New purchase

[Cupraderv]

Going to be buying myself an RS 4 next month, looked at a couple online with around 120k on them which is probably the average miles, any real big issues to worry about ?

[docurley]

I would want the transmission oil all changed new fuel pump and if not already done DRC checked out. Other stuff are the oil lines to the oil cooler and aux rads assuming all other servicing has been done.

[cocovs6]

If you are going to buy one with higher miles make sure it has got good service history as all of the big jobs should have been done by now.

Expect DRC to have been replaced either with the same or coilovers. Would expect clutch/flywheel to have been replaced. Auxiliary radiators would have been replaced. Regular carbon cleaning would be good sign of well maintained car. Suspension arms would have been replaced at least once in that mileage. Bodywork may need attention with perhaps some corrosion but shouldn't be at front of car as bonnet and wings are aluminium.

The big thing is make sure the car has been well maintained then the mileage wouldn't be an issue.

[Starry]

How much are you looking to spend?

[neil_f]

As others mentioned check the history and should be loads of receipts. Most traders never seem to mention much detail in their adverts . I bought one at the end of August with 115k miles on it and have done 2.5k miles since then. The garage I bought it from didn't even realise the amount of work the car had had done previously. Clutch, drc suspension, rads , brakes , oil cooler , suspension arms are all the expensive jobs that should have been done . Service history (preferably every 10k instead of 20k miles is desirable as well). Drive a few as I found they can vary considerably. No mention of a carbon clean on mine but seems to drive fine. Good luck with your search! Few advisories for previous mots are always a good sign of a well maintained car as well.

[Cupraderv]

Hi thanks for quick replies, have a budget of around £15k,

[mongo]

everyone seems to have covered the main points!

I have a mugello blue saloon that could be within your budget that I have owned for 4 years and covered off all these items on 90k, fsh.

[irn_bru_ce]

If I was buying now with what I now know, I'd never touch a car tht still had DRC

Decent brakes and tyres are over £2k, so don't stick to a very narrow price band, look up and down a bit and get a feel for what your actually paying for, bring a tyre gauge with you. How long do you intend to keep the car and how many miles per year? Will it be a daily or 2nd car?

[rs user]

mine had coilovers but were cheapies so i forked out for b14-at least it was pointed out to me that they were cheap-drove ok on them too
in full agreement with ditching the drc once it gives trouble
i would like to try a car with bilstein or koni shocks on std rs4 springs with a better arb on rear-to see what its like though tbh

it had a clutch/fly and 4 new tyres just before i bought it

things that i have had to do that can catch you out-seized brake caliper pins-took me ages to sort i kid you not,bitch of a job

seized pinch bolts-i have a method that works well but the minute you apply heat the top arms are toast[literally lol] i replaced all the front arms/links/wbrgs while i was there...meyle hd arms,not cheap-if you were paying somebody else to do brakes,uprights etc you would be fleeced i have probably been £1500 in parts inc b14
double that if i had an indy do the work

[Cupraderv]

So drc a no no then,I rember driving a 2 year old rs4 years ago and drc seemed a good idea but not long term

[Surrey Sam]

DRC has it's issues but personally I'm in the opposite school of thought. I'd only run DRC on a RS4 as it's just a better system dynamically, both my B7 RS4's were faultless over 50k miles and my B8 RS4's DRC is also faultless over 20k miles so far.

From memory the v3 variant DRC shocks came into production around May 2010. You want to make sure the car has had all DRC shocks replaced after that date. Then, also make sure the pipes are in good condition, considering the age of these cars now.

[Cupraderv]

Yes forgot to add it will just be a weekend car so not a lot of use

[rs user]

if drc was reliable we would probably all have it -unfortunately given the cost of pipes/shocks its an added expense that lots chose to circumvent
i wouldnt like to pay a dealer or indy to replace all hard pipes,all flexis and 4 shockys on an rs4

my last rs4 had drc -no clunks ,leaks or noise off it but it rolled a lot more than my current one on b14-or certainly seemed to.
a big difference was last one was on 255/35 eagles,the present car is 275 [30 profile] nankang tyres
ride/refinement is certainly a bit better on drc

[Surrey Sam]

What suspension codes did your cars have? 2ME or 2MC, it makes a difference. Also loose the Nankang ditch finders and put some Michelin tyres on.

[rs user]

What suspension codes did your cars have? 2ME or 2MC, it makes a difference. Also loose the Nankang ditch finders and put some Michelin tyres on.

the nankangs are good[better than the eagle f1] in dry so will stay on-plenty use them on higher performance cars than the rs4-my local tyre place maintains a gt3 which does trackdays and wears them-dont knock them until you try them
they dont work as well in the damp/wet however-but are a fair weather tyre

not got a clue what suspension code either had from factory -present car it wouldnt matter as its on coilovers now
the previous car had shocks changed through its life so not too sure -unless the 2ME/2MC refers to the valving ?