S3 grille fitted to my S-line facelift

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Sem

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Hi guys,

Had my car for 2 months now and couldn't resist doing a couple of mods :laugh:

I always felt the new grille on the facelift looked a bit bland (the standard S-line grille is no longer unique to the S-line). I wasn't overly keen on the black optics grille on a black car as it hides the trapezoid frame and I feel the car loses its identity.

I love the look of the chrome 'S' series grille, I did some research and after searching through several german Audi forums and using an online translator I discovered the new S3 facelift grille is a straight swap for the standard grille :laugh:

I decided to order it ASAP before everyone discovered the mod which normally results in VAG increasing the price.

The S3 badge was removed, I wasn't happy with just gluing the S-line badge on so I machined a special adapter - this converts the slot to accept the OEM S-line badge and allows it to clip in perfectly. I'll add some pics if anyones interested.

The other mod i've done is the RNS-E which is fantastic so i've included a few pics of that.

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What a difference! Great job! I think i'll do the same when i get the car.
Couple of questions: Where did u get it? How much is worth? Where did u assemble it?
Regards!
 
Nice my friend.

If you have been reading recent threads about car jacking/theft etc and people using this site for illegal purposes you will get you reg no covered on the photos.

Mark
 
Looks better. The facelift S-line grille is too alike the standard one.

I had a loan car with the RNS-E fitted and didn't get on with it. Does look good though.
 
jmotero said:
What a difference! Great job! I think i'll do the same when i get the car.
Couple of questions: Where did u get it? How much is worth? Where did u assemble it?
Regards!
Click to expand...

Thanks, I got it from my Audi parts department, £140 for the grille and got the badge from ebay for £8. I fitted it on my driveway, it's a bumper off job.

Took around 3 hours to fit but half of that time was working out how to remove the front bumper. There are no 'how to' guides on the internet for the facelift and the process differs from the pre-facelift model. I would have taken pics along the way but it was far too cold to be ******* about with a camera!
 
Yeesss !!

Very very nice !

I will do the same in a few days but with black grill !

Great job ,it is perfect :applaus:

I would like to see more about the badge ? How did you do the mod ?
 
Looks good:thumbsup: I agree about the s-line badge on the front grill does make it look much better wonder why they removed them anyway?
But lovely looking car..Good mod
Have a good new year
 
audi upgrades
Looks amazing mate, would love to swap the s-line bumper for s3 one when mines comes! what else have you got planed for it?
 
looks great mate and fair play for doing it..................... although I cant help but have a little rant !!

This isnt directed at anyone personally but I just find it so mindblowingly annoying that all these aftermarket parts are so readily available, it kind of takes the fun out having a car for me, the reason I bought an S3 was because it was just that !! It carries an element of distinction, its just not worth having the unique models in car ranges when so many ppl just add the aftermarket parts, it almost devalues the brand for me..................... I guess thats just my opinion though, I dont know how others feel ?
 
It will always happen, I had a MK4 Golf Anniversary GTI before this (limited edition - 1800 cars built) and I used to get ****** off with how many replicas I saw on the road. To make things worse there are numerous replica bodykits available on ebay and alloys which makes it even cheaper to achieve the same look.

Some manufacturers make it difficult to retrofit parts, take for example the pre-facelift S3, that grille could not be fitted to anything other than an S3 bumper. I guess Audi just got lazy with the facelift and used the same dimensions across the range :laugh:
 
Great mate. Fantastic job. Very impressive.

I'm interested in this work. Can you give us more pics?

Last question: Could you explain me the logo install? Where did you get it? Whats the special adaptater? Do you have remove all the S3 logo or juste the letters...

Thx
 
Nice Sem, I think you need the flat bottom wheel in there to finish ot off ;)
 
Hi Sem, the grille looks great, what a difference it makes. I'm new to this forum but have been browsing for several months after receiving my facelift A3.
I am also thinking of making this mod, but have a few questions: Where exactly did you buy the grille? Does this mod invalidate the warranty? It would also be good if you could advise us on how to remove the bumper.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
I got the grille from my local Audi parts department.

No, it won't invalidate the warranty. i.e. a suspension fault could not be attributed to the grille so the claim would still be valid.

If I ever have a problem that may have been caused as a direct result of fitting the grille (I can't actually think of any?) then i'd just re-install the standard one before taking it to the dealers.

As for bumper removal, there is a guide here:
http://forums.fourtitude.com/zerothread?id=3631873

The process is similar for the facelift but you do not need to remove the undertray.
 
Cheers Sem, and thanks for the bumper removal guide. Do you have any close-up pics of the S-line badge as I am also interested in doing this?
 
The third pic is the closest I took i'm afraid.
 
Hi Sem,

The grille looks great!

I received my A3 S-Line 170 a few weeks ago and was thinking of adding the RNS-E with BT, did you fit this yourself? I'm just wondering how easy it is to do.

Cheers.
 
BT was factory fitted, I installed the RNS-E - it's a simple 10 minute job to fit if you have the right extraction tools.

You will need access to VAGCOM to code the unit to your car.
 
So no need for new looms etc, just the head unit?

Did you fit the CD Changer too or are you just using SD card's\AUX?
 
No, it plugs into the existing loom. I have the USB connection in the glovebox, no CD changer.
 
Sem,

Good evening. First of all, i think your mod looks wonderful! I am searching for a 2nd hand Audi A3 2.0 TDI 170HP S-Line from about 2006 (so before the facelift), and when i find it, I would like to do the same mods you have done.

I am completely new to audi so i dont know a lot yet. Eg, I havent figured out yet what BT means (anyone?),.. but I do know that 8P is the right model.

My questions are:

1. What needs to be changed on the car if i upgrade the front of the A3 2006 to S3 2009? Along with the front bumper, would i also need to change the side fenders and the Bonnet ??

2. I read somewhere the the 2009 facelift is slightly longer. That means that there is probably a lot that needs to be changed UNDER the bumper in order to fit the bumper to the car. Do you know about this?

i went to the Audi dealer today to ask and guy at the parts section didnt even know that the bumpers were different. So I realized that was a lost case! You guys in this forum know 100 times more than at the dealers!

ok,.. looking forward to some feedback,..
 
The general thought on the forum is its not worth the huge cost to go for the 2009 facelift. There is too much needing changed, sorry.
 
Khufu said:
The general thought on the forum is its not worth the huge cost to go for the 2009 facelift. There is too much needing changed, sorry.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply Khufu, but actually I think it would be very worth it to me. I shall explain,...

The audi is for my wife and we got it at a real bargain price so we have quite a bit left over for modifications. Also, she was always dying for the new S3, but we cannot buy it due to the fuel consumption and cost for everyday work commuting plus long trips back home (1500km's) everymonth. So the long term we decided we needed a diesel but would spend more for the upgrade.

We would really really appreciate a point in the right direction on what it takes to do the upgrade to the 2009 S3 front.
 
Hello A everyone of this forum I introduce myself Daniel I am Inhabitant of Martinique the Antilles has 8000 km of France.
I soon recuper my AUDI A3 FACELIFT 2.0L TFSI S-TRONIC with external pack S-LINE in order to will bring back it On the metropolis on Martinique By boat 15 days of Sea.
In this moment my vehicle is in the concession and I will wish to replace my grill of origin by the grill of S3 FACELIFT as on the car of “SEM” my salesman say to me that it little to assemble me the grill but which it does not have the reference exact of this famous grill that “Sem” could go up on its vehicle
IT already ordered one at audi but it of them me di that it little not to assemble it because between the cap and the grill one has a space of approximately 1 cm
Can You give me if you like them Reference AUDI of this Grill So that my Salesman can order it and To assemble it on my vehicle
 
Hello A everyone of this forum I introduce myself Daniel I am Inhabitant of Martinique the Antilles has 8000 km of France.
I soon recuper my AUDI A3 FACELIFT 2.0L TFSI S-TRONIC with external pack S-LINE in order to will bring back it On the metropolis on Martinique By boat 15 days of Sea.
In this moment my vehicle is in the concession and I will wish to replace my grill of origin by the grill of S3 FACELIFT as on the car of “SEM” my salesman say to me that it little to assemble me the grill but which it does not have the reference exact of this famous grill that “Sem” could go up on its vehicle
IT already ordered one at audi but it of them me di that it little not to assemble it because between the cap and the grill one has a space of approximately 1 cm
Can You give me if you like them Reference AUDI of this Grill So that my Salesman can order it and To assemble it on my vehicle
 
Hi SEM, do you have the part number for the new grill. I fancy doing this to my A3 and will get in touch with Stoke Audi.

Thanks
 
audi upgrades
Think I'd rather have spent the money on better music or leather seats. Sorry.
 
3534126156_4f1e615a9b_b.jpg


Well this is work in progress...After looking at Sems & NHNs badges I thought I'd have a go with our vinyl plotter systems at work to make an inbetween of the S3 and the S line badge. Its heat proof metalized polyester so it should last well. Still not sure if i'm going to keep the s line instead. Is it tacky? I just prefer the look of the bigger S3 badge on this grill.
 
Good effort but I think the 'S' looks out of proportion to the smaller lettering and makes it look a bit fake. If you look at the real S line emblem, 'line' should be the same height as the 'S' and around double the width, with a larger space between 'S' and 'line'.

ag_07a3_slinebadge.jpg


If you have the facilities at work, would you be able to make a vinyl sticker to place over the original S line badge to black it out, looks much better like this:

ag_07a3_slinebadge1.jpg
 
True.. I know its smaller, I wanted it more like the s-line badge on the steering wheel. I will have a go on some matt black with chrome for the letters next week once the material arrives. I will enlarge the font for this and see how it looks. Did you have any luck getting yours laser cut?. I would prefer that if its available. I tried cut out letters with my plotter (looked poo)needs to be laser for clean edges.

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Yes mate, it needs to be the latest facelift version....
Will try and find the number for you in a second.
 
Right, just read my invoice for it...

Mine was a 2009 S3 Grill Chrome: A8P0 853 651 F1 RR N/STK GRILLE 149.85 ALL IN!

BLACK OPTIC VERSION:
[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']8P0 853 651 FVMZ £233.70 inc vat.[/FONT]
 
Are you going Black or chrome?.... its a fairly big price difference. I'm happy with the chrome.. just need the ****** car to be delivered!!!...
 
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