New B6 owner -- thoughts and questions.

[B6 Dude]

Hi all,

Picked up a 2004 B6 A4 Avant 1.8TQ Tip (43k miles) yesterday, and traded in my 10.5-yr old 162k-mile B5 A4 sedan which I had since it's birth. I miss it already, but I needed something with more utility and automatic for a change, and I wanted the 1.8T for better mileage. I'm not so much of a fan of the tan/beige interior (dk blue exterior), but it was as close to my desired combo that I could find, and IIRC grey interiors with blue exteriors are not common -- when I got my B5 I waited 4 months for a custom combo of Santorin blue exterior and grey (ecru?) interior. Also, this car was not in the 70k+ mile range like most others of this model, so I didn't have to worry about whether the timing belt was really changed or not.

Don't really want to start spending $ right away, but the car desperately needs a few things/mods...
(1) Get an OEM tool kit (the stock one is missing).

(2) Tint!

(3) Gauges -- Boost, AFR, plus some others. This will be done soon, as soon as I figure out the best mounting options.

(4) De-badge? Is it too late now for a clean de-badging? Hmmm...

(5) De-chrome. Although not much chrome on this car, I don't care for it much, so I need to investigate painting those pieces black or something else.

(6) Lower the car. My B5 with Neuspeed sport springs and 17" wheels with 45-profile tires was noticeably more rigid than stock. I really don't want to go that harsh so I can leave this one as my comfort car, so I my just lower with some sport springs and leave the stock wheels for now. The car has a sport steering, but I'm not sure if it has a sport suspension -- any way to easily determine that? Also, if lowered, is the camber on these cars adjustable? My B5 was prematurely eating tires since the insides wore out faster, and I'd like to avoid that issue now.

(7) Integrate phone if easy -- no clue about this yet.

(8) Integrate garage door opener? I see a few buttons on the visor. Maybe I should read the manual.

(9) See if I can figure out how to get my windows re-programmed to work off the remote control (like someone did for my B5 previously).

(10) For now, I'll avoid performance mods, but I'm thinking chipping/flashing may be in my future, with some switch option so I don't lose mileage on my long grandma-like trips.

(11) Should I install a turbo-timer? I never had one in the B5, and replaced the turbo at ~150k.

Damn, I didn't think this list would get so long so quickly.

Cheers,
-Neil.

[Smiley]

For boost gauge..I suggest the Podi, it looks pretty damn OEM, if your not a fan of it, you can get the AWE vent gauge.. oh and if u go with podi, Winston has a dual display gauge, so u can get BOOST and AFR on one gauge

I think you could still debadge..use fish wire, and polish it for a bit and ull be good

garage door opener is easy..you just hold down a few buttons and your set.

the window thing with your remote is done by getting VAG-COM. Or you could ask someone that has one to help you out locally

thats all i can answer for you without having to assume too much.

[B6 Dude]

For boost gauge..I suggest the Podi, it looks pretty damn OEM, if your not a fan of it, you can get the AWE vent gauge.. oh and if u go with podi, Winston has a dual display gauge, so u can get BOOST and AFR on one gauge

Major ROFL !, for a rather interesting reason But to the point, I like the podi, and I have one here, but I'm scratching my head over what/how/if to paint it (beige). I also have those VEI dual digital gauges here -- many of them actually I will however need some more gauges than those two, so perhaps I should wait for a dual podi? or perhaps I find some way to add some to the vent area, or... ???

I think you could still debadge..use fish wire, and polish it for a bit and ull be good

I guess if it leaves marks, I can always put them back one with some fresh tape.

garage door opener is easy..you just hold down a few buttons and your set.

Just found the manual, so I'll go read after this.

the window thing with your remote is done by getting VAG-COM. Or you could ask someone that has one to help you out locally

I have a borrowed VAG-COM sitting here and installed the software, but I need to find the right procedure before I go messing around with it.

thats all i can answer for you without having to assume too much.

Much appreciated. Thanks!
-Neil.

[akaEsCo01]

(5) De-chrome. Although not much chrome on this car, I don't care for it much, so I need to investigate painting those pieces black or something else.

(6) Lower the car. My B5 with Neuspeed sport springs and 17" wheels with 45-profile tires was noticeably more rigid than stock. I really don't want to go that harsh so I can leave this one as my comfort car, so I my just lower with some sport springs and leave the stock wheels for now. The car has a sport steering, but I'm not sure if it has a sport suspension -- any way to easily determine that? Also, if lowered, is the camber on these cars adjustable? My B5 was prematurely eating tires since the insides wore out faster, and I'd like to avoid that issue now.

(7) Integrate phone if easy -- no clue about this yet.

(9) See if I can figure out how to get my windows re-programmed to work off the remote control (like someone did for my B5 previously).

(11) Should I install a turbo-timer? I never had one in the B5, and replaced the turbo at ~150k.

Damn, I didn't think this list would get so long so quickly.

Cheers,
-Neil.

5. Paint your chrome pieces on the grill with Plasti-Dip, works great

6. To see if you have a sport suspension, look at your shocks, if they are red then you do, if not, then you don't. You should be able to tell by visual inspection though.
Camber in the rear is adjustable, camber in the front is adjustable if you buy adjustable control arms

7. You need bluetooth to integrate your phone, I am not sure what year your car is so idk if you would have been able to get bluetooth only, but I doubt it. You will need to get an aaftermarket kit, or RNS-E and bluetooth or aftermarket nav and bluetooth kit.

9. Vag-com, check their website or search

11. You don't need a turbo timer for a K03, even if you were chipped with all supporting mods

[Smiley]

I painted my podi .. I even posted a thread of the progression and what i used and how i did it..how many gauges do u plan on having? maybe you could run that dual vei gauge in the podi , then run a vent gauge as well and ull have pretty much all the info you SHOULD need to know?

http://www.audiworld.com/tech/elec36.shtml
for your VAG windows.

and the de-badging shouldnt leave marks unless some1 already took them off and applied some retardedly strong adhesive..

[EYE4SPEED]

[/QUOTE]11. You don't need a turbo timer for a K03, even if you were chipped with all supporting mods[/QUOTE]

Just wondering what the reason behind not letting turbo "cool" off with the K03 - does it matter if it is Stage 1+ or does it not matter until BAT?

Thanks.

[B6 Dude]

(4) I expect the badges were never touched. Nothing has been done to this car, not even tinting, so previous owners were prob the type that bought a car just to get from A to B.
(5) Plasti-dip? Hmmm.... I have some here, so will experiment.
(6) Shocks are black. So this is good news, as it gives me a simple/low-cost option to correct the baja look. Good to know that adjustable control arms are available!
(7) Car is a 2004. I need to stop by a dealer to see what info they can pull up on this VIN, in terms of features etc.

On the subject of gauges, here's my confession... I *am* VEI , which is why I found your first reference to the VEI gauge quite hilarious. So I'm always testing, especially on my DD which gets the most road use. On my B5 I had 2 gauges in a pillar pod with some mods for easier firmware reprogramming, and occasionally had to wire up some extra gauges for testing, sitting on the seat. I'd really like to rip out the stock instrument cluster in this B6 and build a complete digital replacement, but I just don't have the time nowadays. The vent area is tempting though -- not for a round gauge, but for a custom piece perhaps.

(12) I forgot one -- my "simpler oil change" mod. Details later.

Cheers,
-Neil.

[A4TL]

i guess with 5K oil interval on mobil 1 0W40 and the afterrun water pump these turbo's just hold up mine has 104K stage 1+ i just drive it hard. I was hoping it would die so i could replace with BT or K04 but sadly this did not happen. so its back to stock boost for now to prolong the life of the tiptronic.

[B6 Dude]

I used to drive very hard in the early days of my B5, but my turbo lasted to ~150k. But I've known a couple others that didn't drive very hard, but had turbos replaced under warranty (B5, K03's). I do plan to get back into autocrossing, which is why I was thinking of the turbo timer.