Picked up an A5 for the Wife

[Sammo 2547]

A great run, Audi managed to have no problems for 5 weeks.

Now dealing with a mystery battery drain issue... Battery tested healthy, alternator charging it fine but then drains overnight.

Wife is working today (AKL Anniversary) so had to drag me out of bed at 630 to jump start it but no luck (leads may not be big enough to revive a dead battery and the Audi battery is literally twice the size of the one in the E46).

So she had to take the E46 - first time she's driven it in a year, got to hear the clutch riding and engine screaming up the road - sounded pretty damn good though 🤣

[Driftit 2086]

It was just waiting for you to get comfortable.

[m325i 709]

Just think, in 6 months will you be saying, "after that battery thing, it's been totally sweet!"

[Sammo 2547]

Needs a new $850 battery apparently - tested OK and monitored overnight with no significant draw but failed load testing - apparently its a specific cell type (of course it is!) that can throw false results on standard battery health tests....

Workshop (Vodis who I've used previously and rate highly) also flagging all the shoddy work dealer/ used car salesman had done (few missing bolts / broken clips / siliconed bracket - nothing major).

Having them check the front suspension bushes too as the low speed ride feels a bit jiggly to me.

Oh well, I was planning on the car costing a fair whack when it had its first visit to a reputable workshop!

[NZ BMW 368]

$850 for a battery?! Wow. For reference when I put one in my E70 X5 it was $450 and that thing liked a lot of juice. 

What’s so special about an A5 that it needs to be powered like a Space Shuttle?

[Sammo 2547]

1 hour ago, NZ BMW said:

$850 for a battery?! Wow. For reference when I put one in my E70 X5 it was $450 and that thing liked a lot of juice. 

What’s so special about an A5 that it needs to be powered like a Space Shuttle?

Yeah... no idea, it was one of these behemoths...

https://www.trademe.co.nz/trade-me-motors/car-parts-accessories/batteries-chargers/auction-2960727132.htm

Buying this car in 2020 was a real highlight, right up there with Covid 19 🤣

[M3AN 4016]

This one is still expensive but at least $100 less expensive:

https://www.mrpositive.co.nz/bosch-s6-950cca-105ahr-agm-stop-start-battery

Does the car have stop/start? If not, or if you can disable it, you won't need an AGM battery, save a further ~$300.

[Sammo 2547]

48 minutes ago, M3AN said:

This one is still expensive but at least $100 less expensive:

https://www.mrpositive.co.nz/bosch-s6-950cca-105ahr-agm-stop-start-battery

Does the car have stop/start? If not, or if you can disable it, you won't need an AGM battery, save a further ~$300.

Damnit, already sucked it up and got it coded - not really motivated to do much DIY on this one 😒

[NZ BMW 368]

And of course the same battery is 200 quid in the UK... FFS. 🤬

[Sammo 2547]

All sorted again (for now) - got a couple little things to do when its serviced in a few months but nothing else significant flagged.

Did a chrome delete on the grill frame and window surrounds yesterday which looks much better with the dark wheels IMO so at least its looking good - will look great once I get a full paint correction done.

 

[M3AN 4016]

Finally, looking sharp again.

Did you get replacement trim or paint/cover the existing ones?

[Sammo 2547]

21 minutes ago, M3AN said:

Finally, looking sharp again.

Did you get replacement trim or paint/cover the existing ones?

I painted them with satin black - came out good but was literally 3 hours of masking (lots of rubber seals right on the trim, very frustrating) and still managed to get a bunch of overspray somehow...  polished most of it off but it will be getting a full paint correction soon anyway.

Sweating away on the E46 biannual mega detail now, hope to have some glamour shots later 👌

[KwS 2425]

So, what do we think team, a week before it suffers another issue? 😂

Now that its currently working, is it time to flick it off and pretend it never happened, or keep it as the devil you know?

[Sammo 2547]

36 minutes ago, KwS said:

So, what do we think team, a week before it suffers another issue? 😂

Now that its currently working, is it time to flick it off and pretend it never happened, or keep it as the devil you know?

Going to roll the dice for another 6 months and see - only other things Vodis noted were a split bushing and missing undertrays. I have new plugs and air filter to go in it shortly.

If it's still playing silly buggers in 6 months I will try to manipulate the wife into getting 'herself' an F22/F32.

[Driftit 2086]

Your window regulators and controllers haven't gone yet.  It's one of those jobs that will tip you over the edge.
It will wait until you are comfortable again.  Just like the battery.  Rubbing it's hands together snickering.

[Sammo 2547]

Took the POS for a blast to Tawharanui today - no traffic on way there - decent fun and didn't miss a beat.

Its a heavy, numb drive compared to the E46 but the steering is nicely weighted (electronically) , it corners very flat and has way more grip than I care to exploit - super planted - definitely in its element on open roads and sweeping bends.

Fingers crossed.

[RockSolidWood 1]

Definitely would love to upgrade my old a4 to something of the like.... And unfortunately its one of the 2.0 fwd models that really doesn't much relate to something when I think of audi... But I tell you what with the sport mode it actually gets moving at a pretty quick rate, even though its barely like 100kw hahaha. But certainly would love to upgrade to something with a bit more going on. But then I'd have to choose between the quattro and my e39.

[Sammo 2547]

I can definitely see the benefit of Quattro, especially come winter - this car is far from perfect but it feels so stuck to the road you feel a little bit invincible - weighing a lot helps too of course.

Would recommend a specialist to check out first and mechanical warranty of course 🤣

[M3AN 4016]

When I picked up my M3 nearly 20 years ago now (😮) I almost crashed it on a sodden day about 2 km's from the dealer. I'd spent the 10 years before that driving rapid Mitsubishi's with much horsepower and very, very trick 4WD's... RWD's can be fun, but you need to be prepared for the high (ish) power ones!

[leichtbau 525]

18 minutes ago, M3AN said:

When I picked up my M3 nearly 20 years ago now (😮) I almost crashed it on a sodden day about 2 km's from the dealer. I'd spent the 10 years before that driving rapid Mitsubishi's with much horsepower and very, very trick 4WD's... RWD's can be fun, but you need to be prepared for the high (ish) power ones!

Was lucky enough to be fanging a 6.5 Makinen at 17, and like you say, almost got caught out driving a mates Estoril 3.2 in the wet. Only a few years difference between the cars, but the arms race Subaru and Mitsubishi were involved with at the time made for cars that turned mortals into driving gods.

 

[M3AN 4016]

Yep, my journey seems similar - Galant VR-4 (4G63, "Evo 0") -> Evo IV -> TME Evo (6.5) -> Estoril 3.2 M3! 💪

[Sammo 2547]

Finally got around to getting a proper paint correction done.

Car had quite a few little scratches, lots of swirl marks and a lots of over overspray with water spotting in its time being passed from shop to shop to shop by the prick dealer with no-one seemingly taking any car.

Anyway, its come up great, looks like a different colour and for once in its life is cleaner than the E46 🤣

[C-130 Hercules 571]

20 hours ago, Sammo said:

Finally got around to getting a proper paint correction done.

What did that involve? 

[Sammo 2547]

19 minutes ago, C-130 Hercules said:

What did that involve? 

Got a pro to do it, I believe it was a wash, clay, 1st heavy compound for scratches and overspray then 2nd finer polish - e.g ‘2 stage correction’

[duluth 41]

On 3/23/2021 at 4:08 PM, Sammo said:

Got a pro to do it, I believe it was a wash, clay, 1st heavy compound for scratches and overspray then 2nd finer polish - e.g ‘2 stage correction’

Who'd you go to see and how much was it ? Looks great !

Edited March 24, 2021 by duluth