S4 thoughts

[S4essex]

Hey all,
I've owned a b5 s4 now for 3 or 4 years and absolutely loved it...a fantastic car.
S4 Saloon in black, standard everything, beige leather with carbon fibre inserts., MY2000 facelift. "V" reg...newer style headlights, door handles, digital clock, badge where it should be...

As with most things, it eventually gets to a point when you stop and have a think...so that is where I am now.

My wife drives it most days, and her work is 3 miles away...then on weekends I will drive and normally have to go somewhere on a motorway so the car gets a bit of motorway miles to compensate for the stop start...A long time ago I was a motorcycle mechanic, so I understand what is going on, and hopefully that means the car has been treated with a bit of care.....but a bad bike accident meant I cant do the big jobs anymore myself. I also dont have the space here.

So, as it currently stands, the steering lack has started to weep again...I had a replacement/remanufactured rack fitted about 2 years ago, and this is just bugging me to the point where I am considering selling and getting a a3 1.8tqs (easier maintenance I think..more sensible).

The alternative is to get the car to somebody trustworthy, local to me in Essex, to sort all the niggles.+ payment. Ideally, an enthusiast who loves the car too, and will do the right things to get her sorted, and wont rip me off or do a half-job.

So, this is my current wishlist:
Steering rack resolved
*Something* on the front end/back end, making the car track the road badly...the car drives straight on straight roads, can let go of steering and it will go dead straight, but any camber in the road and you have to countersteer I had a proper alignment done on all 4 wheels and have the printout, it is spot on. Drives dead straight, except when it doesnt. This makes it a bit fun over 70mph.

There's other small things as per a car of this age which prevent it being a show-car, but those two are the mechanicals I'm currently not happy about. I've recently replaced all 4 discs, all pads, two rebuilt front calipers+brake hoses...all because it had a screech when stopping which was traced to a seized front caliper.

I'm not a sensible person, as in, I know I should drive something more sane, but these are so scarce on the road that in 4 years I havent seen another S4 around here. SO half of me wants to keep this girl in shape, and half of me says to sell and move on. This is probably not the best place to convince me to sell and buy a BMW...
So, who has a a3 1.8TQS and wants to upgrade, or who wants to be my friendly mechanic?

 

[aragorn]

I dont think theres any point swapping it for an A3.

8L's are just as old, and will all be needing TLC at this stage.

Your odd tracking issues are probably down to worn out bushes. If you've never changed them, then its a certainty at this point that all the control arms will be needing refreshed. On the front you need to replace the whole arm, on the rear you can rebush it. Really transforms the car though once they're all fresh!

 

[S4essex]

thanks @aragorn , I had a feeling it was wobbly rubber bits I know it has a few up front, more than most, and see complete kits on ebay for around £100 mark for the front-end...are they any good? As in, would last another 50k miles at least? I only do about 4k/year.

edit: just wanted to note...the uncertain steering has been there since day 1, and nothing has ever been noted on MOT's about bushes/arms/rubbers

 

[aragorn]

No, they're ****. I fitted a set years ago and they were more knackered than the 150k originals i'd removed after about 4 thousand miles.

Meyle do a full kit for about £350 thats actually worth fitting.

Nothing will ever be noted on an MOT. The rubber goes all knackered and soggy, but doesnt deteriorate in an actually dangerous manner (well at least not initially).

 

[michaelg1001]

I believe this is the kit, I'm just looking into refreshing mine at the moment.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/A4-A6-PAS...KS-RODS-SET-MEYLE-HD-HEAVY-DUTY-/171073988113

 

[pilla]

If i was you, I would keep the S4 and fix the issues and forget about going to an A3. But good luck on your quest

 

[S4essex]

thanks guys, I'm just busy pricing stuff up...still stuck on finding a man with a reliable trustworthy spanner in hand. I'll update as times change...the guy who did my wheel alignment may be able to assist, and he was a top guy.

 

[jbh]

hasn't there been a few folk with problems with the Meyle kit recently?

 

[michaelg1001]

don't say that when I'm looking to buy a set!

 

[dubster67]

Don't rush into anything, as there is nothing out there at the price point quite like a B5 S4.

Yes a 3 series BMW drives way better straight off, but it will be probably be an E46 you'd be looking at and they are poorly built compared to the B5, rusty rear arches, cracked boot floor etc.

If you want the easier/cheaper maintenance, and stay VAG, then don't get an A3, get something with abit of grunt eg S3, Leon cupra r, maybe even Golf/Bora V6 4motion, as you really will miss the power of the Biturbo V6, and the noise. Oh and be prepared for a less robust feel to the interiors of the later cars, plastics are not as good as in the B5.

I'd say keep the S4 and fix the problems, give it a freshen up in the suspension department and then you'll enjoy it even more, and you can be sure it will plod on for a good few years yet.