cmd4

It's a chain that supposedly never needs maintenance,but if it goes its possible of trashing the whole motor.Alot of higher mileage owners have bit the bulllet and replaced to be on the safe side,even though it's a expensive job

LimeyBoy

Bought my 2005.5 B7 with about 100K on it, at about 150K now. Best DD I ever had. MPG is not brilliant, 15 - 17 around town, 21 is best I ever saw on long run, low teens or single digits pushing on. Just had timing chain end done last Oct and replaced chains (looked perfect), guides (ditto) and tensioners (on way out - reason for death rattle and my decision to perform this now). Also did clutch (original and still had meat) and flywheel (shot). Other than that I've had aux belt snap, one coil pack bad (all 8 replaced under warranty by Audi), wipers jam up (common fault, easy fix), DVD laser (replaced myself) and two widow mechanisms go bad (replaced myself). Mine uses 1 quart oil every 700 miles, on the dot and not changed in 4 years. That is considered at or just outside Audi spec but I'm leaving it alone as it is consistent.

Interesting - when I elected to do the timing chain end I took a loan to cover the cost. I bought the car 4 years ago for $18K with 100K. For the loan they had to get the car valued and it came back at $15K with 140K miles showing.

Compared to other cars I've owned, interior is bullet proof and still looks almost new, the engine is epic, the all weather capability is reassuring and as you can probably tell, I'm smitten...

To the OP, I was nervous about taking on a higher mileage car like this with the potential for large bills. Looking back now it was absolutely well worth it and (in my eyes) not the bank breaker I worried about. Just listen during the COLD startup - a short rattle < 1-2 secs is not concerning - mine was rattling for up to 5-6 secs and as I said ^^ the tensioners were on way out. On this engine a compression test is easy, fast and worth doing for peace of mind also - relates back to oil consumption.

As a final note, I am not sure how long cars like this will be produced with large capacity NA engines (and stick shift although I appreciate the OP is looking at an auto) - I'm keeping mine a while.

FrenchToast

Very nice! RS6 exhaust?

To the OP, How about a B7 RS4?

Take care,

NineMeister

I'm happy to say that my S4 Avant 6 speed is the best everyday car that I have ever owned. As well as regular every day use (circa 16-18mpg commuting) it has also performed faultlessly on 850 mile trips to & from the south of France (returns 25mpg at 80mph average speed) when fully loaded for family ski trips. Ninemeister customers fall in love with it when I collect them from the airport and it comes as no surprise to them that I'm adicted to the music made by the sweet and smooth V8 40v engine. The chassis is no 911, maybe similar to a 964C4 though as it has an inherent trait of understeer that you cannot drive around*, however as long as you accept this there are few other vices. It is also absolutely epic in the snow as long as you respect the weight of it under braking.

I bought mine with just 30k on the clock, it's now done 60k some 5 years on. In that time its had a couple of sets of tyres, two front corner radiators, a set of discs and a set of coil packs, all standard stuff really and a lot less than a similar mileage 997.

* I've been told that the B7 model has a viscous lateral differential which reduces understeer, similar to a 993 compared to a 964. I've not driven one so cannot comment and do not know if the diff can be fitted to the B6. Does anyone know about this modificaton?

MielsOnWheels

The stealership told me that if the timing belt goes, the whole engine detonates. With me not being the most mechanically inclined cat and not knowing how much truth there was in that statement, I decided to get it done because I knew I'd be keeping the car for quite a while longer. I'm not financially stupid so I did have it done at my indy instead of the stealership, lol. I'm glad I got it done for peace of mind, but as other have said, I did start hearing that rattling at start-up occasionally and that was likely the tensioners starting to give up the ghost I guess.

MielsOnWheels

Yep that is an RS6 Sound Enhanced Exhaust. I had it on the car for probably 4 years and while it sounded absolutely insane, it droned and it cost me a good deal of low end torque due..guessing I lost some backpressure because its a 3" exhaust and not a 2.5" like the orginal and I'm sure it flowed better that the original. I actually put the OEM one back on about 2 years ago and I'm much happier now with the sound and low end power (as is the wife!). I sold it for almost what I paid for it 5 yrs later-the RS6 SE's are in great demand with A6 C5 4.2 owners!

inkatouring

Saw the car today -- bit too much noise on start-up, lasting about 3 minutes. Indicates chain tensioners which is about a $4k job. Car is at a good price, but not at $4k more. Not the car for me, although I love the color....