C17LJR's quattro sport avant

[C17LJR]

Hi Guys,

Thought i'd start a project thread. these are the pics from when i bought it, flew down to Norwick to collect it, 400 miles home to scotland.

Its a 2.5 v6 tdi sport quattro

 

[C17LJR]

Spec

Standard features

full factory gmbh kit (commonly known now as the s-line kit)
factory lowered (20-25mm i think?)
grey electric leather
tints all round
silver mirror cases
audi symphony stereo
audi sub & amp
comfort blinkers

All was good until 2 weeks later when disater struck. when getting back into the car after being to the shops, tried to turn it over to hear the dredded timing clunk!

on closer inspection with the front end off, the waterpump had failed taking the idler pulley & tensioner with it.

being optimistic (and as the car was stationary when it failed) we fitted a new belt kit & tried to turn by hand, this mother wasn't for turning though!

now 4 months from it happening, the car is now back on the road, at a cost of £4,186!

 

[C17LJR]

So now onto the mods

mods done before the engine failure...

coded auto roll up windows from the key on vagcom

mods planned...

first things first, bought some wheels that i've always liked that i was going to fit to my bora 4motion, these are 18" champions from the vw phaeton.

however, plans have changed & these are now for sale as i've got my hands on another set of 18" a8 fat fives

then.... bought another set of the same. 1 of these sets are for sale as well

 

[BahnStormer77]

don't get rid of your old rims - use 'em for winter tyres (or trade them for some 16's and use those for winter tyres).

 

[C17LJR]

other additions are ;

us spec front number plate recess blanking plate

2 sets of oem headlights, can't decide what ones to fit, might use both to make us spec xenons ?

us spec -

uk s4 xenons -

fk coilovers too, these might be for sale too as i'm thinking about going straight for air ride.

 

[C17LJR]

don't get rid of your old rims - use 'em for winter tyres (or trade them for some 16's and use those for winter tyres).

thinking i'm going to stick with the 17" stars or get some decent tyres for my spare set of fat 5s for winter

 

[BahnStormer77]

you used to only be able to get Sottozero's for winter 18's, which are mediocre in the wet and were VERY VERY expensive (£175+ per corner!)... looks like the market has opened up a fair bit: can even get Vredensteins for 17's and 18's now!

 

[C17LJR]

think i'd rather just get a good around tyre rather than just a winter one,

i'm not really a fan of summer & winter wheels/tyres. i'd rather run them all year round

 

[quattrojames]

us spec front number plate recess blanking plate

2 sets of oem headlights, can't decide what ones to fit, might use both to make us spec xenons ?

Does that mean you're going to run without a front plate? It looks good that.

Whats the principal difference between uk and us xenons then? Just the indicators?

Loving the S4 lower grille in the S-Line front.

 

[C17LJR]

sorry james, thats not actually my car, just examples of the lights.

the us lights have the orange repeaters & built in side markers,

also, yes, i'll be running without a front plate. however i've got a cunning plan to easily swap between the number plate & the blanking plate.

for reference, this is the blanking plate i have;

 

[quattrojames]

Thats OK mate, I knew it wasn't your car as it's a different colour! I was just commenting on how good the S4 lower grille looked in the S-Line front as that's something I've been discussing with someone in recent months.

The yanks know how to make the B6 look good don't they.

 

[paul20v]

mmm like the us lights
might try and get me some of them
are the side markers illuminated
nice interior too really nice in grey .

 

[CHRIS555]

Nice - got me thinking about the plate recess and how I could permantley fill mine....

 

[C17LJR]

mmm like the us lights
might try and get me some of them
are the side markers illuminated
nice interior too really nice in grey .

yeah, the amber corner lights are constantly on for us requlations. i've not trial fitted them yet but hoping they'll fit/work without having to rewire.

looking to swap interior as you know

 

[C17LJR]

Nice - got me thinking about the plate recess and how I could permantley fill mine....

thanks chris, i could pass you the part number for the blanking plate if you like?

i like the fully smoothed look that you can get from plastic welding, filling & painting. much prefer the ease of just painting the plate & being able to swap about when required

 

[CHRIS555]

thanks chris, i could pass you the part number for the blanking plate if you like?

i like the fully smoothed look that you can get from plastic welding, filling & painting. much prefer the ease of just painting the plate & being able to swap about when required

Yes please! the part number would be great, thank you

 

[C17LJR]

i'll look it out for you & send it on

 

[J7USS]

Ouch!! Did you have to go with a refurb/new engine by chance??
I know the feeling, I had my first one for 3weeks and the oil pump failed me - - " BbbbBaaAaaAnnnNgggGGGG" SO it was over £3000 later and decided what the hell, "may aswell mod it up now, after all im out of pocket anyway"!

 

[C17LJR]

kept my engine as the bottom end was solid & done the FULL top end rebuild as well as replacing a few other bits while it was all off.

could have bought & fitted a replacement engine myself, but who's to know what would happen 10k miles down the line, knowing the 2.5 v6 engine, probably in the same position again!

at least now, I'm hoping i have 100k hassle free motoring

 

[quattrojames]

I had a similar thing happen to mine, I bought a second hand engine and had the top end done on that, it ended up costing me £4.5k

It gets to the point where it's better to spend that on new parts so you know where you are, than buy any second hand engine which may well have the same problems 6 months down the line. At least you now know you've got a good 'un! And to be fair to mine it's run faultlessly since the work 18 months ago.

 

[C17LJR]

yeah, very common on the v6 tdi so thought i'd do it properly rather than do it twice!

 

[J7USS]

My whole damn engine went pop. Mind you it was the 1.8t were talking about, not the Tdi like yourselves!

 

[quattrojames]

Well I've got all sorts of ideas running round in my head now about not having a front plate - they do look good without it!

I'm also thinking Lamin-x to give a slight tint on the front headlights

 

[C17LJR]

the tints suit the dark colours & your grey.

i'm thinking of swapping the USP kit for the S4 kit too

 

[C17LJR]

Right, So a couple updates

private plate swapped over

front plate, also us spec recess cover

new headlights now here...

us spec with built in side markers

then i bought some s4 xexon's

not sure what to run, think i might split them & make some us spec xexons

for comparison, standard lights & all 3 together

 

[CHRIS555]

Hmm, Audi A4 with six headlamps.......... not heard of that one!!!

S4 Xenons!!! But if your going to use Laminex then I would probably use the US ones.

 

[Turkster]

try them on and then you will know mate,

 

[C17LJR]

S4 Xenons!!! But if your going to use Laminex then I would probably use the US ones.

nah, not tinting, don't think it'll look right on the blue car.

 

[Turkster]

leave the OEM ones in,

 

[C17LJR]

cheers paul, can't really decide.

having thoughts of an s4 to be honest

 

[quattrojames]

On the S4 xenons whats the small clear plastic 'lens' type thing under the dipped beam lens?

Also I didn't think you could convert headlamps from LHD to RHD (or vice versa) but can you?

 

[simon.m]

james is there not a switch in side the headlight to change it from LH to RH

 

[quattrojames]

james is there not a switch in side the headlight to change it from LH to RH

I don't know mate, I only say that as I know a chap who emigrated overseas and had to buy new headlights for his A4.

 

[simon.m]

you no me mate i see it some where and its in my haynes manual. it says this
setting up for left or right hand drive on models equippped with gas discharge lights
the dipping characteristics of the unit can be set up for countries who drive on the left or right.
remove the headlight release the the clip and remove the plastic cover from the rear of the headlight behind
the dipped beam then press the lever upwards for driving on the right hand and down for left.
now dont hold me to this but i can swear i read this for none gas ones to but not 100% sure on that

 

[quattrojames]

That rings true, I 'think' it perhaps only xenon's you can change the alignment on then, so he should be ok.

 

[simon.m]

:icon_thumright:

 

[C17LJR]

no, as the us ones aren't xexon's.

if i run the us ones as they are though, i'll adjust the beams as much as i can, & swap over at mot time.

as i say though, think i'm going to add the us lens to the uk xexons

 

[simon.m]

i dont think its a good idea using them if your beem is going to be out and just swaping them over at mot time as its the rest of us on the road
all year round getting blided mate dont mean to sound rude though

 

[C17LJR]

Ach! no problem. standard a4 lights don't really blind do they

 

[simon.m]

hahahaha no it would be hard my bad i thought you would fit HIDs to the standerd ones too ;-).
so not only are you going to have the lights out of line not helping with lighting up the road your going to have standered bulbs too lol
good luck driving at night hehehehe all though will prob keep you driving slower lol