What are your goals for the B5 A4 in 2025?

[A4Qwattro]

What are you guys hoping to do with your cars in 2025 and beyond? I've had mine for 10 years and I'm hoping to make it to its 25th anniversary (2001 MY). I don't know why that feels special to have kept one of these cars alive to reach the 25th, but it does... After that is anyone's guess? I did some repairs last fall (infamous fuel line leak, wiper transmission replacement and a new exhaust (ouch...) just to get it in a condition to be a winter vehicle but at this point I feel like it's at an age where I'm basically going to be getting nickled and dimed to keep it going and since I can't see myself putting much more than another 1-2,000 miles on it , I'd just be throwing money away for no sensible reason). I'm at peace, I think. I've gotten more than I could have asked out of this car.

[strophius]

My goal is to finish breaking in the engine and get it running top-notch again! Rebuild was mostly due to some bad choices on my end.

2001 as well, had mine for about 12 years now. Disagree on the point of throwing away money. All cars cost money to drive and/or maintain. To get an equivalent "modern" car with AWD, 300hp+, a manual transmission, gets 30+mpg, and all the creature features (heated seats, heated side-mirrors, dimming side and rear view, etc..) it would cost me like $400+ a month in car payments. That's over 4k a year. I don't spend anywhere near that amount on maintaining this car.

It really comes down to the enjoyment factor I suppose. I love this car, love it's looks, it's feel, it's handling, and all it's quirks. Plan on teaching my sons to drive in it and, God willing, being able to pass it down to them some day.

[walky_talky20]

I've got 3 B5's. I would like to do a bigger turbo situation someday, might have to build an engine for it. I have two 2001's, both around 300k miles, and the sporty car (laser) needs an engine refresh anyway.

The 3rd car is a FWD Automatic B5 Passat. It's actually my favorite because its so comfy and spacious compared to the A4's. I would like to do a 5MT swap on it as the auto trans has a problem with Reverse. But otherwise keep it stock.

I have several other cars too, for some reason, so it's hard to find time to modify stuff let alone keep them all going. LOL. The B5's have been really reliable for me, though. Especially the Passat. Best car I've ever purchased and I only paid $600 for it.

[A4Qwattro]

My goal is to finish breaking in the engine and get it running top-notch again! Rebuild was mostly due to some bad choices on my end.

2001 as well, had mine for about 12 years now. Disagree on the point of throwing away money. All cars cost money to drive and/or maintain. To get an equivalent "modern" car with AWD, 300hp+, a manual transmission, gets 30+mpg, and all the creature features (heated seats, heated side-mirrors, dimming side and rear view, etc..) it would cost me like $400+ a month in car payments. That's over 4k a year. I don't spend anywhere near that amount on maintaining this car.

It really comes down to the enjoyment factor I suppose. I love this car, love it's looks, it's feel, it's handling, and all it's quirks. Plan on teaching my sons to drive in it and, God willing, being able to pass it down to them some day.

I know the feeling. That's why I've kept mine for so long. Its always been decent on gas, cheap to insure, awd, robust engine (stout and more serviceable than the 2.0L ones they made later), robust 5 speed transmission (still on original clutch), and I just love the way it looks. I can't be bothered to sell it off for pennies as it doesn't feel right but I know that to keep it going, I should probably do timing, replace the 25 year old brake lines, motor mounts, rear springs, bad wheel bearing, and fix a coolant leak but it just feels like a big hassle to do it all and I will not pay anyone else to do it. I know people have B5s in better condition but mine is starting to feel like death by a thousand cuts.

Do I enjoy it now? What I enjoy about it is that I don't worry about it in parking lots or on the road . If I had a brand new car, I wouldn't park on the street and I'd be parking at the far end of the lots...So with the B5, it's just a very relaxing ownership experience not really worrying about it since it's not worth much. Audi doesn't make anything new like this anymore. The newer cars will not be on the roads after 25 years due to plastic engine parts, uneconomical engine repairs, acursed and failure prone automatic and DSG transmissions, and inferior corrosion protection. What I will miss most with this car is the simplicity. The manual gearbox is virtually maintenance free. The simple port injection allowed for self cleaning valves. I wish Audi built something with this formula today. I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

[xdewaynex]

Get my brakes fixed, clean up the interior a bit and hope to enjoy it this year. I got to drive it a few times last year and the year before since the build but it wasnt enough.

[strophius]

Yeah, definitely agree on the point towards modern Audi's, or really any modern car. They feel too sterile, most of them I don't like the styling, and they're just too complicated engine & drivetrain wise. Maybe my car has been better than average, I've heard some horror stories for sure. I setup a schedule for most maintenance items and things that wear out over a 5+ year period and change them prior to failure. I've actually never had anything fail unexpected, other than a 2 year old coilpack straight up dying on the highway once. Do most of the work myself, but mostly because it's so hard to find a shop that will give the care and attention I want, lol! The port injection is huge factor for me as well. I also have an '07 S6 and having to remove the intake and clean all the valves every few years is annoying.

Funny about the worrying in parking lots and on the road! I feel the exact opposite! Lol! The scam of "insurance" won't pay out anything to me if people damage my car because they just claim it isn't "worth" anything. I always worry about somebody hitting or damaging my car because I know I'll have to pay to fix it or figure it out myself. I tend to park way in the back spots away from as many cars as possible, lol.

The enjoyment piece is a large part though, if you don't enjoy the car anymore I totally get it and that would definitely drive me towards something else as well. I've had a lot of "firsts" with this car so I'll admit there's a sentimental attachment as well, but it still puts a huge smile on my face every time I drive it.

[Cybersombosis]

Hey everyone. Like Walky, I too have 3 B5’s. One is a 2001 Silver Stage 1 1.8T auto on stock suspension that I bought for $500 with a dropped valve. I rebuilt that one for my kids to learn how to drive and use. When I rebuilt it, it was my first head that I rebuilt and I didn’t check to see if the valves held pressure so I’ve always had this weird idle and misfires on cylinder 2. Turns out that two of the valves were slightly bent and only made 70psi so I had to do a head re and re and put two used valves in earlier this year. Car is running like a champ now and the family uses it to run errands in. I like driving this car so, like most of you say, don’t have to worry about people parking to close to it.

My daily A4 is in my sig and have had it since 2009 and have slowly upgraded over the years enjoying every step and learned lots along the way. It has cam chain tensioner rattle at startup so that is on the to do list this year. I was having issues with the water meth system siphoning fluid from the nozzles so had to add check valves to each nozzle earlier this year. I removed the Stage 3 meth controller and replaced it with a simple AEM single stage controller so I could put it in my third B5, a 2001 S4 that I picked up last summer.

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The S4 has been on an expedited journey rather than taking 15 years like my A4. Picked it up in Aug of 2024 and started with a stage 1 tune and have just finished the SRM K24 RS6 turbo build last week. All that’s left is tuning from a fellow member Blazius on AZ. I have the base file for wastegate pressure set to 14 psi and it feels great. Just have to wait for the next revision that includes a wideband O2 sensor that I installed last week which will help with tuning. Here is the build thread.

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...-2001-S4-Build

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[Victorymike18]

Haven't logged in for a while but happy to throw mine in there...

For 2025 I really need to (and do plan to) swap in the engine I've been refreshing... It ended up dominating my car-related focus and I've really slacked on doing anything on the car itself for about a year.

Once I get the engine installed I can enjoy tuning, then get back into my plans for reducing front end weight and maybe just enjoying it... Oh, and someone hit my DS fender recently in a parking lot, denting it badly and crunching the turn signal. So I need to deal with that too...

[zandrew]

My plans are to get the avant painted, clutch issue resolved, and start enjoying it again. I have to make my mind up on g25-660 or gtx2863r. The 2863 I can run on an elim housing and g25 will require me fabricating an entire exhaust and downpipe.

[zandrew]

Walky I got a good deal on 01 s4 which has a coolant leak. It was a tip tho with crap paint and interior. I towed it home and the pipe was on the ds towards the front. I found it online for like $200 but I went to Napa and they let me compare it to other hoses and I found one that worked for $15. I drove it for 3 years sold it for $1500 and kept the bumper that I sold later for $1200. Wish I kept that bumper lol.

[BaseDrifter]

It's nice to still see some familiar names here.

I've got some pretty big plans for 2025, and I've been hard at work for the last year, I haven't been posting updates though I've been meaning to. I also have an S4 which has been taking time and money from me, as well as the B5 A4 I maintain for my father as his daily.

The main goal is to get this in my A4, tuned, and setup for flex fuel E85 via MaxxECU.





The parts list (not at all exhaustive):

Forged rods, GT2860RS, APR stage 3 inconel exhaust manifold, fully built head, ARP head studs, pinned crank gear, APR crank bolt from a 4g63, Fluidampr, Ringer Racing Stage 3 clutch & steel flywheel, Spa intake manifold (not here yet), TR18T intercooler, ID1050XDS injectors, every other component is brand new or vapor blasted/powder coated.

[zandrew]

Is that block built or just the rest?

[BaseDrifter]

The block has forged rods, stock pistons.

[xdewaynex]

Cool to see another B5 running on Maxxecu. I still need to get mine adjusted a bit and figure out the idle control wiring for the cable driven throttle body. The guy that tuned mine, ended up liking the software so much, he swapped his E30 Saab turbo 4cyl powered drift car to Maxx from Ecumaster.

[BaseDrifter]

Did you get the AEB wiring adapter harness? If you see my posts in the thread on the S4 forums, the wiring is not correct. My adapter is currently with the distributor getting fixed so the throttle works correctly.

[xdewaynex]

Did you get the AEB wiring adapter harness? If you see my posts in the thread on the S4 forums, the wiring is not correct. My adapter is currently with the distributor getting fixed so the throttle works correctly.

I did get the plug n play adapter when I first bought the maxxecu back in like 2018, actually got the car started with it, then sometime down the road after I finished the build, it didnt work. I ditched the plug n play adapter and went with their full harness, just had to put all of the connections on it.

[speedydtp247]

My plan for my avant in the spring is to swap in a 01E 6 speed swap. Last month I bought a complete B5 S4 drive line. I haven't owned my current avant for very long (purchased in Sept. 2022) as I wanted to get back into a B5 again and it's my daily driver. I thought about getting a B8 A4 avant and doing a manual transmission swap but I really want to get myself a sports car for the summer.

[JohnelP]

1997 1.8T Manual @220k miles. Had it since 2004.
Still works fine. Engine, transmission, alternator, steering, radiators, AC components, wheel bearings, springs ALL original. Changed only 3 timing belts and 2 water pumps, valve cover gasket, a clutch and a cat converter. And suspension.

I have used it to teach both my son and my daughter how to drive a manual transmission. I started them directly on a manual to get the reflexes. Later, they used it to teach their friends how drive a manual transmission.

Plan for 2025 is to drive it. I still do drive it, though it is only when it's just me in the car.

[Arvai]

Hopefully doing a first start on my B5 after it's sat without a motor for a year. Just need to add fluids and button up a few small things. Finally was able to find a cheap AEB motor out of a car that never was modified. New turbo, new timing kit, new water pump, new clutch, new driver side axle, bunch of new gaskets, and finally have the black leather seats to finish my interior swap from gray to black. Have owned this car since 2018 (friend owned it for a year in-between) and have been making improvements ever since. Before the last motor went it got a new AC system, coilovers, front suspension components, rear brakes, tie rods, hood, front bumper, drivers fender, headlights and an all new audio system. Just trying to make a reliable daily again that will last a long time.
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[GoldRush!]

I’ve seen so many B5s end up in junkyards or get parted out, and it’s a shame because they’re not making any more. I’m doing my part to keep up with maintenance on my 00 1.8T, and every time I turn the key, it feels worth it.

Whatever your goals: more power, OEM+, daily duty, track car or weekend cruiser.....the one thing that matters most is keeping these cars on the road.

[zksb5a4]

I also have two b5s, both pre face lift silver 1.8t quattro manual. I bought my first one in 2014 and my second in 2020. One is a daily stock turbo, hr springs and bilstein shocks, and pulls my jetski and utility trailer. The other is a gt2871r eliminator, with kwv3, poly bushings, tr18t intercooler AEM fuel pump, ringer racing stage 3 clutch, 17z brakes, for autocross and track duty,

My daily needs some work but like everyone else I'm not worried about it, i love driving it and parking anywhere.

For 2025 i want to upgrade to MaxxEcu and i have been following @BaseDrifter and his experience with the upgrade.

[CycloSteve]

1. Keep it running - used as the spare car since purchasing the B7
2. Find a replacement hood - due to a deer strike - only minor damage, but the only dent in the car
3. Perhaps re-install the PES G2 - have all the parts and live where heat soak is not a big issue.
4. Heated seats - have the parts, and will have a spare set off my B7, and have become used to the warmth in that car for sure (installing S4 Recaros in the B7)
5. Facelift projector lights - the pre-facelift are simply dim beyond belief

[HibiscusB5_A4]

Paint the car!!!!! Clear coat is peeling like crazy from all the rain this year! And decide on the next turbo… I have a 2871 Elim sitting on the shelf, but I am thinking about maybe APR T25 and a G25-550 or T3 since the block is forged IE… but the exhaust valves are still oem sodium and not stainless… See what happens to CARB rules in the following months, Smog may possible go away…



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