Hi Jim,
Sorry to hear the horrible PS pipe issue has got you.
Looks like MJ has you covered but just in case you need a backup plan and also for others' info I went down the Audi Tradition route and got 4D2422893H which is for pre-facelift. Very expensive and risky option (mine's face-lift) but, at the time, there was no alternative so the car was effectively a write-off. My friendly guy at Audi Hamilton took pity on me and brought them in for 0% profit, which was very kind of him. For the other pipe I got a very good second hand spare from somewhere in Germany.
https://shops.audi.com/en_GB/web/tra...-4d2422893h-10 - looks like the price has come down. Think it was over £300 when I got mine
The only difference as far as I can tell is that the PF pipe has the bracket welded on and FL has a removable bracket. So, carefully cut off the PF bracket and use your FL bracket in its place. The welded bracket is annoyingly within mm of being in the right place!
Looks like they have the FL in stock for around that price at the moment though.
here
The job is definitely not engine out. The most tricky part in all honesty is the 10mm bolt to secure the aforementioned bracket to the rack. My solution was an extra long ratchet spanner with tape underneath to stop the bolt falling through.
Reckon it's do-able in a couple of hours without a lift. But then I had plenty practice after an initial abortive attempt (in constant rain) using seemingly good second hand spares I happened to have. They just burst under the pressure of parking 10 minutes after 'victory' had been achieved.
Not sure what the talk of pinch bolts is about? I'm sure I didn't have to remove anything other than the wheels?
Frank / MJ - I'm leaning towards the idea of offering myself up to test any made-up pipe kits you are working on. I know I can do the job relatively quickly and am also in the fortunate position of knowing (hopefully) that my PS pipes are in good enough condition to come off easily and go back on. I know my pal Brian is needing his S8 PS pipes done and he's just round the corner so we could possibly combine the short-term test on mine and longer term fitting on his or something? Just thinking out loud now.
Good luck with getting resolved, Jim, before the annual Festive Lockdown!
Gregor