Possible S4 Purchase.... Questions Questions....

[Alex Ward]

Evening folks
Im usually lurking over on the B7 section as I have a Final Edition Cabby which I'm selling to fund a college course and an S4 (the V8 hankering is getting too much lol)
Have a few questions for you B6 S4 owners......
There doesn't seem to be that many manuals out there. Whats the auto/tiptronic like? Does it suit the engine and how problematic is that gearbox? Do you have full control with the paddles, or does it shift up etc when you don't want it to?
I know I need to look out for timing chain rattle on these, but is there anything else B6 S4 specific I should be looking for?
My budget is up to 6 grand (once I've sold the cabby). Its seems this will get me a 2004 with 80-100k. I'm assuming these will do many many more miles than that!!?
I like this one. The wheels are S-Line Le Mans jobbies, but I'd get a set of Avus 2's to go on it.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201802193869312?price-to=6500&model=S4&postcode=sg180gz&radius=1500&sort=price-desc&make=AUDI&advertising-location=at_cars&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&page=1
Thanks guys.

 

[cobraBLACK]

The timing chain rattle won't tell you anything unless it's severe. If it's done 100k miles it WILL need a timing service ASAP if it hasn't already been done. This will set you back around £4000 (or half that if you do the work yourself). JHM in California see a lot of these engines and every one they've had through with around 80k miles onwards has had some degree of guide damage. You can see what happened to mine when I didn't heed the warnings here.

There's a manual Avant on PistonHeads which has apparently had the timing done.

The only other big thing is cylinder wall scoring which can occur when the engine has been thrashed when cold. This usually manifests itself by drinking oil at a ludicrous rate. There isn't an economical fix for this.

Some of the original components will be worn with this sort of mileage. Sometimes these components might not be obviously failing but any sort of joint (suspension, steering, transmission, braces, etc.) will become sloppy over time so it would be worth driving a younger, well-maintained example for comparison. They also put some general A4 parts on S4s that wear quickly due to the extra weight, such as the engine mounts, control arms, etc.

I have a manual but I've heard the autos are fine but not great. You won't get to stretch the motor to its full potential but you will get better economy on the motorway.

All in all though, it's a great car and you can't really get anything that's such a good all-rounder with a V8 for this kind of money. There are much faster cars but they're usually compromised in other ways and they often done have a storming V8 soundtrack which is at least 50% of the fun!

Here's a list of my mods/replacements since I've had mine. Some of the mods were because I wanted to (cat-back, LEDs, etc.), others were because parts needed replacing (engine mounts, control arms). The short-shifter and snub mount were to remove the sloppiness of the gear change:

Mod list

• Full beam HIDs
• LED sidelights
• LED number plate illumination
• Milltek non-resonating cat-back
• JHM short-shifter
• Apikol snub mount
• RNS-E Mk. 2 retrofit
• B7 RS4 RARB
• 034 Density engine mounts
• 034 Density control arm kit
• B5 spring perches
• Gutted pre-cats
• JHM tune (to come)

OEM replacements

• Spark plugs (100k-ish, 131k)
• A/C compressor (100k-ish, 120k-ish)
• Both front window regulators
• Rear dampers (123k)
• Starter motor (123k)
• ABS-ECU (133k)
• Timing service (135k) incl. RS4 guides
• Clutch and flywheel (135k)
• Oil check valves and valley pan gasket (135k)
• Cam cover gaskets (100k-ish, 135k (with timing service))
• PSV valve (135k)

 

[GrahamS4]

I'd wanted an S4 B6 cabriolet almost two years ago but read the horror stores regarding the cam chains so proceeded to buy a 2000 Mercedes R129 SL320 which I then spent almost £7k on getting it how I wanted it. It wasn't a bad car to start off with but I did what I can't seem to stop myself from doing and didn't stop until everything was exactly as it should. Having done all that yes it made you feel as if you were driving something special whenever I went out in it, far less common than S4's, as they are in my eyes a fantastic looking car but! But I still hankered after an S4 as it was the only car I could think of, other than an unreliable TVR, with a V8 engine and manual gearbox.
So two months ago I paid over the odds for the car you'll see in my signature, 77,000 miles with three owners prior to myself and the last one for the past 7 years. Fairly low spec, no heated seats, but the drivers seat in my previous Mercedes and my B6 Passat before that had both packed up, no rear parking sensors which is a bit of pain with a cabby, and no Bose sound system.
That said, touch wood so far the car starts without a single rattle of any description from cold, I've probably just cursed my luck now, and with the manual gearbox is fun to drive. Apparently the auto box has a higher final gear for better mpg than you get from a manual and is well suited to the engine but I've never driven one as I was specifically after a manual. I try to use it as little as possible for short journeys as these don't do an engine any good and 14 and a bit mpg around town takes the shine off it, sorry but the sound is addictive!
I bought the car on it's service history and quietness rather than what extras it had and just accepted I can't drive it worrying every time I go out that the cam chains may snap as cobraBlacks did but to deal with it as and when the engine starts to rattle. I think cobraBlack was unfortunate that a previous owner had been in there by the sounds of it and done a half ***** job.
So for the long post but to sum up, after two months of ownership I still love it and even without a Miltek exhaust (yet!) it still sounds great, especially on the couple of occasions I've had the roof down!

 

[GrahamS4]

The car in the link you posted looks quite nice but the switches and the door card look quite dirty/worn - of course I'm biased but this looks nice - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Audi-S4-...461884?hash=item4d6df8297c:g:MGgAAOSwH~1ahyOb

 

[Alex Ward]

Thanks for the responses guys. Definitely food for thought.
I like both cars you guys have posted up. I have seen both of them in my searching.
The red cabby is beautiful. Really suits red. I’m actially starting to lean towards red now.

 

[GrahamS4]

Thanks for the responses guys. Definitely food for thought.
I like both cars you guys have posted up. I have seen both of them in my searching.
The red cabby is beautiful. Really suits red. I’m actially starting to lean towards red now.

I really, really wanted a black S4 cabby but everyone within my budget just didn't quite check out, I always check the cars MOT history, if they've failed more than once on anything serious they don't keep on top of maintenance. Then I do an HPI check on it, I never take their word that it's HPI clear unless it's very recent, I don't want some HPI check from a couple of years ago that came with the car. Then obviously service history all before I spend my time and money going to look at the car itself.