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My new Mini project.....
Well, Its my second one actually.
My first one, here: http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4490 Went a bit south as the engine looks to be too far gone to save practically. So, its been declared a write off in my eyes. It has 2 cylinders with low compression, on seperate banks. Way too much effort to bother with really. So, project number two: http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4714 Meet Frank 2: http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i1...i/DSCF1832.jpg Now, theres some history here which I'll bore you with. I bought a Frank in May 2007, and by Frank, I mean a car identical to this, and by identical I mean down to the last spec, option, build code, nut and bolt. I've not checked the VIN's yet, but I reckon they'd have been in the factory at the same time. There were a number of these identical, high spec, non sport early facelift October 1998 cars built, and in 2007 I bought one in desperation as I could not find a tidy high spec, A8 4.2 quattro sport. Even back then I knew the S8 was overrated, thirsty and not as practical as the A8 sport, so sought to build myself a nice, frugal (ish) a8 4.2 QS. In the same month, I bought a very high spec Prefacelift 4.2 Quattro Sport to use as a donor. The idea was simple. Take all the sport parts off the donor car, and make Frank a sport. In short, my idea was flawwed. The Pre face interior was never going to fit into a FL car, and as that was a key part of it all, I set about getting rid of the parts. I popped a few adverts on Ebay and was inundated with requests. In July, a8parts was born and you know the rest. 'Frank' hung around for a while. I found a nice Dolpin Grey S8 (now Richards) and Frank was ultimately sold to the business as an LPG test rig / demonstrator of all things. The parts business took over everything, LPG never really got going and the retrofit stuff we used to do we just didnt have time for. Frank became a little surplus around the time that Oli's beloved Santorin Blue 3.7 QS took a turn for the worse and chewed up a timing chain. We agreed to sport spec Frank using parts off the shelf, and do a p/x with the broken 3.7. Alas, Frank was made good at last, but not for my benefit.... He was fitted with our first ever Facelift sports black interior, an RS6 paddle shift steering wheel and the wheels and suspension from Olis sport car. It looked great. Looks even better now Olis popped on the 20" wheels, big brakes and S8 tailpipes. Jealous?. Well, yes, I was a little. So, here I am. Exactly 5 years on. I have a 'Frank' and an early Prefacelift donor..... What can go wrong ? Interestingly, in 2007 this project cost me £10k and failed. Today, my donor cars cost a sum total of £2545. Far more reasonable. However, the Frank of today has lost some of his youth. He's piled on 40K on the clock, and let himself go a little. After a full medical I can confirm: * Screenwash level sensor faulty - So it stays on the dash all the time * Pad wear indicator on * Power steering faulty * Xenon self levelling fault * Faulty clicky flap motor behind dash in passenger footwell * RNs-C screen flickers a lot * Frong fog light broken * Front fog light grill missing * Wipers need replacing * Electric fan squeals in operation * PDC intermittent * Boot carpet filthy * Low brake fluid causes (!) symbol on corners * Broken cup holder * Missing jack and screwdriver from tool kit * Broken ski hatch cover * Scratch on passenger door * Not a lot of rubber on the tyres * Bit of rubber missing of drivers door * Dodgy pixels on Cluster, temperature dependant. The great thing is that all of these are really quite simple DIY jobs..... On the plus side, it has: * Recent Aircon regass * Cambelt * Water pump * Thermostat * Private plate to help hide its age * None of the usual corrosion around the windows * Lowish mileage at 103K * Low tax being < Mar 2001. * Solar sunroof - Really been whizzing along in this sun too * Bose, TV, Phone and Navigation. All the bits I need to make a nice upgrade, easy * Blinds * Xenons * Avus wheels already - Bonus * Autodim rear view mirror * MFSW - Makes fitting a better one really easy * Heated seats all round - Perfect to accept my donor trims So thats good. Its also taxed and tested for 6 months, so no need to worry there..... So, a few things to fix. and a few things to change: * S8 mirror cases * S8 Bonnet and lower grills * S8 Tailpipes (maybe....) * S8/Sport suspension * RNS-E * Bluetooth * S8 Sports seats * Remove A8 and 4.2 badging Probably: * Multifunction tiptronic steering wheel from Amars RS6.... Maybe: * Maybe a splash of leather / alcantara and some new wood.... * Tv, Reversing Camera... This is my daily driver. The D3 is long gone. Already I'm feeling a smugness wafting around in it. I have a 4.2 Litre V8 petrol powered car that happily does 30 mpg on the motorway. Not, 'If I go at 55mph and take it gentle' get 30 mpg, but a case of whatever I do, its tough not to get 30 mpg on the motorway. But. It also gets a move on, really quick swiftly it turns out.... Thats brilliant. You'd think the D3 4.2 V8 petrol with its 6 speed box would be more economical, but no. You'd be completely wrong, and no, I cant explain it either. and at 'only' 310 bhp, I know its not an S8, and I've broken some of my own rules of sticking badges on things that aren't, but in my eyes, this is way better than most D2 S8's 99 % of the time. And for that 1% of the time you really want more straight line speed, you do that, and I'll just mozy on past whilst you're at the petrol station..... :D I'm hoping to document these easy fixes - as they are all easy fixes - then folks can run off to a8parts and buy some stuff. That way, David might overlook the vast quantity of stuff I've removed from the 'S8' I agreed to sell to him.... :p |
Stunning car Ian! Couldn't have picked a better combo myself! +++
I will try and dig out the vin for you if you want to compare it. Oli |
Ian, will you just drop an RS6 motor in one of these and be done with it?! ;)
Still remember the days when my old D2 S8 was almost part exchanged for your RS6. Shame really! But the wife loves her engagement ring :D |
I seriously considered (and haven't dismissed) dropping a 2.7 biturbo in a d2..... They can hit 500 ponies and are way more compact to avoid the heat issues..... Anyway, this 4.2 is working at the moment so we digress.... ;-)
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My PF S8 is Oct 98........:Confused: |
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Not knowing how many they build in a month I don't know how near "the end" mine was, but I think someone (possibly even you) has said before it must have been one of the very last PF ones built.
VIN ends 01540 if that's relevant... |
That silver A8 of yours Ian has the wheels from my cactus S8 before I put the final editions on. The guy three owners back bought them from me. +++
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Interesting project write up, but I don't think there's any need to be so scathing of the S8. We're all entitled to an opinion and a prefernce!
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If you can afford to run an S8, its the one to have for sure.... |
So as the S is slightly lower geared, delimited will the S top out before the A? Or is there no difference because the S rev's harder?
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The C5 RS6 revs lower at 70mph than the S8... If that gives some perspective on how mad Audi went with the final drive ratios. The S8 does have a 7000 rpm redline, versus 6250 on the A8 - So 10% more, but they will both hit the 155mph limited before redline in fifth becomes an issue. I guess in theory, an A8 with no limiter on a very long downhill decent could go faster than an S8, as the S8 would top out its revs in fifth before the A8 - But - In practise it takes so long to hit the 155 mph limiter anyway, I wouldnt see much more than this being practically acheivable. Upto 140 (on the clocks) is reasonably brisk, but past that every extra mph is a real effort - for any car. On my S8 it showed 170+ on the clocks before the 155 limiter cut in, due to optimistic speedo reading, which is quite normal. |
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I know of someone on this forum who doesn't even dare tell SHMBO what the fuel consumption is in an S8.:rolleyes: |
Yep, I much prefer the gearing the A8 has over the S8. I also feel the 4.2 A8 is more torquey low down which is better for town driving, my RS6 is more economical then my S8 with 170 extra BHP and more then double the torque along with some extra weight too. The S8 is obviously better, but the 6/7 MPG extra the A8 gives you is silly to ignore if you are driving a lot, that is a lot of savings.
Edit: Just worked out It would equate to a £530 saving a year based on 10k miles per annum, the S8 at 24 and the A8 at 30, fuel at 1.40 a litre. So about four less tanks a year in the A8. |
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She was comparing the price of driving to see her parents on her own, in the Focus, vs with me in the S8. I point out that it's the price of me taking time out to see the outlaws and fix everything in their house. :love: To be fair she does then usually pay to fill the S8 up.+++ |
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Congrats!
I love to hear a story of a 8 saved. Hopefully we can see it at the owners meet. |
I have no idea where these figures of 30mpg come from - when I first had my 4.2QS, I was commuting around 120 miles per day, best I ever saw on the DIS average was around 26-27mpg, I don't believe for one minute that any petrol D2 will average anywhere near 30mpg, despite what the DIS might be telling you.
And 24mpg from an S8, don't make me laugh! |
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Dawdling obviously. :ROFL: |
I got a dis-claimed 20.5 on an early morning run on Sunday with full tank - first time this year ive seen economy start with a 2! Averaged 13 on previous tank of town driving - that's pretty typical for me
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Ok, jobs done.
* Swapped over S8 grills, S8 mirrors and S8 seats * Fixed Xenon levelling problem * Fixed brake bad warning light * Fixed Front fog light * Installed new Cd changer as this one jumps * Installed new cup holder as old one was broken * Installed new menu control in center console as old one is labelled 'menue' * Change electric cooling fan * Sorted screenwash level sensor * Sorted clicky heater motor * Sorted power steering * Topped up brake fluid * Replaced missing tools * Cleaned boot carpet So, still need to: * Fix Sat Nav screen * New wipers * new Ski hatch * Rubber on drivers door * Document why I'll do nothing about the pixels on the cluster Its already a million times better than it was. No errors on the dash, or noises under the bonnet. Now it looks, runs and feels like a car that has only done 104K.... +++ |
I just inform SWMBO that it doesn't do quite as many MPG as her 2.0 turbo dismal Ford Galaxy....
Not really telling porkies :), the fact that it does approximately half the mileage per gallon on a run, isn't really mentioned.... |
Interesting.....:
http://www.modulemaster.com/en/servi...build_info.php Seems fixing dead pixels on the cluster might not be as prohibitive as I first thought, that is, if you're happy for your car to sit idle for some time whilst you ship its vital organs transatlantic..... +++ |
Not sure if this is a similar thing Ian, just used them to fix body control module in my sons car
http://www.bba-reman.com/uk/index.aspx |
I thought there was a place down Southampton way that specialises in Audi screens, or is it only b5 they can do?
I've used bba in the past for a dodgy passat abs unit and they sorted it out pretty quickly |
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Is it possible to change the menu control without removing the retaining box from center console? I've purchased new menu control and I have no idea how to change it without removing the whole box from center console to disengage clips... Thanks! |
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Remove the cup holder, which just slides out upwards. The easiest way to remove the menu unit is to rotate it rearwards, forcing the clips out. Basically, take a firm hold of the rotary knob, and pull it towards the rear of the car, effectively rotating it into the space where the cup holder was. It will then lift out and you get easy access to the electrical connector. Refitting is just a case of offering it up into place and pushing it forwards until the clips click in +++ |
wow, thanks Ian!
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Didn't realise there was anything wrong with the cup holder, though I hadn't been in an A8 before. Were the brake / light / washer warnings easy to fix? I take it the spare motor thing sorted the clicking noise behind the dash. Didn't realise there was a problem with the Xenons - was that one of the warning lights? |
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Brake light - http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4785 Washer - http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4792 Xenons - http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4788 HVAC Motor - http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4786 Cup holder was ok, but there are supposed to be two sprung flaps on it that help keep bottles etc firmly in. They often break and get removed. They all turned out to be simple enough fixes, just time consuming as there were quite a few of them..... Running really sweet now - So much so, I think I'll be keeping this in preference to the LPG converted S8 I have as this is just so comfy... lol |
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A few more items ticked off the list:
Sorted the PDC - http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5000 Sorted out the RNS-C screen flickering - http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4999 Also changed the wipers, gave it a dam good wash top to bottom. Replaced a 2nd faulty HVAC flap motor Replaced a missing fog light grill And heres a few shots of her looking quite nice with the grime removed: http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1341185356 http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1341185356 http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1341185356 |
OMG you CLEANED a car!!! :eek:
Must be love :love: hehe Looking great Ian good work! |
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