnut771]

Anyone ever changed a front lower control arm, or the sway bar bushings?

My A5 model is 9 years old, and it's always had a creak going over speedbumps at an angle, but turning 90 degrees at low speed like 10kph and going up hill (if that all makes sense) like turning into a steep driveway.. and the car sounds like its a spring winding up, doesn't sound nice.

Now of late if I park and then reverse and turn out, there is a clunk from around my feet (both sides I think)

I'm thinking either lower control arm, or sway bar bushings? I'll remove the plastic plate underneath later but this is my one lower control arm, you can see the bushing looks stuffed.. do you think that is the culprit? mmmm

I had 4 upper control arms replaced at Hi-Q.

 

[PhireSide]

Those bushings look properly toast...how many kilometers on the car at the moment? For parts you could look at around R6 - R7k for tie rod ends, control arms, etc and then probably another R2k for labour I would say.

Here's an example, but I can't personally recommend this site as I don't have any personal experiences with them

AUDI A4 A5 07> FRONT SUSPENSION KIT FRONT (LH, RH) – Interspares Online

 

[Wrath of Khan]

ah cool I'll give them a shout.
what I thought was to first change the sway bar bushings as that's the cheapest... I can start there and tick that off the list if it doesn't work.

Car has 70,000km on the clock... but out of the freeway plan.

I called Audi and they want R600 per little rubber bushing for the sway bar.. it's a 5min job I swear.. 1 tool needed, fml. Meanwhile ECS tuning in America land is $10 OEM part from Audi... everything is a rip off in SA