New 2005 A4 Owner

[Exanimas]

Hey everyone, I just picked up a CPO 2005 A4 1.8TQ (TIP, yea, I know). It's exactly what I was looking for and thanks to this site I already have my next 2 years worth of paychecks mentally spent on mods . I'm coming from a 2002 C-class MB so this is a whole different ballgame to me since there was no point in performance modding those cars.

It has about 23K miles on it, premium package, special edition, and cold weather package. I'm still in the air between a K04 setup and a GTRS setup (too many threads conflict, so I'm going to hold off for now). Immediate things I plan to do are tints, Forge DV, get my Avic-D3 installed, and most likely LED tails (again, up in the air). Once I regain some of the cash I spent for a down payment I'll be getting rims, coilovers, the usual crap.

I guess I only have 1 super n00b question though, how can I tell on these cars if I have xenons or not? The guy at the dealer said I did, but I want to be sure and couldn't find anything with my searching skills.

Now here's some pics:

[IceMole]

It's pretty easy to tell at night. Do you have a button next to your headlight switch that makes them go up and down?

[gq9]

Looks nice and clean. Good luck with it Welcome.

[Pete4 1.8t]

In 2004+ models if you wanted to get Xenon you had to get the Lighting Package on the 1.8t. The easiest way to tell if you have the lighting package is if you have an automatic setting for your lights then you do if you have to switch them on manually you don't have them. I also think the lighting package came with auto dimming mirrors.

[Exanimas]

In 2004+ models if you wanted to get Xenon you had to get the Lighting Package on the 1.8t. The easiest way to tell if you have the lighting package is if you have an automatic setting for your lights then you do if you have to switch them on manually you don't have them. I also think the lighting package came with auto dimming mirrors.

You're correct about the auto dimming mirrors, and I told the guy that another one I was looking at had the lighting package because I said I wanted xenons. I guess he figured he'd tell me what I wanted to hear haha. Oh well, not a huge deal but I will miss the auto lights on my MB, not much else though.

So I guess now my best bet is to just buy an HID kit, or is there a more OEM option?

[Audized]

Ecodes!

BTW, get CO's before you get rims. You don't want your A4 to look like an Allroad.

[BlackB6]

Looks clean, good base for a project car.

[Exanimas]

Ecodes!

BTW, get CO's before you get rims. You don't want your A4 to look like an Allroad.

Would it really look that bad with 19s and no COs? I figured gap would be about the same since the tires would be thinner, but then again my C240 always looked like a 4x4 and I traded it in before I got COs so I never saw the difference they could've made.

And Thanks BlackB6, with the mods I have planned vs my income and school etc, this isn't going to be one of those cars on here that progresses insanely fast. Something like a major mod every few months with a minor one in between to help with the mod-bug.

[A4natomical]

It's pretty easy to tell at night. Do you have a button next to your headlight switch that makes them go up and down?

what switch that makes them go up and down?
does ur headlight switch say "auto" on it?

[Audized]

Would it really look that bad with 19s and no COs? I figured gap would be about the same since the tires would be thinner, but then again my C240 always looked like a 4x4 and I traded it in before I got COs so I never saw the difference they could've made.

For reference, there are a few pics of 19's on stock non-sport suspension at the top of the thread below:

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=197788

It's not about cosmetic. By looking at your future plan, you will need CO's to handle the power from a K04 or BT.

[Exanimas]

For reference, there are a few pics of 19's on stock non-sport suspension at the top of the thread below:

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=197788

It's not about cosmetic. By looking at your future plan, you will need CO's to handle the power from a K04 or BT.

Ahh thanks for the link... But yea, when it looks like that... it is cosmetic. If I wanted to ride high I would've got an old Chevy with 28s on it . Ok, I guess coilovers will be up before rims. I'll probably just go with Tein Basics like I was about to do on my C-class. Thanks for the help and not being to harsh on my stupid questions, I'll keep updating as my car slooooooowly progresses.

[grimlock]

Congrats on the new ride, welcome to AZ! Are you planning on chipping the car initially before k04/BT? The only reason I ask is that a Forge DV won't really do anything for you performance wise if you're riding around stock. Save that money for coilovers . If I were to do my car all over again, I think I would do the suspension as the very first thing (coilovers + sway bars). Happy modding!

[diztek]

f that. if the guy told you it had xenons and it doesnt. someone has to make that right. that is about a $1000 upgrade. I would def. complain, especially if you havent done the salesman's survey yet.

[AudiA4Turbo22]

I Think U Should Go With The Turbo Kit From Awe, Check A Few Pages Back, It Was Perfect For Daily Driving, And It Was A Kit That Included Everything U Need, And Still Makes 300chp! And They Have A Specific One Designed For Tiptronic, A Little Pricey Though, But It Was Quick Spooling And As Torquey As A K04!

[onept8tee]

you must be excited with your new car

[Exanimas]

Congrats on the new ride, welcome to AZ! Are you planning on chipping the car initially before k04/BT? The only reason I ask is that a Forge DV won't really do anything for you performance wise if you're riding around stock. Save that money for coilovers . If I were to do my car all over again, I think I would do the suspension as the very first thing (coilovers + sway bars). Happy modding!

Yea, the whole Forge DV thing is just a precaution. I'm not really expecting better performance out of it, just preparing for if/when I get chipped or toss a bigger turbo in. Like I said before, I think coilovers will probably be my first major mod and 19s can wait. Besides, I want a nice set this time (not reps like I had before) so it'll be some time before I can save up. Hopefully while waiting I'll find a nice set of IForged or DPEs in the classifieds for alright money.

[Exanimas]

I Think U Should Go With The Turbo Kit From Awe, Check A Few Pages Back, It Was Perfect For Daily Driving, And It Was A Kit That Included Everything U Need, And Still Makes 300chp! And They Have A Specific One Designed For Tiptronic, A Little Pricey Though, But It Was Quick Spooling And As Torquey As A K04!

This is what I was talking about too many things conflicting. You're saying the AWE kit is great but I did a search on it and the first thread I find (APR vs AWE) has everyone bashing it. I'm sure if I kept going I'd find one where people were saying the APR sucks and the AWE is teh pwn. Like I said before, I'll hold off for a bit to make my decision.

@diztek - Yea, it is kind of annoying but I'm not one to make a big deal out of something like that. If it was really the deal maker/breaker I would have asked my question on AZ before I purchased it. Aside from that, I couldn't find another one similar to this with xenons (the only one with xenons I found I think had over 15K more miles).

@onept8tee - I'm so pumped. IMO this is a huge upgrade over a C-class. The interior is nice, car drives about a million times better (then again my C-class was on its last legs), and overall I think it looks better.

[Maverick]

one easy way to find out that whether you have xenon is by turn on the light without turn on the car, you will hear something that's leveling. or as others said, you will notice as night.
where in boston are you ?

[AudiA4Turbo22]

If Ur Lights Have A Blue Shade U Have Xenons! And Ya I Was Thinking About The Same Thing, But Lots Of Good Things Have Been Said About The Awe Kit, Apr Does Equal Pwn, But The Price Is Ftl!

[diztek]

yeah, i hear ya. congrats on the car. its a gorgeous car either way.

[grimlock]

This is what I was talking about too many things conflicting. You're saying the AWE kit is great but I did a search on it and the first thread I find (APR vs AWE) has everyone bashing it. I'm sure if I kept going I'd find one where people were saying the APR sucks and the AWE is teh pwn. Like I said before, I'll hold off for a bit to make my decision.

@diztek - Yea, it is kind of annoying but I'm not one to make a big deal out of something like that. If it was really the deal maker/breaker I would have asked my question on AZ before I purchased it. Aside from that, I couldn't find another one similar to this with xenons (the only one with xenons I found I think had over 15K more miles).

@onept8tee - I'm so pumped. IMO this is a huge upgrade over a C-class. The interior is nice, car drives about a million times better (then again my C-class was on its last legs), and overall I think it looks better.

I've been looking for BT setups on a tiptronic as well. It looks like people have had success with a detuned version of the Eurocode GTRS Eliminator kit. I'm going to be researching setups this summer and piecing something together. A local shop just opened up and they do Unitronic software, which I heard does some great custom tunes, so I'll be looking into that as well. Keep me posted on what you decide to do, as I'm in the same boat and would definitely like to hear some thoughts/opinions.

[Exanimas]

I'm up in Lynn, I just put Boston because I assumed 90% of the people on here wouldn't know what Lynn was haha.

The whole blue shade thing isn't necessarily true, I mean 6000K appears really white and my beams look white and have sort of a bluish line where it cuts off. Again, no biggie, I'm sure I don't have the auto option or leveling buttons so I don't have xenons.

@diz - Awesome, thanks dude.

Grimlock - I'm kind of leaning towards the eurocode GTRS kit as well. There's another member (I forget his name) who has been running it on a tiptronic and it seems to have been working fine for him. I guess if he encounters any problems I'll play it safe and K04 it, but otherwise it's just a matter of getting up the $$ to do that (and all the other mods).