Back Again... Noggy B5 S4

[S4 Muzza]

Absolutely stunning work! This is exactly what I’ve been planning over the next year on my B5! Do you still
Have your old parts for sale?


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Thank you mate appreciate it. Think they’re all getting to this stage now where they need some tlc to get them back to their best/keep them road worthy. Seen a few adverts recently for B5’s claiming ‘not a spot of rust’ to which I call total bs! This has been garaged for the last 7 years, barely seen any rain, and it’s a comparatively low mileage example, and it still needed a good bit of work.

Sent you a message about all the parts!

 

[S4 Muzza]

Been getting on with sorting my niggles.

Car has been in to Cal-tek Systems in Ayr to have the exhaust adjusted so the tail pipe is no longer rubbing the rear bumper/diffuser.

Yesterday I took the car to Kenneth Brown Motor Engineering in Hillington to get a full geometry set up. Not cheap but he knows his stuff. Had the car on and off the ramp and out on the road 5 times making small adjustments to get it perfect. The car drives great now. He was very complementary of the underside of the car, said I'd done a great job. Didn't have the heart to tell him my involvement went as far as spending an obscene amount of money on the parts.

With my laptop having kicked the bucket I still haven't had a chance to scan the car to see what's causing my ABS light to pop on intermittently. Did about an hours driving yesterday on the way home from alignments and nothing. Could the fact it hadn't been properly aligned since the underside work have been causing it?? There seems to be nothing definitive to set if off, its totally random. I'll get to the bottom of it eventually but its no causing any problems for now.

And I still haven't traced my little rattle. I asked Callum at Cal-tek to have a look while the car was in and he couldn't trace it. I also asked Kenneth to have a look while doing the alignment and again he couldn't find anything. He actually seemed a bit annoyed he couldn't find the source and fix it for me! I don't fancy my chances of locating it if 2 people with 4 posters can't, but I will continue to try!

Got the CH's back with the weather picking up. New brakes look good behind there.

 

[S4 Muzza]

I had another bash at locating my rattle. I got under the car and started at the back - noticed the heat shield above the back box was loose. It has crumbled away around the mounting points and was no longer being held securely. Bingo I thought...

Couple of washers and a new nut and it was nice and tight again.

Took the car out and no change, so back in the garage it went and I retired in a mood.

After consulting the guru himself Jimbo, he suggested checking the rear brake shields. He had noticed when fitting them that old bolts had previously snapped in the lower most mounting holes in the uprights. I bought the rear uprights refurbished and hadn't noticed this before. Sure enough, he was on the money - I took the rear calipers and discs off and the lower corner of the shield on each side was rattling off the upright!

With the hub now in place it's impossible to r-tap the hole (you can't get the angle to hit it straight on) but I sure as hell wasn't taking it all apart again. So I set about coming up with what can only be described as a bodge.

I superglued a plastic washer to the back of the brake shield where it meets the upright. That alone would probably so the job but I also whacked a bunch of seam sealer between the plastic washer and the hub.

Took the car out and this has 100% solved my rolling rattle. No more tinny rattling noise over rough ground. Hopefully my solution will last, it's not exactly a high stress part. All back together again.

I do still have a small rasp/rattle off the exhaust which I've been unable to pin down. A job for another day. At least something has been fixed today!

A better shot of the full underside since all the work was done:

 

[S4 Muzza]

Out for an evening stroll a few weeks ago in the nice weather

 

[S4 Muzza]

Well it looks like this thread has been rendered pretty much a complete waste of time after imgur pulled out of the UK, almost every single photo no longer available ***. Massive thank you goes to the UK gov and their online safety act.

 

[S4 Muzza]

These dark nights and wet salty roads are getting a bit depressing so here’s a little photo from back in early September. Not long to go until the lighter nights are back!

 

[S4 Muzza]

While it’s been tucked up in the garage I decide it was time to tackle the headlining. Been putting this off for a while. Been sagging for best part of a year now.

Went round and removed all the lights, grab handles, sun visors etc. All straight forward. Pillar trim was a bit trickier though. I was super worried about breaking something but fortunately managed to get it all out with only 2 clips deciding they no longer wanted to live. Also managed to get it out without removing the internal B pillar trim but this may need loosened for refitting.

Bit it a squeeze getting it out the boot of a saloon too.

Going to take it to a local upholsterer and see what I’d be looking at to have it done. If it’s crazy money I’ll give it a whack myself but it’s really not something I’m keen to do.

 

[S4 Muzza]

Well I finally got my headliner back at the end of February and have to say, what a shambles. The level of workmanship is nowhere near what I would have expected. I’d genuinely question if they’d ever done one before.

Areas not stuck down properly, creases, holes for the light units not cut out, grab handles and sun visor holes not cut and the edges in general just finished so poorly.

Raised my concerns when I was collecting but was pretty much brushed off and told it was normal and would never be as good as it came out the factory. They stuck some more glue on one area of concern and that was it. I did get a small amount of money off but in all honesty I would have been happier to pay the full amount and have them do a decent job.

And the kicker - they had it for 6 weeks longer than they said they would. Just a total shambles from start to finish. I’ve been using local people/trades/companies for stuff on this car and previous cars for close to 2 decades now and this is genuinely the first time I’ve felt proper taken for a mug.

Maybole Upholstery based in Drongan, Ayrshire. Avoid like the plague.

This is what I was presented with at collection and what they obviously deem to be an acceptable level of workmanship:

 

[S4 Muzza]

Anyway when life gives you lemons, or a headliner that looks like it’s been re-trimmed by a complete lemon, you make lemonade.

Since getting it back I’ve spent a fair bit of time on it. Cutting out the recesses, tidying up the edges, re-sticking areas that hadn’t been done properly etc and it’s actually looking pretty decent now. Basically how I would have expected it to come back. Honestly wish I’d just did it myself, it’s not a terrible job.

One of the main issues I had was with the way the edges had been cut and finished. Think it was someone’s first day on the scissors. The rough cuts weren’t an issue round the sides as they’d left JUST enough material for me to fold it round and glue down to create a nice smooth edge. These edges are also hidden when installed behind a little lip. The rear edge isn’t hidden but again there was enough material for me to double it back and glue down. I actually had to cut off a fair bit of material here as the rear edge hooks onto the car, so had to make sure the channel was clear to allow it to do so.

The real issue was at the front. They’d cut the fabric tight with the liner, very rough and with nothing extra to fold over the edge. The light coloured foam backing was visible and it looked terrible. This was a problem as this edge is exposed when fitted.

I scratched my head for a while but remembered I had some protective rubber edging lying around that I’d used on my pole position side mounts when I trimmed them down to get the seats lower. So thought I’d see what I could do with that.

And it worked a treat. I wasn’t able to just push it on given the fragility of the liner, so I went along and opened it all up, slid it on, then went along and pressed it closed nice and tight. The front edge now looks pretty tidy and I actually don’t think the rubber edge looks out of place!

I then went round and opened up holes for all the light units and sun visor holes etc. I’m actually glad they didn’t touch these as who knows what they’d have done.

This is how I had it looking pre-installation:

 

[S4 Muzza]

I sat on it for a few days after finishing my improvements – thought it was going to be a nightmare to refit. But apart from actually getting it into the car, it went back in place fairly easily. Unplugging the front central light unit also causes an airbag light on the dash due to the ‘passenger airbag off’ warning light being located there. So my hand was kind of forced with MOT due this week.

I’m really happy with how it looks fitted - something I did not see myself saying when I got it back 3 weeks ago. Probably taken an extra 6+ hours of my time to get it to this stage though. Only positive is the material they used is a very good match for the car, blends in well with the A/B/C pillars. While everything was out I also took the opportunity to upgrade all the bulbs to some LED ones. It’s one of those things I wish I’d done ages ago – the bulb kit was only £12, it was an easy job, and the car is so much brighter inside now.

 

[S4 Muzza]

I had the tail pipes moved out slightly recently too. They sat way too far in for my liking and it just didn’t look right. Took the car to Elite Custom Exhausts in Ayr. Job was priced and booked in, the work was completed to spec, on the arranged date and at the agreed cost. Much better experience from a local company.

Also swapped the original side lights out for some LED ones and my god what a difference. Didn’t appreciate how old and yellow the originals looked until now.

Another MOT passed with flying colours this week too. Expected nothing less given how little the cars moved since all the underside work. Tester was again very complimentary of how clean the car was both on top and underneath.

 

[S4 Muzza]

If anyone finds themselves missing any of the plastic retaining nuts that hold the boot side carpets/liners in place here’s a part number for you. Noticed I was missing 2 last week, no idea where they’ve gone. Local Audi garage said they couldn’t get them anymore, local VW dealer for them no problem. Only £1 a piece, an unusually cheap part for the B5.