B9 Hello - New RS4 owner!

[s3mad_dude]

Hi all,

Just thought I’d say hello to this side of Audi-sport.net. I’ve been driving S3s since 2005 and thought it’s probably about time I got a car with five doors, so the next logical step for me was the RS4 b9. I’ve still kept my old classic 8L S3 though!

I’m very lucky to have been able to order a brand new vehicle (I’ve never had a new car in my life) and I managed to get hold of an RS4 Edition 25 - (1 of 50). I ordered it a couple of months ago and last week I was told the car had arrived in the country. I tried my best to collect the car from Germany but it isn’t an option for us Brits anymore sadly.

The car was delivered to the dealership today and has also been registered with the DVLA. There are still a few more checks and stuff to be done but I’m hopeful to get the car on Monday/Tuesday next week.

I’m a massive Audi fan and I plan on keeping this vehicle for a very long time!

I’ll post some info and pics when I collect the car, but for now, I look forward to learning more about the A4 b9 series on the forum!

Here is a sneaky picture the dealer sent me when it arrived off the trailer this morning.


image upload

 

[NWHighlander]

Congratulations, I'm interested to know what that spec is, just idle curiosity really.
I moved from a couple F3 RSQ3s up to the RS4. The driving experience is very much improved especially the ride and cornering, the accln and braking are superb too.
It has a tendency to like petrol stations, but there again I didn't buy it to be a penny pincher, on a long trip driving like good citizen I can get circa 33mpg, but that's not every outing.

Enjoy

Mike

 

[spartacus 68]

Congratulations. Great colour choice.

 

[Sandra]

Loving the colour of the new car. Can’t wait for you to collect and see some more pics. Enjoy when you collect.

 

[s3mad_dude]

Congratulations, I'm interested to know what that spec is, just idle curiosity really.

Thanks - I think even Audi UK don’t know what the fixed spec is despite me constantly asking them, so I guess I’ll just have to wait and see.

In Europe, the car comes with an optional suede steering wheel which I will try and source at some point.

My research so far leads me to believe the following will be equipped but I don’t know what out of this list is RS standard, and what’s not.

360 degree camera and Parking system plus
Adaptive cruise control
Advanced key
Camera based traffic sign recognition
Lane departure warning with side assist
Ceramic front brakes
Carbon fibre bucket seats with Audi Exclusive interior
Heated steering wheel
2 x sets of forged 20” wheels, black set wrapped in Trofeo RS semi-slicks
Audi wrist watch and Alpine Stars gloves
Matt carbon trim bits
RS suspension pro (adjustable coilovers)
RS Sports exhaust system plus
Matrix headlights
Folding/dimming/memory wing mirrors
B&O sound system
USB ports in rear
Virtual cockpit with white dials
Audi phone box with wireless charging

 

[Leask]

love the colour! welcome

 

[s3mad_dude]

Oooh collection day finally arrived!

I was so excited - I went down to the dealer and they had the car in the handover room, covered up with a black drape. I had to go into the manager’s office to sign a couple of documents first though. I was presented with a few nice gifts as a thank you for my new purchase (Audi Sport mug & pen, RS keyring, and an Audi collection watch) which was very generous of them.

I had asked for the majority of protective films and stickers to be left on the car as I wanted to peel some of them off myself. That’s probably quite nerdy but as I haven’t ever had a new car before I wanted to unwrap some of it.

The new car looked amazing under the lights. The weather was sunny and warm and as soon as I had configured the MMI and been shown how the adjustable suspension set-up works I fired it up for the first time. The sound filled the showroom and I drove it out for the first time - it’s utterly incredible and I’m so fortunate to own such a cool car!

The car is now on about 300 miles. The performance and ride of the car is excellent and in dynamic mode, sounds flippin’ brilliant! I feel like a bit of a hooligan actually.

It’s not all plain sailing though and clearly these are first world problems. I sorely miss the CD changer from my old car and the audio delivered via Bluetooth from my iPhone does the B&O system no favours. Instead, I’ve created a massive playlist on a super mini USB stick with the raw audio files and it plays these so much better! Much better bass and a louder volume.

The traffic sign recognition is utter rubbish. The car bongs at me every time I nibble over a speed limit. I don’t condone speeding anywhere but on the roadwork sections of motorways it’s not always accurate. If I disable the audible warning, it returns each time I restart the engine. The same goes for the silly lane assist. I can turn it off when I start the engine but it returns to active each engine start. These are 2024 regulations apparently so I’m in the process of arranging to get this all coded out - updates to arrive later once achieved.

The radar cruise control is the biggest disappointment. All I want is a car to cruise at what I set it at. This new fangled tech interferes way too much and now I have to work harder to keep the vehicle at a constant speed. Apart from that though, the car is great!

My first mod today was to install a magic box behind the climate control that I got from Ali Express which disables the auto-start/stop system a couple of seconds after engine start (plug & play). I had one of these on my old S3. They’re really useful.

The additional black set of wheels and Pirelli Adrenaline system isn’t due to arrive to UK customers until the end of the year. I’ll let you know how that goes, but for now, I’m loving the new car. Here’s a few pics of the collection.

 

[NWHighlander]

The traffic sign recognition was poor and misleading on my car on delivery; I live in an area so out of the way the system is redundant anyway, however if it's factory fitted it should work. So my car spent an overnight in the dealership which ran a calibration with the main system database in Germany, it now works.
At times the satnav was truly crap, often instructing me to turn around and head back to Inverness when my destination was Glasgow a/p and I was down the A9 around Perth !
Small niggles that should not have been there, I still love the car.

I am having the carbon mirror caps fitted next week which will go nicely with the other external carbon fibre trims.

I hope you enjoy your car as much as I mine, they are really delicious and bring a smile to my face everytime I drive it. Added bonus, it is the first RS that my wife actually likes.

Enjoy,
Mike

 

[flybynite]

Nice machine well done on getting the buckets too, bit of a rarity in the UK

The traffic sign recognition is utter rubbish. The car bongs at me every time I nibble over a speed limit. I don’t condone speeding anywhere but on the roadwork sections of motorways it’s not always accurate. If I disable the audible warning, it returns each time I restart the engine. The same goes for the silly lane assist. I can turn it off when I start the engine but it returns to active each engine start. These are 2024 regulations apparently so I’m in the process of arranging to get this all coded out - updates to arrive later once achieved.

Be interested if you manage to get anything changed, not many will touch them given the legal implications of those things being in the regs these days let alone insurance and warranty.

One of the reasons many (including me) have stuck with a pre-2018 car

The radar cruise control is the biggest disappointment. All I want is a car to cruise at what I set it at. This new fangled tech interferes way too much and now I have to work harder to keep the vehicle at a constant speed. Apart from that though, the car is great!

Give it a bit of time to get used to it, for me Adaptive Cruise is a must have and one of the few bits of modern kit I find useful and use regularly. Learning what distance to set and more importantly when to indicate are key.

personally I much sooner the car slow down when catching something up than having to turn the cruise on and off all the time. I miss it when I am in the machine we have with standard cruise.

Cracking choice though and a the type of car we will all look back on in 10 years and wish we could still buy

 

[s3mad_dude]

Well, three months has almost gone by since I collected the ED25 and it’s on about 2000 miles now so one can say it’s definitely run in. I’ve tried the RS mode a couple of times and it’s insane, it’s really fast, with snappy gear changes and the exhaust sounds great. I really do like this car! The fuel tank could do with being a bit bigger though!

I do get quite a fair bit of attention on the road in the car, not so much hooligans from the traffic lights but on the motorway I get friendly toots with thumbs up etc. It’s great! Really makes me smile.

Since the car arrived, I’ve been in discussion with Audi UK to arrange for the matching watch. Originally it wasn’t going to be made available to the UK market, but after complaining they have since agreed to release it over here. The product has had to go through some internal processes where it gets allocated a part number and then it needs to be made “order-able” from the dealerships through the parts network. I’ve been kept fully up to date and the watch is now orderable. The watch will have the matching car number engraved onto the rear casing. I can’t wait for it to arrive.

I’m still waiting for the spare set of black wheels (with the Pirelli Trofeo RS tyres), and whilst I was told they would arrive in Winter, they haven’t yet arrived. I’m in no rush, but I have got a set of Audi tyre bags already so that when they do arrive, I can keep them safe and dry until I try a track day.

As winter was fast approaching I tried to order a second set of the yellow customised RS4 floor mats that the car came with. My local dealer said that the mats were produced exclusively by Audi Sport and whilst they were orderable, there was no time estimate for delivery and full payment would be needed up front. I nearly fell off my chair when they said the cost for a new set was £900! In order to preserve the lovely yellow embroidered mats, I purchased a set of genuine A4 rubber floor mats for the winter. They don’t look anywhere near as good, but I’m happy knowing that my other mats will only be used in dry conditions.

In the meantime, the car has behaved impeccably but I was eager to get the car PPF’d as soon as possible due to the thin paint. I picked up one stone chip on the bumper, but I touched it up with some Imola Yellow paint and you’ll be hard pressed to spot it. The car had PPF installed by a lovely chap called Justin who runs a company called Exclusive Car Care in Trowbridge. He’s a one man band, and the attention to detail and service I received was second to none. The car had the bonnet, the front bumper, the front wings, and the headlights protected with X-PEL Ultimate Plus PPF and was then ceramic coated with G-techniq.

During the order process for the vehicle, there was no brochure, just the Audi UK press release, and the international Audi GmbH version. When I enquired about what sort of options the cars were having in the UK nobody could really answer me. Nobody seemed to know anything. Basically in a nutshell, Audi UK bought 50 of these cars from Audi Germany and pre-specced them so no further optioning was possible by the customer. The same sort of thing happened the year before with the RS4 Competition. Anyway, it turns out that within Audi UK, there was a 19 page presentation about the ED25 car which I was able to print/staple so it forms a real brochure - why everything needs to be digital these days is beyond me.

I then got a bit obsessed with the UK spec of the vehicle and was comparing it to the Euro models and was surprised to find a few differences. The major disappointment was that UK cars didn’t get the carbon fibre engine cover. When you consider the rest of the vehicle has carbon fibre everywhere, the engine cover wasn’t changed. I can only assume this is down to cost cutting and Audi UK typically want to pocket more profit. I managed to source a new carbon fibre part from a parts specialist in Hungary for exactly half the cost that my local Audi dealership wanted. The carbon fibre part number is: 06M103925AB for those interested. I’ve still kept the original engine cover. Any changes made to this car by the way will be fully reversible, no holes will ever be drilled and no wires cut or spliced into. That’s just me and that’s how I roll.

Here is the original Audi UK engine cover on the left versus the Euro spec carbon fibre version:

Looking a million times better!

The other cost cutting I had noticed when compared to my facelift 8V S3 was that the red door warning lights didn’t illuminate - they were just reflectors. Many thanks here go to @alps26 who kindly advised me of an upgrade kit that piggy backs off the puddle light wiring loom. I removed the door cards because it’s easy enough to do (just three screws), and I was able to neatly route the new wiring to the red warning light along the existing loom to ensure it looks completely original.

Much better!

That’s about it for now. I’m half tempted to retro-fit the lockable glovebox handle (which was removed for the UK spec cars, and also the lower driver dashboard storage compartment). But maybe that’s a story for another day…

 

[s3mad_dude]

Well, I can’t believe I’ve had the car for six months already! Where has all that time gone?!

The car is now on 4.5k miles and has been a delight to drive. No issues with it whatsoever. The ‘farty’ exhaust still makes me smile every time I change gear at higher revs.

Since my last update, I’ve not done a great deal, but I have installed some really nifty black door hinge bolt covers. They’re just pieces of plastic that clip on over the bolt head. They look so much better than before, and can be bought on Ali Express for just a few pounds. What do you think?

Before:


After:


The other change that I’ve made was to install two compartments in the boot (with storage nets) built into them. The compartments with nets were on vehicles in the UK equipped with the storage pack. In addition to the luggage compartment nets it also included a variety of things, such as nets on the back of the front seats, lower storage pod in driver side dashboard and cup holders in the rear armrest. The ED25 cars were not configurable by the owners, and storage nets can’t be installed on the back of the bucket seats anyway, so makes sense that this pack wasn’t included. Anyway, I managed to source the part numbers. It was difficult trying to work out which parts had black carpet and others had dark grey, but in the end I used the following:

8W9863992KTH for the right side (as you stand looking into the boot from outside). The 12v socket will not be included with the new part, but you can swap it over easily. The compartment is perfect for the first aid kit, high-vis jackets and suspension tool kit.



8W9863991KTH for the left side. This is the smaller compartment. I picked this up brand new from Audi for less than £60. The opposite side was not available to buy on its own, so I sourced it from eBay.

I’ve also ordered the parts for the small lower dashboard compartment for the driver’s side and will install that once all parts have arrived.

I also bought an official A4 avant boot liner to help protect the carpet as my suitcase wheels are always getting covered in salt and muck at this time of the year.

You may have seen media reviews of the ED25 car on YouTube etc. and may have noticed that in those reports, the static vehicle supplied by Audi features a black Alcantara flat-bottomed steering wheel with yellow 12o’clock stripe.



It was reported at the time of those media reviews that this type of steering wheel was an optional extra. I tried to see if it was possible to order one, but my local Audi dealer couldn’t even locate the part. I contacted a person I knew in Audi UK HQ and they contacted the team at Audi AG in Germany to see what the deal was. It turns out that although this steering wheel was planned to be an optional extra, Audi eventually decided to abandon the idea of it / so it actually never made it into production.

I’m still struggling to obtain the puddle lights for the rear doors (to match the fronts). I’ve obtained the part numbers for the lights by removing them from the car, but my local dealer says this part number doesn’t exist. The lights are bespoke to the ED25 models. It may be that you can’t buy them, or simply that the UK parts system hasn’t yet had the part number added in to the catalogue. So maybe in time I will be able to source these.



I still don’t have the additional set of alloy wheels, with semi-slick tyres and gloves. I’ve been assured that these should arrive by the end of March, so watch this space….

In the meantime, the matching watch arrived! It’s also limited to 250 pieces (like the car), and this one has the same number as my car. Although initially the UK market wasn’t going to get the watch, I was able to ask my contact at Audi UK to assign it a part number so that UK buyers could at least order it if they wanted it - and they happily agreed.



I’ve also found out the split of colours across the UK ED25 vehicles. The first 10 cars (numbered 100-109) were Imola Yellow, the next 20 were Mythos Black (numbered 110-129) and the final 20 were Nardo Grey (numbered 130-149). Randomly in the process of sourcing this information I also discovered that Audi Spain were allocated six Imola Yellow examples which are numbered (40-45).

 

[RSBoy]

This is really a great write up. I too have an Imola yellow ED25 and echo everything you have said here.
Great research on the part numbers, I’d really like to get the engine cover.
The other thing I was disappointed with was the lack of a Heads Up Display. In a performance car it’s invaluable…
I’ve completed just over 2k now and about to set off on a trip to Cannes from blighty so that’s going to be a real test.
I don’t have the Watch,wheels or gloves yet either… this pees me off as I have already paid for them! Audi uk can’t give me a delivery date either. Anyways it’s still winter so can’t use the tyre yet anyway.
I think the black wheels might look better on the car too so might have a swap around.
All the best


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[voorhees]

The HUD comment is spot on, all over the VAG range you would assume the top cars would have it as standard but no.

 

[Dougier]

Do you have the part number of the watch? I have spoken to my dealer and he said its not available to UK customers, i would appreciate it, if i could have it from you so i can order the watch.

Cheers

 

[s3mad_dude]

Do you have the part number of the watch? I have spoken to my dealer and he said its not available to UK customers, i would appreciate it, if i could have it from you so i can order the watch.

Cheers

Sure, it’s a bit different to normal part numbers I think, but the article number on the rear of the watch box states: 3102400300 and has definitely been added into the Audi UK ordering system.

The watch is part of the Audi Collection (which features Audi’s other watches and clothing/lifestyle range).

Make sure to specify your model designation (xxx/250) so that you get the right limited edition number to match your vehicle.

If the dealer is still struggling to find it, it appears there is a place online that sells it:

Original Audi Chronograph RS4 Jubiläum 25 Jahre Armbanduhr Uhr Herren Logo 3102400300

Der Chronograph zum Audi RS4 Avant edition 25 years. Details: verschraubter Gehäuseboden mit Editions-Logo Limited Edition (250 Stück):…

shop.ahw-shop.de

 

[Dougier]

Sure, it’s a bit different to normal part numbers I think, but the article number on the rear of the watch box states: 3102400300 and has definitely been added into the Audi UK ordering system.

The watch is part of the Audi Collection (which features Audi’s other watches and clothing/lifestyle range).

Make sure to specify your model designation (xxx/250) so that you get the right limited edition number to match your vehicle.

If the dealer is still struggling to find it, it appears there is a place online that sells it:

Original Audi Chronograph RS4 Jubiläum 25 Jahre Armbanduhr Uhr Herren Logo 3102400300

Der Chronograph zum Audi RS4 Avant edition 25 years. Details: verschraubter Gehäuseboden mit Editions-Logo Limited Edition (250 Stück):…

shop.ahw-shop.de

Hi Thanks for the info, I will ask my dealer again.
Just got my second set of wheels delivered today, what do you know about the track info device that came in the box, are the sensor in the tyres or wheels?

cheers

 

[s3mad_dude]

The sensors are fitted to the inner liner of the tyres, and the Pirelli Adrenaline box communicates with these sensors. It sends the data to the matching phone app (wi-fi connection) to provide you with real-time tyre data when you’re hooning around a circuit.