A3 to S3 conversion PICs to come HELP

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Kallum

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Hi all, after looking though some forums ect, iv decided to transform my A3 to an S3 in terms of look, I appreciate there will be true haters who think what I bought should stay the same, but hey, who cares it's my car and I'd appreciate advice from people who have it constructively to help, anyway, I have an s3 rear diffuser and Lower bumper part coming Friday, btw I have an s line 8P 07 sportback special edition. And was thinking ill need to change the side skirts too, I know I need new skirts along with door bottoms and new sills, TPS' prices are killing me here, £160 per side for a skirt damn!! Anyway I'm happy to post pics ect of my transformation as it be. But here's the niggly question, is it going to look utter crap with just a rear bumper and side skirts upgraded?

Looking at the difference between A3 s line and S3 front ends, sure the fog lights surround and different, and a meaner looking lower bumper, but apart from this no major differences. The reason I'm not thinking of doing a front bumper swap is because iv read, I need new bumper, new bonnet and wings? Is this right?

Help me out where you can folks?

Thanks
 
I'm just in the middle of this on my 09 3 3 door myself but I'm also doing the front bumper. To be honest mate I would say you'd be better doing the front bumper as well as when the skirts and back are done they won't line up with the S-line bumper ie they will be slightly lower.

With regards to the side skirts, they will end up costing more than £160, once you've bought all the parts required such as door bottoms etc. I think mine cost £525 all in from TPS with a bit of trade discount, bear in mind mines a 3 door so they cost less.

Defo worth doing though mate looks ace afterwards!
 
A3-black said:
I'm just in the middle of this on my 09 3 3 door myself but I'm also doing the front bumper. To be honest mate I would say you'd be better doing the front bumper as well as when the skirts and back are done they won't line up with the S-line bumper ie they will be slightly lower.

With regards to the side skirts, they will end up costing more than £160, once you've bought all the parts required such as door bottoms etc. I think mine cost £525 all in from TPS with a bit of trade discount, bear in mind mines a 3 door so they cost less.

Defo worth doing though mate looks ace afterwards!
Click to expand...

Yea £160 a side per skirt, trade discount as I work in the trade lol, ye I anticipate it being a lot, so with the front end, have u got costs ect for that? And what do you need to change? Just the bumper? Or more...?
 
Ive got a 56 plate 3 door SLine. I've fitted the S3 rear valance and side skirts. Looks great to me, no problem with the skirts sitting lower than the front end. I'm sure you could get a discreet front splitter to help with that anyway, if you felt it was a problem

My line of thinking was that the rear valance was a relatively cheap mod that made a nice difference. The side skirts were far from cheap, but transform the car which is why I decided on them.... But then when it came to the front end, although I prefer the S3 bumper I still really like the SLine front end too, so couldn't justify the exexpense
 
I'm pretty sure if your going like for like in terms of year (8P2) you can bolt on an S3 front bumper without doing anything else. You can just get an 8P2 S3 bumper is what i'm saying

Yours is an 8P2 - 8P1, 8P2 or 8P3?_
 
£160 done well there mate! Is that with S3 sill covers and door bottoms?

With regards the front end I'm assuming your not going to facelift your car? If that's the case it's just the complete S3 front bumper you need as far as I'm aware. I got mine from Ebay in the right colour.

If your looking for inspiration then have a look at N8's car mate he's got a sportback looks the dogs!
 
SCFC_Messiah said:
Ive got a 56 plate 3 door SLine. I've fitted the S3 rear valance and side skirts. Looks great to me, no problem with the skirts sitting lower than the front end. I'm sure you could get a discreet front splitter to help with that anyway, if you felt it was a problem

My line of thinking was that the rear valance was a relatively cheap mod that made a nice difference. The side skirts were far from cheap, but transform the car which is why I decided on them.... But then when it came to the front end, although I prefer the S3 bumper I still really like the SLine front end too, so couldn't justify the exexpense
Click to expand...

ah ok I see, the skirts are by far the most expensive, I managed to pick up a rear valance and lower bumper part for £80 WINNER! From TPS brand new its 250 plus painting. As for skirts ect then I think ill need to bite the bullet, there are skirts on eBay for £90, but iv read mixed reviews and some say they can come warped or cracked and others says there fine! As for front end, if I could get away with just fitting a bumper I would, does anyone know if I need to fit wings and new bonnet!??
 
A3-black said:
£160 done well there mate! Is that with S3 sill covers and door bottoms?

With regards the front end I'm assuming your not going to facelift your car? If that's the case it's just the complete S3 front bumper you need as far as I'm aware. I got mine from Ebay in the right colour.

If your looking for inspiration then have a look at N8's car mate he's got a sportback looks the dogs!
Click to expand...

ill look Into his for inspiration! No not wanting to face lift! I'm sure I can get an 8P bumper of something like an 08 or 09 model from eBay! The £160 is skirt alone, so more pennies to get the lot!
 
Kallum said:
ill look Into his for inspiration! No not wanting to face lift! I'm sure I can get an 8P bumper of something like an 08 or 09 model from eBay! The £160 is skirt alone, so more pennies to get the lot!
Click to expand...

An 08 or 09 model is likely to be a facelift. 09 certainly is. Facelift is around 58reg
 
A3Kent said:
An 08 or 09 model is likely to be a facelift. 09 certainly is. Facelift is around 58reg
Click to expand...

this facelift stuff is scrambling my brain lol I have no idea what 8P model it is, it's sat on a 56 2007, can I tell from chassis exactly what 8P it is?
 
ok so a 56 plate is a 8P2

so what A3 Kent is trying to say is you can go from what you already have:

ag_07a3_front2.jpg


to this:

s3-grill-19039.jpg



if you go for a 09 front then you would need to change over the wings, bonnet, rad surround etc but that would make the front look like this:

2009-audi-s3-1-588x415.jpg
 
Ash I see what u mean! That's the answer I was after, looks like I'm hunting a front bumper now then!
 
So literally all you need is the front bumper? No cutting bits and pieces to make it fit? Wow, thought there was much more work required than that.... Now I'm interested.
 
Yes, exactly what i was trying to say. I even said yours was an 8P2 earlier and linked you to the different types of 8P variations there are.

Good luck finding the bumper though, they are pretty hard to come by and are expensive as the demand is high.
 
I don't think your getting all the bits you need for £160 per side.
Maybe the actual skirt itself. But you need 2 door blades, and 2 ends as well I think.
Cost price is probably more than that.

I can get stuff cost plus vat, for my own car before you start vultures lol. Through our dealer network, but nearest Audi in our network is about 110 miles. So have to pay courier too.
I doubt I could get them at £160 a side for a sportback.

The skirts on eBay also don't come with blades etc. At least the 3 door ones don't.
 
Thanks for the replys, ill try track a bumper down, I work for a garage so I have lads that love doing bits on the side so I can get paint and labour for next to nothing cash jobs! The £160 per side was just the skirt, I guess with all the bits maybe £200 or more per side, think ill try the eBay ones for £90 per set and get the sills and door bottoms from TPS!
 
A3Kent said:
Yes, exactly what i was trying to say. I even said yours was an 8P2 earlier and linked you to the different types of 8P variations there are.

Good luck finding the bumper though, they are pretty hard to come by and are expensive as the demand is high.
Click to expand...

Does anyone know if I can put a 3 door S3 front bumper from an 8P2 model into my 5 door S-line 8P2 model? Seems they didnt make or at least I can't find a 5 door (sportback) that's any older than 2008 (58).
 
The front ends are the same so yes you can.
 
A3Kent said:
The front ends are the same so yes you can.
Click to expand...

excellent thanks, now trying to find the part numbers for the side skirts, scuff plates and door strips for an S3, anyone have these?
 
Ok, so iv just got a 2008 8P s3 bumper from eBay, complete with fogs grills ect, waiting on seller response, and I have my rear lower bumper and valance arriving tomo, going to paint and fit rear bumper and from bumper first and see how it looks, IMO these are the main features! I priced up skirts and stuff from audi and I'm looking in the region of 5-600 skirt and scuff plates and door bottoms! This is crazy money, so I'm temped to get the fake ones of eBay that take like 30 days to arrive but there £110 inc delivery, and ill file the door bottoms slightly and removed the scuff plates and remove the small feet they sit on and then refit them with some very adhesive type material! What do you all think??
 
When I fitted my S3 skirts, TPS supplied me with the regular SLine door blades by mistake which I didn't find out until it came to fitting them.... Whilst waiting for the correct S3 blades to arrive, the bodyshop cut down my original blades to fit.... It looked awful. I know people have done this to save buying S3 blades, but in my opinion if you're going to do it, you've got to do it right. As well as being a few mm thinner, the S3 blades curve away from the car (hard to explain), which flows down into the skirt and keeps smooth continuity from the door into the skirt. The regular blades curve in the opposite direction though, which leaves a lip where the door meets the skirt. It's hard to explain, but it looked awful.

If you're going to buy the replica skirts, at the very least you want to buy the genuine S3 door blades (I know they're extortionate, especially for the sportback). Whether the replica skirts will line up to them correctly is another matter. Honestly mate, the skirts make the car!.... If you can stretch your funds to get the real thing, then it's worth it IMO
 
SCFC_Messiah said:
When I fitted my S3 skirts, TPS supplied me with the regular SLine door blades by mistake which I didn't find out until it came to fitting them.... Whilst waiting for the correct S3 blades to arrive, the bodyshop cut down my original blades to fit.... It looked awful. I know people have done this to save buying S3 blades, but in my opinion if you're going to do it, you've got to do it right. As well as being a few mm thinner, the S3 blades curve away from the car (hard to explain), which flows down into the skirt and keeps smooth continuity from the door into the skirt. The regular blades curve in the opposite direction though, which leaves a lip where the door meets the skirt. It's hard to explain, but it looked awful.

If you're going to buy the replica skirts, at the very least you want to buy the genuine S3 door blades (I know they're extortionate, especially for the sportback). Whether the replica skirts will line up to them correctly is another matter. Honestly mate, the skirts make the car!.... If you can stretch your funds to get the real thing, then it's worth it IMO
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more!
 
SCFC_Messiah said:
When I fitted my S3 skirts, TPS supplied me with the regular SLine door blades by mistake which I didn't find out until it came to fitting them.... Whilst waiting for the correct S3 blades to arrive, the bodyshop cut down my original blades to fit.... It looked awful. I know people have done this to save buying S3 blades, but in my opinion if you're going to do it, you've got to do it right. As well as being a few mm thinner, the S3 blades curve away from the car (hard to explain), which flows down into the skirt and keeps smooth continuity from the door into the skirt. The regular blades curve in the opposite direction though, which leaves a lip where the door meets the skirt. It's hard to explain, but it looked awful.

If you're going to buy the replica skirts, at the very least you want to buy the genuine S3 door blades (I know they're extortionate, especially for the sportback). Whether the replica skirts will line up to them correctly is another matter. Honestly mate, the skirts make the car!.... If you can stretch your funds to get the real thing, then it's worth it IMO
Click to expand...

fair comment, it's good to actual advice from people who've done it themselves, thanks! Do you have any pics of your conversion? My plan was to fit rear bumper and front, then removed the front mud flaps that look awful, and just run it like that to save some pennies to chuck at audi for the genuine strips, hopefully won't look too bad.
 
A3Kent said:
Nice one, got a link? I haven't seen any on there!
Click to expand...

id be giving a link to a sold item ha! Waiting on the seller sending me pics to confirm, picked it up for £300, not bad IMO, looking at prices on Internet ect it seems reasonable due to its coming complete ready to throw on!
 
Yeah, i just wanted to see it really, think i've found it. Is it the correct colour? You've done well if it is and you can just bolt it to your car!
 
A3Kent said:
Yeah, i just wanted to see it really, think i've found it. Is it the correct colour? You've done well if it is and you can just bolt it to your car!
Click to expand...

waiting for seller to send me pics, as he just had a generic 2008 s3 car pic, but description said from 2008 8p complete with grilles bezels and fogs ect, so he's sending pics first then he'll get his money, unsure about colour yet, but my good m8 works at a body shop under the same company as me (Lloyd motors) so the colour isn't an issue I can get him to spray it up in no time.
 
Rear lower spoiler painted and ready to go;

Image
 
Cool :thumbsup:

I'm tempted the get the platinum grey valance sprayed on mine. I just can't help feel it looks like it was meant to be painted when it's up against my garnet red car. I'm thinking a darker shade of grey in matte or satin (definitely not gloss).... but I'm afraid of making it look even worse
 
HEEEEELLLLPPPP!! The bumper didnt fit?? Why?? It's a s3 sportback rear lower bumper 8P, and I have an 8P (8p2) sportback, what am I doing wrong, it's like it was too small, to be fair I was in a rush, so it's in prices waiting to Be tried again tomo? Can anyone help me?
 
And it's clear I'm being stupid, went back to the bumpers, decided to place the new S3 one on top of the old A3 one to check there actually both the same, and hey presto they are! Ill try fitting again tomo!
 

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new on top of old......
 
Nice! But your exhaust looks to be off centre like mine. I've been meaning to get it sorted but don't know how difficult it will be

Is it just a case of tweaking the mounts, or will it need some proper modification? Anyone?
 
Last edited:
SCFC_Messiah said:
Nice! But your exhaust looks to be off centre like mine. I've been meaning to get it sorted but don't know how difficult it will be

Is it just a case of tweaking the mounts, or will it need some proper modification? Anyone?
Click to expand...

mine seems pretty central, it's the angle I think, I'm sure you could adjust the brackets on the rear silencer, not a big job.
 
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