S4 Buying Advice

[Aojb]

Morning everyone,

Been reading around here for quite a while and found it very useful !

Having had a couple of BMWs I’m looking a coming back to Audi with an S4 Avant.

I’ve found a few interesting looking cars but just wondered if anyone had any input on a couple of things...

I’ve found a 2011 car with ideal spec (pretty much everything possible) on 90k miles which has had a new mechatronic and clutch pack within the last five thousand miles

Also found a B8.5 2012 with similar miles again with ideal spec minus ADS/ Sports Diff.

Is t worth paying the extra money for the facelift even without the diff or will the B8 be the better car ? How significant are the differences between the two ? I am cominh from a 1 year old BMW with a few toys so don’t want to feel like I’m back in the darks ages too much !

Sorry for the lengthy post and thanks in advance !

 

[weekenny]

The car with the better options all day long. You’ll find it easier to sell too when the time comes, there are loads of low spec S4’s where the adverts claim a “high spec”. The earlier DSG cars have a higher rev limit so you don’t need a TCU as much when remapping.

 

[V6_Man]

Hi buddy. A lot of info here. Hope it helps ...

Potential New S4 Owner

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[jdp1962]

Hi, @Aojb , welcome to Audisport.net. Hope you like it here. I agree with what @weekenny says; assuming you're happy with the overall condition of the car, the higher spec car would be the better choice. I like the fact that it's got documented evidence of new parts in the DSG box. Just to be clear, does the fuller spec of the older car include sports differential?

 

[Aojb]

Thanks for the info guys !

@jdp1962 yes the older car does have the sports diff. It’s the newer car that doesn’t. Other than that the spec is identical; panoramic roof, super sports seats, auto boot etc.

I guess the only other difference will be the difference in MMI (and cosmetics like gear knob and wheel). The older one is still 3G High so still shouldn’t be too shabby I guess ?

 

[Dippy]

IIRC the biggest non-option difference between B8 and B8.5 is steering (hydraulic to electric). I don't think I ever drove a B8 so I couldn't judge the difference.

Also as I hope the OP has already researched, there are 3 versions of the DL501 s-tronic gearbox. To get the "good one" (we hope), the car has to have been built mid-2013 or later. The first one has most problems and was in 2009/10 cars. I have looked hard but I can't be sure when the second one went into production, however I am fairly sure the B8.5 had it from the start. But the existence of the 3rd version is evidence that the 2nd still had problems, just less than the 1st. Unfortunately data on failures is not comprehensive, however I think I have read of cases where 1st version 'boxes have had to have mechatronics replaced more than once. So whilst the fact that the 2011 car had 'box work already done does not de-risk it altogether. Also the 1st version had lifetime fit oil filters. Hopefully the 2011 car did get an oil change at some point but were both filters replaced? Only in the 2nd and 3rd versions after the filter delete did the remaining filter become a service item.