The Avant Project - A Work In Progress.

Great news on the ARB's, need to order a set of these and get them fitted at the same time as my PSS10's.

S5 brakes will be night and day once bedded in mate.

Enjoy the pub, to bad your driving though.

JG
 
  • Like
Reactions: GjrBartlett
JG51 AUD said:
Great news on the ARB's, need to order a set of these and get them fitted at the same time as my PSS10's.

S5 brakes will be night and day once bedded in mate.

Enjoy the pub, to bad your driving though.

JG
Click to expand...

I was taking my juniors out for a pint, so felt obliged to drive.

Think my ARB's were £270 + p&p from Germany off eBay, couldn't find them cheaper in the UK.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RS5 JON
Cheers Gareth, I noticed they were cheaper on German ebay, saved in my list.
Hope you took it easy with them in the back, not! :racer:
JG
 
JG51 AUD said:
Cheers Gareth, I noticed they were cheaper on German ebay, saved in my list.
Hope you took it easy with them in the back, not! :racer:
JG
Click to expand...

Of course, I only ever have a 'proper' drive when it's just me in the car!
 
matt_cunningham1985 said:
Hey buddy, how are the ARB/Brake mods doing? Been worth the upgrades?
Click to expand...

Morning Mate,

Really please with both the ARB's & Brake upgrade, she's much flatter through some hard corners now, with next to no body roll at all. As for the S5 brakes, gave them a good blast the other day down some quiet country roads, bought me from three figures to a halt in no time at all!

Worth the money... All in all, it was a lot of money but definitely worth it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: matt_cunningham1985 and RS5 JON
audi upgrades
Latest Update...

Whispbar Aero's & Thule 780 Touring (Titan Aeroskin) are on....





Really happy with the setup/look & very little wind noise at Motorway speed, IMO, the Whispbars are excellent quality, although expensive theirs not much, if anything better available & look better than Audi OEM bars.

Picked up the Thule 780 Touring about 18 months ago, really easy to fit & in the Titan Aeroskin form compliments the Avant.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RS5 JON and S4_LEE
GjrBartlett said:
Morning Mate,

Really please with both the ARB's & Brake upgrade, she's much flatter through some hard corners now, with next to no body roll at all. As for the S5 brakes, gave them a good blast the other day down some quiet country roads, bought me from three figures to a halt in no time at all!

Worth the money... All in all, it was a lot of money but definitely worth it.
Click to expand...
Have to say, I'm very jealous of your new setup! Car looks great with the roof bars as well! Where did you pick them up? I've been looking at getting the Thule Aero bars which look very similar to the Whispbars...
 
  • Like
Reactions: GjrBartlett
matt_cunningham1985 said:
Have to say, I'm very jealous of your new setup! Car looks great with the roof bars as well! Where did you pick them up? I've been looking at getting the Thule Aero bars which look very similar to the Whispbars...
Click to expand...

Thanks mate, please my expenditure is appreciated!

Sure I got the Whispbars, Footpack & Thule Touring 780 from The Roofbox Company, think it cost about £500 for the full set-up, but they've been invaluable over Christmas & Holidays, so don't regret buying them at all.
 
GjrBartlett said:
Thanks mate, please my expenditure is appreciated!

Sure I got the Whispbars, Footpack & Thule Touring 780 from The Roofbox Company, think it cost about £500 for the full set-up, but they've been invaluable over Christmas & Holidays, so don't regret buying them at all.
Click to expand...
Just checked out The Roofbox Company - great wee site and a really good price for the Whispbars, coming in £35 cheaper than the Thule set. Just bought a bike so may well invest pretty soon...
 
  • Like
Reactions: GjrBartlett
matt_cunningham1985 said:
Just checked out The Roofbox Company - great wee site and a really good price for the Whispbars, coming in £35 cheaper than the Thule set. Just bought a bike so may well invest pretty soon...
Click to expand...

I did look at the Thule Aero's when I bought mine, my OCD wanted to get them to go with the 780 Touring, but ultimately price won in the end.

I'm Watching Xpower's & Chop's thread at the minute (2 epic cars!!) with a few potential plans of my own...

What's your thoughts on colour matching a) interior trim & b) underside of my mirrors, to match my S4 Calipers?

Might do the lower splitter supports as well? (Not keen on doing the lower splitter itself, as a) I've already had it done Gloss Black & b) I think it would be too much.

Also tempted to do my fog surrounds in Gloss Black? Would Red be too much?

Cheers as always...
 
GjrBartlett said:
I did look at the Thule Aero's when I bought mine, my OCD wanted to get them to go with the 780 Touring, but ultimately price won in the end.

I'm Watching Xpower's & Chop's thread at the minute (2 epic cars!!) with a few potential plans of my own...

What's your thoughts on colour matching a) interior trim & b) underside of my mirrors, to match my S4 Calipers?

Might do the lower splitter supports as well? (Not keen on doing the lower splitter itself, as a) I've already had it done Gloss Black & b) I think it would be too much.

Also tempted to do my fog surrounds in Gloss Black? Would Red be too much?

Cheers as always...
Click to expand...
The Whispbars definitely seem to be the quietest bars on the market ,so the fact that they're slightly cheaper than the Thule is a bonus!

Chop and Xpower's cars are awesome and the colour matching looks cool, but it's maybe a bit too much for me. I think because they've modified their exteriors so much, it makes sense to go the whole way. I'm much more a fan of subtlety so like to keep the OEM look of my cars but improve it in a way that wouldn't be completely obvious. I always think about resale as well as I'd never buy a car that has been modified by someone else so don't want to make my cars too obviously modified. The sort of mods you have made to the brakes and handling are the way to go to satisfy modifying habbits but keeping it OEM looking.

I noticed that you've kept your front lower splitter supports silver - I had them done black so the splitter actually disappears and it accentuates the shape of the bumper below the fog lights. I left the fog light surrounds chrome to tie in with the chrome grille rings but I'm considering getting these done black as well as this what the black editions have. I'm waiting on the better weather so I can wrap the side blades in gloss black too.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GjrBartlett
If you have a look at my photo below, you'll see what I mean about the black supports making the splitter 'disappear'.
Polished 3
 
matt_cunningham1985 said:
The Whispbars definitely seem to be the quietest bars on the market ,so the fact that they're slightly cheaper than the Thule is a bonus!

Chop and Xpower's cars are awesome and the colour matching looks cool, but it's maybe a bit too much for me. I think because they've modified their exteriors so much, it makes sense to go the whole way. I'm much more a fan of subtlety so like to keep the OEM look of my cars but improve it in a way that wouldn't be completely obvious. I always think about resale as well as I'd never buy a car that has been modified by someone else so don't want to make my cars too obviously modified. The sort of mods you have made to the brakes and handling are the way to go to satisfy modifying habbits but keeping it OEM looking.

I noticed that you've kept your front lower splitter supports silver - I had them done black so the splitter actually disappears and it accentuates the shape of the bumper below the fog lights. I left the fog light surrounds chrome to tie in with the chrome grille rings but I'm considering getting these done black as well as this what the black editions have. I'm waiting on the better weather so I can wrap the side blades in gloss black too.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, I think your right...

Looking at your pic, I'm tempted to do the 'supports' and fog surrounds in Gloss Black so keeping with my current theme, I just need to source/manufacture an S-Line badge that will fit the RS4 grille.

I'm still keen on doing the interior trim, as I think the interior could do with a splash of colour, as it's quite dark, I've got a complete spare set of interior door trim (4pc) in the garage so may spray that to match the calipers, if I don't like it, I'll just refit the originals (Carbon wrapped).
 
I'd definitely do the supports and fog surrounds in gloss black. I didn't do the fog light inserts as they're black plastic anyway!

If you have spare interior trim then you'd be silly not to go for a colour change! Maybe a brushed aluminum wrap in a colour? I'm going to wrap the dash surround in gloss black as it annoys me it's grey plastic and not brushed aluminium like the rest of the trim.

Here's a link to the S-line grill badge I have. The fixings behind are black so you shouldn't notice it through the grille - it's an easy fit through your RS grille.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391151898933
 
matt_cunningham1985 said:
I'd definitely do the supports and fog surrounds in gloss black. I didn't do the fog light inserts as they're black plastic anyway!

If you have spare interior trim then you'd be silly not to go for a colour change! Maybe a brushed aluminum wrap in a colour? I'm going to wrap the dash surround in gloss black as it annoys me it's grey plastic and not brushed aluminium like the rest of the trim.

Here's a link to the S-line grill badge I have. The fixings behind are black so you shouldn't notice it through the grille - it's an easy fit through your RS grille.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391151898933
Click to expand...

Hopefully I'll get the supports & fog surrounds sprayed next week.

I know what you mean about the dash surround #annoying!

I saw those badges on eBay last night, however can't find one in Gloss black to match my wing badges.
 
GjrBartlett said:
Hopefully I'll get the supports & fog surrounds sprayed next week.

I know what you mean about the dash surround #annoying!

I saw those badges on eBay last night, however can't find one in Gloss black to match my wing badges.
Click to expand...
I've considered doing the dash surround in brushed aluminium effect 3M vinyl but I'd be worried about making them look the same, being vinyl. That's why I'm thinking gloss black. I might even plasti-dip it black...

If you buy the metal one, you could mask off the red and spray the chrome with light tinting spray? Or make one like Chop did?
 
Evening chaps - bit of an update. After a couple of months travelling up to Inverness in pretty crap weather, it started to take its tole on the car... I found some rust on the tailgate!!! Pics below. One for everyone to keep an eye on as this exact spot is where all the water and sh!t from the winter roads collects!

DSC 0012
DSC 0013


I've now had the tailgate fixed and resprayed so it's back to like new. I took the chance to completely debadge it as well and I'm pretty happy with the results! I have some plasti-dip ready to black out the rings.

DSC 0055
 
matt_cunningham1985 said:
Evening chaps - bit of an update. After a couple of months travelling up to Inverness in pretty **** weather, it started to take its tole on the car... I found some rust on the tailgate!!! Pics below. One for everyone to keep an eye on as this exact spot is where all the water and sh!t from the winter roads collects!

View attachment 89348 View attachment 89349

I've now had the tailgate fixed and resprayed so it's back to like new. I took the chance to completely debadge it as well and I'm pretty happy with the results! I have some plasti-dip ready to black out the rings.

View attachment 89350
Click to expand...

Evening Matt,

Cheers for the update & heads-up, I'll keep an eye for those rust spots...

Where did you get your plasti-dip from? Looking to get my chrome fog rings done soon.

Are you any further forward with getting your side blades wrapped/sprayed?
 
GjrBartlett said:
Evening Matt,

Cheers for the update & heads-up, I'll keep an eye for those rust spots...

Where did you get your plasti-dip from? Looking to get my chrome fog rings done soon.

Are you any further forward with getting your side blades wrapped/sprayed?
Click to expand...
Was very surprised that the rust appeared at all on a 5 year old car! I was going to get the side blades sprayed black this month as well as have a black shark fin fitted but had to get the rust seen to instead. We're moving house at the end of June and will be even closer to the bodyshop I use! So it'll be July before I get anything else done on the car.

I bought the Plasti-dip from an Amazon seller. Here's a link to the one I bought:
Amazon product

I'm still planning on doing the rear Audi badge with it even though I've debadged the rest of the tailgate. Have you thought about using plasti-dip for your roof bars?
 
matt_cunningham1985 said:
Was very surprised that the rust appeared at all on a 5 year old car! I was going to get the side blades sprayed black this month as well as have a black shark fin fitted but had to get the rust seen to instead. We're moving house at the end of June and will be even closer to the bodyshop I use! So it'll be July before I get anything else done on the car.

I bought the Plasti-dip from an Amazon seller. Here's a link to the one I bought:
Amazon product

I'm still planning on doing the rear Audi badge with it even though I've debadged the rest of the tailgate. Have you thought about using plasti-dip for your roof bars?
Click to expand...


Evening mate,

Have you got a quote for the side blades? I'm very tempted to get mine done!

I've got a can of the plasti-dip on order at the minute from eBay,

I'm tempted to re-badge mine with Gloss black badges, but only fitting 'A4' with an s-line badge underneath on the left side of the boot.

I've heard removing the headlining is a pain or can it be down with the roof bars left in situ?
 
GjrBartlett said:
Evening mate,

Have you got a quote for the side blades? I'm very tempted to get mine done!

I've got a can of the plasti-dip on order at the minute from eBay,

I'm tempted to re-badge mine with Gloss black badges, but only fitting 'A4' with an s-line badge underneath on the left side of the boot.

I've heard removing the headlining is a pain or can it be down with the roof bars left in situ?
Click to expand...
I've been quoted £50 for doing the sideblades as it's a simple gloss black. I'm just going to go for it rather than wrapping it. My folks have just bought a B9 Sline but Audi haven't released a black edition yet, so we're going to wrap his window chrome. Audi have agreed to spray his grille though...

My roof rails were sprayed on the car. The beauty of plasti-dip is that you don't have to mask up what you're going to spray - natural breaks in the bodywork allow you to just gently peel it away. I'd cover the doors and the roof to save you having to clean up overspray, but it's a simple job you'd be able to do in an afternoon! You'll need 5-7 coats leaving about 20 minutes between coats. If you muck it up, it all just peels off!

As for the badges, the only badge I'm putting back on is the Team Goh badge in the place where the "2.0 TDI" was.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252305657786?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
 
oh wow that rust looked pretty nasty, did you use your 12 year body corrosion Warentee at Audi to get that sorted for free? I hope you didnt have to pay.
Pretty looking car :)
 
Meemo said:
oh wow that rust looked pretty nasty, did you use your 12 year body corrosion Warentee at Audi to get that sorted for free? I hope you didnt have to pay.
Pretty looking car :)
Click to expand...
Do you have information on the 12 year anti-corrosion warranty?? I know VW used to do a 10 year warranty on the Golfs but couldn't find anything on the A4. I just got it booked in to the bodyshop and dealt with a few days after I found it. saves the hassle! A friend of mine has been waiting 18 months for a resolution to the corrosion on his 5 year old Golf tailgate!
 
matt_cunningham1985 said:
Do you have information on the 12 year anti-corrosion warranty?? I know VW used to do a 10 year warranty on the Golfs but couldn't find anything on the A4. I just got it booked in to the bodyshop and dealt with a few days after I found it. saves the hassle! A friend of mine has been waiting 18 months for a resolution to the corrosion on his 5 year old Golf tailgate!
Click to expand...

Link is here and quoted below, sadly because you have had it sorted already you wont be able to get anything from Audi for it :(

https://www.audi.co.uk/owners-area/...nties/audi-warranty-terms-and-conditions.html

Body protection warranty
All current Audi vehicles are fully protected during manufacture against rust attacking the internal cavities of the bodywork for 12 years from the date of first registration.

The only preconditions are:

  • The defect must be reported to a member of the Audi authorised network as soon as it is discovered. This must, of course, be within the warranty period
  • The perforation must not have been caused originally by damage, neglect, insufficient care or maintenance, or by external perforation from the inside out
  • A member of the Audi authorised network must be advised about any perforation from the inside out immediately it is found
  • All body repairs will be carried out promptly in accordance with the manufacturer’s technical guidelines, using only approved parts and materials, in order to maintain the original level of anti-corrosion protection
 
  • Like
Reactions: phil_w
matt_cunningham1985 said:
I've been quoted £50 for doing the sideblades as it's a simple gloss black. I'm just going to go for it rather than wrapping it. My folks have just bought a B9 Sline but Audi haven't released a black edition yet, so we're going to wrap his window chrome. Audi have agreed to spray his grille though...

My roof rails were sprayed on the car. The beauty of plasti-dip is that you don't have to mask up what you're going to spray - natural breaks in the bodywork allow you to just gently peel it away. I'd cover the doors and the roof to save you having to clean up overspray, but it's a simple job you'd be able to do in an afternoon! You'll need 5-7 coats leaving about 20 minutes between coats. If you muck it up, it all just peels off!

As for the badges, the only badge I'm putting back on is the Team Goh badge in the place where the "2.0 TDI" was.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252305657786?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2648&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
Click to expand...

£50, that's pretty cheap, I might give my bodyshop a call tomorrow.

Plasti-dip been despatched, so looking forward to getting the fog surrounds done soon

I'll post up pics once done.
 
Had some free time this afternoon, so took a few photos....




 
  • Like
Reactions: RS5 JON
Decided to re-badge the boot this morning...



Also thinking about fitting short plates front & rear, given the personalised reg.

With respect to the front, is the plate holder diffucult to remove with grille fitted & suggestions on best way to fit a new short plate without holder or visible fixings?

The rear plate appears to have water ingress around the left screw, hence the change.
What's the best way to hide the existing holes, should the new plate not hide them?

Anybody recommend a top-notch plate supplier?

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
Found some spare time this afternoon to give her a quick clean.

Took a few pics after & really liked this one...

 
  • Like
Reactions: RS5 JON
GjrBartlett said:
Decided to re-badge the boot this morning...



Also thinking about fitting short plates front & rear, given the personalised reg.

With respect to the front, is the plate holder diffucult to remove with grille fitted & suggestions on best way to fit a new short plate without holder or visible fixings?

The rear plate appears to have water ingress around the left screw, hence the change.
What's the best way to hide the existing holes, should the new plate not hide them?

Anybody recommend a top-notch plate supplier?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Evening All,

Still looking for advice on the plate holder removal & plate supplier?

Cheers.
 
GjrBartlett said:
Evening All,

Still looking for advice on the plate holder removal & plate supplier?

Cheers.
Click to expand...

I am in the same boat, shortened plate on the front. I was going to dremal the existing plate holder shorter, plastic glue it back together then sand and paint... but when i come to sell the car I will no longer have a long plate holder to put back the old reg... currently using a DIY reusuable cable ties stuck to the back of my number plate.

Depending on how permanent you want the plate (whip it off for shows or leave it on all the time), you can fashion something easily, I want mine removable like the long one i modified, so thinking I will make the clips like on my old holder, with software and sending it off to a 3d printing company, then attach the new clips to a flat base plate.

Other guy on here 'mac' made a more permanent solution making a ali strip of metal, drilled holes through, bolted it through the huney comb and stuck the plate to the ali plate.

http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/short-plate-no-plate-holder.267324/



Did you ever get the oil caps by the way?
 
Nice avant there mate, do you know if the place you had the revo done is still open? I'm not to far away from you
 
  • Like
Reactions: GjrBartlett
Hey guys, am liking this thread a lot as am planning on tidying up my metallic grey 2009 Avant over the next few month and this thread has given me some good idea's.

I have owned the car for a few years but it's been a bit neglected and it's got a few scuffs and shopping trolley dings but it is 7 years old. So am booking it into the body shop to have the front bumper resprayed and I like the idea of having the front splitter paint black so I will have that done too. Someone knocked my wing mirror a few month back and it's got a nasty scrap so I will have them painted black. I also got a local guy that's good at removing dents so I will have him work on the car to remove the annoying ding in the passenger door. He is also runs his own detailing company so once the car has been resprayed it will go in for a stage 1 detail.

There was a rear tow bar fitted to the car when I bought it but the previous owner must have had it fitted on the cheap as the rear valance has been cut for the tow bar to fit! So since I use the tow bar for my mountain bike rack am planning on fitting a Westfalia detachable tow bar and buying a new rear valance of ebay and having that painted black when the car is in the body shop.

I will look into a remap and spacers for the wheels at the end of the year and oh yeah I read about replica alloys don't buy them! I have a set with winter tires on them and when I removed them this spring one of them as got a huge dent from running through a pot hole. Strange thing is I don't recall hitting any big pot holes so I think there really soft. I have the TT RS replica's and they have really badly corroded and that's only after two years so I will be putting the winter tires on the OEM wheels and looking at new wheels next spring.

Anyway I will include some before and after pictures when I start the work
 
KI6RAN said:
Hey guys, am liking this thread a lot as am planning on tidying up my metallic grey 2009 Avant over the next few month and this thread has given me some good idea's.

I have owned the car for a few years but it's been a bit neglected and it's got a few scuffs and shopping trolley dings but it is 7 years old. So am booking it into the body shop to have the front bumper resprayed and I like the idea of having the front splitter paint black so I will have that done too. Someone knocked my wing mirror a few month back and it's got a nasty scrap so I will have them painted black. I also got a local guy that's good at removing dents so I will have him work on the car to remove the annoying ding in the passenger door. He is also runs his own detailing company so once the car has been resprayed it will go in for a stage 1 detail.

There was a rear tow bar fitted to the car when I bought it but the previous owner must have had it fitted on the cheap as the rear valance has been cut for the tow bar to fit! So since I use the tow bar for my mountain bike rack am planning on fitting a Westfalia detachable tow bar and buying a new rear valance of ebay and having that painted black when the car is in the body shop.

I will look into a remap and spacers for the wheels at the end of the year and oh yeah I read about replica alloys don't buy them! I have a set with winter tires on them and when I removed them this spring one of them as got a huge dent from running through a pot hole. Strange thing is I don't recall hitting any big pot holes so I think there really soft. I have the TT RS replica's and they have really badly corroded and that's only after two years so I will be putting the winter tires on the OEM wheels and looking at new wheels next spring.

Anyway I will include some before and after pictures when I start the work
Click to expand...

Are you sure it was cut and isnt the Toe bar diffuser? there is 2 versions of the diffuser, one for with a toe bar(has a square cut out to accomodate the toe bar) and one for without.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

callumjones
2005 B7 RS4 Avant ...work in progress
Replies
17
Views
3K
callumjones
callumjones
mookie
B6 A4 Avant - The Daddywagon Project
Replies
6
Views
3K
AlexGSi2000
AlexGSi2000
jim s3
a few progress pics of the bt
Replies
200
Views
63K
Huey0191
H
jaffaxr
Le Mans Avant Project
Replies
0
Views
1K
jaffaxr
jaffaxr
Matt84
My first audi project ever . Slow slow progress
Replies
22
Views
3K
Andy avant b5
Andy avant b5
Top
Back