What are some things to look for in the B6 S4's? I have one that I'm going to go take a look at this weekend ( I hope ). So I wanted to see what previous owners have gone through. The car does have 110,xxx miles for reference.

Thanks guys

 

Just don't get an auto

 

nope its not

 

Timing chain guides are the big thing that goes on B6s, requires an engine pull and upwards of a couple grand in parts/labor. See if you can get the build date, I don't remember the exact month cut off, but believe sometime in mid 2003 seems to be a cut-off for lots of problems. Otherwise just fairly common things like sensors, valve cover gasket and seals tend to leak. I'd pop into audizine (it sucks, I know) and read a bit. Clutch will also be fairly pricey and could come quickly if it hasn't been swapped.

 

GuessWho, I previously owned a B6 S4 6MT. Great car. was sad when I got rid of it. I never ran into any problems with mine, although I owned it from new to almost about 40k miles on the odo when I sold it. Fantastic car, there is one in my garage that I parked right in front of yesterday as a matter of fact.

As far as I can remember it was a great car. For reference, you should start out going to these two sites: the first audiworld.com is a great site, filled now mostly with older members who are active now, many have switched to audizine.com, filled with a wide demographic range of members, from 20-70; no joke. Pretty cool, although some debates are completely retarded and very redundant this latter site, audizine.com, offers a wider variety of threads and discussion recently and would come in handy if your are searching for any deals on replacement parts for your B6 considering your powertrain/engine has breached the 100k mark. But not to worry, I have not seen much that would be truly ridiculously expensive unless it comes down to the timing chain. Some guys say it costs 2.5k to do it yourself, but you should be able to work out a deal for installation for 4k. Sorry bud, but those engines are pretty complex, but IMO its worth the buy depending on the price you are gonna pay for the car...

If you do get it, put on the stratmosphere short-shift kit and the Stratmosphere Intake for a few hundred and get some nice small upgrades (I did and loved them) and then combined that with Milltek resonated Downpipes and back full exhaust and GOSH DARN did that thing sound FREAKING INCREDIBLE. I thought it was hands down one of the best sounding cars I had ever owned/driven. Had that low end grumble versus the mid-range to high-end rumbling wail of the RS4. Both 4.2 V8s, I know, but two different power deliveries.

Also look the overall wear and tear of the seats and interior trim. Check all the crevices, and I mean ALL of them. From the deepest recesses of the glovebox to the back upper interior parts of the trunk and below the seats and in between them as well. Pop the hood and trunk not only to check the engine and trunk but also check for rust spots, paint cracking, etc along the corners. Underneath the wheel wells also deserve good looking-overs underneath (ha that prolly doesn't make much sense, but hopefully it's halfway coherent enough to get my point across). If you know/knew all this and I am just upsetting you by telling you to do this, disregard all of what I've said.

Anyway, good luck with the purchase inquiry. Obviously get that carfax!

 

You've got to make sure the coilpacks have been replaced. Audi did a recall for the S4s that have the 4.2 V8 (both B6 and B7) to replace the coilpacks with newer types that don't fail as easily, so be sure to check with an Audi dealership's service department that the car you're looking at has had this work done. If not, you should promptly make an appointment after purchase to arrange for this to be done.

The serpentine belt also had a habit of failing prematurely, so you might want to also pay attention to that.

Good luck with your purchase.

 

Everybody else pretty much covered everything. We recently did a timing chain overhaul on an early 04'. Here are some pictures.

 

Thanks guys

 

Definitely listen for chain rattle when the car is started. Try to go on a cold morning after the car has been sitting overnight.

For reference my 05 never had any chain rattle and never burnt any oil, but I was very lucky. Some of the motors just have horrible luck with these two issues and a lot of it depends on how it was treated by the previous owner.