My S4 Widebody (Warning long post and lots of pics inside!!!)

[Ash2341]

Hi Everybody!

Been a member here for awhile and thought i would finally introduce myself as i have been lurking around here as well as some other audi-centric forums for a bit. Mainly been on s246 and now on audisrs.com, but thought i might put some pics up on here of my S4.

Well where do i start? Had my '99 S4 for about 5 yrs or so, totally standard at first, and then i put a few bits on it like a milltek single exhaust, gutted precats, remap at MRC and it was basically runing around 320ish bhp for awhile and i was LOVING it! Alsohad some H&R coilovers put on and the car was lowered on the RS6 reps i had. After the remap, the car was transformed and ran beautifully! i knew i had a special car that i would probably keep for awhile.

Then the time came when it was reaching 100,000 miles and i said to myself shall i sell it on and go for the car i also love...an RS4 (B5)........hmmmm well i thought long and hard about it and wondered if i should keep mine and modify it further or call it quits and go for the RS4. Well the main decision was that i love my saloon, and didn't really want to go for an avant at this time...maybe later on in life maybe.....and there was always the rs6 at similar prices to an RS4 which is a whole different kettle of fish really.....so i decided to keep my S4 which i truly cherished and do a few little things to her.

A few 'before' pics for you.

As you might be able to see, the wing mirror was taped on with some tape as some scrote had ridden into it with a pushbike and ripped it off while denting and scratching the drivers door and wing as well as the wingmirror.

Well that was in November last year and since then i decided to go the whole hog and ugrade a few bits and go WIDEBODY! i just couldn't resist the look of the RS4 and after seeing this done by a few,mainly on this forum, i knew it could be done.

Thanks to Siena and Docurley for their builds and the inspiration to do this to my own car!

After a lot of searching around i went to UNIT 20 on the wirral where i found them to be top blokes who definetely knew what they were doing with their audis....i would wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone on here to trust your car with them!

So i dropped the car off to them with a few bits from ebay.de to help with the build (you can find quite a lot of good stuff on there if you are willing to use google translate!). The bodyshop paint express next door did the main bodywork and paint while grizz and lee at unit 20 did all the engine work.

While the car was undergoing the body transformation it also had a few power upgrades......to be continued!


Ash

 

[aidank1981]

hey Ash!

not ta sound negative but i hate all this wide body threads....purely cause its only a matter of time till i cave an do the same thing so in that instance maybe the more the better

is that a pre facelift rear bumper (realise its a prefacelift car) but thought that bulging lower skirt was a facelift thing? only asking cause i have a 99 facelift thats on the 'turn' ie pre/post features and i dont have that bumper, thought i needed newer but seeing yours i may need an older one? any info?

good luck we the mods!

 

[Ash2341]

Well the power upgrades mainly consisted of changing the ko3 turbos for some ko4 turbos, a common upgrade path as you all prob know for the S4 and all the gubbins that go with it. Upgraded to the dual milltek rs4 exhaust to let the engine breathe more easily....and for more noise when i hit the loud pedal...hehehe.

Also decided that with all the extra power that is going to be produced it would be pertinent to change a few other bits to help it along and to stop so went for some front RS6 calipers with some b5 rs4 discs for now and when they go i will prob go for the rs6 discs to match up to the calipers. the rears have been changed to some rs4 b5 rears, as they were better than the prefacelift s4 rears.

Also had the rs4 intercoolers, oil cooler, clutch, lightened flywheel, and the various hoses replaced that needed replacing while the engine was out, as well as the cambelt ,water pump etc....which cost a small fortune but it was due soon and was a lot easier to do when the engine was out!

While this was going on some panels were changed over and sorted out.

I also always wanted a sunroof in the car and regrettd not waiting for a car with one to come up, and i know its prob not the best thing to have performance wise etc but as the car was pretty much going for a cmplete body overhaul, i mananged to find a cheap sunroof and decied the time was now to get the car perfect in my eyes! Unfortunatley i didn't realise how much of a ballache this would be for unit 20 (sorry guys)!

As my car was a prefacelift i decided to source some bits for a centre console conversion as well which was also done by unit 20.

Here are some build pics of the car mid way through.

RS4 bits

You might be able to make out the rear quarters and the way they were joined together from the rs4 rear quarters, i do have some pics of how they were done but i am sure the pics on Sienas awesome thread are waaaaay better than here. His thread was brilliant, as was Docurleys, which have documented the build process in a much better way than i ever could!

The car was originally S4 silver, and to make it slightly different i went for the RS4 'Avus' silver, which isn't toooooo different to the original so the engine bay and bits didn't need to be done. i was toying with the idea to go for a colour change, and if you venture over to my build thread on audisrs.com you will see a LOT of support for white, but i was debating on black or silver, and white isn't for me. But i do think white does look good on some cars but its not for me. Avus it was to be......

Some pics of the nearly completed car in the workshop

Here are some pics of the car without the front bumper done yet, and with the RS6 reps that i had originally. These wheels are ET35 and the RS4 uses ET20 wheels so these look a bit silly when the arches are done as they sit too near the inside of the car and so don't fill the arches like normal wheels, and these next pics show this quite well i think.

Since then the brakes had to go on, but as they were bigger than stock s4 ones, the wheels didn't fit over them , so i used some 25mm(!) spacers to run on temporarily till my new wheels arrived from Italy ( took ages as some numpty over there damaged one when it was due to be shipped so they had to make a whole new set!).

Once the car was mostly sorted and running safely it went down to MRC Tuning in Banbury, also a top set of lads who definetly know their stuff, for the last few engine bits including uprated fuel pump, injectors and the all important remap! they also fitted the new (to me anyway...) RS4 recaro seats in the front which was nice of them! they were from a 60,000 miler rs4 so looked brand new and were in awesome condition(now have my blue alcantara s4 seats with door cards for sale in a bit if anyones interested?).

Then the all important Rolling road to see what the car produced. At this point i had no rear silencer box on the car and it was LOUD! and i mean loud....lovely sound, especially at full chat but a bit too loud for a daily driver, so i had the box put back on to make it a little more subtle. i did like the sound though....

Sooooooo the RR day produced this result at the wheels...

I was very happy with this result, awesome power gains, and a very smooth map from MRC! all i all i was very pleased with it!

Some pics after the RR day at Unit 20

After the dual exhaust was put on, i found the car was scraping on everything larger than a peanut on the roads in liverpool so had the car raised up to maximum on the H&R's, which helped drivability loads as it was impossible to even get down my road where i live with all the speedbumps!

Now after a looooong wait the new wheels arrived and were put on the car a couple of weeks ago, which was the final finishing touch i think. bear in mind its at its higest setting and will mst likely be lowered in a bit, but for now i think it looks ok, and i can get over speed bumps easily enough which is brilliant! So as soon as i got it back in my hands i went and took a couple of pics....



To Be Continued.....

 

[rasA4]

Welcome Ash

 

[Ash2341]

hey Ash!

not ta sound negative but i hate all this wide body threads....purely cause its only a matter of time till i cave an do the same thing so in that instance maybe the more the better

is that a pre facelift rear bumper (realise its a prefacelift car) but thought that bulging lower skirt was a facelift thing? only asking cause i have a 99 facelift thats on the 'turn' ie pre/post features and i dont have that bumper, thought i needed newer but seeing yours i may need an older one? any info?

good luck we the mods!

Hi mate....yeah i felt the same way when the other builds were going on.....always wanted to do it but never had the time/cash etc to sort it so when it came to the time to decide to sell or keep i though sod it..i will mod the baby to hell. . . .

Well the car is a prefacelift '99, but i did have an accident where i span round on the motorway and bashed front and back, so the bodyshop replaced the rear with a facelift bumper, so i assume yours should be the same? i think the only difference was the black lower trim bit bulged out on the facelift one and din't on the prefacelift. i guess it must be a leter facelift change if yours is different?

to be honest i din't quite notice when it was done at first when i had it fixed ay back then!

There are more paople doing this widebody thing now i suppose.....especially as its been seen to be done so well by others! especially the people on here..hats off to them on their widebody cars as they are quite an inspiration!

Go on....you know you want to....

Ash

 

[Ash2341]

Welcome Ash

Cheers mate! hope to be a bit more active on here from now on me thinks.....looks like a good bunch on here.

Ash

 

[rasA4]

Yes we are a friendly bunch here, I can see a lot of money has been spent on the look, was there a reason why did you not go for a facelift rear lights and boot?

 

[Ash2341]

sorry had to split the post as there were too many pics on the other one!

well here are the current pics of the car as it stands now with its new shoes.

I know some people prob won't like the wheels, but hey its my car right? i think hey look awesome myself, but hey what do you lot think?

Need to ake some proper pics of the car with a proper camera and when its properly cleaned to get a better look for the car, as these pics def don't do the work thatunit 20 have done on the car any justice as its soooo much better in the flesh....well i think so anyway!

Well there are still a few bits left to do like some wiring for the centre console conversion and the sunroof, and the rear seats need sorting as they came from the avant so the catches don't line up.

managed to get some black door cards to match so will need to fit them soon as well. will prob get some facelif rear lights as well to finish off the look...maybe.

I am sure i have forgotten something in this thread, but if anyone wants to know anymore on it just ask!

Well i have to thank unit 20, MRC, paint express in all their hard work to get the car sorted, there were loadsa little things that needed sorting out which took a lot of effort and time and most of all patience by grizz at unit 20 for all the times i changed my mind on this build! And also to the other people who have done this to their cars, thanks for the info and inspirationto do this! much appreciated!

Well i hope you all like the pics of the car..thought i might as well put them up instead of just the final pics...hope i haven't bored everyone to death!

Cheers

Ash

 

[Ash2341]

Yes we are a friendly bunch here, I can see a lot of money has been spent on the look, was there a reason why did you not go for a facelift rear lights and boot?

HaHa yeah i did think about it and imight get the facelift lights, but it was getting to the point that i didn't think it would make much difference with the facelift boot at the time.......again i might change this at a later stage. i am sure it will prob clear up the rear but it doesn't bother me too much ......yet.....don't tell grizz at unit 20....he will kill me.....

only joking....he is a great guy who dealt with my ever changing mind on soooooo many other things its unbelievable!

might change the facelift rear lights soonish though....not sure whether to get the led ones that look like stock but just a little different, by inpro maybe?

Ash

 

[aidank1981]

ye wheels arnt my personnal taste but the car looks so awsum it gets away with them! love the redish sheen in the avis silver....
love that rs4 patterned seat too!
why do you have to do this too us all!! mines black so i'm with you on the silver black dilema (but would be tempted by white) but wouldnt change the colour either so black it'd be!
obviously there are no added difficulty in this bodywork project from a pre/post facelift base car?
impossible question perhaps but added up reciepts yet..... maybe you dont want too!

lovely job tho, hats off!

ps my bumper must be pre facelift in that case so thanks for clearing that up, i must need to buy newer

 

[rasA4]

another thing ash when you do get the facelift boot i would place the S4 badge if your gonna keep it on the L/H side of the number plate

soz about poor quality pic

 

[aidank1981]

ash

thought about posting a contacts list for the guys who did the work? names, numbers,links, e-mail addresses... tried to google a few without much luck!

just incase i crumble anytime soon!

 

[Fraser]

http://www.unit20.org/

http://www.mrctuning.com/

http://www.paintexpress.co.uk/

 

[Fraser]

Ash - as said on the other side looks amazing!

 

[Foxmeister]

Stunning looking mate, wheels give it a US look and make it abit different, good choice on the paint also, not a silver lover but the Avus makes the difference!

 

[Nilz]

Hey Ash, welcome to the site, the car and build pics look awesome, not my taste of wheels, but as you have clearly stated its your car, you like it (good on ya )

Rest of the car is sweet dude!!

Well done

 

[Nez]

Hi and welcome to the forum nice car

 

[bimmerchop]

secks!!!

 

[audinary]

Nice simple little project. Not too involved!

I'll bet Unit 20 were able to close for the rest of the year after doing all that...

Looks good. Welcome aboard.

 

[Broken Byzan]

Nice Motor. A great way to spend £20 k i bet.
I love these build threads, they inspire me, tho i am going to stay slimbody, props to you for doing it.

If you need any help doing the Facelift console give me a shout i have the wiring diagrams i used here somewhere

 

[Lee Goodall]

Very nice car mate. I really like the look.. the black and silver looks luuuurvleeeeeee IMO :thumbsup:

 

[Siena]

Nice end result.

 

[Ash2341]

ye wheels arnt my personnal taste but the car looks so awsum it gets away with them! love the redish sheen in the avis silver....
love that rs4 patterned seat too!

obviously there are no added difficulty in this bodywork project from a pre/post facelift base car?
impossible question perhaps but added up reciepts yet..... maybe you dont want too!

lovely job tho, hats off!

ps my bumper must be pre facelift in that case so thanks for clearing that up, i must need to buy newer

no worries mate, guess you may need a new bumper then!

well as most of the panels thats need changing to rs4 ones it doesn't really matter if you do facelift or prefacelift, but it would need a few more parts if you have a prefacelift like headlights (mirrors,bootlid and bonnet if you want, but not necessarily needed to work) as the facelift ones are the same as the rs4. If you had a facelift car then it would be a bit cheaper and easier but not much when you are doing lots to the car.

cost for this whole project.....lots.....but well worth it for a special car (in my eyes anyway!)

Ash

 

[Ash2341]

another thing ash when you do get the facelift boot i would place the S4 badge if your gonna keep it on the L/H side of the number plate

soz about poor quality pic

yeah i was in two minds on what to do about the boot, but i kept my own for now.

As for the badge it was a toss up between top left and where it is in the picture and thought i would do something a little different and went top left. i kinda like it there Had the same thing about the badge on audisrs too!

Cheers

Ash

 

[Ash2341]

ash

thought about posting a contacts list for the guys who did the work? names, numbers,links, e-mail addresses... tried to google a few without much luck!

just incase i crumble anytime soon!

http://www.unit20.org/

http://www.mrctuning.com/

http://www.paintexpress.co.uk/

Ash - as said on the other side looks amazing!

Cheers for the kind words mate.....you sold your s4 then...miss it? it looked like a very nice motorwhen i saw it at the RRday (if you are the guy i am thinking of!!!)

cheers for the links...much too quick for me!

Stunning looking mate, wheels give it a US look and make it abit different, good choice on the paint also, not a silver lover but the Avus makes the difference!

Cheers, yeah i think the black does give it a diff look, a bit meaner maybe? does look like a car the US would have doesn't it!

Hey Ash, welcome to the site, the car and build pics look awesome, not my taste of wheels, but as you have clearly stated its your car, you like it (good on ya )

Rest of the car is sweet dude!!

Well done

Cheers mate, thanks for the warm welcome! thought the wheels would divide opinion......girlfriend has been diplomatic by not saying anything BAD about them, but also not too many good thinge either.....well actually she did call my car 'kev' the other day . . . ah well! can't please them all!

Hi and welcome to the forum nice car

secks!!!

Cheers guys.....my thoughts exactly bimmerchop! ps like your 2 cars very much.....and i know ones a BMW!

Hi mate, loving the car, the colour look beautiful - glad to see the interior was changed to suit the car better.
I personnally loved to look when it was totally de-badged.
The wheels are nice but if they were silver not the keen on the black centres.

Either way 436'ish bhp NICE!!!

hehe yeah 436 is a bit of a big difference to 320! runs brilliantly at the moment too....a nice low rumble with a surge of power all the way to the redline. mmmmmmmmmm.

Nice simple little project. Not too involved!

I'll bet Unit 20 were able to close for the rest of the year after doing all that...

Looks good. Welcome aboard.

cheers mate.....yeah well a lot of the cost involved was parts and the price quoted by unit 20 and paint express was very reasonable considering what was done, and whats involved......and having to deal with me who can't decide on anything quickly!

Very nice car mate. I really like the look.. the black and silver looks luuuurvleeeeeee IMO :thumbsup:

Nice end result.

Cheers! good to be on here with so many nice people! What a welcome!

Thanks guys!

 

[jameshughes1974]

Having seen this car in the flesh I can confirm that the pictures dont do it justice. Its stunning and the wheels contrast with the body colour really well.
Usally Audis with non Audi wheels dont work - this the exception to the rule!
Nice Motor!

 

[Ash2341]

Nice Motor. A great way to spend £20 k i bet.
I love these build threads, they inspire me, tho i am going to stay slimbody, props to you for doing it.

If you need any help doing the Facelift console give me a shout i have the wiring diagrams i used here somewhere

Hi mate.....yeah it was very expensive to do all this especially at the same time, but thought what the hell you only live once! If i did anything differently,i would prob do the power upgrades first then maybe the widebody if i were you.....or just buy an rs4 as it is probably a lot cheaper now with the price of them now!

hmmmm help with the centre console....THAT WOULD BE AWESOME as its prob the only thing that needs doing soon actually. it would be great if you had some wiring diagrams or something....tht would be a massive help! most of it is working, but using the old hazrd light and fog light at the moment. and i am sure the rear demister needs some sort of wiring fandangle to make it work in the newer clmate control thingy.

did you update your console then?

Cheers mate

Ash

 

[Ash2341]

Having seen this car in the flesh I can confirm that the pictures dont do it justice. Its stunning and the wheels contrast with the body colour really well.
Usally Audis with non Audi wheels dont work - this the exception to the rule!
Nice Motor!

Hi James, thanks for the nice words mate! and also cheers for the door cards...will get them on soon and will take pics of the interior once its done..blue cards with hitech seats look a bit odd at the moment!

cheers mate

Ash

 

[Ash2341]

The story on the wheels.....

Originally ordered a Silver/dark silver set from OZ in italy and they had to make up the wheels as they are not stock items. waited ages and then when they were ready to ship one was damaged so they said they would make up a new set. unfortunately they had no more silver centres left and were not willing to have only 1 set made up as it would cost them too much unless they knew they had a large order for these wheels. I was furious with them at that point, but can't do much about it...recession and all that balls...and they said they had the black centres in so i could have them instead. as i was basically 50/50 on the black or silver i thought i might as well go for black for now as the guy i bought the wheels from said he had the tools to take them apart properly to get them repainted if i wanted to later on.

So basically got the black ones for now.....and when i get bored of the look which i am sure i will in my old age i will prob get them repainted a graphite/silver colour, or maybe not.....time will tell!

Alwas knew the black would change the look of the car....and it does get looks from a lot of people, i think mainly coz of the wheels as not many people can tell what a widebody is really.....just a nice a4 to most people!

The black wheels also destroy the sleeper look i liked before i did all this to the car!



Ash

 

[docurley]

Ash nice job and Grizz did a great job I remember when he did his and we chatted a few time on what he needed to do and sending him the pictures of my car so he new where to cut for yours or may be it was a car before yours ever way the car look mint.

Only thing I would change is the boot and some shiny tyre cleaner on the rubber

 

[Drizz]

Good lord thats immense!
Me, however much i love it, im going to buy an RS4 instead of making one. I think my nails would disappear with the worry, waiting, and the huge cost of building my own!
Huge respect to you sir!

 

[Ash2341]

Ash nice job and Grizz did a great job I remember when he did his and we chatted a few time on what he needed to do and sending him the pictures of my car so he new where to cut for yours or may be it was a car before yours ever way the car look mint.

Only thing I would change is the boot and some shiny tyre cleaner on the rubber

Yeah grizz said he had some pics from you, cheers again for all your help! Actually grizz had done the widebody on his avant, and the bodyshop needed some pics to see what work was involved with the rear quarters etc. so they were a great help to them! Thanks again for the help mate.

Yeah i might get the boot changed in the future but prob won't be for awhile yet! might get a small lip spoiler for it, as some of those bmw ones look good....(is it right to put something bmw on an audi?!? )

HAHA the tyres on the new wheels were brand new so don't know how much 'cleaner' they could look! I am sure i will put some sort of dressing on it when i give the car a good clean...its only had a quick wash by myself so far. Waiting to sort out all the interior then i will give it a good thorough clean.....might take it to 'off your marks' to get it detailed but need to assess funds to do that!

Ash

 

[Ash2341]

Good lord thats immense!
Me, however much i love it, im going to buy an RS4 instead of making one. I think my nails would disappear with the worry, waiting, and the huge cost of building my own!
Huge respect to you sir!

Cheers for the kind words mate...but all praise should go to the lads at unit 20 and paint express for most of the work really....i think they have done a top job! Yeah there is a huge cost involved, but if you plan ahead and find all the parts secondhand and don't go overboard by putting in a sunroof, changing interior etc then the widebody can be done a lot cheaper than i did it. also if you are a dab hand at stuff like this yourself then the major problem is the rear quarters and the paint really as the other parts are pretty much direct swaps. it just takes time and patience to sort out all the niggly bolts etc.

So it can be done on a budget, but its when you start changing EVERYTHING then the price creeps up. If you keep the car the same colour then it keeps the price down too.

Then again its still cheaper to get an RS4 now anyway i reckon......but to get a good well kept RS4 that you know well enough regarding paint,engine work, general use etc is another matter!

A lot of the stuff i have changed on the car(other than the bodywork to make it 'look' like an RS4 saloon) i would probably change or update if i got an rs4 anyway which cost big moolah like suspension, brakes remap etc. so getting an RS4 already modded might be a better bet?

Then again....standard RS4's aren't too shabby either



Cheers agin for all the kind words everyone..much appreciated!

Ash

PS sorry about whoring pics of my car.....coudn't stop taking pics of it!

 

[docurley]

Yep RS4 can be bought from £12k now, god what is happening in the world when RS4 are that cheap.

 

[Ash2341]

Yeah its ridiculous what RS4's are going for now....a LOT of car for the money, even though they are 8ish yrs old now.

Ash

 

[Ash2341]

Hi guys, well i thought i would upload a few more pics for you since the last ones were done, and update the thread a bit.....some big plans are ahead for the car.

i have since had some LED rear lights put on the car which i think has smartened up the rear end a treat!

here are the pics (they were done awhile ago!):

Hope the pics have worked!

Also i am going to go for some big power mods on this car and will be heading to over 700bhp hopefully. i have a full build thread on audisrs if anyones interested. its still in the planning stages but it will hopefully be started soon. i will be building a 3.0L engine with some Tial 770 turbos and some other bits. the engine from this car will be transplanted into an s4 shell i have managed to get from grizz at unit 20 for a very good price so i will have a car to run in while the widebody saloon is being fandangled with. i will update the thread or start a new one on the progress soon with more details and pics hopefully.

Anyway.....i thought this might be interesting to people here as well:

My seats from the car originally are for sale, and i have put an ad in the classifieds but here is the ad with pics for people who would like to see it. sorry to the mods if this is not allowed but i think it might get more views here, and it was easier to put up pics here than in the ad.

Hi there, i have some S4 saloon B5 seats front and rear for sale.

They are from my 99 prefacelift car when i changed from them to some RS4 recaros.

They have been off the car for about a year but been in my house so have been gathering a bit of dust so need to go.

Black Leather / Blue alcantara seats
Heated but not electric movement
Split Rear
Ski hatch

All four door cards included
Black with blue alcantara inserts

A perfect match together!

Seats are in good condition, just need a bit of a clean as a bit dusty.
Drivers side bolster has usual wear but no rips or anything like that.

Door cards have no trim bits but you can transfer them from your old door cards if needed?

Door cards have some scuffs on them on front doors where feet have slid past them when going in and out of car.

Here are some pics:

doorcards need a clean so would come up ok. i also have the door pulls somewhere.

Price : £450 ono
Cash on collection only, no delivery possible, thanks.
Location Liverpool

Cheers!

Ash

 

[CMD]

Ash that look's HOT well done .............Show stopper.

 

[rasA4]

Looks the BIZZ ASH

 

[Ash2341]

Cheers guys. Got a few more plans for it coming up in the next few months as said above, so will be off the road but once its back it will hopefully be bit more powerful

Cheers for looking!

Ash

 

[Sandip]

I've got the best plan ash..... sell it to me! Your car looks awesome bud!