New owner of 2003 RS6 C5 Saloon

[norwichphoto]

Today I collected a RS6 C5 Saloon. Former dealer demonstrator registered 1st January 2003. My parents in law bought the car on 2nd April 2003, initially owned by their company, and when that business was sold was transferred into mother in laws ownership. A change of career which didn't work financially, and Father-in-laws poor health and later passing meant that the cost of running was too great, so the car was laid up in their garage until today.

It took a bit of effort to coax it out of its garage and onto my trailer, but its now at my works yard and I spent the rest of the afternoon with the pressure washer getting rid of 7 years of grime. Whilst the garage was dry, some ivy had started growing in the roof, and quite a lot of plant debris had dropped on the car. Fortunately the paint appears to be OK and will be subjected to more cleaning down the line. Bodywork is mostly OK - dent on bonnet which should be able to be teased out without needing paint, but tiny rust spot on bottom of passenger side front door and a scrape to rear RH arch which will need painting.

Interior is good, needs a clean.

Going to start going through it with a fine toothed comb over the next few weeks and months, and will be doing all the precautionary servicing / checks. I work in the classic car industry. So quite a lot of work ahead, but fortunately I can do a lot myself, and one of my colleagues is ex-VAG main dealer, so he'll be able to offer some assistance.

First job is to get wheels refurbed, they are horribly kerbed, and whilst the wheels are away I can start on the mechanicals.

This subsection and the FAQ have already been extremely helpful.

[norwichphoto]

Some quick snaps

[Mark-RS]

Congrats on saving the car ! Looks like it scrubbed up quite well ! Fingers crossed on the mechanicals.

Welcome to the site !

[norwichphoto]

Thanks.

Haven't quite worked out what options it has - but it has black leather Recaro seats and the navigation system.

Avus Silver LY7J
46,800 miles from new.

[Mɐʇʇ]

At that mileage, well worth the effort to sort it out.

[Shoppinit]

Well that cleaned up well!

First documented RS6 barn find.

FON

[Mɐʇʇ]

In the estates, I really like Red & Black.
But the old saloon does look good in silver there.

[Foxmeister]

This will be interesting

Looks like its still in good nick underneath so far

[Human Joist]

Welcome and best colour

[norwichphoto]

Getting it out of the garage it was in was a bit of a mission in itself. The roller shutter door had failed some years ago so that to be manually opened - and there wasn't an easy manual override so had to be rolled up by hand and tied up with a towing strap.

Airing the car today to get rid of the musty smell, and will then put a heater in the car to try and heat the rear seats which have taken a slight set where something was laying on the seat cushions.

[norwichphoto]

Have given the interior a good wipe down. All electrics seem to work which is good. Some wear to lighting control switch, the cap is missing off the menu rotary controller next to the handbrake. Hazard button doesn't seem to have a definate on-off tactile feel, but works. Cleaned a little bit of surface mould off various trims.

Hi-fi system is certainly showing its age. I like DAB radio and also bluetooth streaming, and Apple CarPlay is useful, and I always like to retain the ability to easily revert to original if that became considered desirable, so at somepoint a modern head unit will probably get fitted.

However, first priority is mechanicals, but I'll keep an eye open for bits of trim.

[Mɐʇʇ]

I recommend the Metra 99-9108B fascia. Bit of aggro to get it, but it is a league ahead of the usual "Connects2" CT23AU03 that is the other option for fitting aftermarket radios and makes it look a lot more OEM.

And personally, I like the Pioneer SPH-DA120 or similar newer models for aftermarket since it's buttonless - otherwise Alpine etc, the buttons all look different to the now "old" C5 platform.

[norwichphoto]

Thanks. Will investigate that fascia.

[Lander91]

Welcome! You're in the right place. If you haven't already I'd check the scuttle box drain to make sure it's not plugged - who knows what might have collected there over the years. It's easy to do.

[norwichphoto]

Welcome! You're in the right place. If you haven't already I'd check the scuttle box drain to make sure it's not plugged - who knows what might have collected there over the years. It's easy to do.

Good idea, I'll check on that.