Hi All,
It's been a couple of months since I purchased the crash damaged RS6 which, as of last week, passed its MOT with 0 advisories!
I thought I would share an update of the progress to date since purchasing as it may help others.
The car is a 2003 Audi RS6 Saloon C5 in Mugello Blue which I purchased from Copart. The car was listed as a cat N but 'runs and drives'. Here's how it looked when it got delivered.
I believe the car was sat for some time in the compound as the battery was completely flat and wouldn't hold a charge (I later found the battery was smaller than the OEM one). Jump pack on and she started up first time. Hearing the V8 fire up reassured me there was still life in her yet! The NSF wheel looks to have taken the brunt of the shove which made it difficult to manoeuvre onto the driveway as the tyre was rubbing up against the wheel well.
On initial inspection, the lower arms were visibly bent so the first parts I ordered were the replacements together with the anti-roll bar link and track rod end. I'll list all the parts used at the end for anyone interested.
Parts arrived and I was eager to make a start. For someone that has never worked on a car, this was a real struggle for me! However, now that I have done it once, I would be confident to try again so recommend at least giving it a go. The most challenging part was removing the rear bolts connected to the subframe. They can be undone so far before they clash with the subframe or chassis. The lower rear arm bolt I was able to struggle and remove, however the lower front arm I ended up using an angle grinder to remove as it was impossible without lowering the subframe
The arms were siezed in pretty good. I bought a couple of ball joint separators however they weren't great (cheap ones from Autoparts). I found a crowbar to be the best tool for removing.
Once removed, I compared to the old arm with the new and noticed the end was different. I thought I had bought the wrong part at first, however it turned out whilst removing the arms it had also took to the metal lining with it! This was a real pain to separate. I soaked it in penetrating oil and left it overnight then used a bearing separator tool to finally release it much to my relief.
I installed the rear bolts in the reverse order this time as it was the only feasible way. I tapped the metal liner back into the slot before installing the lower rear control arm. The anti roll bar was getting in the way so I undone the first bracket closest to the NSF which gave me enough room to install the lower from arm. Once in, fixed the anti roll bar in position installed the anti roll link together with the level sensor bracket. I jacked the wheel hub up to 'kerb weight' before tightening all bolts as per the manufactures guidance. I purchased the online Haynes manual which has a decent guide for this. I also found a PDF copy of the official service manual which is a very useful document and also has the torque specs. Sprayed some copper grease on all the nuts for good measure both before and after installing.
I sourced a replacement genuine wing from eBay. Not the same colour unfortunately, but it was the only one available at the time. This wasn't too bad to replace. There are nuts behind the wheel arch liner connecting it to the bumper, bolts under the bonnet, bolts in the door card, bolts on the opposite side on the arch liner behind the door hinges and some more bolts behind the side skirt. The side skirt has little plastic clips which you stick a small flat head screwdriver in and they will release. Did this about half way along to give me enough leverage to pull back to undo the bolts.
Replacement headlight was purchased from a user on the forums (ChrisA
) as there were non available online or through breakers (without spending the cost of the car on a new unit). One of the clips has snapped which is common, so I will need to plastic weld this at some point. I bought a donor light from a standard A6 when I was panicking not able to find an RS6/S6 specific xenon so I can take the tab from that. The fog light was luckily still attached and working, it had just snapped the plastic bracket and pushed it back. The front fog mesh grilles were also in the boot luckily.
The wheel was fitted and it looked to sit pretty nicely.
Then, I turned my attention to the mechanical faults. The dash was showing a fault for both ABS and traction control which appears to be a common fault. When plugging the car into an OBD reader, it returned the fault 'brake pressure sensor'. Researching the issue, it can be either the pressure sensor itself or a faulty ABS module. The steering also made a horrible whining noise when turning the steering wheel left and right. I was worried this was the power steering pump or damage to the steering rack following the accident. There was also a small leak from the rocker cover gasket which was leaking oil onto the exhaust causing it to emit white smoke from the engine bay.
It was at this point I felt I needed some expert advice and when is when I looked for an Audi specialist. I spoke to a couple of garages that came recommended, however the general feedback I was getting was that parts are obsolete and I'd be better off 'scrapping it'. Great.
Luckily for me, I managed to find an Audi specialist not far from me in Stockport called Audi Doctor. When I spoke to them initially, they were very knowledgeable about the cars and had a few that they regularly maintain. I can't recommend them enough as they were brilliant with me and the only ones that offered to help.
So, the car went in and they did an initial inspection. They came back quickly with a list of items and prices for each. I also had all the tyres replaced & service to get it ready for MOT. List of works carried out included:
- Carried out full vehicle inspection
Carried out checks for wash jets not working found pipe damaged carried out repair as required
Carried out checks for ABS/ESP warning lights on dash found brake pressure sensor fault - they found an aftermarket brake pressure sensor had been installed at some point and we thought this was the fault. They replaced brake pressure sensor with genuine new part fault still apparent. Checked all wiring all ok.
Sent ABS pump for testing at ECU Testing and found ABS pump to be beyond repair. Previous repair had been carried out by former owner. Therefore, I sourced a replacement genuine unit from a breaker which then finally cleared the fault. New unit was coded to the car.
Carried out checks for head lamp warning light on dash found fault stored for N/S/R level sensor
Carried out wiring checks for level sensor found to be all ok replaced level sensor as required
Carried out checks for leak around rear of gearbox traced leak to output shaft seal replaced seal as required and checked gearbox fluid level
Replaced O/S/F inner tie rod and boot
Replaced O/S/F outer CV boot
Replaced O/S/F anti-roll bar drop link
Replaced O/S/F lower bent and straight arms
Replaced O/S rocker gasket
Replaced both rear brake callipers and carried out brake fluid service
Replaced all four tyres Goodyear Eagle F1
Carried out MOT test
Carried out oil service
Carried out vehicle tracking
As mentioned, following the works, the car passed it's MOT first time so I was over the moon. I picked it up yesterday and had my first drive (in torrential rain) and it drives superb! The first drive made it all worthwhile. The car is far from complete, as it still looks like a harlequin car with the wing, but I wanted to make sure it was mechanically sound before pressing on with cosmetic items. I'm going to spend some time and enjoy driving it before it goes in for paint.
Parts list to follow
and becoming annoyed at people I spend hours helping, only to find they are a car dealer 
All the best for future ownership, any questions you can ask!
Finally picked the car up from the body 
| Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K6
