What have you done to your Audi A4 B7 today?

[swisstony]

I’ll be happy to change your views on coil overs. I’m a convert

in which case, as always , I defer to your first hand knowledge. The thing that was putting me off was a historical one from my impreza days where coilovers were all street and crashy but given the fact that if I went down the route of coilovers I could effectively kill two birds with one stone
Refresh the shocks and springs in one go and as a cheeky side bonus, lower the car by a slight amount . And I mean slight as I hate the lowered look with a passion, dont want to go back to scraping when going over speed bumps etc.
So with that all in mind, then yes please do your worst

 

[swisstony]

If I did go down the coilover route, it would be between these two
https://prosportperformance.co.uk/c...rs-a4-b7-saloon-quattro-150119-595-detail -id
and
https://racelandeurope.com/collections/audi-coilovers/products/audi-a4-b7-8e-coilovers
I think they are a good bundle price unless people know of other options

 

[swisstony]

Something I have been meaning to do for a while . Previous owner when changing bumper or intercooler had nowhere for the horns to mount so they were just dangling down . I cabled tied them but it looked messy

Then noticed that there was a nut sitting on a thread that I could use so fashioned up two brackets

Used the existing nuts and now secure
Happy days

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[Stu_b7]

Some more work done on the DTM this week. New bosch N80, new genuine thermostat, new coolant tank as the old one was yellow, new gates aux belt and tensioner, fresh vag coolant and a new genuine VVT solenoid as the seal had failed and it was leaking oil through the electrical connector and into the loom. Took a bit of time to bleed up but got there in the end.

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Did you do the thermostat yourself? I need one done but no idea how hard it is to do?

 

[Charlie Farley]

in which case, as always , I defer to your first hand knowledge. The thing that was putting me off was a historical one from my impreza days where coilovers were all street and crashy but given the fact that if I went down the route of coilovers I could effectively kill two birds with one stone
Refresh the shocks and springs in one go and as a cheeky side bonus, lower the car by a slight amount . And I mean slight as I hate the lowered look with a passion, dont want to go back to scraping when going over speed bumps etc.
So with that all in mind, then yes please do your worst

Coilovers, it's a bit of a dirty word to so many owners and to be fair a lot of owners that have had bad experiences with them fitted may be due to poor quality units or less than ideal specs units for the intended usage.

In the past, i'd been put off coilovers by so many owners complaining about them, but it wasn't until i looked into it further that a clear pattern emerged that one needs to choose carefully, quality and intended use are key for getting a setup that suits your needs.
B7's have pretty poor dampers and spring at the best of times so changing them will always be a massive improvement.

Having tried several fixed rate spring/damper combo, the setup i removed 12 months ago, Bilstein B8's with H&R 45mm drop springs were excellent, i really could not fault the ride quality and handling, on a different level to the OE items, but being an Avant the rears always sit just a bit lower and i wanted to have a bit more control over rear ride heights, going coilovers was the obvious route.
Having looked at what was available and owners' feedback on numerous kits I choose KW's , not cheap at £1400 for all four corners.

Given the market place has a vast array of offerings for the B7 platform some cheap which I'm not convinced are the best option, mid-range offering are good , high end can be just overkill.
The kw's i fitted are superb, really nice ride quality, handling is spot on and build quality is very good and should outlast my ownership.
The added bonus for me is the ride height adjustability, i didn't want a silly low stance, just something midway, and I've achieved that without compromising ride quality and handling.

I'm not saying cheap units are bad but build quality can be less than ideal and spring rates/damping can be less than ideal, that said you can pay silly expensive amounts for overspec'd kit .
£1400 was more than I wanted to spend but in reality, it was the correct choice for my situation, but you'll find something suitable i'm sure , AP do well rated kits as do raceland.

buying another set of fixed height springs /dampers then deciding they are not what you wanted is just wasting your cash.

 

[Charlie Farley]

A poor set of coil overs will do you no favours and will just push you further away from them, get a good set that are right for you and you'll never look back .

 

[Charlie Farley]

If I did go down the coilover route, it would be between these two
https://prosportperformance.co.uk/coilover-kits/1328/coilovers-a4-b7-saloon-quattro-150119-595-detail -id
and
https://racelandeurope.com/collections/audi-coilovers/products/audi-a4-b7-8e-coilovers
I think they are a good bundle price unless people know of other options

Id steer away from the pro sports, just my opinion on them.
Raceland are ok , AP's are better.

if you devide the total cost by four you will see a per-corner price, so pro-sports are £65 a corner, i'd question quality and longevity etc to be honest.

 

[Charlie Farley]

my old bus on kw's .
Not silly low but not stuck up in the air like a tractor.
no issues with ramps/bump etc at all, well no worse than when i had the s-line solid items fitted..lol

 

[swisstony]

Id steer away from the pro sports, just my opinion on them.
Raceland are ok , AP's are better.

if you devide the total cost by four you will see a per-corner price, so pro-sports are £65 a corner, i'd question quality and longevity etc to be honest.

That is all fantastic advice and information as always. Very detailed reply so thank you. It seems that age and a certain ride height go hand in hand so as I am slightly older than 20 I will stick to handling, ride , comfort and adjustability/quality over a silly slammed look
I get what you say about budgets and what you pay for, but to be honest I think a decent set from Raceland will do me fine
They happen to do a slightly superior set that may be even better but sadly out of stock

The other option is AP from Awesomegti though they are a hefty jump
https://www.awesomegti.com/shop-by-car/audi/a4-b6/ap-coilovers-audi-a4-b6-b7-quattro-sedan/
To be honest anything would be an upgrade and improvmenet from the stock stuff so I may well give the Raceland a go as I have 30 days money back option if I decide they are not what I need

 

[Charlie Farley]

Everything from awesome gti is expensive lol.
That is where I purchased my KW's, to be fair they were more than other sources but were the only ones to give me a sensible delivery timeframe.

The rear ride height on my old bus now is pretty well the same as with the s-lines , but the coilovers have given me the ability to lower the front down so the car is now a better stance and level, none of the nose up as before.
If I need to wind the rears up a bit in a few years due to a bit of settlement, I can simply wind up the adjuster a bit, it's a no-brainer.

Whatever route you decide a serious word of caution, more so if you are going DIY fitment, don't touch the front pinch bolts or you be in a whole world of pain.
If they have been removed and replaced already thats something if not, and the front end is still untouched, be prepared.

 

[Charlie Farley]

Given the choice i'd pay the bit extra for the AP's.

 

[swisstony]

Everything from awesome gti is expensive lol.
That is where I purchased my KW's, to be fair they were more than other sources but were the only ones to give me a sensible delivery timeframe.

The rear ride height on my old bus now is pretty well the same as with the s-lines , but the coilovers have given me the ability to lower the front down so the car is now a better stance and level, none of the nose up as before.
If I need to wind the rears up a bit in a few years due to a bit of settlement, I can simply wind up the adjuster a bit, it's a no-brainer.

Whatever route you decide a serious word of caution, more so if you are going DIY fitment, don't touch the front pinch bolts or you be in a whole world of pain.
If they have been removed and replaced already thats something if not, and the front end is still untouched, be prepared.

I will be doing it DIY as I love to do stuff like that ...my neighbours have heard every swear word known to man as I work on cars so nothing new to them
I did watch a recent video with Raceland coilovers ( the ultimo set but same principle( and they send instructions explaining ignore the two pinch bolts and they use a far better and easier route to changing them . I have some tie rod ends on order so I will do that at the same time .

 

[Charlie Farley]

My old bus the first year of ownership , about 8 years ago , the rear end is a fair bit lower than it is now, front end is way up and this is prettywell the norm for quattro avants etc, why i dont know .
going coilovers solved 2 issues really , it got the rears up a bit and the front down .

 

[Charlie Farley]

I will be doing it DIY as I love to do stuff like that ...my neighbours have heard every swear word known to man as I work on cars so nothing new to them
I did watch a recent video with Raceland coilovers ( the ultimo set but same principle( and they send instructions explaining ignore the two pinch bolts and they use a far better and easier route to changing them . I have some tie rod ends on order so I will do that at the same time .

I used the raceland youtube vid a few years back when i did my 1st spring swap over , a very good guide indeedy and i always recommend it what ever kit one is fitting.
I think ive done it 4 times now so i've sussed it out.

Yes , you can get it done very easliy without touching the pinch bolt.
The problem arises if you need to change any other parts that need that joint separating, touch wood you dont.

 

[Rob Avant]

Hi folks - I havent posted in a while but I have done various things to the Audi (made up my own exhaust for instance) but I have sorta come to a crashing stop as I had a Stroke last week so I'm in Hospital just now. A real dampener on proceedings but gives me time to compose some in depth reports on my Audi antics!
Heres a taster.....
View attachment 260931
Watch this space.......

The exhaust works looks decent. Hope you’re recovering well

 

[Charlie Farley]

I will be doing it DIY as I love to do stuff like that ...my neighbours have heard every swear word known to man as I work on cars so nothing new to them
I did watch a recent video with Raceland coilovers ( the ultimo set but same principle( and they send instructions explaining ignore the two pinch bolts and they use a far better and easier route to changing them . I have some tie rod ends on order so I will do that at the same time .

keep an eye out for an RS4 RARB ,it will retro fit onto A4's with new bushes , makes such marked improvement in body roll found in the A4's , add that to a good set of coilovers and it will be a transformation only for the better.

 

[Rob Avant]

I too was sceptical about coilovers at first… I’ve always just changed springs and dampers on my previous cars.
Bought some Eibach Pro Steet S direct from Eibach when they had a stall at VAG Tuner a few years ago and haven’t looked back. Had them too low to start with and destroyed my splitter! Have them set at a perfect level now, the wagon looks good without compromising the ride quality. I hear nothing but good things about AP, seem to be the best solution without spending a fortune, have been considering some for the golf.
Agreed Awesome GTI aren’t cheap, always best to call them to see if they can do better than the web price. Also check out Damian @ DPM, one of the site sponsors, he did me a good deal on my ARB kit.

 

[swisstony]

keep an eye out for an RS4 RARB ,it will retro fit onto A4's with new bushes , makes such marked improvement in body roll found in the A4's , add that to a good set of coilovers and it will be a transformation only for the better.

Rear anti roll bar ? I will do

 

[Charlie Farley]

yep.

 

[Jamsmoo]

Dropped my bbs off yesterday for a change of colour ,he’s just sent me some pics and said they’ll be ready for collection tomorrow nice quick turnaround
Shadow chrome Center ,hyper silver lips and black barrels

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[swisstony]

When I took my bumper off to do the lights, I saw that the side bit of moulding where it bolts to the front wing had snapped off. God knows how it was staying on. So after a few failed attempts at bonding the broken bit, I decided to fashion up my own bit of plastic, bent it into shape and then bonded it to the bumper using JB plastic weld which is great stuff.

Then bolted it back onto the wing/car and all good.
Took this opportunity to be a complete tart and refresh the front a little. The front grille was a bit tatty, had a small crack in it, missing covers for the parking sensors and there was no audi ring mounting thingy. So found one on ebay which was a perfect fit, gloss black and had the covers for the holes. A little bit of fettling with a heat gun to carefully massage the top sections down a tad and all fitted and ready to go

Also fitted the new rings and holder and a proper S line badge
Then decided that my existing intercooler pipes did not fit in with the colour scheme of black and red. and they were faded and dirty.

And the intercooler was in pretty poor shape so gave that a refresh and became even more of a tart by getting matching red hoses.
All fitted and ready for the bumper to go back

oh and in keeping with the clean up and colour scheme, replaced the coil packs with R8 ones and the wiring harness...nice

Next job will be to replace the yellowing Coolant expansion tank ( think there is a slight issue with the sensor underneath anyway ) and then sort out the suspension when that all arrives

 

[Charlie Farley]

someones been a busy bee...

 

[Charlie Farley]

Dropped my bbs off yesterday for a change of colour ,he’s just sent me some pics and said they’ll be ready for collection tomorrow nice quick turnaround
Shadow chrome Center ,hyper silver lips and black barrels

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great colour .

 

[swisstony]

someones been a busy bee...

might have ;
Not much left on the ToDo list, it is getting smaller by the day ( though you lot come along and give me more jobs and ideas )
Only left is :

• Heated windscreen washer nozzles and shims -hopefully the group buy happens
• Replace collant expansion tank
• Suspension-coilovers, bump stops and tie rod ends

And that is it.....

 

[Charlie Farley]

For now, but there will be other bits you can be sure of that.

 

[swisstony]

For now, but there will be other bits you can be sure of that.

I think from now on, anything else should be just maintenance ( famous last words ) though I am quite keen on getting the car onto a rolling road just to see how much power he has given the obvious upgrades but no supporting paperwork...

 

[Rob Avant]

Dropped my bbs off yesterday for a change of colour ,he’s just sent me some pics and said they’ll be ready for collection tomorrow nice quick turnaround
Shadow chrome Center ,hyper silver lips and black barrels

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Who did the wheels for you? They are looking smart

 

[Rob Avant]

When I took my bumper off to do the lights, I saw that the side bit of moulding where it bolts to the front wing had snapped off. God knows how it was staying on. So after a few failed attempts at bonding the broken bit, I decided to fashion up my own bit of plastic, bent it into shape and then bonded it to the bumper using JB plastic weld which is great stuff.

View attachment 261072

View attachment 261073

Then bolted it back onto the wing/car and all good.
Took this opportunity to be a complete tart and refresh the front a little. The front grille was a bit tatty, had a small crack in it, missing covers for the parking sensors and there was no audi ring mounting thingy. So found one on ebay which was a perfect fit, gloss black and had the covers for the holes. A little bit of fettling with a heat gun to carefully massage the top sections down a tad and all fitted and ready to go

View attachment 261074
Also fitted the new rings and holder and a proper S line badge
Then decided that my existing intercooler pipes did not fit in with the colour scheme of black and red. and they were faded and dirty.
View attachment 261075
And the intercooler was in pretty poor shape so gave that a refresh and became even more of a tart by getting matching red hoses.
All fitted and ready for the bumper to go back
View attachment 261076

View attachment 261077

View attachment 261078

oh and in keeping with the clean up and colour scheme, replaced the coil packs with R8 ones and the wiring harness...nice

View attachment 261079

Next job will be to replace the yellowing Coolant expansion tank ( think there is a slight issue with the sensor underneath anyway ) and then sort out the suspension when that all arrives

Guaranteed extra 5bhp that red harness cover

 

[swisstony]

Guaranteed extra 5bhp that red harness cover

you know it

 

[Jamsmoo]

Who did the wheels for you? They are looking smart

Total wheel works notts always done me a solid deal
The 245 35 19 good year eagles will
Be up for sale soon if anyone who’s stuck 19s on and not lowered it yet
Sticking 235s on and going 20mm spacers at the rear and 15 at front =28et back 33et front


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[Rob Avant]

Total wheel works notts always done me a solid deal
The 245 35 19 good year eagles will
Be up for sale soon if anyone who’s stuck 19s on and not lowered it yet
Sticking 235s on and going 20mm spacers at the rear and 15 at front =28et back 33et front


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Nice. I know were they are, the paint shop I use is just down the road. Need some work doing so will give them a shout for a quote

 

[norad97]

Me thinks I may well be needing to do some of those same jobs myself soon. Interested where you got the following parts from at such a good price as I cant see to find the same .
Namely : B4 Bilstein Shocks for £45.77 each. ( I assume this is for front and rear )
Rear Bump Stops and Dust Covers
I have sorted the tie rod ends from your list as mine are perished
cheers

When I took my bumper off to do the lights, I saw that the side bit of moulding where it bolts to the front wing had snapped off. God knows how it was staying on. So after a few failed attempts at bonding the broken bit, I decided to fashion up my own bit of plastic, bent it into shape and then bonded it to the bumper using JB plastic weld which is great stuff.

View attachment 261072

View attachment 261073

Then bolted it back onto the wing/car and all good.
Took this opportunity to be a complete tart and refresh the front a little. The front grille was a bit tatty, had a small crack in it, missing covers for the parking sensors and there was no audi ring mounting thingy. So found one on ebay which was a perfect fit, gloss black and had the covers for the holes. A little bit of fettling with a heat gun to carefully massage the top sections down a tad and all fitted and ready to go

View attachment 261074
Also fitted the new rings and holder and a proper S line badge
Then decided that my existing intercooler pipes did not fit in with the colour scheme of black and red. and they were faded and dirty.
View attachment 261075
And the intercooler was in pretty poor shape so gave that a refresh and became even more of a tart by getting matching red hoses.
All fitted and ready for the bumper to go back
View attachment 261076

View attachment 261077

View attachment 261078

oh and in keeping with the clean up and colour scheme, replaced the coil packs with R8 ones and the wiring harness...nice

View attachment 261079

Next job will be to replace the yellowing Coolant expansion tank ( think there is a slight issue with the sensor underneath anyway ) and then sort out the suspension when that all arrives

Where did you get that Quattro badge ?? Toying with getting one, do you think it looks right on the car??

 

[swisstony]

Where did you get that Quattro badge ?? Toying with getting one, do you think it looks right on the car??

It had one when I bought the car but all black and you couldn’t see it again the grill so just got off eBay and then my wife with a small brush and some airfix paint touched up the silver bits so it looked better


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[Jamsmoo]

Nice. I know were they are, the paint shop I use is just down the road. Need some work doing so will give them a shout for a quote

Great body shop over the road ,genuine bloke ,I’d go no where else ,given how rare they are we must be talking about the same place


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[Jamsmoo]

Nice. I know were they are, the paint shop I use is just down the road. Need some work doing so will give them a shout for a quote

Micheal at total wheel works ,was introduced by a friend who’s used them for years ,we tend to arrange our painting requirements together,get a good price for “group on”,


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[boffin486]

I think from now on, anything else should be just maintenance ( famous last words ) though I am quite keen on getting the car onto a rolling road just to see how much power he has given the obvious upgrades but no supporting paperwork...

AHa! You are falling into the oh so subtle trap of Audi ownership. Theres ALWAYS something needing done to them either by requirement or by your own volition!

 

[swisstony]

AHa! You are falling into the oh so subtle trap of Audi ownership. Theres ALWAYS something needing done to them either by requirement or by your own volition!

true

did the coolant tank with new one . Much nicer and her ladyship got handy with the paintbrush again

 

[Jamsmoo]

Rear hub carrier removed ,bad bearing and hub out
New bits pressed in ,not something I’d relish doing again.

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[Jamsmoo]

Rear hub carrier removed ,bad bearing and hub out
New bits pressed in ,not something I’d relish doing again.

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Fingers crossed it’s all in true


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[Charlie Farley]

Another job off the list James, you probably have to do the other side now.