My new C5 S6 Avant - V8 family car

Got the wheels back from the powder coaters and they look fantastic!







and another 800quid of circles turned up too



started prepping bits for the refit. the boot panel was really scratched up



so gave it a 2000 wet flat



and machine polish too, looks brand new






assembled the handles back together





fitted them then I could put the door cards back on





gave the fog lights a flat and polish up, left ones done



and the headlights




left one is done



and fitted



polished up the rear lights and exhaust tips





in good company :cool:



Lee de nibbed a few bits



then trizak'd the whole side just to make sure it's extra flat!



the trims below the headlights were just aerosol black and were badly chipped



I had wrapped the chrome on the grilles the same time as i painted the headlights trims and the wrap has faired a lot better



so stripped off all the rough paint



and got the wrap out













very happy with that!

so got the bumpers out and stated fitted them back up



all back together

 
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slid the rear bumper on



had to clean all the double sided tape off the sills with a toffee wheel before the skirts went back on





and skirts on, still impressed with how these came out. even underneath!





then put the door blades back on, followed by mirrors and then I could put the front door cards on





fitted all the boot interior back in



the front grilles were looking pretty rough where they'd been aerosoled and had chipped off



so stripped the wrapped surrounds off that still look good.



rubbed down all the peeling paint



and black



all back together and the bumper could go on



new tyres have been fitted on the wheels




and back on its feet



still a bit to do but it's car shaped again :) :) :)
 
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Really really impressed. Incredible work. Its good for another 10 years now!

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got the last few jobs ticked off, sealed up the inner arches







the front discs were looking a bit rough and rusty so drilled out all the rust from the holes and they look loads better



fitted the splash guards back in



they were looking grubby compared to the rest of the car now so gave them a scrub



and the rears, a bit of a wheels off Wednesday




I found some old 6mm spacers kicking around for the rear as they sat in slightly compared to the fronts



jacked it right up and they clear



dug out my wheel nut covers, could only find 19 though





nearly there now, couple more bits to do still


















 
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last few jobs done, fitted the trims and rubbers back on the front




number plate back on






fitted the wheel bolt caps on, before with rusty bolts



after, nice and tidy



fitted the freshly painted gloss black window trim on





then time to start cleaning the inside



cleaned and reconditioned the leather



all looks great :)





the sun came out and showed the proper colour really well. it's a very sparkly charcoal colour, not actually black





still undecided wether to put the badge back on the rear. I think I'm strangely swaying towards de-badged.





It's all ready for the Low Collective Show on Sunday on the Autoshack stand :) :) :)





Will get lots of pictures at the weekend outside. hopefully the weather will be good :)
 
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Today was the Low Collective German car show, up early at the workshop to collect the car :)





in its favourite hidey hole!



and on the Autoshack stand :)



























I am over the moon with it :) :) :)
 
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I do like the sides, compliments the wheels, mirrors and roof rails.

overall I do have the love back for it again, it looks stunning, the pics don't do it justice :) :)
 
Amazing job for an excellent car! Will last for another 15 years..the colour is Amazing, looks like it is less green and gold in it than the original colour
Keeps my own motivation up to do more on mine during winter since I have it positioned in the garage now for the time being
 
I had to get something sorted with the stone chip protectors. just driving to show and back I'd already picked up loads of stone chips on the skirts :(



I managed to find out you can still get the ones for the doglegs from audi for £18+vat each side, but nothing for the skirts. I got talking to a few people about PPF (paint protection film) a lot of people I know with super cars are getting their whole cars done! it looks fantastic, you can't even tell it's there when they do whole panels like a bonnet so there's no joins.

it's pricey, a whole front for a car will set you back £4-5k but when your car is £200k its a small price to pay to keep your original factory paint perfect.

a bit out of my league but very impressive all the same :lol:

I got talking to Joe at the Window Film Centre and they had just done the whole front of the Miami Blue Porsche GT3 seen in pics earlier on. He has done the whole front of his RS3 too.

I just wanted the rear dog legs done on mine (here's a before pic, check out the chips!) Audi only fit film to the top half, not on the skirts, but I wanted the skirt done too



turned up at 9am the next day and Joe cracked straight on





and the results..... it looks fantastic! it's only half as thick as the Audi stuff and only half as thick so you can't hardly see a join. the finish is just as flat and glossy as the paintwork next to it. he took it a lot higher than audi too to nearly the top of the arch.











I was so impressed at how near invisible it was I got him to do the centre of the rear bumper into the boot lip so it doesn't get all scraped up chucking stuff in the back.



the join, going straight up from the exhausts



I've still got some mechanical bits to do on it but I'm happy the bodywork is now complete..... all ready for winter LMAO

 
had a few mechanical jobs to do.so opened up my unit again



got the lower arms from Euro Car Parts, TRW the same as the originals



after a lot of ******* about I eventually got the arms off...... to find they're the wrong ones!!!!!!!!!





they've got these wierd discs on too that I've never seen on any audi wishbone



phoned up euros and they said no they're not for your car, we don't do ones for your car! So basically they've just sent these anyway. *******!

I got onto TPS with the part numbers but they didn't have them on their system???





but we went through my reg and chassis number and they're just shy of £200 EACH!!

phoned up ALL GERMAN PARTS who I've had success with before and he was going to ring me back, but hasn't so far.

I can see this being a huge ball ache like the inner CV joints were :(

while the wheels were off I gave them a clean



and bling



gave them a coat of platinum wheels



and did the rears too



so an uncucessfull day.
 
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It is hard to get the right parts for the V8s from Euro or GSF. Have to check and double check part numbers etc. I had to go to Audi for two front sport springs, euro listed them for my reg but they weren't the correct ones for a V8 just standard springs!

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I had the exact same on Friday with lower arms. Checked all the P/N's and was assured i required the 20mm taper. Absolute pig to split the ball joint. Eventually came off and it was a 16mm taper. Was doing it outside on the drive and it started pouring, got drenched but my mission was accomplished (after a 60 mile round trip to get the replacement).
 
I'm so in love with your car, it looks better every time I see it.

The C5 shape is sublime :hearteyes:
 
so I've been shopping :eek:



finally managed to source some proper V8 lower arms for the aluminium subframe with the correct discs



also been having a problem with an abs light coming on now and again and fault reads to front left



and some new rear bump stops (for the final pic)



and the big box!





Eibach pro-street S coilovers.

avid readers of the thread will have spotted that is what is already on the car........... they were already on there when I got it, and Jordan who I bought it of had bought them second hand before him. so I've no idea how old they really are. I have always had a bit of trouble with the rear end sagging. with the gas tank right out the back, 70 litres of lpg does drop it over an inch. and if you load up the boot it slams it down further. the last year I have been winding the springs up every time I'm under there to keep evening it out.

out of curiosity one day I started googling the part numbers and found these coilovers are for an A6 QUATTRO and PASSAT 4motion, up to a V6. their load axles are up to 1080kg (I think it was) and the set actually listed for the S6 V8 were load rated for 1300kgs. that would explain why I've always had trouble with the rear end sagging after putting all the lpg tank a bits right out the back. I got in touch with Eibach and found what springs I needed and they came in at £150plus vat PER CORNER! and the dampers were around the same! coming in at about £1400..... or you could buy a new set complete for about a grand (the mind boggles).
I'm really impressed with the build quality of the Eibach coilovers, they're at the very least 5 years old and used in all weather's all through the year. salt, snow, mud, dirt, and not a spec of rust on the bodies, when ever I've gone to adjust them none of the grub screws have been sieezed and they just wind up or down as new.

so started looking around and found the proper 1300kg axle load Audi S6 V8 Avant ones for £791 over in Germany through Eibach Shop. it's taken 3 weeks for them to get here but at that price it's worth the wait.





so once they're on its not going to look and different, but hopefully for me it will drive a lot better and handle the balance a lot better :)

and I'll be able to sell the set that's on there now as well :) :)
 
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If I didn't have the lpg tank in the **** of mine I would buy them off you. Although I still might actually. Will keep an eye for when they come up. How do you find these cool overs for ride. Had kw on the rs and for me they were set about hard, so I'm looking for something that's certainly cleans up the soggy standard setup but not crash firm.


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had some time while the kids were at school, planned to do the garden but it was chucking it down so I whipped the car in





got out all the presents





up in the air





pinch bolts came out with ease, no corrosion at all as I'd greased them right up last time






and everything else off








old vs new, hmmmmmmm the part numbers are still the same! :(






bit dissapointed until I took the spring off and saw how big the new shafts are!! :)










quite an upgrade :lol:


all assembled with the topmounts





set all the bushes at ride height





and done




other side off




fitted the new abs sensor





had to swap the arm over for the auto levelling headlights, there are some dimples to show whete it goes





and all on




I still had the drawing on the wall from when I originally set up the coilovers lol





back on the ground





then to the rears





I hadn't had anything on the rears off before so everything was tight and rusty, they're a year to get out too, but got them off






again the part numbers were the same





but the new ones were so much bigger!




I have the original S6 suspension that came in the boot when I bought it, and wanted to put the alloy top mounts from them on instead of the Passat steel ones (trying to save every gram back there lol)






when I took the top mounts off the coilovers it turns out it's never had any bump stops on the rear! they were missing (left)





my new bump stops match the ones out of the alloy mounts (S6's are different to normal ones apparently)





all reassembled





and manuvered into place





did all the bushes back up at ride height





both the top mounts snapped off in the captive nuts on the other side, ********! so had to grind them off and nut and bolt it





let the rear back down, is set the platform heights the same as the old ones, but with the correct rated springs it sat about an inch higher!








so roughly leveled it all out. I'll drive it round for a few days letting everything settle then I'll set all the heights and get it 4 wheel aligned


 
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Hi Ron. All looking good. How are you finding the new coilovers. Looking for a set myself. Something a bit less soggy but not wanting to compromise comfort (or be crashy).


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simo79 said:
Hi Ron. All looking good. How are you finding the new coilovers. Looking for a set myself. Something a bit less soggy but not wanting to compromise comfort (or be crashy).


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Click to expand...

They're fantastic! It is still bumpy compared to factory obviously, but it's so much less crashy than the old ones. Where as you used to hit a bump and it would just bottom out, now it actually absorbs it. The rear end is alot tighter round the bends, going through S's the rear end would always have a 1 second delay in changing direction. Now it' a nice and tight.

There' alot to be said for correct spring rates.
 
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Be Cheersss.
 

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A few months cracking on as a family car :) living in the countryside it does get filthy though!








So returned it back to black again





The real reason it's back to the unit is I've been having a voltage problem. Occasionally it acts like it's got a flat battery. You go to start it and all the dash lights dim, and sometimes the starter just clicks for a rotation then stops, this stems back from when i replaced the starter motor thinking that' the problem, which solved it for a while but then it started doing it again. I also changed the ignition switch thinking it was that, fixed it for a while but then came back. Lately it' been getting worse and worse and happening every time you start it. The battery is good and holds its charge and the alternator pumps out 13.8v even with everything switch on.

When you plug vagcom in and read the voltage it only shows 11ish volts and drops down to 9ish when you start it. Even though a volt meter directly on the battery shows a constant 12v.


So after replacing all those bits, it could only be the wiring or a contact.


First of all I started at the battery and worked back. The S6 has 2 huge fuses by the battery, a 120a and 200a monster, so cleaned those up and all the terminals on the fuses and battery itself.





Next along the line the power wires go into the ecu box





The main ecu relay was looking a bit grubby





and the other one I think is the SAI motor relay, I had spares for both so replaced them anyway





Under the ecu is a load of connector plugs so checked all those for corrosion but all were fine





Next stop down the power line was under the dash at the fuses and relays





Anand...............





Ahh that will be it then





That's the main 30 terminal from the battery. The non factory ring on the top is for the tracker. But the inline fuse for the tracker is still in tact so it's not the tracker that's shorted out causing this problem. The terminals are all burnt on the 3 factory wires to that terminal. But it doesn't track too far up the wires. When I went to undo the bolt it snapped straight off and you can see it's been arcing through the threads and had welded the nut to the thread





All the heat is concentrated around that terminal so I think what's happened is where that tracker feed has been added, over time that nut has started to come loose due to the cheap ring connector shrinking or the nut never being super tight, either way it's been getting progressively worse, then once it arcs one and gets a bad contact it just gets a poorer and poorer contact in till it's barely passable.


I dropped the fuse box out but that stud is actually part of it and you can't replace it





And that stud is permenant live from the fuse box and links the second stud by a copper buzz bar. So I managed to clean everything up and get a nut on what's left of the stud.





All is good. I didn't realise how dim the dash lights had been for So long. Even the headlights are brighter. Now when yoy start it up the clocks don't even flicker.


And now vagcom reads the same as the battery.








And the volt meter on the dash has even risen to the correct battery voltage. It's never been above 12v before.





So success! I'm glad I've actually found something definitive :)
 
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I just bought an S6 a couple of weeks ago, and this thread is brilliant!! I wish mine looked half as nice as this, and its properly sorted too! Great to see folk putting so much care and attention into these cars. Gutted I missed out on the shocks you had for sale, as Im keen to get something similar. Looking at a Bilstein B12 kit, as dont want anything too low and the roads in Edinburgh are ****** awful!!

Quick photo of mine...

 
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Just read this thread beginning to end. Brilliant write up, had me chuckling at the dark humor & admiring the tenacity to keep on going even when most would have taken to dousing it in petrol & setting light to it!

Top work :hi: and since the threads gone a bit quiet hopefully that means your enjoying the car & it's given you no reason to open up the workshop!

Cheers, Morgan
 
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Glad you enjoyed it, this certainly is a no holes bared account of S6 ownership. All has been going really well, just been enjoyng it as a family car, clocked over the 112k miles mark now.

Will be a few updates in the next week as it's MOT and yearly service time.

One thing I had noticed in the really cold mornings is I would get a little whif of lpg on changeover. It' a very distinctive smell. I had a sniff around the engine bay and it was coming from around the evaporator/ filters area. I gave it all a good wiggle and there was a bit of a hiss coming from the joints of the hose, so found a load of old jubilee clips and wound it all down tight.



It looks like the constant heat from the exhaust manifold has broken down the hoses rigidity a bit



It was due its service so i got a reel of 16mm lpg hose too.



And made up the new lines with new clips



And all on.



It wasn't leaking anywhere else but replaced the whole loop as I had it



And all covered back up



The other thing I wanted to do was add a phone charger because it's always awkward to have the ashtray out for the cigaette socket so I bought a usb socket



Decided to tuck it under the arm rest



And ran the wires back to the rear cigaette socket





All done



I do love a good project thread, but as the world is evolving vlogging has far overtaken blogging in the car build game.

I watch over 60gb of youtube a month and all car related, mighty car mods, roadkill, engine masters, Adam lz, project binky, roadking, b is for build, mike finnagin, cars and cameras, the list goes on for ever.

So I thought I'd give it a go my self. It seems a whole load of hassle and make everything take 3 times as long and the internet always trolls you, you feel like an idiot talking to a camera, but it is the future!

So far I've only put up the slide shows of a few of my old projects, but the plan is when I get some more progrss on my Kit Car to actually start a Vlog with it.

Here's the channel

Super Ron

So check it out, subscribe up and once I have a decent amount of content I'll start uploading :car: I'll carry on build threads here too of course :)
 
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Hey Ron. All looking tickety boo here. Been toying with starting a thread myself but personally I think this thread tops the vloggin threads. Watched a hell of a lot but you tend to switch of at bits, where here it's a case f being engrossed from start to Finnish. Plus it's easier to edit these I suppose as you said. Although time will tell, you may revolutionise the vloggin (although I have had my share of listening to yanks -sorry for generalising- ramble on evidently in love with their own voice. Call me old fashioned but "power to the blogging".


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I do love a forum build thread. I've been doing project threads like this one for over 10 years now, I've got over 12,000 pictures in my photobucket account purely for build threads. Pretty much every bolt, screw and wire I've ever touched has been documented!

The audience of youtube is so big though it's unbelievable. But to get good content on there is 10 times more effort than it is on a forum thread, and every car channel admits it does take 3 times as long to complete a job when you're filming it than if you were to crack on and get on with it.

It's that carrot hanging for my ego I guess with such a massive audience that just isn't there on the forums anymore.

We will see, either way I'll still carry on with the build threads :icon thumright:
 
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Ive always loved project threads but havent got into You Tube stuff on the same topic. Maybe Im getting too old :p I much prefer photos and text. As I say, this thread is ruddy brilliant. The amount of dedication that goes into putting it all up online, in terms of time and hassle, is always great to see. Ive got big plans for my S6, but mostly towards the stereo stuff. Got three amps waiting to go in. I was hoping not to have another project car (I have a plastic shitbox http://www.vx220.org.uk/forums/topic/118696-project-rabiata/) but the lure of the C5 V8 was too strong!!! :p Keep it coming Ron, amazing car youve got there
 
Great thread Ron, a brilliant example (after all the work) of S6 awesomeness.

I am not an S car owner, but had a C4 avant 2.8 and loved it, now I am looking at a C5 2.7T, your thread is a workshop manual!
Going to look at some of your yewtoob vids later


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All has been good in Audi world, nothings gone wrong, just a maintenance update.


Had a lot of fun with this in the snow! Being the locked mechanical Quattro it was so predictable. I went out everywhere even in the blizzrds!























Once all that fun was out of the way it was MOT time again so got it in for a check over





With this puppy on full blast!





The front discs and pads were very low and a busy was knackered on the rear upper wishbone. I couldn't find anywhere that would just do the bushes so had to buy the whole wishbone, and low and behold... they're different on the V8 models to all other A6 and Passat Quattro. The joys of S6 ownership! :lol: TPS managed to get one in from Germany but it took 5 days!





It was due its service too so got a filter too and the 9 litres of oil needed!





Oil dumped... so much oil!





On to the rear arm





Had to remove the coilovers to get to the inner bolts





And off





Old vs new





And all back together





And a delivery for the front





2006 Mercedes ML500 350x32mm discs and Porsche Cayenne 17z pads, is forgotten how huge these bloodly things were! And heavy!!






Pads were almost down to the backplates and discs have taken a hammering. I can't fault them. I drive this thing like a 2 ton hot hatch every day and it stops on the button every time. Discs aren't horrendous, only £99 from m-tec for the pair. They've lasted about 15k of hard miles!












And all new!





And the other side the same








Flushed half a litre of brake fluid through but there wasn't any problems of what came out.





And then it was MOT time :)





The only thing I had forgot about was I take the side lights out as they look ****, looks loads better with just the projector beam..... but I'd forgot to put them back in lmao.


But flew through the emissions again with all the cats removed :) so green!





Good for another year :)
 
It's been quite a while since an update, but that's because all has been well with the car :)

It's been serving as a great family car and commuter racking up a few miles, popped up to snetterton to watch a few races



And to Santa Pod too



As well as a few trips to hospital with broken bones :lol:



It's also the daily and one problem with working at a port is constant seagull **** :(







This ****** left foot prints!



So it gets washed very regularly and still looks good :)



Last week I had to get a pair of tyres for the front so I spoke to a good friend of mine Graeme at We fit any tyres and he sorted me out with another couple of Super Sports



I had started to notice a few drips of oil on the drive lately so had a look underneath and found the engine sump was seeping



But more so the rear output shaft oil seal on the transfer box was leaking



So called TPS and got a new oil seal and fluid for the transfer box and new sealer for the sump



Started at the front and dropped the sump



Cleaned everything up ready for the gasket sealer





Cleaned up all the bolts as they were covered in sealer




And on




Next I had to drop the exhaust to get to the prop







Prop off



Flange off and new seal fitted



And going back together with new bolts



Heat shields cleaned and refitted




Some thing I'd noticed before in the past is that my rear suspension bolts had been loose, I think the niloc nuts had worn so I got a new set



Lubed it all up



And fitted the new nuts



One of the camber adjusted bolts was seized solid so am going to have to look into sorting that.

With those on I could refit the exhaust



And one of my flexys was a bit dodgy and had ripped open when removing the exhaust so had to cut it out




And banged in a temporary piece




The decats have been on there since I've had the car and are pretty ghastly, so I've booked it in with a local company to have some nice stainless replacements in a couple of weeks.

I've still got a few things to do but all in all everything is going well :)
 
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