Lensch09 Navarra Blue RS5 Build Thread

[Lensch09]

A small update - Got the Audi Customer Assistance Kit.





Have some more updates, too. I'll just leave this here



Stay tuned! Will update later this week!

-DL

[Lensch09]

I also got the fancy new 034MS oil cap. Not for everyone, but I was bored.













Stay tuned!!! Will update again later this week!

-DL

[Mops@Nemesis]

Bring the noise! 😎

[kfxjc]

excited to see and hear the exhaust

[Diokhan]

Very nice. Which version did you go with? Looks like I'll have to wait and see. I'm looking forward to your thoughts after driving with it for a little while.

[Lensch09]

Exhaust is now installed. Went with the Milltek Sport Race (non-resonated) exhaust with Cerakote black tips. It's a great Jekyll an Hyde type of system. Nearly factory quiet with the valves closed, pretty rowdy once they're opened. Still need to adjust the tips in a bit but overall pretty good. Needed to trim the transmission pan splash guard just a skosh to keep the downpipes from rubbing. Overall, great fitment. Thank you Mops@Nemesis!







Of course the tips were ceramic coated with Wax is Dead Heat - A high heat ceramic coating that makes things easier to clean. Same coating on my wheels and calipers.



Install pictures















And a cold start video. I like it.



Stay tuned - More updates coming in!

-DL

[i3oricua]

I think that's the first exhaust I've heard on our cars that I actually like. You don't have downpipes correct?

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

[Lensch09]

I think that's the first exhaust I've heard on our cars that I actually like. You don't have downpipes correct?

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

Downpipes/flex-pipes, yes. Factory cats.

-DL

[jdm-v35]

Exhaust is now installed. Went with the Milltek Sport Race (non-resonated) exhaust with Cerakote black tips. It's a great Jekyll an Hyde type of system. Nearly factory quiet with the valves closed, pretty rowdy once they're opened. Still need to adjust the tips in a bit but overall pretty good. Needed to trim the transmission pan splash guard just a skosh to keep the downpipes from rubbing. Overall, great fitment. Thank you Mops@Nemesis!







Of course the tips were ceramic coated with Wax is Dead Heat - A high heat ceramic coating that makes things easier to clean. Same coating on my wheels and calipers.



Install pictures















And a cold start video. I like it.



Stay tuned - More updates coming in!

-DL

I have the same exhaust and love it. Sounds great and quality/fitment is perfect. Make sure you keep the mufflers polished too! I wash them everytime I wash the car and if I polish I hit them with some blue magic metal polish to get the road crap off.

[kfxjc]

sounds awesome

[Lensch09]

Added another small touch today - The famous $35 12V Acc plug originally delivered in pre-face lift cars and also alu-optik cars, I believe.



New



Old - equipped on majority of facelift cars.



Old



New



You can see it sneaking in the background.



It's a small touch. But, I like it. I also have on order the alu-optik seat adjustment buttons. They're on backorder in Germany with no ETA. Obviously not in a huge hurry to get those, but they're on order.

I also have a handful of things on order with Bruce Miranda that should be arriving soon - 3D sound front and rear and a-pillar tweeter components. I cannot stress enough how easy it is to work with Bruce. I highly recommend.

I also managed to snag some cheaper OEM sport-seat wingbacks from a combination of suppliers for less than $150 all-in. 2 things, ABT discontinued their CF wingbacks, and even if they didn't, they are ridiculously overpriced for a skinned/laminated piece (north of $4k).

Working with a few vendors now to get quotes on pricing and availability and will be shipping them out to get skinned. Same with a spare set of dash caps. Stay tuned!

-DL

[DreamTFK]

Can I ask where you ordered the alu-optik seat buttons from? I would like to get those as well.

Who is Bruce Miranda? Would like to upgrade my base stereo eventually. Website?

[Lensch09]

Can I ask where you ordered the alu-optik seat buttons from? I would like to get those as well.

Who is Bruce Miranda? Would like to upgrade my base stereo eventually. Website?

Bruce_Miranda on Audiworld. You can visit his website at https://www.brucemiranda.com/page/about. If you contact him via email, he's typically very responsive. He is in the UK, so take note of the time difference.

The part numbers for the alu-optik seat adjusters. They are currently on backorder in Germany with no ETA

4M0-959-815-4PK
4M0-959-817-4PK
4M0-959-816-4PK
4M0-959-818-4PK

-DL

[DreamTFK]

Kinda nervous ordering something labeled as 'Knob' with no photo.

Do you have any pictures? Will they fit on a 2020 S4 by any chance? Not sure how different the seats would be between RS5 and S4.

[Lensch09]

They should fit - Search for Riley's RS5 build. He has pictures there. Part numbers, too

-DL

[DreamTFK]

They should fit - Search for Riley's RS5 build. He has pictures there. Part numbers, too

-DL

Wow that is an awesome thread. I didn't even know about Badgeskins. Been wanting to delete the amber corners for awhile.

Thanks!

[Lensch09]

Added a few more bits and bobs to the stereo this week. Thank you so much, Bruce Miranda!

Faital Pro 3FE22 in the dash corners and in the rear 3D surrounds
Dayton Audio AN25F-4 in the a-pillars









First and foremost, *DO NOT* mangle this mushroom clip in the a-pillar. Or, you will have a VERY BAD DAY



Removed the stock tweeters from the a-pillar trim:





Ended up using a combination of retention rings and hot glue to attach the tweeters to the trim. Works well.



I also added a dab of glue to the connectors on the Faital Pros. The wires seemed a bit loose, and I didn't want to have to rip everything back apart should they become disconnected. In hindsight, I probably should have just soldered.



The comparison between the stock B&O and the Faital Pro magnets is pretty remarkable.



Everything back together:









Onto the next project - I picked up some spare interior components. I'm working with a carbon fiber skinning/laminating shop on the east coast. Seat wingbacks and dash caps are the first round of parts to receive the treatment. Cant wait to get these back!!!



Stay tuned,

-DL

[DreamTFK]

Cant wait to see the carbon fiber skinning. I thought about wrapping mine myself but decided I would mess it up.

[Diokhan]

Same; very interested in how this turns out. I want to do something with the plastic rear seat console tray that the coupe has. I'd consider the seat backs too if I wasn't so interested in a custom set of AMX Performance seats.

[Trogdor1464]

Your build is inspiring, man, and it hurts my wallet. Quick question about your 10mm spacers. Did you ever find out what brand they are? I have the 2 piece version of your wheels, and I'm looking for some 10mil spacers for the rear. 034 doesn't work, and neither does ECS. I have a 5mm on it now from EMD, but I want to run that in the front with the 10 in the rear.

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

[Lensch09]

Your build is inspiring, man, and it hurts my wallet. Quick question about your 10mm spacers. Did you ever find out what brand they are? I have the 2 piece version of your wheels, and I'm looking for some 10mil spacers for the rear. 034 doesn't work, and neither does ECS. I have a 5mm on it now from EMD, but I want to run that in the front with the 10 in the rear.

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk

Get ahold of Ben (Mops@NemesisAutosport).

-DL

[Code]

The new exhaust sounds great man! Loving all the other updates since then as well. Nice work!

[JerryRS5]

4/11 Update

When I was poking around the rear doors that day, I also re-removed my factory/modified 6.75" subwoofer enclosure. I was getting some funky "boomy" resonance from the Kicker CompRT and it needed to be addressed.

Two things fixed it:

• There are two pegs/placement references on the factory enclosure to help locate the factory subwoofer - I removed these as they were preventing the Kicker from sitting flush
• Polyfill to the moon in the stock enclosure

Stay tuned!!!

-DL

The kicker sub isnt running at a lower impedance than the stock sub? I saw someone mention the stock sub was dual 8-ohm.. This kicker sub is dual 2ohm..

[Lensch09]

The kicker sub isnt running at a lower impedance than the stock sub? I saw someone mention the stock sub was dual 8-ohm.. This kicker sub is dual 2ohm..

No clue - Never checked. It doesn't get too hot, and the gain is minimum. It's more or less just to fill in the gaps of the stock sub. I'd have to imagine this is the right impedance or the gain would have been significantly more noticeable. Several other forum members here and on AW have ran the same setup - No problems reported.

-DL

[Lensch09]

Added a few more bits. Added covers for the center console screw that were deleted on the facelift models. Someone in supply chain finance must had had a "good idea" for a cost saving project on a $90k car LOL.

Before



Before



The covers - P/N in view for anyone else that wants to do this "mod."



Afters:



and



I also realized there is a 12V dummy plug in the back seat. Figured I'd replace that with the aluminum ringed one to match the front.

Before



After



Have a few other things done that I'll need to take pictures of tonight. I should have my CF sport bucket wingbacks in the next few weeks as well.

Stay tuned!

​​​​​​​-DL

[Lensch09]

A few more small additions.

Running through a bottle of this, now. Car just clicked over 7k miles



Still running corn juice



Also added OEM seat adjustment switches from pre-facelift/AluOptik cars. I had to source a majority of these from EU directly as Audi NA only had one of the components in stock with no ETA on re-stock.





Before (factory black plastic)



Before



Comparison between the factory face-lift components and the aluminum-trimmed ones.



Afters







Overall, I like the look significantly better - Not sure why they decided to trim costs out of a $90k car, but hey, someone has to do it. Got an update from my carbon fiber skinning shop - I'll likely have the wingbacks and door caps back by the end of the month.

Stay tuned!

-DL

[Lensch09]

Larger update!!! Carbon skinned seatbacks and door caps are finished up and being packaged at my vendor. I should have them in a few weeks.





Plan is to let them cure for about a month before I have the seat backs covered in PPF, and the dash caps coated in a ceramic coating. Stay tuned

-DL

[Lensch09]

Teaser - Will post more photos when I get a chance to provide a thorough update.



Stay tuned!

-DL

[Lensch09]

I finally got the carbon seatbacks and dash caps installed! They were CF skinned/laminated by Exotic Car Gear in PA - Very good work! Thank you for the recommendation, @Mops@Nemisis.

I scooped up a brand new seatback from GenuineAudiParts on a clearance sale, and picked up the other from Ebay for around ~$100. The used seatback had a cut retention strap - Apparently, this is common on used seatbacks as the clip that attaches the retention strip to the seat chassis is a bit of a pain to navigate. Lots of salvage yards will cut the strap for easier removal without understanding the parts' significance. Exotic Car Gear also replaced the cut strap on the used seatback - Good as new, now!

Said retention strap - This strap prevents the seatback from becoming a projectile in the event that the seat airbag deploys - IMPORTANT STUFF!!!



For disassembly/removal of the seatback, I've found it significantly easier to remove the two torx screws that fasten the retention-strap clip to the seat chassis. Remove the two torx screws, then remove the seatback from the vehicle with the clip still attached to the strap. It's significantly easier to remove the clip from the strap once the seatback is removed from the vehicle.



They look great! I did wait a few weeks to install them. Prior to install, I did a quick ISO wipe down, then installed Gtechniq CSL and EVOv4 coatings to keep them fresh. I'd also like to call out that Exotic Car Gear shaved the map-pocket/netting from both seat backs. Body work was flawless (can't even tell where the holes were).







My only concern here in sunny Northern California - My rear seat passengers will need to wear sunglasses due to the glare off of the now glossy seatbacks. Fun fact though, no one ever rides in the backseat of this car!



I scooped up some used dash caps from Ebay for around $50 for the pair. The CF skinner/laminator do have to remove some of the ears/tabs to get the weave to lay flat during the process. However, they reattached them with epoxy after completion of the lamination and they fit perfectly!







Some observations - The factory seatbacks flex quite a bit. This makes them easier to install/remove. When the seatbacks are skinned/laminated with the CF, they are obviously more rigid, which can lend them to becoming a bit more difficult to install. Take your time, and you'll be happy with the results.

I've got some more things cooking. Stay tuned!

-DL

[Mayan123]

This thread is absolutely INCREDIBLE. You make me feel miserly in my modest improvements. First did you weight you RZ21 wheels vs your stock ones? I’m hearing 4lbs lighter per wheel? I’m getting the same style in bronze for my matte Nardo grey RS5. I’m also getting the same spoiler as well as a splitter from Triple R. How do you suggest finding a competent shop to PPF these items? The splitter requires bolts, but did you only use the 3m tape for your spoiler? I’d also like to get a high quality ceramic coating for the exhaust tips, wheels, and brake calipers. The one you are using doesn’t appear to be available in the US. Is there one you would suggest? Also what about a coating to go over the main PPF? Simply amazing thread man!

[Pink Flamingo]

What part of FL are you in?

This thread is absolutely INCREDIBLE. You make me feel miserly in my modest improvements. First did you weight you RZ21 wheels vs your stock ones? I’m hearing 4lbs lighter per wheel? I’m getting the same style in bronze for my matte Nardo grey RS5. I’m also getting the same spoiler as well as a splitter from Triple R. How do you suggest finding a competent shop to PPF these items? The splitter requires bolts, but did you only use the 3m tape for your spoiler? I’d also like to get a high quality ceramic coating for the exhaust tips, wheels, and brake calipers. The one you are using doesn’t appear to be available in the US. Is there one you would suggest? Also what about a coating to go over the main PPF? Simply amazing thread man!

[Lensch09]

This thread is absolutely INCREDIBLE. You make me feel miserly in my modest improvements. First did you weight you RZ21 wheels vs your stock ones? I’m hearing 4lbs lighter per wheel? I’m getting the same style in bronze for my matte Nardo grey RS5. I’m also getting the same spoiler as well as a splitter from Triple R. How do you suggest finding a competent shop to PPF these items? The splitter requires bolts, but did you only use the 3m tape for your spoiler? I’d also like to get a high quality ceramic coating for the exhaust tips, wheels, and brake calipers. The one you are using doesn’t appear to be available in the US. Is there one you would suggest? Also what about a coating to go over the main PPF? Simply amazing thread man!

They're available in the US but must be purchased by a certified professional.

Regarding the PPF, any reputable shop should be able to do a "bulk install" on these parts (there's no die-cut for most custom parts).

I'm running a factory splitter - I did not go aftermarket because I didn't want to put holes in the car. The spoiler was held on with 3M tape but had trouble adhering to the PPF (had to re-apply a few times). I ended up using tiger seal (big thing in the Bimmer community).

Good luck.

-DL

[Mayan123]

I live in Pinellas County. A little south of Tampa

[Mayan123]

Tiger seal… thank you. I never replaced the RS5 badges due to adherence concerns on the PPF. The previous owner had the PPF installed so I’m not sure if the factory spoiler was removed for install. I greatly appreciate the detail in this thread. I’m pretty much finished compiling my list and starting to plan out stages.

[Pink Flamingo]

Ahhh ok. I own a shop but I’m on the east coast. Look up presidential. They are in your area and do excellent work.

I live in Pinellas County. A little south of Tampa

[Mayan123]

Thank you! It just occurred to me… when they did the full PPF they didn’t replace the emblems, but I have no idea what they used to replace the spoiler. @Lensch09 any advice on removing it without damaging PPF?

[Mayan123]

Ahhh ok. I own a shop but I’m on the east coast. Look up presidential. They are in your area and do excellent work.

Presidential Automotive Detailing?

[Pink Flamingo]

Presidential Automotive Detailing?

Yup. Re: the spoiler it could be possible the PPF was installed up to the spoiler. If the PPF is below the spoiler and the spoiler was attached with 3M tape it could lift the PPF if the 3M tape has good adhesion. Typically you would heat up the spoiler to loosen up the adhesive before removing. The problem is that heat will also loosen the adhesive on the PPF. You should use fishing line to break the double sided tape bond and then carefully remove the residue without damaging the PPF.

[Mayan123]

Yup. Re: the spoiler it could be possible the PPF was installed up to the spoiler. If the PPF is below the spoiler and the spoiler was attached with 3M tape it could lift the PPF if the 3M tape has good adhesion. Typically you would heat up the spoiler to loosen up the adhesive before removing. The problem is that heat will also loosen the adhesive on the PPF. You should use fishing line to break the double sided tape bond and then carefully remove the residue without damaging the PPF.

Thank you. Are you saying I should try the fishing line first? I’ve done that for emblem removal before, but never on PPF. I’m thinking I should have someone that knows what they’re doing tackle this as I’d also like to get the front splitter wrapped to match the OEM carbon fiber. I’ll ask them upfront what the plan would be if the PPF was damaged during install. Would a new trunk panel coverage be discounted? @Lensch09 mentioned a product by STEK that matched near perfectly, but the link was dead. Anyone know? I’m hopefully going with the same Carbon Imports spoiler that Lensch09 used. How noticeable would different CF patterns be? I would think Presidential could probably get it pretty darn close though.
I got a great deal on my 2023 RS5 with everything but the competition package with 2200 miles with full matte PPF. That’s how I’m justifying doing the mods to myself LOL. Technically I’d still be to the good with the TTE twins. I have a few extremely expensive hobbies. This thread is like a blue print that’s going to save me (or cost me) a fortune.
I really appreciate the help.

[Pink Flamingo]

Thank you. Are you saying I should try the fishing line first? I’ve done that for emblem removal before, but never on PPF. I’m thinking I should have someone that knows what they’re doing tackle this as I’d also like to get the front splitter wrapped to match the OEM carbon fiber. I’ll ask them upfront what the plan would be if the PPF was damaged during install. Would a new trunk panel coverage be discounted? @Lensch09 mentioned a product by STEK that matched near perfectly, but the link was dead. Anyone know? I’m hopefully going with the same Carbon Imports spoiler that Lensch09 used. How noticeable would different CF patterns be? I would think Presidential could probably get it pretty darn close though.
I got a great deal on my 2023 RS5 with everything but the competition package with 2200 miles with full matte PPF. That’s how I’m justifying doing the mods to myself LOL. Technically I’d still be to the good with the TTE twins. I have a few extremely expensive hobbies. This thread is like a blue print that’s going to save me (or cost me) a fortune.
I really appreciate the help.

Definitely bring it to a professional PPF installer and they will come up with the right plan. In the interest of not hijacking Lensch09's thread, feel free to PM me if you need additional guidance.