SurfTek's B9 SQ5 Build

[SurfTek]

Hello all,

I've been a lurker for some time, but decided about 50 days ago, I was tired of looking/driving my bone stock SQ. Big thanks to the community here since it was pretty easy to find the right parts for my needs. See reviews, photos, experiences ect. I started the build with getting the car to look right. Then the go fast mods to follow. I have a 2018 (no black optics for this year) so I first had to figure out what was the best way to get the trim to be gloss black. I ended up deciding to go with wrap vs paint. Some pros to this route are no overspray, no labor costs to remove parts, removable if wanted, cost effective. I found a local shop to basically replicate the black optics for $325. He probably regrets not charging more! lol. I'm sure the german engineers did not consider vinyl wrap when creating the grill/bumper shapes, and a good amount of skill in wrapping is needed. (Update) The wrap has failed on the horizonal elements on the front grill and fog grills. Professional painting is the proper route in my opinion if you despise your alu-optics trim.

Some breakdown from my experience you might find helpful. I personally could not pay $120 for a single plastic OEM black ring. I found all my rings and badges on ebay for about $100 total. Badges front/rear and front/rear rings from seller eurospeedtrend. These all feel/look just like the OEM badges I took off.

For painted orange reflectors I found both left and right reflectors for $85 shipped at carparts.com, I used a local shop to paint them body color for $50 Total $135.

Completed:
-Removed the V6 T badges
-Removed the black plastic extended wheel arch trim pieces
-Replaced front and rear audi rings with gloss black
-Replaced front and rear SQ5 badges with gloss black
-Gloss black wrap of all window trim
-All other alu-optic trim professionally painted gloss black
-Carbnlabs RS grill
-RS style fog inserts
-BC Forged HCS02 in 21X10 ET 30 295/35/21 tires
-CETE suspension module
-Audi OEM carbon fiber mirror caps
-Body color matched front reflectors
-Audi genuine parts slimline carbon fiber license plate frame
-Integrated Engineering Stage 1
-Integrated Engineering Stage 2 TCU
-Integrated Engineering Intake (non carbon)
-Integrated Engineering Turbo Inlet
-Forge Motorsports intercooler
-R1 Concepts drilled/slotted rotors and pads

Future mods:
Unclear atm, leaning towards enjoying the current state of the build and picking up a "B10" SQ5.

[Andor]

Wow beautiful build man!

I just got mine 3 days ago and placed the same order as you for the black rings and badges through the same place. Going OEM is too much $.

Interested in the interior trim you did. You have any pictures?

[Seattle996]

Looks great.... well done. Nice and clean! How did the tune transform the car? EPL unlocked our ECU.. just waiting for them to finish so we can upload.

[SurfTek]

Wow beautiful build man!

I just got mine 3 days ago and placed the same order as you for the black rings and badges through the same place. Going OEM is too much $.

Interested in the interior trim you did. You have any pictures?

Hey Andor, thanks, and congrats on your SQ. The trim I wrapped was all exterior. I have some pics of what I sent my wrap shop below so they know what I wanted, all that was silver on my car. In 2018 there was no black optics, and no info when, or if ever that it would be offered. Audi better not pull that again!! S and RS cars should always have black optics as an option. I'm sure they sold less SQ5's in 2018 because of not offering it..

SQ5 wrap back.jpgSQ5 wrap side.jpgSQ5 wrap front.jpg

[SurfTek]

Looks great.... well done. Nice and clean! How did the tune transform the car? EPL unlocked our ECU.. just waiting for them to finish so we can upload.

Thank you. Tune made a good bit of difference. The car is much smoother, and it now feels proper quick. Likely the best bang for the buck performance mod atm. The turning off the auto start/stop function was icing on the cake.

[phillyquattro]

Looking good! Nice color selection on those wheels and perfect tire choice. Did your tire mounting shop not use the valve stems that BC Forged provides? The last picture in your post makes it look like you're running different ones.

[SurfTek]

Looking good! Nice color selection on those wheels and perfect tire choice. Did your tire mounting shop not use the valve stems that BC Forged provides? The last picture in your post makes it look like you're running different ones.

Actually good question. Looks like they used the old ones, or new ones. Not sure why they didn't use the BC stems. Do they not work with TPMS or something? I also had these on the stock wheels which might of factored somehow..

caps.jpg

[phillyquattro]

Actually good question. Looks like they used the old ones, or new ones. Not sure why they didn't use the BC stems. Do they not work with TPMS or something? I also had these on the stock wheels which might of factored somehow..

caps.jpg

They should work just fine. The shop that mounted mine broke the first one as I guess they're a bit trickier to work with the mounting machine, but they got the rest of them just fine and later I had them replace the one they broke once I got more stems from BC.

[Mops@Nemesis]

Actually good question. Looks like they used the old ones, or new ones. Not sure why they didn't use the BC stems. Do they not work with TPMS or something? I also had these on the stock wheels which might of factored somehow..

Looking fantastic Ian!

You don't have direct TPMS (no sensors in wheels). They should have used the stems that BC provided.

[BLT10]

Hot. Those BCs look so good.

[SurfTek]

Installed some paint matched front reflectors today. While I didn't have to take off the wheels, or bumper. This wasn't the easiest of projects. It's only 3 torx screws>go offroad driving mode>crank wheel to opposite side>pull back fender lining. I had to destroy the stock reflectors to get them out. Then you must remove all the (old) adhesive tape on the inside of the bumper. If you don't do this, the new reflectors will not sit right. This was the most time consuming, as there is not much room for your hand, and there is large internal bumper pieces in the way. Also very easy to cause damage to the lip. A blister on each hand, and finally can call it done. Definitely worth all the effort though!!

reflectors

[Andor]

Nice. They look really good and the match is right on point.

I remember doing them on my MKV GLI back in the day. Such a PITA but once I took the OEM ones out, they came out much easier.

[phillyquattro]

It's such a small detail but it looks soooooo much better without the amber. Nice job earning those blisters!

[bryan03tls]

Wow. The paint is really spot on.

[1S32K16]

Great work looks great, I had a shop install mine. They turned out great as far as color match but don’t seem to be as flush as they are supposed to. They probably didn’t get all the previous adhesive off. I have tried to stick my hand back there and really give it a good press but the drivers side is pretty tight for space.

[SurfTek]

Updated some of the build photos to reflect progress. Need to get someone with a proper camera to get some shots soon.

[subaruski]

Did you buy these from Tag?

Installed some paint matched front reflectors today.

[SurfTek]

Did you buy these from Tag?

No way! lol The 3-4 week wait and $230 wasn't acceptable to me. I found both left and right reflectors for $85 shipped at carparts.com, and used a local shop to paint them body color for 50$ Total $135 & 8 day turnaround.

[subaruski]

Could you share the part number for the front reflector?

Not seeing it on any of the online schematics.

Part numbers 80A-945-071-A & 80A-945-072-A

[SurfTek]

After testing out many height settings with the CETE for weeks. I have landed at a "sweet spot" for my liking. Dynamic mode /Front 34 /rear 30 seems to be the best combination of ride quality and stance (pretty bad roads near me). I took the car in for an alignment (sweet spot height), it very much needed one after the drop and wheels. They were able to get all four wheels in the green, so no uneven tire wear, but not completely back to factory spec. For those with the CETE, did you have a similar experience in regards to alignment?

[Bezlar]

Never aligned mine. Tire wear seems fine. I think I run mine a bit lower. I’ll have to look. I drive like an old grandma so our roads don’t bother me much. Lol


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[subaruski]

Have not yet aligned mine either. Tire wear seems ok too.

Dynamic setting at -40 front & -37 rear.

[Bezlar]

Have not yet aligned mine either. Tire wear seems ok too.

Dynamic setting at -40 front & -37 rear.

that seems like where mine are.


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[tonytonitone]

I ride at -40/-40, that's what Mops suggested when I asked the oracle. Once in awhile on a hard hit I'll pop a trim piece out but it's no big deal. I have my CETE set to return to regular height at speeds over 75.

[SurfTek]

Quick update, I ordered an RS grill from Mops. At least half of the decision to change the grill, was the wrap has started to fail on the horizonal grill elements/also on the fog grills. I believe the wrap will fail again if fixed. Updated my build recommendation to stay away from wrap except for the window trim. With a black optics grill costing about 1K, this option is out. To professionally paint the OEM grill, it would be about $500 (mostly labor cost to remove the bumper), so thought why not go RS grill for a little more. While the bumper is off I'm having all the other trim (minus the window trim) professionally painted gloss black as well.

Also had a freak accident where a large rock hit my passenger side front window on the highway. The impact spidered the glass from top to bottom. I had no choice but to replace the glass. If you have a prestige, glass cost is about x3 from the regular glass. I needed to re-tint so went with ceramic tint all around. If you have only your front two windows tinted. Consider doing your whole car. The privacy glass does not provide any heat rejection like tint does. Did 20% front, and 60% for the rest. Car feels a lot cooler after baking in the sun, and 90 degree weather lately.

[Niko702]

I have a 2019 sq5 and am highly debating on getting the cete. I am a little worried about voiding the warranty and also am not sure it'll be low enough for the investment.
Are you happy with your results with the cete?

[SurfTek]

I have a 2019 sq5 and am highly debating on getting the cete. I am a little worried about voiding the warranty and also am not sure it'll be low enough for the investment.
Are you happy with your results with the cete?

Hi Niko, the cete is removable so if you were worried about warranty issues you could always take it off before service or claim. The cete only allows you to manipulate the stock air suspension. It's not like putting a non OEM suspension into the car which tends to be worse for warranty arguments. If you do not excessively lower the car, bottom the suspension often ect, the suspension components should not fail any faster than "normal". In the end it's down to your dealership's service department and how "cool" they are with mods. My dealership knows about my cete, and they only ask that I raise the car up to stock dynamic height for work bay clearance. The cete will go VERY low. So low it has a safety feature to not allow the car to be driven at speed. I change the height often, and use taller comfort mode on longer trips. The height variation is so easy, and one of the upsides of the B9 SQ. I'm very happy with the results, stance, height, ride quality, and would buy it again.

[SurfTek]

Happened to find a new ebay listing that appears to finally be a SQ5 specific RS style fog insert. Got them on order, and will update here with install and pics when they come in. The venting location is interesting vs. OEM, but they look like they will match the main RS grill much better than the Q5 designed RS inserts.

New SQ5 specific RS style inserts (on order)
SQ5 fog insert.jpg

Off vehicle OEM inserts for reference
off vehicle.jpg

[S4MAXSPEED]

Just had my alignment done on Tuesday. In dynamic I'm at 36 Front and 34 Rear. The tech said it definitely needed it. He couldn't get it to his liking on the front with the factory adjustment points, so he broke the subframe loose and realigned it, and was able to get in back in specs that way. I took it to a Porsche/VW/Audi specialty shop here in Denver, Berg Performance. They do a lot of high end cars and really try to go above and beyond and are really car enthusiasts which is awesome.

So anyone who thinks you don't need an alignment with the CETE controller is probably way farther out of specs then they realize.

[SurfTek]

Just had my alignment done on Tuesday. In dynamic I'm at 36 Front and 34 Rear. The tech said it definitely needed it. He couldn't get it to his liking on the front with the factory adjustment points, so he broke the subframe loose and realigned it, and was able to get in back in specs that way. I took it to a Porsche/VW/Audi specialty shop here in Denver, Berg Performance. They do a lot of high end cars and really try to go above and beyond and are really car enthusiasts which is awesome.

So anyone who thinks you don't need an alignment with the CETE controller is probably way farther out of specs then they realize.

Agree with you. Alignment is one of those things where, until it's back in the green you don't know how bad it was off. I could feel the bad alignment particularly in corners before bringing it in. Felt so much better to drive after. Sounds like a great shop. I'm at dynamic F/33 R/29 now. Many driving in the 40's, should be even worst in the red/out of spec than our "modest" settings. Good news is we don't require an aftermarket camber kit just to get back to green/spec, which likely would make even more not care to deal with alignment.

[SurfTek]

The RS style fog inserts came yesterday. They are much more THICK than I imagined. Not flimsy at all so that is good. The OEM fog grills pull right off. Need to start pulling from the side closest to the main grill for both OEM inserts. Good news is they fit! They also provided a ACC solution for those that don't have one. That fits too. They are left and right specific, the fake acc. The snag I ran into is I don't have ACC, so I need to install the fake ACC. The bolts and nuts provided are great and will work, however to get the nut behind the bumper while holding the ACC and aligning the bolt for three holes is not something one can do with the bumper on in my observation. That stopped my install. My main grill is in the mail now so I will wait to install the fake ACC and new fog inserts when the bumper comes off for everything. If someone already has ACC it's a 5 min install. I do have one concern though, there is clearly air flow "raceways" in a middle orientation that leads to a fin stack on both sides when you take off the OEM inserts. Can anyone provide detail on what they are cooling? The new RS style inserts will cover up and block that air flow. They have air flow but all the way on one side and that does not lead directly to the fin stacks. Why the manufacturer made this design decision I would love to hear. Doesn't make sense. I almost think it would be best to try and dremel out some of the mesh holes in the middle to get that air flow back. They are thick, so will be a task no doubt. It also may not effect anything but will have to test/see.

ACC bolts to the three holes here, fits well. Not much leverage to get the nuts behind and align to the bolt without taking things apart
ACC.jpeg
Here you can see the air channel that leads to a fin stack (both sides)
airflow.jpeg
Nice gloss black that will match the main grill well
install.jpg
Back
back.jpeg
Front
front.jpg

[sweet2bad]

The RS style fog inserts came yesterday. They are much more THICK than I imagined. Not flimsy at all so that is good. The OEM fog grills pull right off. Need to start pulling from the side closest to the main grill for both OEM inserts. Good news is they fit! They also provided a ACC solution for those that don't have one. That fits too. They are left and right specific, the fake acc. The snag I ran into is I don't have ACC, so I need to install the fake ACC. The bolts and nuts provided are great and will work, however to get the nut behind the bumper while holding the ACC and aligning the bolt for three holes is not something one can do with the bumper on in my observation. That stopped my install. My main grill is in the mail now so I will wait to install the fake ACC and new fog inserts when the bumper comes off for everything. If someone already has ACC it's a 5 min install. I do have one concern though, there is clearly air flow "raceways" in a middle orientation that leads to a fin stack on both sides when you take off the OEM inserts. Can anyone provide detail on what they are cooling? The new RS style inserts will cover up and block that air flow. They have air flow but all the way on one side and that does not lead directly to the fin stacks. Why the manufacturer made this design decision I would love to hear. Doesn't make sense. I almost think it would be best to try and dremel out some of the mesh holes in the middle to get that air flow back. They are thick, so will be a task no doubt. It also may not effect anything but will have to test/see.

ACC bolts to the three holes here, fits well. Not much leverage to get the nuts behind and align to the bolt without taking things apart
ACC.jpeg
Here you can see the air channel that leads to a fin stack (both sides)
airflow.jpeg
Nice gloss black that will match the main grill well
install.jpg
Back
back.jpeg
Front
front.jpg

Looks good! Did you paint yours? they look silver (or maybe my eyesight is worse than i thought..lol)

i just got mine a few days ago as well - thanks for the pointers!

Those 'mini' radiators behind the fog inserts, are exactly that...mini (auxilliary) radiators. They are connected to the main cooling system exactly how your main radiator is connected. Apparently you can remove them with no 'notable' side effects (theres a few ppl who have removed them (for various reasons) on their audi's and they havent reported anything negative....So i dont think the slightly less airflow with the new "RS" inserts will not affect the 'auxiliary' radiators too much

[highPSI-S4]

The fog light insert look great and should compliment the RS grill perfect. My buddy said he doesn't like the OEM black optics fog light inserts against the RS grill since its so much gloss black and the fog inserts are matte black, you can barely see the gloss black accents on them.

Looking to see what you come up with for the air flow to the cooler if you decide to modify them.

[maximusBH]

While looking to buy the same RS type fog lights grills, I have found this ones which is fully perforated so might not have the question mark about the cooling of the auxiliary radiators!
What do you think guys?

[kai_doy]

Can you guys give some links to these specific grills? Thanks.

[maximusBH]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/164347904027

Envoyé de mon SM-G955F en utilisant Tapatalk

[cheewy16]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/164347904027

Envoyé de mon SM-G955F en utilisant Tapatalk

Those don’t have the parking sensor holes that are needed to work with ours.

[SurfTek]

I ordered from this seller. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Black-RSQ5-...MAAOSw91pfO0Ge

[kai_doy]

Thanks maximusBH and SurfTek

[SurfTek]

Got my carbnlabs RS style grill in. Here is both the main grill, and fog inserts together. SQ goes into the shop next week, these will be installed. All wrap removed and painted instead. Can't wait!