A Year Into Ownership

[tommchowat]

Hello all,

It's been a year since I sold my E46 M3 and decided I wanted something else. Nothing to do with the head gasket on the M3 going, obviously. So I thought I'd put together a post going through my year of ownership, perhaps it could be useful for prospective buyers.

I was looking at E92 M3s initially, but visually they don't really do anything for me, so on the hunt I went for an RS4. I saw two initially, but both of them had knackered discs and questionable tyres, then I saw one come up in Luton which I liked the look of. Relatively high owners (seven) but a decent spec and low mileage. Took it for a drive and loved it. I agreed on the price (£17950) subject to Audi inspecting it before purchase. Audi spotted a lower front arm and CV boot which needed replacing, so the dealership sorted these and threw in an alloy wheel refurb too. Off I went in my new car;

2007 Phantom Black Saloon
7 owners, 62k miles
Technology pack
Bucket seats, flat bottom steering wheel
Brushed aluminium trim (I prefer this to carbon)
Sunroof
Front and rear heated seats
Rear window blinds, electric rear blind
Sports suspension plus

First I wanted to tidy up a few wear and tear items and do some subtle cosmetic mods. Got some RS4 embossed floor mats, a full set of LED interior lights and rear number plate lights, some new wheel bolt covers, a new piece of trim for the steering wheel (RS4 badge was scuffed as they all are), a new brushed aluminium gear surround and rear ash tray. K&N air filter went in too as well as a new RS badge for the engine bay, and some new number plates (I hate ones that are screwed on!)

3 weeks passed and I took it to my specialist in Stevenage for a check up. Glad I did. They spotted that ALL FOUR suspension arms on both sides had split bushes. I emailed Audi in Hatfield and asked them how they'd managed to miss this in their inspection of the car. They tried the, 'well they were fine when we looked at them' tactic, but I explained that it was fairly unlikely that all four bushes had simultaneously failed within three weeks of me owning the car. I knew that there was a good chance the pinch bolts had seized too which would result in an astronomical amount of work. And, that's exactly what had happened. Audi rang me and said they couldn't get the pinch bolts off. After making a nuisance of myself, they agreed as a 'goodwill gesture' to replace the following for £900;

Front and rear upper arms, both sides
Both front hub carriers
Both front wheel bearings
Both tie rod ends
DRC recharge

I bought all the parts for around £300. There was my first sting! But I drove around in a brand new A4 for a week so wasn't so bad.

Next stage was a carbon clean as there was no history of it being done. Perfect Touch in Hoddesdon (they're now in North London) did this for me and what a great job it was too. What a difference it made. Got tired of not having Bluetooth either so I had a Connects2 module installed in place of the CD player, keeping the stock system.

Few weeks went by and it was time for some new discs and pads all round. Fronts for £575 and rears for £450, thanks to Marc Webb for those! Happily I was visiting my parents and dad owns a garage so I had those fitted there free of charge. Couple of tyres for the front too.

I had to scratch my Milltek itch. I went on Demon Tweeks and found a non resonated, non valved exhaust for 0% finance and 0 deposit. What an absolute no brainer. My favourite thing to date so far, it's a must have.

Car then had a service and I also discovered that the previous owner had put the wrong power steering fluid in. Idiot. Why can't people just do things properly?! So I had the system flushed and refilled with the proper stuff. Next I discovered coolant over my driveway. Had a look at the passenger side aux rad and it looked a bit wet, so bought one of those and took it to my specialist, who also discovered a couple of cracks in the expansion tank, which seems to happen alot, so a new one of those went in. Wasn't having much luck with coolant, as more of it ended up pissing out the car a few weeks later - you would drive for five minutes and it had emptied the entire tank out onto the road. Emergency visit to Perfect Touch who rang me and said, 'the good news is, it's a little pipe that has split, costs around 3 quid. The bad news is, it's under the intake manifold'. Balls. There went another 500 quid!

Forge silicone intake hose went on next which I did myself (quite proud of that, as I have very little patience!) Also got a new bit of silver trim for the bumper as the old one was showing its age.

Looking back at all that, I suppose you could say I've been quite unlucky... But I don't think so. My M3 was far more problematic. I keep the same tactic as I had with the M3 - shove a percentage of your pay check into a separate bank account every month to cover the unexpected. Drive the car as much as you can - that's why you bought it.

Looking ahead, I have a few more plans for the car. Mods wise, I want to leave it visually standard, which it is at the moment (except some RS246 window Stickers). I've just ordered some Goodrich braided brake hoses and some stainless steel bleed nipples, as I read they can seize later on in life (seizing seems to be a common thing with this car). I'm undecided yet on the cold air feed, but I'll be getting a remap soon. I'm also waiting for the DRC to fail at which point some Bilstein B14 coilovers will go on.

So, cost in the first year? Thousands. But I don't care. To have a car you look forward to getting into every time and always look back at after you park it, it's worth it.

She's on 71k miles now and I look forward to many more! Thanks to all on this forum.

[Pistolpete2543]

I think this is a good overview and probably no different to any other RS4 owner. The cars are all at an age now where things are requiring replacement irrespective of mileage. What I would say though, is that if you're on the forum you are obviously an enthusiast of the car, so you want the car to be as good as it can be. This means you will spend the money when it needs it. I've certainly put a few grand into mine in 3.5 years so far, but in that time I know I've got all this sorted in addition to normal servicing:-

1. New clutch, flywheel, slave & master cylinders plus all new hoses.
2. New DRC steel pipes to all 4 corners plus v3 DRC dampers fitted and system recharged
3. Drivers aux rad replaced inc coolant expansion tank
4. New oil cooler and flexi hoses
5. All new Lemforder front suspension arms, drop links and tie rod ends
6. New front discs and pads just fitted

Next will be front driveshafts as one is slightly knocking on taking up drive, fit HEL stainless brake lines, stainless bleed nipples and Motul RB660 brake fluid, and a few bits of bodywork to tidy up.

[neil_f]

Good write up. I've had mine for 10 months, higher mileage than yours and used as daily transport. Have had to do front lower arms , replaced expansion tank and about to do new front discs and pads and skim the rear discs and put new pads on. As has been mentioned I think they're all at that age regardless of mileage that they need money spent on them. It's just convincing the wife that it's money well spent! How did you manage to get the rear discs so cheap ?!

[bennn]

Good read mate

I've also come from an e46 M3 which I've just sold. Managed to convince the other half it was a good idea as it's more practical for the baby etc.

Mines been in for a health check at Audi and I need to new lower arms and rear brake hoses. Hoping to get the parts and do the work myself to save a bit but with the arrival of our first may struggle for time a bit.

Most of the big ticket items (carbon clean, DRC, clutch and flywheel etc) have been done on mine but I'm under no illusion it will cost a fortune to run.

[tommchowat]

Good write up. I've had mine for 10 months, higher mileage than yours and used as daily transport. Have had to do front lower arms , replaced expansion tank and about to do new front discs and pads and skim the rear discs and put new pads on. As has been mentioned I think they're all at that age regardless of mileage that they need money spent on them. It's just convincing the wife that it's money well spent! How did you manage to get the rear discs so cheap ?!

Marc Webb, he's my go-to guy when it comes to parts. Think he's on here.

[Mark Park]

how mutch did the carbon clean cost ? I have the paperwork sat ready to sighn for mine but i read last night on carbon cleaning and that put a spanner in the works. The one i have founds has 125k miles on it, so im woundering if it has ever been done as there is nothing in the paperwork to state it has been done ever.

[tommchowat]

Then there's a good chance it's not been done!

Costs between £500-£600 depending on where you get it done.

[delroyx]

.....

After making a nuisance of myself, they agreed as a 'goodwill gesture' to replace the following for £900;

Front and rear upper arms, both sides
Both front hub carriers
Both front wheel bearings
Both tie rod ends
DRC recharge

I bought all the parts for around £300. There was my first sting!

Where did you get all those bits so cheap, or am I misreading? Was that part of the Audi goodwill?

[12th]

The post you are copying does contain the words 'goodwill' and 'gesture'!

The B7 isn't necessarily a particularly expensive car to run. Mine hasn't used anything other than consumables in ten of its eleven years - admittedly the last one cost £5k in total on top of the usual running expenses, but that's pretty cheap for the performance and I have documentary proof that it's more powerful and quite a lot torquier than when I bought it - so some of the cash went on improving it, rather than just trying to maintain it.

Admittedly DRC is still untouched, and whilst it's never given me any gyp the car is a genuine keeper so at some point it'll fail. But I know a guy who had a V8 Vantage, which offered similar performance but the bills make most things you read about here look eminently reasonable.

[delroyx]

The post I copied said Audi agreed to replace all those bits for £900 (as a good will gesture).

Then Tommchowat says he bought the bits for around £300. Unclear if that was from Audi (with a goodwill discount) or another source.

Just after some clarity as I need a new hub carrier & I've been quoted just shy of £300 for one!

[tommchowat]

Sorry I should have been clearer, I bought all of the upper arms (left and right, Lemforder) for £300. Audi paid for the rest of the listed parts and fitting because I made a nuisance of myself.

[12th]

The post I copied said Audi agreed to replace all those bits for £900 (as a good will gesture).

Then Tommchowat says he bought the bits for around £300. Unclear if that was from Audi (with a goodwill discount) or another source.

Just after some clarity as I need a new hub carrier & I've been quoted just shy of £300 for one!

Ah - not as smart as I'd like to think I am, eh?!

[Toady1]

Nice little read. How do you feel the car is as a drivers car compared to the e46 M3? I'm looking to do the same, currently have a nice low mileage M3 and looking at getting a B7 RS4 avant. I used to have a B6 S4 years ago, and swapped that for my previous e46 M3. Immediately I noticed how much more eager to get off the line the M3 was, and how more revvier the engine was. But above 80mph the S4 would have started pulling against the M3 from its bigger engine. As a drivers car the M3 was much more fun though. I'm wondering if the RS4 will be any better in this sense than the S4 was, which was a lovely place to be, and quick, but felt heavy and lardy compared to the M3.

[tommchowat]

I have to say that the M3 was actually more fun to drive. On paper the RS4 is a better car in pretty much every way - its prettier, faster, more comfortable, more modern, makes a nicer noise... But I got more excited in the M3. I don't regret getting the RS4 in any way, it's slightly more 'grown up'. Only way you'll know is if you drive one!

[Toady1]

I have to say that the M3 was actually more fun to drive. On paper the RS4 is a better car in pretty much every way - its prettier, faster, more comfortable, more modern, makes a nicer noise... But I got more excited in the M3. I don't regret getting the RS4 in any way, it's slightly more 'grown up'. Only way you'll know is if you drive one!

I've driven and been in quite a few now, so do know what you mean. I think for the use it'd get (wife, small kids and a dog) the RS4 avant would be a much better choice and one I'd use a lot more, it'd certainly make using the Smax less of a requirement and make trips more fun! There lies the other predicament, I don't 'need' the extra space the RS4 has over the M3, as have another car for family stuff. I've just always loved the RS4's and still desire one! My M3 is one of the good ones though and becoming rare to find with mods, condition and low (70k) mileage.