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Audi S5 full fat variant

109K views 252 replies 39 participants last post by  Andyblue 
#1 ·
been a silent member for what seems like forever and always look in for advice but never posted...

I thought it'd be rude to not. A bit of background, always been a car and bike nut (I'll be buried with my Fireblade).... since I was knee high to grasshopper standing in the forests with my best mate and his Dad watching the legendary Group B weapons, I was hooked on all things Audi had most of the fun ones over the years...
ur quattro
numerous S2's (loved them)
a couple of original Audi V8's (type 44 chassis')
many many normal run of the mill types
RS6 (V8)
TT 225 (was fun but I didn't fit in it and the other half didn't want it as her daily as couldn't fit the weekly shopping in the boot) so that got changed for an A3 2.0tdi

and in more recent years a very nice original Gen1 S8, as work meant that my miles were going up and the '8 needing a new steering rack that got traded in for a very nice 2008 A5 3.0tdi... had that for about 3 years but....

I always loved the Audi V8 and the V6 in the '5 had 2 issues

It was a diesel and it was missing 2 cylinders

But I love the shape of the A5 and it works well as a family car, the other half loved it and the younger petrol head in the family (he's 10 and knows it all... lol), so what should I do.....?

yup, sod the fuel economy and get another V8

badge of honour


She's a 2007, so an early S5 with manual and the light grey leather... only 73,000 miles and loads of major issues already done (DMFW and clutch 2k miles ago).

Had the seats out yesterday to give the interior a thorough clean yesterday

bolsters need a bit more work, I may end up having them professionally redone. I used Dr Leather's wipes as I had used them previously with good effect.

Steering wheel is now thankfully not shiny....

Paintwork is largely original, there's a local repair on the front bumper which isn't the best so the bumper will be redone at some point soon.
Yesterday she had a good wash and a clay bar, the sides weren't too bad, few tar spots but OMG the roof made the clay black....
Time only allowed a very quick polish... but she needs some serious swirls removing and whilst I have a few bits and pieces I never really get the results I want... I need a master class... Anyone in the Worcester massive want to show a clueless ****wit what to do? lol

More to come....
 
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#4 ·
and then the wheels have had a dealer refurb, so only the fronts have been done, so the inner barrels are ****....
Shame as i had the dealer put new Goodyears on as part of the deal.... i have a good local guy, so i'll get them done, i fancy a slightly darker colour... I'm looking for a dark silver, but not as dark as anthracite....

Then i want to black chrome all the trim (but not mirrors)
 
#5 ·
So last weeks simple job of checking the spark plugs resulted in finding out some previous numpty has strained the loom which meant that the furthest plug on that loom was only just making contact and this happened.

which during the week through a P2008 fault code.
New loom repair kit ordered and new connector plug and loom all fixed

All fixed and now working properly, the wire ends were only just making contact and had been not working correctly, she now feels back to full health... I love cheap fixes.

Now onto something more DW related, over the years I've purchased a variety of stuff but never really got the results i wanted, well apart from on my RS6 and my last S2 but they were done old school, labouriously by hand a panel a night indoors....
I don't have indoors available anymore, so outside in decent weather on my drive (the bike lives in the pathetic excuse us Brit's call a garage.....!!!I have a variable speed machine

which was a god send after i'd painted the bike, the small Autogeek pads i bought worked well with the 105 and 205


the larger diameter pads are 3M btw

I always wash the car with the normal 2BM, with a decent wash mitt, using Meguiars Gold,
I dry with a microfibre and claybar probably one every couple of months... but that's when I start to get annoyed that i'm not getting rid of the swirls on the Audi's paint...
What pad, with what product?
Should I use the paint cleanser straight after claying (once rewashed and dried again)...
I've watched YouTube guides till i'm blue in the face...

Any tips or guidance greatly appreciated...!!!
 
#7 · (Edited)
Most of what you have is fine .
The pads look like that have seen better days tho. The meguiars combo you have will work fine on Audi paint .
I use scholl pads so I use white or purple pads with an aggressive compound and then orange pad with a finishing polish.
I’m not saying you need to buy scholl pads I’m just unsure what colours mean what with the pads you have.
If you are not getting the results you want , it’s probley down to time . Audi paint is generally hard to correct . My bmw took 4 whole day sessions to get it swirl free.
You don’t need to clay every month just before you polish . Use m105 with the stiffest/hardest pad you have then m205 with the softest.
When your happy with the paint use your r222 cleanser fluid after you have polished and then your hd wax, you should achieve a good finish . Take your time Rome wasn’t built in a day.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#8 ·
Most of what you have is fine .
The pads look like that have seen better days tho.
agreed, they are old and were used to death when i did the bike, trouble is, i can't remember which pad is which, so am reluctant to use for fear of inflicting damage...

matty.13 said:
I use scholl pads so I use white or purple pads with an aggressive compound and then orange pad with a finishing polish.
I'm looking for actual recommendations rather than just reading sales blurbs to be honest so if you've had good results then i'll try... without sounding daft but what sort of size?

matty.13 said:
If you are not getting the results you want , it's probley down to time . Audi paint is generally hard to correct . My bmw took 4 whole day sessions to get it swirl free.
I'm not fussed on time and am happy to do a panel a day if needs be... especially as the nights/weather is getting better.

matty.13 said:
You don't need to clay every month just before you polish.
i probably didn't word it well but i don't clay every wash, probably every 6 months or if the paint feels rough

matty.13 said:
Use m105 with the stiffest/hardest pad you have then m205 with the softest.
When your happy with the paint use your r222 cleanser fluid after you have polished and then your hd wax, you should achieve a good finish . Take your time Rome wasn't built in a day.
thank you for taking the time to reply, it is appreciated
 
#10 ·
Sales blurbs? I don't sell pads for a living , as I said I use scholl pads . You can take that as recommendation if you want . Size depends on backing plate size , normally 5.5 inch is a good place to start
Good luck with the car

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Lol, no i didn't mean you hahaha... I meant sales as in reading websites saying their stuff is the best...

Someone's personal recommendation is far better, which i appreciated
 
#11 ·
On both my A5 with Phantom Black paint, and my S5 with Sepang Blue paint, the Meguiars MicroFibre cutting pads and Meguiars MicroFibre cutting compound have done a great job on cutting out the swirls. It also doesn’t finish bad either and is great to work with.

I personally wouldn’t use anything else on hard German paints :)

Although worth noting they are designed for DA machines. Sort of bridges the gap between the fast cutting rotary and good finishing of a DA.

Lovely S5 BTW! Knew a few guys who supercharged their V8 versions abd they were pretty astounding!
 
#12 ·
On both my A5 with Phantom Black paint, and my S5 with Sepang Blue paint, the Meguiars MicroFibre cutting pads and Meguiars MicroFibre cutting compound have done a great job on cutting out the swirls. It also doesn't finish bad either and is great to work with.

I personally wouldn't use anything else on hard German paints :)

Although worth noting they are designed for DA machines. Sort of bridges the gap between the fast cutting rotary and good finishing of a DA.

Lovely S5 BTW! Knew a few guys who supercharged their V8 versions abd they were pretty astounding!
Thank you for the reply... All good points.

Yes, the thought is burning a hole in my mind about supercharging it... But there are other supporting mods needed first, race cats, larger downpipes, larger free flowing exhaust etc...
I'm already starting to accumulate parts to make the replacement exhaust system.
 
#16 ·
I had an S5 before my current R35, the cost of supercharging was about £12k IIRC, not worth the relatively minimal power upgrade it delivered. One of the reasons why I got rid.

the other thing to watch out for is you will often have more grip than clutch bite so it is fairly easy to smoke the clutch, especially so if you run better tyres than the oem bridgestones.

other than that a lovely car to cover lots of miles in with great comfort
 
#20 ·
Like most tuning, all you are doing is finding the next week link.... when getting close to 600bhp then the stock S5 clutch will be that weak link.
but even with only 450-500bhp that is still better than 350bhp lol.... and who doesn't like a V8 sound with a supercharger added....?

simonharris, what kit did you have fitted?
 
#23 ·
All cars need maintenance, part of the fun of ownership and as I do it all myself it's even more enjoyable.
If the engine ever needs a rebuild then it'll be built.... no fuss, or drama :thumb:
You are correct you can get a Supercharged S5 V6, but a Supercharged V8 in time would be even better...!! :lol:

my missing the extra cylinders was meant in relation to my A5 V6, and I loved that car...
 
#24 ·
So todays update is nothing more exciting than ordering more parts from my local friendly neighbourhood Spide... (wrong Universe) Audi Dealer...!

each night i have been fitting the rest of the interior LED's, very pleased with them... i did discover the passenger puddle light housing in the base of the door was cracked, so a new one was ordered and fitted (with the bulb replaced for the LED
The rear "S5" badge had a small corner of the red flash missing, so a brand new badge ordered and fitted.

Whilst talking to the Parts guy i mentioned that my main MMI knob was peeling, he said there was a repair kit available, which i replied was for the joystick option on the later MMI. He confirmed that, which wouldn't work on mine, to which he then stated that the knob isn't available on it's own "you have to buy the complete panel, at £740".
Bit of digging through ETOS and found the version of knob i needed and duly ordered... £29 is a bit better than £740...!!!

Hopefully over the weekend i can get some time to fit the brake lines and have a good clean under the arches, with getting the liners out etc...

but i did manage a cheeky shot of my old and new together for one last time...
 
#25 ·
As i had 10 minutes to kill at lunch i thought i'd stick some of the LED's in.

as said before and by others, very impressed with the service from Trups. All parts very well made and clearly labelled.

So i managed to get the 4no map reading lights in and the centre dome done, perfect colour.

the camera does not do them justice, and the light is nicely diffused behind the lens.
Just need to fit the rest, sod work...!!!
 
#26 ·
With the weather being a washout in the morning so all chance of doing the brake lines was abandoned for another more dryer day. So i set about doing the firmware update, mine being the original version the car left the factory with.
Version 3250

Loving things which are fairly idiot proof i used this guide
MMI 2G software update to version 5570 - mr-fix.info
my satnav being MMI 2G High and i bought the 3 CD disc pack from my local Audi Dealer

The guide documents that all discs be removed from the front and rear CD players, what it fails to state is which player the update CD goes into... having nearly burned the planet down to the ground having used the Nav CD player in the boot and constantly getting CD not recognised, it suddenly dawned on me that maybe i should use the in dash CD...
(I did say i like things idiot proof... clearly i'm a special idiot!!!)
anyway having got the correct disc in the correct player...

it all started to download perfectly.
Disc 2 was done twice as i have inbuilt Bluetooth
and with the last disc downloaded we have


I have the battery charger plugged in to keep the battery levels high, it kept on coming up with low battery voltage, now as the battery is of an unknown age/condition I thought i'd swap it out for a known good one...
 
#27 ·
Well the battery issue turned out to be that the replacement battery had to be recoded.... never known of that before, everyday is a school day.

I found this here which showed the way forward.
Just a note to others if you are inputting the whole code, including the batteries part number, make sure you have 2 spaces after that and before the 3 digit code, the long coding needs to see 26 characters in total, including spaces.
 
#29 ·
So todays update is nothing more exciting than ordering more parts from my local friendly neighbourhood Spide... (wrong Universe) Audi Dealer...!

each night i have been fitting the rest of the interior LED's, very pleased with them... i did discover the passenger puddle light housing in the base of the door was cracked, so a new one was ordered and fitted (with the bulb replaced for the LED
The rear "S5" badge had a small corner of the red flash missing, so a brand new badge ordered and fitted.

Whilst talking to the Parts guy i mentioned that my main MMI knob was peeling, he said there was a repair kit available, which i replied was for the joystick option on the later MMI. He confirmed that, which wouldn't work on mine, to which he then stated that the knob isn't available on it's own "you have to buy the complete panel, at £740".
Bit of digging through ETOS and found the version of knob i needed and duly ordered... £29 is a bit better than £740...!!!

Hopefully over the weekend i can get some time to fit the brake lines and have a good clean under the arches, with getting the liners out etc...
 
#30 ·
Today was spent removing all the aluminium window trim and grill so as to get it into the paintshop to get it turned black.... I just couldn't bring myself to wrap it in vinyl.

What an absolute **** of a job, the WSM states one line on interior removal, there went 2 hours of the day....

Poor thing is looking sorry for itself, tape has been applied to all the window edges to seal it all back up....

Just need to make my mind up on whether satin or gloss black!!!
 
#31 ·
So today.... frustrating and it's probably why I do so much myself, sadly my job means I have little time these days to get as deep into car mods as I once did. Paint being the one thing that absorbs my time so I entrust it to local specialists. Yesterday I removed all the chrome trim to take it to my trusted paint bod... too busy came the reply (wasn't impressed given the amount of work we put his way), so onto the next one...

nah mate can't be painted

and the next one said the same....

FFS, so the only course of action was to **** work, finish early and start sanding the anodising off of the aluminium, ball ache of a laborious job (hence why wanting to pay others to do it) but persevered all afternoon and managed to get the first coat of Etch Primer onto all 6 trims.



that will need flatting back and another couple of coats of etch, then flatten again and then prime and paint.

I've decided on satin black (I say decided, I've got 6 tins on the shelf and I can't be arsed to buy more), then a satin lacquer.

The grill being plastic needs a slightly different process, first off is to chemically remove the chrome trim, if I remember right from my modelling days (Airfix kits, not walking down bloody catwalks) a good soak in Mr Muscle Oven cleaner will remove the chrome to leave bare plastic ready for plastic etch primer etc etc etc…

If the weather holds out I may get it done for the weekend....
 
#37 ·
The LEDs make such a difference it is hard to believe almost.

I think you are going the right way with the painting, I had an A4 before the S5 (the 3.2vs petrol one) and had the Aluminium trim painted but they didn't sand it back first, it didn't last very long before it needed to be re-done (and then I quickly sold the car!)
 
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