Any S4 owners about?

[IceHanger]

I've tried a search before I get told to use the search lol

wanting to pop my V8 cherry therefore looking at buying my first B6 S4 (ok i'm looking at B7's as well on the other forumn but prefer the look..and price of the B6)

Anything to look out for apart from servicing, as mileages seem to be all >80k, I assume bushes will be wearing out up at this age

cheers
IH

 

[s4mark]

Hi mate
I've had my 2003 B6 s4 for a couple of months now and im over the moon, had a full dealer history and only 86k with the clutch and flywheel done by audi at 79k and all recent health checks ok. So much power through the rev range especially from 3000rpm onwards.
so much easier to live with compared to my s3, consumption not as bad as i was expecting, managed 32mpg on a steady motorway run but low 20's around town normal driving. seems strange to have such a small tank in it for a v8 which makes it seem like its guzzling more fuel

 

[Az]

Stop talking about S4's!!! I always find myself looking at them for sale! Have done for months and months. Thing is I'd love one purely for the soundtrack and power, but as my car is everything S4 and extra (i.e interior, suspension, and wheels, + fuel consumption) I can't bring myself to part with mine to get an S4 cos I'd want it to look just like mine does now.

If I could do a straight forward swap with my car for a decent b6 S4 then I would, purely cos I couldn't be bothered with the hassle of selling my car. Lovely cars though, my mate recently sold his S4 avant that was remapped and he drove it hard on tracks, awesome car, never let him down.

 

[S4 Muzza]

sold my S3 a few weeks ago and bought an S4, a B5 though. so much car for the money!

 

[Az]

Nice looking B5 mate! Got any more pics? I do look at B5 S4's as well, I'd prefer a B6 but that's purely for the V8, but, a twin turbo V6 is very appealing too....

EDIT- Just seen your post in the B5 section, very nice mate! Looks very clean, and good to see you celebrated your purchase with a bottle of Peroni

 

[dualmono21]

ive owned my b6 s4 for about 7 years now
theres several very important things to be looking out for on these motors
the first and foremost is chain rattle ... if the chain rattles for anything longer than a couple of seconds ona cold start up
walk away and find another .... its a sign the tensioners are weak and the slapping chain will have worn the guides

auxillary radiators ... a lot of these get leaves stuck in them and they rot the radiator
cam covers the gaskets leak and benefit from being changed
manual gearbox is strong but clutch can be a weak point
rear diff benefits from an oil change around 60k
tiptronic gearbox provided its been looked after is also very very good
make sure the baliffs in the headlights are working correctly and auto adjusting
check the passenger seat for water under the carpet
check the passenger seat works fully as if the fuse blows its a nightmare to get to
air con is a common thing to go faulty as is the alternator
both are expensive to repair
look at changing the serpentine or auxillary belt if any work is done which requires front end to be put in service position
coil packs can be replaced by audi f.o.c if allready not done

anything else p.m me

nath

 

[Az]

Good advise that! Cheers!

 

[S4 Muzza]

Nice looking B5 mate! Got any more pics? I do look at B5 S4's as well, I'd prefer a B6 but that's purely for the V8, but, a twin turbo V6 is very appealing too....

EDIT- Just seen your post in the B5 section, very nice mate! Looks very clean, and good to see you celebrated your purchase with a bottle of Peroni

Couldn't believe how clean it was for a 15 year old, its obviously been well looked after. Only had 2 previous owners as well. And yes, nothing better when the suns out than a 'few' Peroni's and giving the car some TLC!

If its the V8 your after what about an old S6? My neighbour's friend has one and you ALWAYS know when he arrives, sounds unbelievable. Only drawback is its auto.

 

[AlexGSi2000]

I dont know much about the S4 but as dualmono suggested the cam chain can be an expensive issue with these.

 

[Az]

Couldn't believe how clean it was for a 15 year old, its obviously been well looked after. Only had 2 previous owners as well. And yes, nothing better when the suns out than a 'few' Peroni's and giving the car some TLC!

If its the V8 your after what about an old S6? My neighbour's friend has one and you ALWAYS know when he arrives, sounds unbelievable. Only drawback is its auto.

It does look very clean mate, you've got yourself a damn good b5 S4 there, cos there are a lot of ropey badly modified or neglected ones around.

S6's are a bit too big for me really, plus like you say they are all auto's, and although I highly rate my wife's multitronic B6 avant I wouldn't want an auto for my own car which I'd drive every day, I like to be involved with the gears and controlling the car myself.

 

[Chris-Vspec]

[/QUOTE] S6's are a bit too big for me really, plus like you say they are all auto's, and although I highly rate my wife's multitronic B6 avant I wouldn't want an auto for my own car which I'd drive every day, I like to be involved with the gears and controlling the car myself.[/QUOTE]

don't rule out the Auto, when we bought ours I wanted a manual as I like to do a fair bit of track driving each year and like you wanted the involvement. However the manuals are quite heavy to drive around on a daily basis, in standard form they can feel a little lazy. We ended up with an auto, the paddle shifts are great and give you the control you would want on a spirited drive and then you have sports mode too which pushes things further and you can still manually override sports mode too, and at the lights nothing will touch it launching off the line. The autos have a longer final gear too so get better economy on a run in 6th gear.

 

[Az]

don't rule out the Auto, when we bought ours I wanted a manual as I like to do a fair bit of track driving each year and like you wanted the involvement. However the manuals are quite heavy to drive around on a daily basis, in standard form they can feel a little lazy. We ended up with an auto, the paddle shifts are great and give you the control you would want on a spirited drive and then you have sports mode too which pushes things further and you can still manually override sports mode too, and at the lights nothing will touch it launching off the line. The autos have a longer final gear too so get better economy on a run in 6th gear.

I've had autos in the past and have nothing against them at all, just I prefer a manual if I had a choice. Paddle shifts are great though, as long as the gearbox can change gear as quick as you want it to on the limit though. I had a Toyota Altezza RS200 a few years back that was auto and had steering wheel change buttons, that was pretty awful on the limit, changed gear like a conventional auto with the steering wheel shift buttons so it felt lazy and frustrating. But, I have also owned an e46 m3 with the SMG gearbox and that thing was unreal! I took that on a driving weekend to Wales and it was an absolutely stonking car and an even more stonking gearbox! I'd definitely own one of those again in a heart beat.

 

[Chris-Vspec]

I don't think you would be disappointed, I think the positives of them far out weigh the negatives, I find they change pretty fast, our S4 has been re mapped and the changes feel even quicker now, dont get me wrong sometimes when driving in auto I get frustrated when the car notches down a gear when you want to accelerate steadily in the same gear. But on the other hand it encourages you to put your foot down to hear the V8.

If you do end up with one either manual or auto you won't be disappointed at all, they are awesome machines

 

[madmike01uk]

**** sake now I'm looking at S4's. Can you really get 30's on a run? Not long before running a V8 won't be viable, maybe now's the time to do it? Looks like you can get a nice one for around £7k

 

[dualmono21]

ill be honest ive never had over 30 on a run not since the day i bought it 7 years ago
the best ive had is 29.9 on the way back from edinburgh
removing the air compressor shaft makes a big differance to both round town mpg and motorway miles

 

[Chris-Vspec]

I've managed 34mpg in ours doing a steady 60-70mph our car has been re mapped since then and has been showing some slightly improved figures so will see if I can improve on that.

its all down to how you drive it, I keep telling the wife that accelerating like someone's electrocuted her isn't the way for good mpg!!

 

[ricostuart]

Love mine although do think I might sell up even after making the car near perfect. Want more power! Had 32.2mpg from mine a few times and its unmapped at the moment. Really is a great car and a brilliant tourer. The auto is pretty good with paddles.

 

[sammi]

good advice from duelmono1.

As for fuel consumption as a mobile hairdresser i get anywhere between 21mpg and 28 mpg around town and around houses. I have owned and driven some fast cars in my time and the s4 is my first ever auto.... i really love it and in all honesty i dont think i would enjoy the drive so much if it was a heavy manual. the best thing about it (along with the sound) is whooping that smug guy in the m3 at the front of the traffic lights !! If i was you i would drive both and make your own mind up, either way i know the s4 will always leave you grinning and dying to drive it again!

 

[Az]

Stop, stop, stop!!! This isn't good! My wife will chew my balls if she has the most remote idea that I would consider selling my car for another car, especially if she found out that it would cost me quite a bit more in juice each week! :/

 

[Chris-Vspec]

Just tell her petrol is cheaper than diesel and the lowered economy is offset by the fuel costs.... Just don't tell her you will run it on super

 

[Az]

Well the fact I run my car on v power diesel as it is should offset the cost.

You ****** S4 owners are all bad influences!!

 

[dualmono21]

if you want more power and torque from the s4 a normal tune wont cut the mustard as there simply isnt a lot that can be done
with simply altering a normally aspirated map
however ...
if you gut the pre cats and then do the tune , its like driving a differant car
the speed the engine revs and falls off is a lot quicker , the car accelerates a lot harder in any gear with the extra torque
the noise is fantastic from the low down growl and warning that something big is about to happen
to the high pitch wail and gentle pop on the overrun

 

[Az]

if you want more power and torque from the s4 a normal tune wont cut the mustard as there simply isnt a lot that can be done
with simply altering a normally aspirated map
however ...
if you gut the pre cats and then do the tune , its like driving a differant car
the speed the engine revs and falls off is a lot quicker , the car accelerates a lot harder in any gear with the extra torque
the noise is fantastic from the low down growl and warning that something big is about to happen
to the high pitch wail and gentle pop on the overrun

STOP IT I SAID!!!!!!

 

[colinurquhart]

I've had my S4 avant for two years and its such a great all round car and no one expects there to be a V8 under the bonnet either. An aftermarket exhaust is a must to hear the true V8 noise. I've got a custom one done by Stainless Creations in Falkirk and its a work of art. I also had mine converted to LPG last August and now paying 67.7p a litre for gas is superb. About £42 gets me in average 260 miles which is superb so that's another thing to consider.

 

[elhashbrown]

I made the plunge this week and bought a B6 S4 Cabrio at auction. A brave thing to do sight unseen but I got a good price (a friend in the trade bid for me) and it turned out to be a good car with only 67k and a full Audi service history file in the glove box. It's all black with 19 inch RS4 alloys and a stainless quad pipe exhaust that sounds fantastic. It also has a Caractere body kit - fairly subtle as they go but not really to my taste so I aim to bring it back closer to standard. There are a few scrapes to the bumpers so it is taking a trip to the body shop before i get my hands on it next week.

 

[Az]

I made the plunge this week and bought a B6 S4 Cabrio at auction. A brave thing to do sight unseen but I got a good price (a friend in the trade bid for me) and it turned out to be a good car with only 67k and a full Audi service history file in the glove box. It's all black with 19 inch RS4 alloys and a stainless quad pipe exhaust that sounds fantastic. It also has a Caractere body kit - fairly subtle as they go but not really to my taste so I aim to bring it back closer to standard. There are a few scrapes to the bumpers so it is taking a trip to the body shop before i get my hands on it next week.

Welcome to the club.

Sounds like a good purchase.

 

[Az]

I've had my S4 avant for two years and its such a great all round car and no one expects there to be a V8 under the bonnet either. An aftermarket exhaust is a must to hear the true V8 noise. I've got a custom one done by Stainless Creations in Falkirk and its a work of art. I also had mine converted to LPG last August and now paying 67.7p a litre for gas is superb. About £42 gets me in average 260 miles which is superb so that's another thing to consider.

Yours would be my ideal S4 I think! (If it's dolphin grey or misano red with ivory interior then it most definitely is!)

 

[colinurquhart]

Just plain silver with 19" BBS Speedlines.

 

[Chris-Vspec]

This is ours

 

[Chris-Vspec]

if you want more power and torque from the s4 a normal tune wont cut the mustard as there simply isnt a lot that can be done
with simply altering a normally aspirated map
however ...
if you gut the pre cats and then do the tune , its like driving a differant car
the speed the engine revs and falls off is a lot quicker , the car accelerates a lot harder in any gear with the extra torque
the noise is fantastic from the low down growl and warning that something big is about to happen
to the high pitch wail and gentle pop on the overrun

how easy is it to modify the Pre cats, what would I need to do to them?

 

[colinurquhart]

Here's a link from over at AudiSRS.com :: Index on how to remove them.

AudiSRS.com :: How-to: Downpipe removal [B6-S4]

 

[Az]

Just plain silver with 19" BBS Speedlines.

I'd settle for that mate! Very nice!

 

[Az]

This is ours

Then again I'd settle for that too! Very nice once again!

 

[Chris-Vspec]

Thanks, I have a mate with a 2 poster so may give this a go, did it make much difference to the performance and sound of the V8?

 

[Az]

But, I guess mine is everything that of an S4 minus the engine and sound.....

I should keep it.........

 

[Chris-Vspec]

But, I guess mine is everything that of an S4 minus the engine and sound.....

I should keep it.........

i love your car, especially the wheels and seats, you just need that V8 snarling under the hood now,

i can see your dilemma though, could you not get your hands on an s4 and switch out some of your trick bits?

 

[sammi]

AZ your car looks sexy as! I feel for you i really do, we are lucky that we have an a4 to play with as well as having the s4 as our 2nd car. You could always replace the bits on yr car that you want to keep bk to standerd and put them on an s4... problem solved?!!!!

 

[dualmono21]

the performance differance is considerable
personally i would say this is hands down the best performance mod you can do for the s4 as anything else you do do will compliment it... you can do whatever you want to the engine but if it aint breathing properly it wont produce power

mine has been done a while and mine is a tiptronic which is slightly more difficult to do than a manual
the only other consideration is the fueling on start up
without a mod the ecu will recognise the extra fuel given at start up and put the check engine light on after a few miles
theres a bit of soldering to do and messing around but nothing too difficult

 

[Abb]

I've tried a search before I get told to use the search lol

wanting to pop my V8 cherry therefore looking at buying my first B6 S4 (ok i'm looking at B7's as well on the other forumn but prefer the look..and price of the B6)

Anything to look out for apart from servicing, as mileages seem to be all >80k, I assume bushes will be wearing out up at this age

cheers
IH

Have had mine for just over 2years now, without the general wear and tear issues, it has been pretty bulletproof! Guess you get what you pay for, so I think it's always worth your while paying that little bit more for one which shows its been cared for, minimal owners and lots of history. No idea where some members are getting high 20's EVEN 30's on fuel consumption, personally never seen above 25 on a run, mid to late teens around town! Be warned, the sound of the V8 is addictive.....especially when you fit milltek pipes!

 

[colinurquhart]

I also chose the B6 over the B5 due to reliability and a much more modern interior. Although I still have a soft spot the B5, it's still a good looking car.