New to The S4.

[elmo]

Just new to S4 ownership and want to gain as much information from owners as I can.

I bought and 04 Moro blue S4 Saloon with 49K on the clock. I absolutely love the car and can't stop cleaning/staring at it. It's so understated and very much THE Q-car!

Two months into ownership and I have some of the typical problems with these cars.

1) I have the cold start rattle for about 1 second. I don't have the constant whine though.

2) I do got through a fair amount of oil (approx 1lt/1500-2000miles), but am doing short trips with the thinner long life oil.

I have a local Audi specialist lined up for it's first service, but want to ask everyones opinion.

Anyone know why there is such a difference from one car to the next? It seems that some rattle and some don't, some use oil and some don't (I don't know if this is related).

Considering I only intend to do approximately 5-6K miles a year, can anyone give me advice on which of the two service plans is better in their opinion.

The variable longlife or the fixed yearly?

Thanks in advance

[Pete.S]

1) - sounds like that's just the chains tightening, nothing to worry about
2) - that's a lot of oil to be getting through in that mileage. Was the car inspected before purchase? Any leaks? Any oil spots on your drive, etc etc?

Generally these cars are very reliable so either service plan would be fine, though with your low mileage and for peace of mind I'd stick it on fixed just to get a fresh oil change each year.

[elmo]

Thanks Pete,

Got the car as used trade in at a BMW garage. It had a full check (by them) and had a new oil cooler fitted along with one new coil pack.

I got a three month warranty with the car which is due up inapproximately 4 weeks, so I got it booked into a local audi specialist to give it a full inspection before my dealer warranty runs out.

It dosen't smoke, it doesn't drip oil and only a small bit of black soot on the bottom of the exhaust (no more than any of my other cars). I did phone my local Audi Specialist and they said this consumption is quite normal. However, some peoples cars use hardly any and some use a litre every 1000 miles. It's a strange one!

It appears that even though I am using a Standard Audi longlife oil, different makes of oil can make a difference too. I will keep an eye on it and get them to check the engine while I am there next week.

Absolutely love the car though.