B8 s4 Avant build

[300zx2g35]

Looking good!

[hardfive]

Took most of the week off for the holidays. We're about done. Engine in and runs. Found a cracked lower radiator fitting so we will hopefully wrap it up tomorrow.

Driver seat, rear seats, and back cargo area did need to be removed but the dash didnt. Got the modules figured out; we elected not to do the central airbag module so we'll see if that needs to come out. (EDIT - IT DOES NEED TO COME OUT)

All that's left is fill and bleed coolant, bleed brakes, and tighten suspension. Bilt on front bumper, tail lights and a few misc interior pieces and were there (bumper not attached yet)20191227_181158.jpeg20191227_191018.jpeg20191228_102712.jpeg20191228_102647.jpeg20191228_102734.jpeg20191228_102743.jpeg20191228_152528.jpeg20191228_152519.jpeg

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[avantagg]

Nice work!

[eljay]

Fantastic!!

[hardfive]

Start and idle

https://youtu.be/kPyjsUl5KZc

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[Novarider]

Start and idle

https://youtu.be/kPyjsUl5KZc

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Cmon we need longer videos!

[hardfive]

Me too! But with no coolant I cant run it too long with the water pump dry. Tomorrow. No more teases I promise.

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[Quattro 4 Life]

Great work!

[hardfive]

So we got the radiator inlet from audi installed and.... found oil cooler hose after the radiator had a crack in the rubber and a drip leak. Ugh.

Audi parts closed sunday. 3 auto parts stores later Napa let us in the back to look at the various hoses as there was no match in the system we found an almost exact match 3/4 to gradual 90 bend reduced to 1/2 hose. Perfect fit but unfortunately 2x the oem audi hose.

Seahawks vs 49ers so time was limited. Got the coolant system filled and bled and the ac charged. Tomorrow we'll bleed brakes, fill trans with last of fluid, tighten suspension and it's down to coding. Car ran at 3k rpms to bleed cooling/heater core for 5-10 min and it performed flawlessly.



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[zgastin]

How much wiring did you have to swap? I'm working on splicing in the clutch sensor stuff on mine for the manual trans swap but the dsg looks like it might have been a little easier.

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[hardfive]

How much wiring did you have to swap? I'm working on splicing in the clutch sensor stuff on mine for the manual trans swap but the dsg looks like it might have been a little easier.

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The only new wiring was for the sport diff everything else used my original Avant wiring body harness. obviously the engine used the s4 harness but theres only 2 connectors and that went fine.

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[hardfive]

Cmon we need longer videos!

OK this one is longer. Maybe we'll finish tonight, and maybe this is overkill, but here she is running while bleeding the system. About 1 minute at about 3k rpms. Test pipes on a stock exhaust.

Excuse my inability to hit and stay at 3k initially. It was cold and I was a bit excited.

https://youtu.be/kgA1XJBN95U

I said it before but Magoamado has been pivotal to getting this all done, so huge props to him.

[hardfive]

Can I get MotherFu@$ing drumroll please.

https://youtu.be/MeQZSayixmA

https://youtu.be/Z1h1Oq5lj_E

Sorry they're not pro videos with b roll but Ive been up since 5am and I I cant sleep (not at a time like this!) so I had to get this out.

Sport diff is in and fully functional.

Exhaust is a bit chirpy as one stud broke off a downpipe (the dreaded passenger side one to boot) so it's a bit leaky and the rear lift gate is refusing to fully shut and latch properly as it's a sedan now living as a wagon body with no idea it has a hatch or how to use it. Trunk interior still out too so a few loose nuts/bolts for good measure.

Otherwise my codes are all very pg, and mostly related to component protection on my driver seat memory. Lost my keyless entry and push to start but that's something I'll get working in time I'm sure.

I need the standard incandescent avant tail lights adaption info 180-205 if anyone can grab me there's as the s4 had led tails so mine aren't coded correctly. We got them to half work, which is enough to drive for now.

I was only able to get 6 of the 7 liters of dsg fluid in the trans so if anyone has a trick for cramming the last liter in I'm all ears.

Thanks to everyone who helped with info or just support. Big thanks to those who did this before like 300zx as they blazed a trail and showed this can work. And an absolutely ginormous thanks to Mago as he really made this come togeather and was a great guy to wrench with.

I've put togeather a spreadsheet of the modules we changed (and didnt) and what codes that got us and how we solved them but it will take some time to get ironed out and clear. Cliff notes is major component modules do need to be changed but a lot of them are pretty accessible.

I'm gonna go stare at her creepily for a bit then sleep for two hours and drag my ass to work.

10/10 worth it.20191230_223504.jpeg20191230_230548.jpeg20191230_231047.jpeg

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[k.sigota]

Nice work!

[avantagg]

Amazing. Well done man! Thanks again for sharing all the info.

2 questions, would
you mind sharing the module list?
And do you think the trunk is a coding issue vs wiring issue?

I see more swaps coming in 2020! Enjoy that new ride.

[Quattro 4 Life]

Yes!! Congrats, job well done.

[BeerBrent]

AWESOMENESS!!!!

[MagoAmado]

Amazing. Well done man! Thanks again for sharing all the info.

2 questions, would
you mind sharing the module list?
And do you think the trunk is a coding issue vs wiring issue?

I see more swaps coming in 2020! Enjoy that new ride.

If the module has its own address in VCDS it most likely has to be swapped if there is an equal module available from the s4.

If you don’t have a VCDS cable you may want buy one or find a friend with one because it is a tool that is 100% necessary to successfully accomplish this job.

Wiring harness is identical so long as options are and there’s no need to pull the harness out unless your a masochist.

The tailgate module (6D) was showing up as “unregistered” or something like that after the swap. Definitely a coding issue and possibly BCM2 part number specific compatibility issue. For instance, the BCM2 that came in the s4 didn’t even have the pins in it for the keyless system.

[300zx2g35]

Congrats on getting this all completed!!

Tedious but worth it!

[hardfive]

Nice work!

Yes!! Congrats, job well done.

AWESOMENESS!!!!

Congrats on getting this all completed!!

Tedious but worth it!

Thanks y'all. Very appreciative people are following along and I can share in the experience.

Amazing. Well done man! Thanks again for sharing all the info.

2 questions, would
you mind sharing the module list?
And do you think the trunk is a coding issue vs wiring issue?

I see more swaps coming in 2020! Enjoy that new ride.

Yeah I'll share it but I want to make sure whats in there is accurate. At one point I thought I was getting an error because the sports diff wasn't coded correctly, but we changed those modules so I was just making a wrong and silly assumption. Want to make sure its all accurate. But like Magoamado said if it has a VCDS address, its probably best to change it. Coding and adaptation will take way longer to figure out then just switching whats there.

[avantagg]

Makes sense. Do you guys have any idea how to get the tail gate working? Sounds like everything else is pretty much buttoned up?

[DG7]

I see more swaps coming in 2020! Enjoy that new ride.

This is one of the reasons why I'd be compelled to sell mine. It's not as special anymore since more people are making them. It's a great car for sure.

[hardfive]

Sorry I made your car less special for you? I guess? I dont think anything would make mine feel less special but I'm sure there is a market if you decide to sell.

This is one of the reasons why I'd be compelled to sell mine. It's not as special anymore since more people are making them. It's a great car for sure.

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[hardfive]

The tailgate is probably just going through all the modules in vcds and making sure sedan has been changed to avant for the body. 300zx confirmed his just worked so it's probably just a switch somewhere that's on the "off" position so to speak.

The keyless entry is probably just a matter of having my bcm reprogrammed at audi with the s4 vin. The s4 bcm that's in the car doesent have the pins but if mine gets recorded, which is easy for audi to do, it's just a matter if my old keys can be matched to the s4, or if I'll need new keys. Audi keys are special to say the least.

Otherwise it's my component protection on my driver seat that's causing a few systems to error. Systems talk so an error in one can trickle out.

Makes sense. Do you guys have any idea how to get the tail gate working? Sounds like everything else is pretty much buttoned up?

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[DG7]

Sorry I made your car less special for you? I guess? I dont think anything would make mine feel less special but I'm sure there is a market if you decide to sell.

No!!!! lol, not you at all. What you've done is quite impressive. It's the impending amount of newly built B8 S4 avants that will soon pop up that makes it feel less special. That's my personal opinion.

Don't get me wrong, I love driving my S4 avant. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. Anyway, kudos to you for the accomplishment. Now can we get some real photos of this beast of yours?

[avantagg]

This is one of the reasons why I'd be compelled to sell mine. It's not as special anymore since more people are making them. It's a great car for sure.

Special? Sure. An S4 swapped avant is still fairly rare, but Im pretty sure there have been at least a dozen documentations of these completed as of this year. Even more if you search Facebook groups. Some builders are just being more open about the process.

So, as someone who’s been keenly interested in taking on this project for quite some time, i commend the two authors of this thread for the thorough amount of information they have chosen to share with the enthusiast community.

And for what it’s worth I’d love to see someone RS5 swap an Allroad. That would be pretty special.

[hardfive]

No!!!! lol, not you at all. What you've done is quite impressive. It's the impending amount of newly built B8 S4 avants that will soon pop up that makes it feel less special. That's my personal opinion.

Don't get me wrong, I love driving my S4 avant. My only regret is that I didn't do it sooner. Anyway, kudos to you for the accomplishment. Now can we get some real photos of this beast of yours?

I dont know if I have the ability to take great photos, and Portland weather sucks right now, but I did give her a bath and she was looking pretty good this afternoon.IMG_20191231_150750_01.jpeg

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[Quattro 4 Life]

This is inspiring me to figure out the 3.0T swap into the B7. Only a couple examples so far...

[DG7]

I dont know if I have the ability to take great photos, and Portland weather sucks right now, but I did give her a bath and she was looking pretty good this afternoon

Sofa King nice in white. Looks sharp!

[hardfive]

Got my tail lights coded correctly so yay.

Working on the litigate. The switch in the driver door still open the hatch, and thats an electrical connection.
In VCDS if I leave the hatch open, and test the function, it will close the door (pretty hard might I ad but at least I can get it fully closed).
So its definitely a coding or similar permission issue

Found this in a thread where liftgate stopped working. May be nothing but Im putting it here until I figure this out
"There are 2 trunk latch control modules that need to be replaced as a set (pair) but I don't think this is a common failure. If it works intermittently maybe you just have a flaky switch or loose connection. Did you check the wiring into the switch? Or try to spray electric switch or contact cleaner into the switch itself? Could just be a dying switch."

Ok I get it there is a motor that lowers the litigate and a second one that pulls it closed. Hmm.

Been all through the coding and still dont see an issue.

[Novarider]

Did you save a full scan of your avant before the swap?

[hardfive]

Yeah it's in post 4.

So at this point the module says it has no errors or codes. I have a can bus error that I havent identified, so at this point I'm going to concentrate there I guess.

Otherwise I'm down to
Airbag (not sure probably something for audi to clear)
Parking brake (it works fine though)
Can
Driver memory seat (component protection)

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[hardfive]

If I hold the close button on the liftgate for 5+ seconds my tail lights flash but I dont see any change. Anyone know what that does?

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[Novarider]

If I hold the close button on the liftgate for 5+ seconds my tail lights flash but I dont see any change. Anyone know what that does?

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It adjusts the height the gate stops at. The height you hold the button at is the height it remembers.

https://youtu.be/1Gqlo4Xyyfw

[hardfive]

Interesting. Good info thanks.

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[dropshadow]

This is one of the reasons why I'd be compelled to sell mine. It's not as special anymore since more people are making them. It's a great car for sure.

I agree. Your car is no longer special. I’ll do you a favor and take it off your hands so you don’t have to deal with it anymore.

[DG7]

I agree. Your car is no longer special. I’ll do you a favor and take it off your hands so you don’t have to deal with it anymore.

Shoot me an offer, I'll consider it.

[hardfive]

Shoot me an offer, I'll consider it.

Blasphemy.

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[skifreak85353]

Shoot me an offer, I'll consider it.

I’ll better his offer. You really don’t want to deal with that thing anymore

[DoItAllGarage]

It's must feel good to accomplish a project that most say it can't be done! Great work!!

I've been thinking about this swap for the longest time when I had my B8. When I saw this in PNW section, I had to stop by and applaud you.