Project Thread 2009 S5

[rs4-380]

Already had a couple posts out there so I thought I would put it all together in one place.

Thanksgiving weekend 2007 I walked into my local Audi dealer and ordered an S5. No discussion with the salesman, no test drive, no bull****. The owner of the dealership is a friend of the family, and as such I received an un-requested discount off of MSRP. I was told the car would be in around March, no problem, as it would give me time to sell my GTI and I probably wouldn't drive it in the winter anyway. As the weeks ticked away, Audi's supply problems with the A5/S5 became readily apparent, and with absolutely no word from the dealer or the manufacturer whatsoever, I readjusted my expectations to having the car for the beginning of (Maine) summer. For the S5's Audi was allocating cars once a month, from allocation time it was three months until the dealer saw the car. I kept waiting, the hope for the beginning of summer turned into the hope for 4th of July, then the hope that it would see summer at all, then finally the that the car I ordered in 2007 would be delivered before the 2009.

During this entire time, there was no communication from Audi or the dealer, I went in once a month and received the same "I have nothing to tell you" every single time. Audi's allocation system is based on dealer volume, and as a small dealer, my dealer was set to receive 3 cars in 2008. That we knew, but we didn't know when the 3rd car (my spot) would be allocated. As people who ordered cars in mid 2008 started to get allocated (at larger dealers), I became increasingly frustrated. At the end of July hedged my bets, and found a dealer on long island with a configurable allocation set to be delivered at the end of October and placed another deposit. At the end of August I went in to the Maine dealer, told the owner it wasn't personal, then got pissed. I told him I wanted a phone call from him or the Audi district rep telling me something, I didn't care what it was, but I wanted a phone call. I never received that call.

End of September I got received a VIN # from the dealer on Long Island and verification the car was on a boat. Thursday I got a call that the car was in early. Hopped on a flight Saturday morning and drove it back yesterday.

The dealer in Maine has still not received an allocation.

No giant plastic covers here

[rs4-380]

10/17/08
Did some small things with a VAG-COM (enabled window rollup with the remote, made the drl's not turn off when the turn signal on that side comes on, and turn off the amber side markers and made the drl's full intensity when running with the parking lights on).

[rs4-380]

Changed the fog lights to Hoen Xenonmatch bulbs (so they match the color of the headlights)

Also installed a milltek non-resonated catback exhaust. I am very happy with the sound of this exhaust, I though the non-res may be a little too loud (wanted to tone it down from the other cars) but it is perfect. Making me smile all over again. Only problem was one of the tips was bent in shipping, but I just worked it out a took a credit from Stratmosphere, no biggie.

Install here
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4088462

Short clip here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86PGMSi0760

Better pictures this weekend.

[GLI_Man]

You know this already, but what a beaut! Great color and interior choices, and the mods you've done are ones I'd like to do too. Except I can't spell VAG, nor do I have access to one.

Could I bother you to post something that would be meaningful to an Audi tech for the DRL changes?

Again, well done. Five beer out of a possible five.

Modified by GLI_Man at 7:52 PM 10-24-2008

[George@Fourtitude]

Wow. The car is beautiful. LOVE the interior.

[rs4-380]

with the new exhaust

[rs4-380]

Quote, originally posted by GLI_Man »

Could I bother you to post something that would be meaningful to an Audi tech for the DRL changes?

They need to change a bit (from 1 to 0) in the central electronics module. Most VAG versions have it as a checkbox with a description-

Module address 09 (Central Electronics)
Submodule 0 (Master Cent. Elec. box, rather than a slave module)
Byte 3 (fourth from the left)
Bit 7 (first bit from the left in the binary representation, bottom check box in the VAG-COM long coding helper).

[GLI_Man]

Thanks much for taking the time. Props again on the ride.

[forced fed]

WOW what a beauty! congrats Dave. I didnt even know there was an S5! sick.


Modified by forced fed at 10:29 PM 10-29-2008

[trueunion]

congrats great car love the combo nice mods low profile.

[bink_420]

HOLY CRAP!!!!! lol thats soooo damn nice..

[Tommy@Rival]

Here are a few pics of my Sprint blue S5 I'm building

[wolfsburgSLC]

Beautiful! Love that color.

[wappynoots]

car looks like it was well worth the wait

[ncoelho26]

that motor is absolutely beautiful and i love the color... beautiful car man i love it

[rs4-380]

alright, this sounds really weird, but washing this car just feels good. There is not one boring panel on it. Take that as you will

On another note, the exhaust was hitting the stamped crossmember and although I would venture to say that given it's place and design, it wouldn't matter to run without it, I just shimmed it down a bit on one side be putting thick washers between the body and the corssmember. Took care of the interference.

[GLI_r8cer]

when i get my S5, im gonna have to hit you up with some questions. im actually gettin the same exact car, and i cant freakin wait!!!

[gt[I]]

[rs4-380]

Added some rs4 pedals today. Can;t believe this car came with plastic pedal covers. ALso can't believe these cost over 2x the cost of the tt pedals I put on the gti.

Definitely needs a dead pedal, will have to wait for the rs5 I guess.

Modified by rs4-380 at 12:08 AM 1-31-2009

[terje_77]

Quote, originally posted by Tommy@Rival »

Here are a few pics of my Sprint blue S5 I'm building

I'm in love.

[mikey_o]

I'm in disbelief that the S5 didn't come with aluminum pedals. My .:R has nicer pedals than the S5, and it was half the price. Outside of that (and the front license plate cover you ended up with, though I'm sure that can be changed), this car is stunningly beautiful. I love the blue! Sorry you went through such a hassle to finally get it, but I'm sure you are happy now

[supra00400]

this is my next purchase...was thinking about a black but think i have changed my mind after seeing this one...looks great

[rs4-380]

My V1 install is complete. I was never a fan of radar detectors hanging from the windshield (even if they were hardwired) and some of the modular units that lend themselves to integration are ridiculously expensive and/or lacking in performance, so in my desire to have an installation that was as unobtrusive as possible I went the following route.

The remote display is mounted on top of the mirror, I made a small cutout in the mirror wire cover and ran the wire inside that that to the headliner, where it runs across the drivers side tucked into the headliner.

The wire then transitions to the a-pillar were it tucks underneath the airbag cover to make it to the weatherstriping, it then is tucked inside the weatherstriping to run down to the fusebox.

The hardwire module is tucked into the fursbox. Instead of using fuse taps or something along those lines I just modified a spade terminal and plugged right into the ignition on bus (the black bus) in an empty spot. As the hardwire module itself is fused and the draw is minimal, this should be fine. For what it's worth, the red bus is constant 12v if you have something that requires it.

I ran wires to the ashtray area and used a remote speaker module to control the power and volume of the unit (you can also mute from here). This provides full control and is at a very convenient place for quick access, a big benefit is that with the cover closed, you can not tell anything is in there. I did have to dremel out the bottom in order to fit the unit in so the door would close.

Having the display and control of the unit up front, let me put the actual detector on the back parcel shelf. I squared the unit with some high density foam and wrapped it with some textured material. It's not concealed, but unless someone really knew what they were looking for, they would never know it was a radar detector. It also helps that it's in the back window where most people would never think to look. If I am in a place that is questionable, the detector just unplugs and spins off the stud for safe keeping.

(dirty window)

End result is that I can turn the detector on and off at any point without having to go through the hassle of getting it out and setting it up. In addition, I don't have this "thing: hanging from the windshield constantly.

And because I am sure you are wondering, I have seen no real measurable performance loss with the unit mounted where it is.


Modified by rs4-380 at 12:32 PM 2-14-2009

[Mane]

I love you because you Americans are really understands a car to make nice

Very Nice Car

[BigE R32]

Quote, originally posted by Mane »

I love you because you Americans are really understands a car to make nice Very Nice Car

I'm confused Do you like it or not?

Just the way I would do it, perfect!

[skyline513]

Wow!!! This looks really sick!!

[S5]

That aftermarket exhaust is terrible!

[rs4-380]

Quote, originally posted by S5 »

That aftermarket exhaust is terrible!

Care to explain?

[rs4-380]

Springs arrived today. Hope to get them on soon.

[rs4-380]

got the springs on today.

Lowered it today. Considering there are no manuals yet and most owners aren't exactly diy'ers it took me all day because I had to make stuff up as I went along.

I am happy with it. I chose the mildest drop because 1, I didn't think it needed to go down much in terms of appearance, and 2, I didn't want to sacrifice driveability. The ride is a it harsher , but barely noticeable and still very comfortable, and the stance is where I want it.

Finished late, so this is all I've got, hope to get some more soon when work settles down and the weather cooperates.

Also, I took pictures for a write up, to come later.

[rs4-380]

post lowering

[rs4-380]

suspension install how to

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=4331031

[Chapel]

I'm stealing 5 of these for my car...

[RADO RS4]

Quote, originally posted by Tommy@Rival »

Here are a few pics of my Sprint blue S5 I'm building

Nice! I gotta get rid of the stock wheels on mine this summer and put some 19s or 20s for sure!

[rs4-380]

put 25mm spacers on the rear while I decide if/when/what to do about wheels. I wanted 20's but everyone was out of stock, for me, I think the 20's would have been more to my liking.

Also, I have been having problems with the passenger side of the exhaust sagging on one side. The pipes are a slip fit, and that joint is essentially what keeps then centered. The miltek clamp was not providing enough grip to keep the rear pipe from rotating on the mid pipe, causing the outside passenger tip to rotate down. Eventually, the miltek clamp just flat out broke. I replaced it with a parts store SS band clamp that provides alot more clamping area and seems to have cured the issue.