Sam's - Sprint Blue Avant Ownership

[John Johnson]

You can get most stuff cheap from there if you are canny or wait

[Rick_RS4]

Thanks Rick.

You'll need:

4 x 4D0601361 - Valve Kit
4 x 7PP907275F - Sensor

Total was £386 inc Vat and a 10% discount

Anyone after a new / extra set of sensors should keep an eye out on eBay Germany as they're a fraction of the price of what we get charged over here by UK dealers - I picked up a brand new OEM set last year for €144 (circa £125) delivered.

nice one cheers

[Scaff657]

Looking good mate nice write up really enjoyed reading that

She's looking sweet mate keep up the good work

[Audi Pardner]

Sam, thanks for such a detailed and entertaining read. Great colour, and of course the best body shape

My sister lives in Munich and knows someone who works for Audi who can get the sensors for €320, ie not much cheaper than in the UK, so Dalo's advice can make a significant difference.

[coffey555]

The sensors on ebay.de are not OEM hence the price difference over the BERU items. The cheaper ones also appear to be coming from the States which seems a bit odd.

Will probably work just as well though

[Surrey Sam]

Just realised that I hadn’t updated this thread in a long, long time, so I‘ll bring things almost up to current date.

I had been on the lookout for a 2010+ RNS-e as I’d been finding that the original one painfully slow in the Navigation mode and I quite fancied the AMI interface which only works with the latest mk2 RNS-e’s. Ideally an original SDS variant was what I wanted as my plan was to get a multifunctional Flat Bottomed steering wheel from a manual TTRS or later R8. They’re few and far between though. Fortunately one became available at a sensible price and so I snapped it up. Next up was to swap over the front panel with my existing one as the new mk2 RNS-e was from an A3.

Since fitting this upgrade 8 months ago I have recently done 1500 miles in another RS4 (I'll come onto that in another update) with the original RNS-e fitted. Hand on heart, I wouldn't think twice about doing this upgrade again - the old one is 'throw out the window' frustratingly slow and I ended up making lots of wrong turns when using it because the map moves so slowly! If you haven't done this upgrade then do it.






Next up was the AMD rolling road meet which was great fun and a chance to see the car on the rollers. I know that historically there has been no Carbon Clean done on my car, so I was expecting figures to be in the region of 370-390BHP – I was spot on with my expectation as the car produced 381BHP. Although down on power I wasn’t disheartened as I walked into RS4 ownership with my eyes open, Carbon Coking is an issue and will now be added to the list of things to do. What I was pleased about is the car didn’t puff out any smoke on the dyno, a lot did so I know mines throat is cleared quite nicely.

Video of the Dyno run, car is still standard and shows that I could really do with an Exhaust:
http://vimeo.com/103059611

After the AMD meet it was on this forum that some Pistonheads staff posted that they wanted to do a buyer’s guide on the B7 RS4 and asked the collective on here to give their feedback on ownership. I duly did so and cheekily asked that if they wanted a sorted original car to photograph then I’d happily make mine available. Sure enough they took me up on my offer and we sorted out a date with renowned top car industry photographer Max Earey who we had to await a return to the UK from working with Aston Martin in the USA.

The day arrived and unfortunately the weather was dire, lots of fog and quite drizzly at times. I drove for an hour at what seemed like 20mph all the way so as to minimise the car getting dirty. Max being the consummate professional did a superb job and I was really pleased with the results.

The Pistonheads RS4 buyers guide can be found on the following links:

Introduction:
http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default ... ryId=28785

Powertrain:
http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default ... ryId=28786

Chassis:
http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default ... ryId=28787

Body:
http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default ... ryId=28788

Interior:
http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default ... ryId=28789

Images from the photo shoot













































Not long after the photo shoot, the forum had an Audi invitational day to Millbrook where we could drive some of the latest Audi RS and S models on sale. It was a cracking day out but for me was marred by the road trip up there.

A local dual carriageway road was having roadwork’s when a lorry travelling the other way kicked up some rocks into my path which caused quite a bit of aesthetical damage. All the money spent on getting the car mint had been un-done in an instance. As you can see from the pictures I had a dented bonnet, smashed windscreen, damaged oil cooler, front grille, mirror cover, window trim, wiper arm and a chipped up wing.










So an insurance claim was put in for all new genuine Audi parts and Audi 5 Oaks re-did all the work in house again. I decided to purchase an additional new wing mirror cover for the other side as it had a couple of minor stone chips from before. Back to former glory and even better than before:






A little job I’d been meaning to do for a while was replace my clutch pedal cover as it had excessive wear to the rubber. I can only assume the wear was down to a previous owner wearing large shoes/boots and dragged them across the pedal edge when going for the footrest. The job was a little tricky and involved being upside down with my head in the footwell and feet over the headrest to gain the best leverage and access to fit the tight cover.









At the same time of ordering the clutch pedal cover I decided to get the tri-nozzle washer jet upgrade. Pretty easy upgrade and now puts washer solution over a greater glass area; certainly helps with getting bug splats off from the windscreen a little better.









Right...I think that'll do for now as I don't want to send you all off to sleep. My next update is a little unusual so I'll leave it for a couple of weeks whilst I collate some pictures and do a few other bits and pieces.

Thanks for reading

[neilparf]

Looking tight, Sam!!!

RNSE upgrade I can only second. One of the best mods I did. I managed to get the faceplate and knobs all to match the OEM fit (matt black and rubber knobs) to keep it all looking OEM.

I can testify the length it takes to get things looking right - 9 (wow, really) months and it's only just looking right

[MikeFish]

Nice one Sam, your car looks stunning!

Missing my car, can't wait to get back in the UK for a blast.

[daytonamart]

This is one of the best write-ups ever, your car is a credit to you Sam.

[edge]

Serious write up, looks great mate.

I changed one valve on my alloys due to a slow leak. I am going to get three more as these havnt aged well and they look terrible!

[bam_bam]

Love it.

I had a sprint blue B7 follow me up Steyning High Street on Sunday, it's the perfect Audi colour.

[andyg72]

bloody hell sam thats some really good work and the rs is looking tip top

[Surrey Sam]

Thanks guy's. Can't believe I have not updated this thread with the Ceramics...time flies.

Will update soon

[RichieRS]

Some great reading there Sam and that is one fine example of the marque. The long long wait and searching certainly paid off with what is quite clearly a very well cared for car

[MikeFish]

Man your car is sooo clean. Has it ever been driven?