B8.5 S4 UK advice

[Mantio]

Hi all,

I'm new on here and thought i'd join as this would be a good place to ask some questions in relation to buying a B8.5 S4 Avant in the UK

I've been looking at a couple on autotrader and there's 2 i have narrowed it down to.

one is black and black edition. 14 plate. 79k miles. 5k worth of extra and full dealer history.

the other is a white, but black edition if you get me, with 73k on it and 5k of extras. only partial dealer history but full service history.

both newly serviced and mot'd.

however, the black one is on at £19,949 while the white one (with less miles and 1 extra extra) is on at £18.5

As you guys will know more about what these should be going for is the black one way too highly priced or is the white one really cheap!

Be great to get peoples views. Does dealer history make that much difference to price?

i got a parkers valuation (paid one) for both but the garage where the black one is said thats not accurate (probably becaue it said £18.1k with that mileage). I thought it was the industry guide price place to go.

thanks for any comments in advance.

Ed

 

[Mantio]

to keep is simple links to both below

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classi...=S4 AVANT&advertising-location=at_cars&page=1

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classi...x&make=AUDI&radius=1500&model=S4 AVANT&page=6

 

[AndrewW]

Dealer service history isn’t vital as long as it’s been well looked after. If they’re both local it might be worth going to view both and get a good feel for them.

Few things to look out for:

As they’re both auto, check for gearbox “weakness”, try moving off briskly on an incline in reverse and make sure it doesn’t jump out of gear - this is an early sign of gearbox failure but is less prominent on the B8.5 I believe. More of a concern for my kind of year.

Timing chain noise, chain tensioners can start to go and cause a rattle towards the top of the engine where the timing chain lives. In the early days it’s quite prominent on start-up but quietens down when the engine warms up - so make sure both engines are cold when you get there.

Slow start-up, when it takes 2-3 extra cranks than you’d expect to fire up, sign of a weakening high pressure fuel pump however this usually isn’t the end of the world as I’ve never heard of one failing spectacularly and they’re not mega money to replace... gearbox and timing chain/tensioners are.

I can’t really comment on the prices as they’re a good few year newer than the ones I was looking at but from a very quick look the white one seems to be better value out of the two, with the black being maybe a tad overpriced. I bet they’re both amazing cars though

 

[vaf888]

Might be selling mine soon 2013 saloon 48k miles.

Sent from my ANE-LX1 using Tapatalk

 

[Mantio]

thanks Andrew. that's a great reply as another question was is there anything to look for with them when driving them.

i've seen about the gearbox thing but not how to test it so thats really helpful.

neither are that local. the black one is cardiff and the white one is near nottingham. i went and drove the black one on friday. the dealer has said they don't negotiate on price at all for the first three weeks though and they reckon someone has offered asking price.... but he's 19 and went away 5 days ago to sort insurance and hasn't come back yet. so whether thats true it's hard to say.

thanks vaf, but we are only looking at the avant. we have a 3 month old and a dog so a saloon wouldn't work. even though i probably just prefer the look of them over the avant but it's not practical enough for what we need

thanks guys

 

[RyanJonS4]

Without standing in front of them you’ll never know which is the best or if either is dear or cheap.

Your best bet is to go and have a look at a few and see what condition they are in. I’ve looked at a many cars in the past that look mint on trader and sound mint in the description, yet at as rough as anything in the flesh.

 

[Mantio]

Without standing in front of them you’ll never know which is the best or if either is dear or cheap.

Your best bet is to go and have a look at a few and see what condition they are in. I’ve looked at a many cars in the past that look mint on trader and sound mint in the description, yet at as rough as anything in the flesh.

that's very true. Luckily i've got a mate who lives about 6 miles from the one near nottingham so he's going to give it the once over for me before i trek up there to go and see it, so if's it's not as it looks he can tell me and i won't bother going up there.

 

[Dippy]

The good news for both of them is that they have the 3rd version of the 0B5 s-tronic gearbox which (hopefully) is free of the problems which affected the 1st and 2nd versions.

There was also an updated engine in 2014. I won't go into detail about the changes, except that one of them was a revision of the timing chain design which (again hopefully) means that it should be free of the problem mentioned by @AndrewW. The black car does NOT have this new engine. I can't tell from the advert, but if the white one does (and it would be obvious from a photo because the engine covers are very different), then it would get my vote.

Even though they both have the latest gearbox, servicing is important. I know this will shock you, but in the past I have read at least 2 reports about cars supposedly having FASH but then it turns out that the gearbox service was missed. Unbelievable. It implies that the dealer was either lying or incompetent but of course neither was possible. Probably an act of god or some other imaginary friend. Anyway, see if you can get evidence that both cars have had the gearbox service done. The black one should have had 2 gearbox services and the white only one but the second is due soon. If either car has missed its gearbox service then this is an added reason to avoid it.

P.S. my advice is purely technical irrespective of the prices - I really haven't a clue about the fair value of any used S4, only that it should always be less than an equivalent S5 for obvious reasons.

 

[JohnS3]

Dippy.

What does the modified engine cover look like?

 

[Mantio]

Hi All,

Thanks or all the advice on this. By the looks of it I think it is the updated engine as the cover looks different on the white one rather than the black one.

Having gone up to look at it I bought it there and then so I m now proud owner of an S4. It's had more services than it was dur in it's life, including 2 gearbox services, although i might get one done again shortly just to keep that covered as it wasn't done on it's last service at 70K, but it was done last on 38K.

Having only gone for small test drives the drive back was very much a learning experience. A very enjoyable one too. Even in standard form these thigns are rapid!! I can't imagine how insane a 500+ bhp one must feel!!! I mean they go like stink as it is but i can see what people mean by in stock form the low end is a bit lazy, but once you get them going they do fly. And surprisingly i averaged 32mpg driving back from Nottingham, and there were periods where i was flooring it quite a bit.

Now onto the next phase of owning one... gradually doing a few subtle mods. First up being an air filter as the super charger is super quiet on stock one and I know this unlocks a lot of charger whine.

What do people recommend filter wise? I've always had K+N induction kits in the past, but what are peoples experiences with Filters? any to avoid?

Will post some pics up once i get the chance to take some decent ones.

 

[AndrewW]

Good news! Looking forward to some pictures.

I have the 034 silicon intake pipe on mine with standard air box, it gives a good but subtle supercharger whine (even more so now that it’s stage 2), obviously not as much as a full intake but I like subtle.

 

[Mantio]

Great thanks. Looks good. And black is also subtle under the engine bay too.

I want to keep it subtle for the time being. Will have to convince the mrs it's her ears deceiving her and that the car isn't gradually getting louder and louder every month. Not sure i'll be able to hide that once i change the exhaust on it though ha ha!

 

[Mantio]

Dippy.

What does the modified engine cover look like?

Like this is believe. Forgot to post this the other day.

 

[Dippy]

Congratulations @Mantio
I would recommend you get the gearbox service asap.
The 2014+ CREC engine cover is indeed as per the photo you posted. If you look at the airpipe, that rectangular lump just above the corner is a helmholz resonator and it reduces noise. Changing to a straight aftermarket pipe will increase supercharger noise. I am guessing but if an aftermarket air filter increases noise on its own then I'd have thought it would be marginal. If you are really serious about the noise then there are dampeners on the supercharger housing itself which can be removed.

I would agree with your comment about stock performance. I replaced my stage 2 B5 S4 with my B8 S5. The S4 only had about 315PS but it had a good 560Nm peak torque and was a lighter car, so I thought the S5 might be a disappointment for the first year before I got it tuned (although it turned out to be longer as I had to wait for the SIMOS16 ECU to be cracked). However it was not a disappointment at all. I put that down to the characteristics of the supercharged engine coupled with the excellent s-tronic gearbox.

You are also right about tuning this engine. I have 480PS/585Nm and it it in another league

 

[JohnS3]

Like this is believe. Forgot to post this the other day.

Thank you.

 

[HertS3]

Hey guys,
Read this with interest as I'm the new owner of a 14 plate S4 Avant too. I got it in black, fairly modest spec but it does have the tech pack (nav) and super sports seats which are a nice touch.
I paid around £18.5k with 48k miles on the clock, serviced fairly well (spark plugs done before Audi requirement) but DSG oil wasn't changed, dealer changed it for me at my insistence. Taken out Audi extended warranty, I can't see how they can hold it against me when someone else owned the car and I had it done prior to taking delivery of the car!
My previous S3 was similar, DSG oil changed around the same mileage and (touch wood) no issues with that, though I had other problems!! Rear diff went, long story, on the S3 forum if you're interested lol

Anyway back to the point, I'm also looking to get some more noise, I wondered if anyone has got any kind of mid resonator delete? The 034 one looks good, reviews say it doesn't really drone which is a must for me (my S3 had the valves disabled and droned somewhat).

The car is lovely but just so quiet! I need to hear (at least) some of the power!

 

[JohnS3]

You might want to look at fitting drive select. It’s a new switch and 1 wire on the facelift. You will also need to code it with VCDS. Dynamic mode makes a big difference to the driving experience. Sharper throttle response, throttle blips on down shifts etc... The car has an internal “speaker” on the bulkhead that produces cabin noise ADS lets you adjust this. Not a huge noise difference, but combined with the other changes it does make a difference to the driving experience.

 

[HertS3]

Yep, had ADS on my S3, missing it now (not even been a day lol). I used efficiency also, disconnecting the gearbox gets that extra mpg going.
Funnily enough been talking to @DJAlix about it already

Didn't need the Soundaktor on my S3, with Res delete and valves disabled the engine sound was plenty loud!!

 

[JohnS3]

The sound actuator is already fitted on the S4.

 

[JohnS3]

 

[HertS3]

Yes, as with the S3, I disabled it

 

[Mantio]

You might want to look at fitting drive select. It’s a new switch and 1 wire on the facelift. You will also need to code it with VCDS. Dynamic mode makes a big difference to the driving experience. Sharper throttle response, throttle blips on down shifts etc... The car has an internal “speaker” on the bulkhead that produces cabin noise ADS lets you adjust this. Not a huge noise difference, but combined with the other changes it does make a difference to the driving experience.

So you can fit drive select option onto a car that didn't have it to start with? Surely half of the stuff in it wouldn't work as the car wasn't built with the relevant things in it?

 

[HertS3]

Just software changing a bunch of settings around. You can have it coded with the button even, would just show up on the MMI so you can scroll to it.
Speak to @DJAlix he's the man

 

[JohnS3]

So you can fit drive select option onto a car that didn't have it to start with? Surely half of the stuff in it wouldn't work as the car wasn't built with the relevant things in it?

Yes you can. Clearly if you don’t have sport diff, dynamic steering or active dampers you can’t control them and wouldn’t code them to appear in the menu. You can adjust engine, gearbox and non dynamic steering. Also sound control if the actuator is fitted.

 

[Dippy]

The improved throttle response in dynamic mode is definitely worth having.