Checklist: Buying a B7 A4 soon. What should i look out for?

[Racks On Racks]

So i am pretty set on picking up a B7 A4 2.0T Quattro and will start shopping/test driving some pretty soon, and I just wanted to go over a check list of what to look out for when checking out my prospective A4. My budget would be around the 10k-11k range with 60k to 80k miles. I have been on these forums for a couple of weeks now, so here is what i have come up with so far:

1. I will be looking for a 2006-2007 A4 2.0T quattro due to the cam follower warranty. IIRC, the 2008's dont have the warranty yet, which is why i'd want to avoid that year. Also, the 2005.5 seem like they would have a few issues being that they were first to come out.

2. As much as i would love a manual, I think i am just going to stick to tiptronic (easier to find). Then check if it has the infamous "Torque Converter Issue". I've read a few members having issues with their torque converters. Pretty much what i should do is to bring the car up to 35-45mph, maintain a steady speed, and then check if the RPMs fluctuate.

3. Ask if the timing belt was done and if the cam follower service was replaced/checked. If it wasn't done, then maybe i could use this as a bargaining chip if the car has close to 80k miles. Any other items to ask about that needs to be changed around 60k-80k miles other than sparkplugs, coilpacks, brakes, brake fluid, etc.? maybe HPFP, PCV, DV? maybe if the transmission fluid was ever flushed?

4. Check Carfax to get an idea of the car's history and possibly service history.

5. I just recently read about people servicing their cam chain tensioner. Is there any way to check if the car needs a cam chain tensioner service done? will the car be significantly louder?


Anything else I am missing? This will be my first time driving a B7 A4, so i any help would be appreciated. I test drove a manual B6 A4 and a manual B8 A4 (and they were both AMAZING!), but never a B7 A4, especially not in automatic. I currently drive an E46 M3. Also, is my budget realistic: 10-11k for a 2.0T quattro with 60k-80k miles. I'd really want to score one for 9k, but is that being too unrealistic?

Thanks for any input and I hope to finally own one of these beautiful machines very soon!

[BenMTL]

Even 10-11k is low I think for that low miles....That kind of car in my car would be at least 14-15k and cheaper in the U.S a little so maybe for 12-13k minimum...

Everything else you got about right.

[FraggyA4]

I'll sell you my car for 11K, 128k miles fully built motor 6k miles ago, See my sig.

[geebus]

look out for hot bitches trying to get a ride in your new monster. It happens alllll the time. Also, I think it would be silly to not look at 08's because of the cam follower warranty. There's a reason why the 08's aren't covered...

[pw211]

Get a manual tho. I also think your price is low, but its probably doable if its going to be a sedan and non-sline.. Granted you will probably regret not shelling out for some of the options you could be getting..

[K-ryan9]

I had been looking for a b7 for a few months when a 6spd came up for sale in the same town. I jumped at the chance because I had been looking all over CA and only found one for sale. I had been doing research on problems with the B7 but didn't get enough time to know what exactly to look for.

I just went through the cam follower failure and luckily for me it was cover under warranty because the cam shaft, fuel pump, and follower were all ruined. The bill was about $2000 through a local shop; I have no idea what it would have cost at the dealer.

First I would call Audi of America and see what and if the cam follower is covered. Next call your local dealer and see if it covered because they are the ones that are going to actually fix it. Audi of America said it was not covered, the VIN look up said it was not covered but the dealer said it was covered and up to 120k miles. When looking at the car listen to where the fuel pump is for any sort of ticking. That could be metal on metal and in my case a huge problem. My local shop wanted about $150 to pull the fuel pump to check it. If I was buying another one I would spend the money to check it and then maybe even replace it if I was buying the car. Take it to a shop that knows Audi’s and knows that problem. One Euro shop that had Audi’s in the parking lot didn’t even know what I was talking about when I asked about checking it.

Look at the valve cover and look for oil leaks. Look on the edges and look at the bolts in the middle for oil. If there is oil in the middle ones they are leaking.
Feel around the vacuum pump for oil leaks. (It is located on the back, top, left ish of the engine for the 2.0) It's silver in color.

Other common problems: Diverter valve, thermostat (replacement about $500), glove box and center arm rest hinges.

[trj]

You will easily find the said car in that budget, just have to wait for the right one.
Not much to say on the maintenance, looks like you have it covered. And if you are coming from an E46 M3 and active in the forums, I am sure you are a DIY person. DIY's are not so bad on this car. There are some extra tools will need other than the E46 tools.
But there are some things that I would like to point out between an E46 and B7, that I felt are substantial. My other car is an E46 non-M coupe(looking for the right e92). I like both cars and my review is unbiased.
Here is a list of differences I see from an E46 to the B7.

The bad:
1. Steering is lowsly, super light, no feeling at all.
-Remedy: You can't remedy that. May be remove the power steering servo relay, but that will make it very heavy for the in town slow driving.

2. There is no torque till you hit 3000 rpm. If you are doing much bumper to bumper traffic driving, you will feel the car is really bogged down by its weight.
-Remedy: A tune like JHM tune would make it much livable I hear.

3. Find a sports package, real S-line. Standard suspension on a B7 is no where close to an non sports E46, forget the M3. Nose dive on braking, understeer on the turns.
-Remedy: aftermarket suspension plus beefy rear sway bar or at least a big sway bar on the rear.

4. Engine sounds like a diesel at idle. I thought my car was broken for weeks every time I started the car till I got used to the sound.
- No remedy on that too.

5. Brakes are not so ideal. May be its just my car. But, I feel for this heavy car, the brakes are very small.
-Remedy: S4 brakes retrofit.

6. Standard options are nothing. No memory seats, no auto dim mirror, no xenons, no tilt on reverse passenger mirror.
-Remedy: Buy a car with everything from factory or retrofit everything.

7. 2005.5 and 2006 B7s come with Symphony II head units. No aux, cassette player, no time display on the radio.
-Remedy: Buy a car that already comes with these RNS-E or retrofit symphony II plus, RNS-E or aftermarket head unit.

8. Tiptronic transmission is jerky. You feel that vigorous jolt on downshifts if you really get on the throttle or decrease speed by braking at normal speed.
-Remedy: I hear there is Transmission control module update, but not sure about that.

9. Infamous for sunroof drain leak. Check the top end of C pillars in the interior for water marks.
-Remedy: clean the sunroof drains, make the outlets bigger and make sure the flow pipe is not disconnected inside the headliner.

10. Check for codes with VAG COM before buying. There are many codes that may not trip the check engine light.
-Remedy: Get a PPI done at a euroshop.

11. View from the cabin is very restrictive in comparison to E46 coupe. The A pillars and B pillars get in the way a lot that E46 coupes.
-Remedy: Just be careful when taking turns or changing lanes.

12. Glovebox and armrest. Glovebox and hinge and armrest latch are always broken. And B7 has one of the most uncomfortable armrest in the whole world. You will miss the leather cushioned arm rest on the left side too. You are resting your elbow on the door handle armrest without any cushion if you ever get to rest your arms. Because the driving position is very awkward in B7 in comparison to E46 to actually rest your elbows on the provided rests.
Remedy: Get used to the driving position or find a position that suits you the best and store it in the memory settings (see, you need memory seats for this). There are DIYs for fixes on the armrest and glovebox hinge, just don't buy new ones, they will break again.

13. Rolling buttons instead of push buttons for heated seats. WTF. I turn on the heated seats when I go to work in the morning because its a bit cold and I forget to roll them off. When you come back in the afternoon, you will feel its unusually hot today till you realize the seat heaters are still in the same position and it heats your bottoms. BMW had it right with push buttons, and the heaters go off when you turn off the car.
-Remedy: None other than remembering to turn it off every time you exit the car.

14. The sunroof control panel is straight from spaceship and ugly. This is just how I feel because I like how other switches are designed but the sunroof switch console is not for me.
-Remedy: don't look at it.

15. Wipers don't slow down automatically from high speed setting when you are at the stop light like in E46. I love that feature in E46.



The Good:
1. Interior is much better than E46, but standard seats are super uncomfortable compared to sports and M sports seats. It will take sometime getting used to.
2. Storage space is much better than E46. Big arm rest compartment, big glovebox, compartments under the seats, compartment under the steering wheel for manual.
3. Better fuel economy if you are driving moderately fast (at constant 40-70 without much braking). So, its a good daily driver if your commute is longer and mostly suburban/highway miles.
4. Stock speakers are almost as good as harman kardons in the E46.
5. Infinite power mods possible if you are into modding.
6. 4 doors. Best part of having 4 doors is, it will be not be considered a sports car so lower insurance. Insurance companies label anything with 2 doors a sports car and raise the insurance. Even chevrolet cavalier. WTF? Yes, I asked when I was getting quotes for my non sports car E46 coupe.
7. Bigger boot space, wife loves those grocery bag hooks in the boot.
8. Easier to work under the bonnet because of the smaller size of the engine. No reverse threaded nuts and bolts like in E46 (as far as I have encountered).
9. Much comfortable ride than E46, but again its floaty and unresponsive at the same time. Depends on what kind of ride you prefer.
10. Quattro. Much better traction for winter (hopefully, this is my first winter with this car. I bought this car for winter because after lowering my E46, it is not very practical for more than 4 inches of snow). Well, you have E46 M3, which has LSD so I am not sure how much better the quattro is in the winter.
11. You will save miles on your E46 M3, and yet have a comfortable daily driver.
12. Touch indicator that blinks the side lights 3 times (like in the E92s). Oh I love this feature to change lanes.
13. Rear heated seats (If you buy one with it). I bought this car to go ski so if I have friends riding with me they will love it.
14. Dual zone climate control. Really nice feature. Sadly, for some reason BMW omitted it on E46 and re-introduced(its was there in E36) it in E90.

Common things about E46 and B7:
1. Still a german car, so good engineering on mechanical parts.
2. Still rattles and makes noises whose causes you will never find.
3. You are always looking for something to do in the car, and there is always something that has broken.
4. Look at it wrong and it will come back at you with a vengeance.
5. The dash still reflects on the windscreen.
6. Both are good cars and are pleasure to drive, just in different ways though. The smoothness of inline 6 is sublime, but there are things that are better in the B7 too, I just can't put a finger on it.
7. Best part: You get to say you own a BMW and an audi, and people on either forums look at you as if you just said their mom is hot. :)

[FraggyA4]

look out for hot bitches trying to get a ride in your new monster. It happens alllll the time. Also, I think it would be silly to not look at 08's because of the cam follower warranty. There's a reason why the 08's aren't covered...

08's still have cam follower issues

[trj]

Oh, to add to my above post:
1. B7 have timing belt, so thats an additional maintenance from E46.
2. Its not unrealistic to find one for 9K. I paid almost 10k for 2005.5 with 73k miles but it only had winter package. I was going to change the suspension anyway so the comparable S lines were not an issue. Wife was very particular about the color so I bought it. But then I realized how much I missed the xenons, auto dim mirrors, memory mirrors and seats, aux input, tilt on reverse feature. I am retrofitting them one by one. Retrofitting is not expensive, just time consuming to get the parts and do the whole thing. But there are cars with the options for the same price. You just have to find the right one.

[geebus]

08's still have cam follower issues

yeah but its not as bad. Why deny yourself the youngest of the b7's for a 40 dollar part? Seems pretty silly to me.

[trj]

Well, you get peace of mind with warranty(at least till August 2015) and you get the color DIS on the 0.5 and some 06s.
Oh and don't forget the red T. :)

[geebus]

Well, you get peace of mind with warranty(at least till August 2015) and you get the color DIS on the 0.5 and some 06s.
Oh and don't forget the red T. :)

lol, you know what? You're right. I'd rather have a 9 year old car vs an 6 year old car just for the color display.


In all seriousness, you're trading one 40 dollar part and the piece of mind that if your motor grenades because of it that the dealer will replace it over having a car with probably lower miles and less wear and tear on all other parts. To each his own, but I still think that's pretty silly.

[pw211]

Mine's an 08 with the color display.. That's not year specific.

[geebus]

Mine's an 08 with the color display.. That's not year specific.

I don't think your avant came with it from the factory. I don't think I've heard of anyone with an 08 that has one. Ask nick lol

[Racks On Racks]

Thank you for all your responses. trj, thank you for putting that together. very informative and i will definitely use that as my guide! I think that i am going to narrow my search to just manual transmission. I am seeing too much of the toque converter issue pop up (there was just another TC issue someone posted just this morning). I think the manual would be more reliable, and the price of the parts alone to change the fluid on a Tiptronic is ridiculous! i am not sure if changing the fluid on my e46 m3 is the same as a manual B7, but it only cost me under $80 to change the transmission fluid on my manual e46 m3 with OEM fluid from ECS tuning.

I think the manuals go for more $$$ than automatics? is this true since they are rare? or maybe not because most people find them undesirable on a luxury car (except enthusiasts like us)

I also think i will broaden my search to 05.5s and 08s too. the cam warranty is not that big of a deal to me after reading these posts

Just another question regarding the the B7 A4 and the B7 S4: are the S4 front and rear fenders wider than the A4? or are they the same? i know the RS4 is a lot wider

Thanks again for everyones responses!

[trj]

lol, you know what? You're right. I'd rather have a 9 year old car vs an 6 year old car just for the color display.


In all seriousness, you're trading one 40 dollar part and the piece of mind that if your motor grenades because of it that the dealer will replace it over having a car with probably lower miles and less wear and tear on all other parts. To each his own, but I still think that's pretty silly.

Haha. You didn't get what I was trying to imply. Justifying my own purchase just like you are justifying your purchase. Different people have different reasons to buy a car.
I bought an 05.5 because the price was right and wife was adamant on the color. Since we both drive each other's cars, I didn't see anything wrong with purchasing the same model car which is 2 years older, has less miles and happy wife. My only priority was the color and miles, not the year of manufacture. I chose 2005.5 because it had a lot less miles than the newer ones at the price I was looking at. And if cam follower had grenaded my engine, I still have warranty. I changed the cam follower anyway but thats not a point. I weighed down the options like OP is doing.
You'd be surprised how difficult it is to find an ocean blue B7 with less than 75k miles within 12k. Color was my wife's choice and miles, price and options was mine. I knew I would not be satisfied with OE suspension, so I didn't care about S line. But I got a huge surprise on how much I missed the comfort features. So, retrofitting them now. Had I known I would have to retrofit everything, I would have waited for a car with everything already installed and paid a higher price with compromise in color. But then wife would have been not so happy with the color.
Even if I bought an 08, I would still change the same things, retrofit the same bits, follow the same maintenance schedule. So, why not buy a car that fits my needs for cheaper rather than a new one with the same options for more money. After a couple of years, whether 05.5 or 08, it will still be considered a B7, and if one plans to resell it, mileage comes into play not the year of manufacture. Considering the similarly specced cars, would you pay higher for an 2004 B6 with 180k miles or 2002 B6 with 120k miles?

To add, not everybody looks changes the cam follower on time, either they are not aware of the issue, or do not have time to tinker on the car. I have a friend who drives an 07 B7 who doesn't even know about cam follower issue and has been driving for 2 years without checking it. When I started researching B7s and read about it I was surprised he never had it checked. He is still driving the car without checking it and is relieved that his car is under warranty till 120k miles after I told him it was. Now imagine if it was an 08 model instead of B7.

Like I said, different people have different priorities. To me, less miles and right color was the priority. Warranty, color display and red T came as bonus :) But someone would really appreciate the warranty if they don't have time or want to check/change the cam follower every other oil change. To some newer year model matters. Nothing against 2008s. Just trying to help OP because he is specifically looking for 06 to 07 cars.

[trj]

Thank you for all your responses. trj, thank you for putting that together. very informative and i will definitely use that as my guide! I think that i am going to narrow my search to just manual transmission. I am seeing too much of the toque converter issue pop up (there was just another TC issue someone posted just this morning). I think the manual would be more reliable, and the price of the parts alone to change the fluid on a Tiptronic is ridiculous! i am not sure if changing the fluid on my e46 m3 is the same as a manual B7, but it only cost me under $80 to change the transmission fluid on my manual e46 m3 with OEM fluid from ECS tuning.

I think the manuals go for more $$$ than automatics? is this true since they are rare? or maybe not because most people find them undesirable on a luxury car (except enthusiasts like us)

I also think i will broaden my search to 05.5s and 08s too. the cam warranty is not that big of a deal to me after reading these posts

Just another question regarding the the B7 A4 and the B7 S4: are the S4 front and rear fenders wider than the A4? or are they the same? i know the RS4 is a lot wider

Thanks again for everyones responses!

If you are looking to check/change your cam follower every other oil change, cam follower should not scare you from broadening your search to 08s. In fact, 08's have better cams I hear.
Manual are not rare, people just don't sell them. People who buy manual cars tend to hold on to them and think they are rare. Nope. There are plenty of manual B7s but they over inflate the price thinking they are rare :) Depends on what your requirements are, if you are comfortable driving a manual car in day to day traffic, by all means go for manual. Less prone to failure, fluid is cheaper, much fun to drive. But I don't see the tiptronics on the B7s being a weak point. Of course, the fluid change is ridiculously expensive but then you do it once while you own the car. One thing I noticed, for B7s on the manuals or tips, the first gear is just too short for anything.

To me, wife refuses to drive manual in bumper to bumper traffic so it had to be a tiptronic. May be a Z4M in manual as a weekend car would change her mind. Still trying to swing her mind from e92 to Z4m :)

I say look for a forum member in the regional section if they are selling their manual B7s. I am sure it would have been a well looked after car if its owned by an enthusiast.

I have no idea about fenders on S4s. Never looked at the specs on them man.