Advice on buying B8 A4 Avant with Audi Drive Select

[saullyb]

I've been looking to upgrade from my old school 1990 90Q 20V, and for a while I was considering a B6 or B7 Avant Manual.

But then I stumbled upon a 2009 A4 Avant, single owner by woman with children, all maintenance done at Audi so 10k oil changes, rings done at ~30k miles, prestige, advanced key, bang olufsen, Audi drive select... All the goods. It has 90,000 miles and is going for $13K.

Car spent half of its lifetime in city driving, the other half in mixed but more hwy heavy driving.


B8's seems so nice and new and so on, but I'm afraid of a few issues:

• Timing chain, if the tensioner was not replaced during piston ring replacement, when do these things usually go out? From research they seem to be a PITA to DIY and the parts are $$$, way more of a hassle than a timing belt.
• Audi drive select, the dampers cost ~$500 a corner, could I just swap all four dampers back to normal when one of them breaks and leave the Drive Select connector dangling?
• Turbo life, how long do the turbos on these cars usually last?
• Carbon buildup, how bad do you think it will be considering the miles this car has and how the miles have been driven?

I need this car to last me ~5 years at about 8,000 miles a year. I'm debating as to how much more expensive owning the B8 will be considering its not that old vs. a B6 or B7 that I pick up for $7000-$8000 that has ~120K miles but is 2-5 years older than the B8.


Any and all advice is appreciated. While I do love the B8, currently it seems like it will be less expensive to own than a simpler B6 or B7 with a timing belt and no other fancy features. Even though the B6/B7 would be older, and might have 10-20K more miles, it will still leave me with an extra $2,000-$5,000 for repairs in the future.

[Project Quattro]

They recommend the timing chain tensioner be done around 110k miles, and I'd probably advise a carbon cleanout then as well. Some 2009 cars had defective turbo wastegate flappers, there's a thread on it somewhere, the life expectancy varies by how it was driven. A mom-driven car is a lot less to worry about than a tuned one. You can check it out by reaching around the manifold (make sure the car has been sitting overnight) and seeing if there's any movement on the wastegate actuator. Drive select... Doubt you can have that unplugged without the dash being lit up like a Christmas tree. That said, some guys on here must have ADS and be running coilovers so there must be a workaround.


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[COLD13]

Audi drive select, the dampers cost ~$500 a corner, could I just swap all four dampers back to normal when one of them breaks and leave the Drive Select connector dangling?

Not sure if this is your only option but...
https://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B8_A4....0T/ES2608438/

[doowopaudi]

According to audi, the timing chain and tensioner should last you through 200,000 miles and should not need replacement. There are many b8's that have not had theirs replaced at all. Mine is one of them. I had my pistons done at 88,000 miles and the dealer told me I didnt need the timing chain/tensioner or the carbon cleaning done.
I too, am hoping my car lasts me at least 2 more years at about 21,000 miles a year. That should put me at about 150,000 miles on the odometer by the end of 2018. I'm at 92,000 right now.

https://www.audiusa.com/content/dam/...-Year-2009.pdf

[A4 Centaur]

That's a rare car and would make a great project for upgrading and keeping long term.

I would have the timing chain tensioners done if not the chains themselves by the dealer IF you plan on doing track days or hammering it around.

Tein Coilovers I understand might have the integration with the ADS? if not just get the cancel devices from ECS and get some proper coilovers. You can convert the ADS button into another feature.

Turbo should be good and are dirt cheap now. Saw one on ebay for 350 bucks.

If the color is right buy that Avant!

[bluetori]

Seems like a pretty solid deal, although I doubt the tensioner was replaced that early on, they didn't change my tensioner at least it's not on the bill and I did mine at around 60. I think they only recently started replacing the tensioner under stg 2 oil consumption. my 09 Avant is at 113xxx and it's still fine........GET IT.

[dropshadow]

[*]Audi drive select, the dampers cost ~$500 a corner, could I just swap all four dampers back to normal when one of them breaks and leave the Drive Select connector dangling?

Are you sure the car has Adaptive Dynamic Suspension or are you assuming that because it has Audi Drive Select? It's confusing on Audi's part because both use the same acronym, so a lot of people incorrectly assume that a car with Drive Select has adaptive suspension. I am not 100% certain, but I don't believe that adaptive suspension was an option on the A4 in 2009.

[saullyb]

Thank you all for the advice!!

@COLD13 that's comforting to know that there is for sure a way to get around ADS. I was thinking that I could just swap normal dampers and then deactivate that whole system in VAG-COM, although that system does also affect the steering responsiveness, throttle sensitivity, and transmission gearing, all of which I would like to keep. I wonder if it's possible to just deactivate the suspension while keeping other parts of ADS active? Intuition says no, but anyone on here have any input?

@dropshadow I am sure that it has the dynamic suspension, it is not magnetic ride control or anything like on R8. It's just the Audi Drive Select, so there are special dampers that have a little valve inside of them changing the size of the opening for the hydraulic fluid to flow through, thus affecting damping characteristics. Things are pricey though.

The problem is that this car is maxing out my budget for a car, and that budget includes repairs for the next 2-3 years. While the B8 is extremely luxurious and nice, I feel scared to pull the trigger considering the tensioners, ADS dampers, carbon buildup and so on.... All of this sits on top of the fact that it'll probably need other things such as control arms soon, and fluids flushed, and motor mounts and so on....

When do usually control arms and motor/tranny mounts go on 2009 A4's?

[saullyb]

Damn I knew I should have never wandered into B8 territory, now a B6 or B7 just seems dated hahaha

[dropshadow]

@dropshadow I am sure that it has the dynamic suspension, it is not magnetic ride control or anything like on R8. It's just the Audi Drive Select, so there are special dampers that have a little valve inside of them changing the size of the opening for the hydraulic fluid to flow through, thus affecting damping characteristics. Things are pricey though.

I know what Audi Drive Select is, and I know what Adaptive Dynamic Suspension is. Do you? They are not the same.

[Acme]

Are you sure the car has Adaptive Dynamic Suspension or are you assuming that because it has Audi Drive Select? It's confusing on Audi's part because both use the same acronym, so a lot of people incorrectly assume that a car with Drive Select has adaptive suspension. I am not 100% certain, but I don't believe that adaptive suspension was an option on the A4 in 2009.

Adaptive dampers were available in 2009 as an option with Prestige...

http://www.eabjr.com/documents/Audi_...rder_giude.pdf

I also have them. AFAIK you either need to replace them with OEM dampers or buy a cancellation kit and get coils (or get a static setup for a little bit less money), but there are no cheap alternatives really. Unless I missed a thread somewhere.

[A4 Centaur]

You can have my motor mounts, still good after 50k. I replaced them with aftermarket versions from 034.

Don't try and talk yourself out of this!