Thoughts/Advice - Partout or sell?

[S4UCE]

Hi all, I have had my 01 casablanca sedan for 6 years. I bought it in March 2010 with 143K on the clock from the second owner (who only had it for about 5 months/1500 miles). I have daily driven it since then, and it now sits at 219,000 miles. It has been Frankenturbo F4H stage 3 since 156k, and got a new engine with 85k at 170k chassis miles. I considered selling it a couple of times over the past few years, but never did simply because of how much car it is for the money. Finding a car with this much power and practicality means you either have to sacrifice reliability or money. This car has been very reliable for me. Sure little things happen break way too often, but it hasn't exploded or locked up in the middle of the morning commute. That said, the little things have been piling up and I have neither the time nor energy to deal with it anymore, and I can't justify dumping any more money into it. Now I'm just trying to determine if somebody else does want to bring it back to life. After writing this I am now feeling fully sentimental and mildly depressed.


Pictured right - hanging with a fellow casa some years back - photo courtesy Bimmerchop

The good:
Casablanca white, RS4 front bumper, dead sexy (right?), huge mod list, never abused. The fact that I've had the same Vast stage 3 clutch and RS4 pressure plate for 73,000 miles should be a testament to my driving style. Haven't launched in 2+ years, but still holds on a solid 1-2 shift.

The bad:
Turbos don't hit full boost anymore - depending on the ambient air temperature, they'll hit 18-21psi. Not sure if it's a wastegate issue or if they're just tired after over 60,000 miles.
219k chassis miles daily driven year round in MA and CT for 15 years. Far from a Cali car - some rust spots showing up on the body and a nice key mark on the driver's side. Still a beautiful "10 foot out" car.
Little things - bad ABS ring, bad axle, exhaust leak, vacuum leak, needs rotors and pads on all four corners, probably needs a fresh tune.
Aging parts - clutch and timing belt should be done soon, bilstein pss9s are about a million years old though they feel good still.

Mods list:

Engine/Drivetrain:
Frankenturbo F4H
OEM RS4 Inlets
Vast 90mm MAF
AWE SMICs
62lb EV14 Injectors
Walbro 255lph Fuel Pump
Devil’s Own water meth kit with #7 nozzles
AAN lines from pump to nozzles
Aluminum Bi-Pipes
FSI Coilpack Conversion
Black Powdercoated Valve Covers
Updated Vented Oil Cap
Samco TBB
710N Diverter Valves
Hallman MBC
Techtonics 2.5” catless downpipes
Vibrant 3” exhaust
Vast poly snub
Stern Soft Engine Mounts
Stern Transmission Mounts
Vast Stage 3 Clutch
RS4 Pressure Plate
Vast EFK
Low temp afterrun coolant switch

Suspension/Wheels:
H-Sport Front and Rear Sways
Bilstein PSS9 Coils
18x8 Bremmerkraft BR05
Hankook Ventus V12 evo 2 tires 225/40/18

Exterior:
OEM RS4 Front Bumper
OEM RS4 Grille
35w HID yellow fogs (and independent fog modded relay)
Depo D2S Headlights w/ 6000k 55w HID (also have a set of OEM Valeo E-codes that need some TLC)
Tints - 35% sides, 20% rear
Black vinyl applied to roof

Interior:
White suede wrapped beltline trim
Black plast-dipped hazard and shifter surrounds
OEM RS4 air leather shift knob
Shift-style leather boot with white stitching
Podi steering column mount w/ VEI digital boost gauge with peak recall
A-pillar mount with Innovative LC-1 wideband
B6 rearview mirror w/ compass
SRP pedals (black grid)
Perfect center LCD display and functioning cup holder!

[reverse.rake]

keep it! those are all easy/cheap fixes, apart from the turbos potentially needing a replacement soon..

[Corradovolksb]

Car looks really good. Keep it and fix the vacuum leak and that should fix the boost leak and your lower than normal boost level.

[Nizmo]

I remind myself : Each and every B5 S4 was built in Germany, put on a boat and brought to the US and others.

After the kids that blew them up, crashed them, parted them out, etc. there are becoming fewer than you'd expect.

My .02 cents.

[Drehmoment]

Part it and move on

[kingkhalilz]

If you dont have a specific make and model chosen for your next car, then i say keep the s. It will be hard finding something else that you will be happy with.

[Bordom]

Keep it. How many Casa S4's do you see anymore? Partout is not an option

Everything graciously mispelled by Android

[Pjbash]

Keep it or sell it to me! Lol jk but plenty of people love the B5 s4! If you don't want it someone else will.


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[S4UCE]

Car looks really good. Keep it and fix the vacuum leak and that should fix the boost leak and your lower than normal boost level.

The problem is that the boost issue existed before vacuum problem.

keep it! those are all easy/cheap fixes, apart from the turbos potentially needing a replacement soon..

Yes, all cheap and easy except for the wildcard of the turbos..

If you dont have a specific make and model chosen for your next car, then i say keep the s. It will be hard finding something else that you will be happy with.

I was thinking hard about a B8 S4 with DSG. Similar power, less thrilling, more modern. And back into a car payment...

I could easily sink another $1000 into this car and still have a 15 year old dog that hits 18psi at 4900rpm. That's what I worry about.

[ajee622]

trade me straight up??