High Mileage S4 - experiences needed?

[haytch75]

I'd really appreciate any experiences of high mileage S4's? High mileage being 120k plus and what have your experiences been in terms of faults and costs of repairs?
I currently own a 2.5tdi Quattro and I'm aware of the common faults of the B6 (glovebox / plenum drains / wing rust etc) so I'm more interested in engine issues.
I've changed job and have gone from driving 20k to 6k per year which means I can stomach the MPG/Insurance of an S4 but I could really use some real life experiences from you guys.
I'm aware of the timing chain rattle issue and will only buy an example that has a full history and where any chain rattle dissapears after 10 seconds.
I've seen a few posts reporting problems with alternators & susppension arms.
If anyone in the North West fancies taking me for a drive in their S4 to help me appreciate what a good one performs like then i'd be very willing to provide a few beer tokens to cover inconveniences & costs. I plan on buying a good one, treating it well, and enjoying it for a good 5 years +.
Looking forward to your responses.

 

[dualmono21]

ive had my s4 for 7 years now so have quite a bit of experiance with it
in all it has been a very very good car
be wary of the timing chain issue , but also be aware there are several companies at the moment working on a permanent fix which will let the s4 go on for years and years
if the rattle does not go away within the first second or so not ten seconds then leave it well alone
the standard exhaust is very very restrictive and many owners opt for swapping it for an aftermarket system such as milltek
this will release a little bit of the roar you expect with a v8

by now the car should have had its coil packs replaced on the audi improvement scheme , if not book it in at an audi dealer and have the coil packs replaced for free

steering wise the upper and lower arms can suffer bushing problems on higher mileage examples

brakes there are plenty of options available to replace and prices are resonable , beware any s4 which doesnt brake well as the standard brakes are awesome

servicing wise audi,s reccomendation for long life oil is 0w30 for normal use its 5w30 or higher temperature climates 5w40

a lot of the american cars run 5w40 but over here 5w30 is spot on .... ALLWAYS USE FULLY SYNTHETIC

 

[dualmono21]

cam cover gaskets can leak and are a pain to change due to the location of the back bolts
the front engine mount has a tendency to fall to bits and some owners replace with a slightly harder aftermarket rubber compound
the auxillary belt may need swapping as this is the thing that drives the alternator
id advise you change the tensioner as well when doing do

evidence of some or all of these things being done will be a good sign
i wouldnt be too worried about full dealer service history , more so evidence that the maintenance has been done and done correctly
such as reciepts for the parts themselves not a tick in the book which says "yes" thats been done

 

[haytch75]

Thanks for that. Really useful. Yes, I'd rather find an honest example that's had common faults put right or have them sorted out myself. I'm not really one for 'modding' so will be looking for a fairly standard one. Having said that, how much are Milltek systems? I heard one a few months back, it sounded amazing.

 

[dualmono21]

depending on which milltek option you put on they run from around 800 upwards to close to 2.5k if you replace the front cats also with sports cats
some millteks sports cats have been known to fail very very early also so be awre of this

most people go for cat back systems either resonanted or non resonated
the resonated has an extra box in between the front and back boxes .... lets the power out but keeps the noise out of the cabin
the unresonated has no extra box and is straight through gives a great throaty sound but can also drone inside the cabin


its not uncommon for air con pumps to go faulty , power steering is generally not a problem however early on audi advised most owners to slightly overfill the expansion bottle due to warning lights coming on
both air con and power steering are driven directly off the timing chain as is the oil pump , the alternator is driven off the auxillary belt

 

[dualmono21]

if you buy a tiptronic make sure the gearbox oil fluid has been changed every 60k .... even through audi say its sealed for life no oil lasts forever ... after audi america tested the oil for a customer the american audi dealers now reccomend changing it !!!!
this is an expensive job as it can take upto 9 litres of fluid to change it and the last time i looked it was £33.00 per litre
also change the filter and seal while your at it ...roughly £400 in parts before you start with the actual work
BUT when done the gearbox shouldnt give any trouble whatsoever
also look for evidence of the rear diff oil being changed also again around 60k