B7 RS4 DNA

[fazily]

Way back in 2012, I was fortunate enough to own a B7 RS4 convertible, it really was the best car I had owned.
Unfortunately, it was time to make some grown-up choices (they're the worst!) so the RS had to go.

I did, however, promise myself, if I had the means, I certainly would be returning to another B7 RS but in Avant form!

Fast forward some years and the search was on, made possible in lockdown (that seems ages ago now, doesn't it!) thanks to all the time we all had at home.
criteria were Avant, buckets, flat bottom wheel, low mileage, no sunroof, and ideally with the discs and pads having been replaced.
color wise, I wasn't too bothered but didn't want silver or black.

eventually, I came across a late 2007, Mugello Blue avant with sub 80K miles on the clock. It was a nice car but one that had clearly been neglected in its life, that said I knew it would be a bit of a project to bring it back to its former glory. I had the time on my hands and it allowed me to get more hands-on with the toolbox.

The first evening it was parked on my driveway!

A little family trip to London, she did us proudly!

The interior still is such a special place to be!

Photo opp south of the river on a sunny evening!

Now I really wanted to space the wheels out to make use of those butch arches! I played around with a few different sizes and settled on a rather aggressive 15mm all round.
I liked the way the rear sat but the fronts could do with going down to 10mm so they're less aggressive.

over the moon with it, a car I would never tire of, and having returned to one just made all those fond memories even more special!

It was all going so well, to quote the notorious BIG "it was all a dream..." 1st of October 2021, heading down the M1 at 12:15 am. The engine lost all power and I felt my heart sink!
The one and half hour wait on the side of the M1 in the rain weren't the best but all I could think is please don't let it be anything big.

Was it a simple fix or did it really want to screw with my emotions? Stay tuned to find out, same time same place. Don't have any nightmares

[JamesBaby]

Lovely car mate and great pictures. Keep the thread going.

[fazily]

Thanks mate, it’s not been straight forward or easy but more when the story unfolds

[fazily]

Being back behind the flat bottom wheel of the B7 RS4 was nothing short of a dream.
There was a lot of this...

Some of this, had to be sure the car was running as straight as it should.

Some Sunday morning drives through the country roads!

Now to pick up again from the RS on the back of the tow truck, the engine was seized, no turning it what so ever which was the worst possible news.
I was still hopeful but had a word with the mechanic, considering the engine wouldn't turn it would need pulling out to inspect how bad the damage was.

Everything was unplugged, cleared and the engine was ready to come out - this is what we were left with.

The heads came off and it was clear as day, we had a big and I mean BIG problem!

Yes, that's not meant to be bent!
it was slowly sinking in, this wasn't going to be easy nor was it going to be cheap!

[JamesBaby]

Awe no !! How on earth did that happen?

Were you hooning it at the time or just cruising along?

[fazily]

Awe no !! How on earth did that happen?

Were you hooning it at the time or just cruising along?

honestly put it down to bad luck pal, was cruising at 70 on cruise control for a calm drive back down to Essex then all of a sudden total loss of power.
Happened just after J11 on the M1, which hasn't got a hard shoulder so I let it roll in neutral till just the beginning of J10 where the hard shoulder starts up.

[JamesBaby]

I feel for you man.
I look forward to your update on how you resolved it and what was required.

[fazily]

I feel for you man.
I look forward to your update on how you resolved it and what was required.

Thank you bud! It wasn't easy to digest as the following pictures will confirm.

So the head on bank b was pulled off and instantly there was a pretty seismic gulp!

I'm no mathematician but this doesn't add up!

Found it! ya bastid! or what was left of the valve at least

Maybe it will look less upsetting from another angle? Nope!

The other cylinders looked to have some scoring too - nothing as bad as cylinder 8 mind!

Now I was faced with a dilemma, what the flip do I do?! I did think about sourcing another engine, there wasn't a lot available but anything that was available would need a rebuild for me to know it had been worth it. You just can't trust anyone selling an engine I have come to find, despite the 1 lady owner that never went over 2k rev claims!

second-hand engines were coming in at 6-8k then will need a rebuild! I thought let's see if Audi stock a replacement block for the BNS - they didn't! They did however say they could build a base engine to the tune of 15K! after I had changed my pants, I discussed it over with the mechanic and ultimately came to an agreement to seek advice from a machine Shop. I thought if we sleeved the damaged cylinder, and replaced the piston, con, and head on bank b that would not only save the block but also mean most of what came out, went back in.

A couple of machine shops were contacted and shown the block. The first point blank said there is no way in hell you're saving that! The second wanted to take the job on but after the block sat with them for 3 months and no progress had even been attempted, we took it back. The third machine Shop looked at the block and rather surprisingly said yeah we can sort that! They agreed to take on the work and we left the block with them.

YF 8990 looked a sad sight!

[JamesBaby]

That's really bad and I feel for you mate.

Looking forward to updates on this. It would be great to see what work was done and how it got resolved.

[fazily]

That's really bad and I feel for you mate.

Looking forward to updates on this. It would be great to see what work was done and how it got resolved.

thanks, bud, it was a lot to digest but I was at a point where it needed fixing and being annoyed or upset wasn't going to get me closer to a fix.

apologies I haven't been able to come back to this thread for a bit!

Now it was clear we needed a block and a new head, I looked at eBay to see what was available engine-wise. While there were a few options for between £6000-£9000, there was no way of confirming what life they had spent or how they were driven. I would still go down the route of a rebuild on a secondhand engine but financially it didn't make sense to spend that on a replacement engine and then have it rebuilt.

We got a quote from Audi UK who said a base engine could be with us for just over £16,000 BUT the eta was around two years and that felt like a crazy amount of time.
A few machine shops were consulted and they were confident the block could be saved by machining and sleeving, this felt like the way to go as it meant we salvaged the original block.

So off it went, annoyingly there were some crossed wires between the garage that undertook the work and the machine Shop. This resulted in the block sitting around for some six weeks without anything having been done with it. Another machine Shop was consulted who again confidently said they could do the work but also turn it around in a couple of weeks.

Here are some pics of the block as it came back from the machine Shop, all sorted and looking pretty!

Now it was time to clean the block and rid it of any substances it picked up from the machining process.
The other engine components got a clean too pre-build

everything was lined up and ready for the build, including existing parts along with replacement parts.

Both heads had some blasting so everything was as clean as possible before assembly.
Luckily the original heads were pretty clean I had them blasted not too long ago.

Could eat your dinner off that!

head casings went on

chains, guides, and cams went on next. This was the most "like an engine" it looked since it was pulled out and opened up!

will leave this here for now, took a lot to get here and finally i was seeing some actual tangible progress on the build.

[daytonamart]

Looks like a proper job, on Auto trader you say “brand new” engine, but it’s basically the same engine but rebuilt?

[fazily]

Looks like a proper job, on Auto trader you say “brand new” engine, but it’s basically the same engine but rebuilt?

thanks bud, yeah had to be done right. Didnt want to go through standing on the side of the M1 in the middle of the night in the rain for a second time ha!
yes, not trying to bend the truth but it really is brand new after the rebuild - think it's worth amending that, something like a full engine out rebuild?

Took it down to the supermarket this evening for the weekly Shop and honestly keeps me grinning from ear to ear!

[JamesBaby]

That's superb work mate. Thanks for posting that, I love builds. What kind of cost is involved with such a job then if you don't mind me asking? I've often wondered what a rebuild costs for our cars.

So from the comments does that mean the car is all fixed and repaired now, and your are selling it? That's a shame if you are.

[fazily]

That's superb work mate. Thanks for posting that, I love builds. What kind of cost is involved with such a job then if you don't mind me asking? I've often wondered what a rebuild costs for our cars.

So from the comments does that mean the car is all fixed and repaired now, and your are selling it? That's a shame if you are.

thanks, bud, it was pretty intense that's for sure! Cost-wise, it was 5 figures which was cheaper than the £16,000 Audi wanted for a base engine and didn't include any labor costs.

the car is certainly back on the road and running well, I have covered around 1200 miles since the rebuild and the engine feels strong.
I did take it easy to run it in for the first 1000 miles, here is a video of the car running, cold start in the office car park so headphone users beware!

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0b1-FVG ... VE0-sAXhpw

the car is certainly up for sale on auto trader at the moment, i did weigh it all up and ultimately i think its time to move it on.
i've owned the car for coming up to 3 years in a few months, which is the longest i have owned any of my cars.

if i dont get what i think its worth considering the work gone into it, ill end up keeping for a few more years.

[JamesBaby]

Thanks for the info mate and I'm glad you got it working. With a rebuild like that I am sure it will be running sweet. A good buy for an enthusiast as a long term keeper.

Good luck with the sale and the next car you get