The storageforum Audi S4 Thread

[ddrueding]

I think Handy has something to share with the rest of us... (very relevant to this thread) :scratch:

Hilarious. I haven't seen this kind of lead on here. Was almost expecting Handy to reply "Nope...nothing to see here...."

Did you end up moving your mods to the new car and putting the stock bits back on before sale? Congrats on the new purchase!

 

[Handruin]

Hilarious. I haven't seen this kind of lead on here. Was almost expecting Handy to reply "Nope...nothing to see here...."

Did you end up moving your mods to the new car and putting the stock bits back on before sale? Congrats on the new purchase!

Yes, I got all my parts off before selling it. I haven't put any of them back onto the new one. I may sell some of them; I haven't really decided yet. The springs never got put on so I'm going to list those as new. I have someone local who might be interested. I may also list the exhaust and see if I can get some money back for it.

The first two things I added to the car were a full-frontal Expel ultimate wrap (which I regretted not doing last time) and blizzak LM32 winter tires. I was able to get an appointment for the day after getting my car so they were able to get it before any damage would be done to the front end. The OEM summers are now sitting in my garage and only have like 30 miles on them. I may see if I can sell them. My summer wheels still have the Michelin Pilot Super Sports with another season left on them.

 

[ddrueding]

Yes, I got all my parts off before selling it. I haven't put any of them back onto the new one. I may sell some of them; I haven't really decided yet. The springs never got put on so I'm going to list those as new. I have someone local who might be interested. I may also list the exhaust and see if I can get some money back for it.

The first two things I added to the car were a full-frontal Expel ultimate wrap (which I regretted not doing last time) and blizzak LM32 winter tires. I was able to get an appointment for the day after getting my car so they were able to get it before any damage would be done to the front end. The OEM summers are now sitting in my garage and only have like 30 miles on them. I may see if I can sell them. My summer wheels still have the Michelin Pilot Super Sports with another season left on them.

One of the things that amazed me most about my car was that the paint straight from the dealer was not perfect. Some orange peel is to be expected, but there were hairline scratches and a couple minor pits straight away. Interested considering my car hadn't even been washed by the dealer yet (I bought it straight from their back lot).

How much wrap did you have put on (Hood? Mirrors?)? How much did it cost?

 

[Handruin]

One of the things that amazed me most about my car was that the paint straight from the dealer was not perfect. Some orange peel is to be expected, but there were hairline scratches and a couple minor pits straight away. Interested considering my car hadn't even been washed by the dealer yet (I bought it straight from their back lot).

How much wrap did you have put on (Hood? Mirrors?)? How much did it cost?

The paint on my last one was pretty soft. I had multiple chips in the hood right down to the white primer. The clear coat was also very easy to put swirls into despite being very careful with washing and detailing. I'll have to look in better light but I don't recall tons of orange peel in the Sepang blue that I chose for this car.

Before the Expel was put on, they washed and clay bared the entire front. They found one tiny little nick by the front headlight which they pointed out to me. They filled it with touchup paint so that the PPF wouldn't snag on it. I had the entire full hood with edge wrap, full front bumper, side fenders, lights, fog lights, and backs of the side mirrors covered.

 

[Stereodude]

Hilarious. I haven't seen this kind of lead on here. Was almost expecting Handy to reply "Nope...nothing to see here...."

You doubt my insider information?

Or my ability to read Handy's posts on other forums where I realized he was holding out on us?

 

[ddrueding]

Not at all, if someone was going to find out it would be you. Just the huge nudge was funny.

 

[mubs]

Bastards.

Researchers reveal electronic car lock hack after 2-year injunction by Volkswagen

 

[Stereodude]

Lovely...

 

[Handruin]

I'll have to chalk this up to one of those life lessons. I'm pretty sure these are two decent-sized cracks in the wheel on the back side of my Morr VS8.2 wheel. I noticed them today after switching over to my winter wheels and they weren't there last year. I don't recall hitting anything that might have caused this. There's no damage to the tire anywhere that I can see. The other three wheels seem to be without cracks in them. The clear coating finish on the front of all the wheels has not held up either which is disappointing. Time for me to move on from these to something else that's less custom and from a company that's been around longer.

 

[mubs]

Yikes, that looks dangerous. The other 3 wheels are now suspect too. Suggest you get them changed asap.

 

[Handruin]

Yikes, that looks dangerous. The other 3 wheels are now suspect too. Suggest you get them changed asap.

They're all changed now to my factory wheels. I did not see any cracks on the other 3 wheels.

 

[ddrueding]

Your experience just about echoes my own with my Forgestar F14s. Still haven't ordered the replacement (running the stock wheels for now).

 

[Stereodude]

I'll have to chalk this up to one of those life lessons. I'm pretty sure these are two decent-sized cracks in the wheel on the back side of my Morr VS8.2 wheel. I noticed them today after switching over to my winter wheels and they weren't there last year. I don't recall hitting anything that might have caused this. There's no damage to the tire anywhere that I can see. The other three wheels seem to be without cracks in them. The clear coating finish on the front of all the wheels has not held up either which is disappointing. Time for me to move on from these to something else that's less custom and from a company that's been around longer.

That sucks. Does that wheel/tire lose pressure? Have you tried contacting Morr?

I realize you're looking to move on to something else, but only having 3 good wheels will make selling them much harder / greatly reduce the potential price. You may be able to get it repaired, which at the very least would let you sell a complete set of 4 wheels.

 

[Handruin]

That sucks. Does that wheel/tire lose pressure? Have you tried contacting Morr?

I realize you're looking to move on to something else, but only having 3 good wheels will make selling them much harder / greatly reduce the potential price. You may be able to get it repaired, which at the very least would let you sell a complete set of 4 wheels.

I've never noticed any loss of air pressure from that wheel (or any of them). I've yet to try contacting Morr to see what my options are. Word on the street is that they're not doing very well right now and some resellers are halting sales with them because they aren't fulfilling orders. I can try to contact them but I'd be worried that even if I could order a wheel, how likely would it be they'd fulfill it and not just keep my money. There is at least one very recent story of this happening on a BMW forum. The guy had to get his bank involved in getting the money back after many months. I realize it's the internet and to take it with a grain of salt...still leaves me cautious.

As for getting it repaired, I'm unclear what options exist for cracks. I have a local wheel shop I can inquire to and see if there is anything that can be done. I agree that having three makes it very difficult to sell. At best I might find someone who damaged one and needs a used replacement. If Morr is in as bad of shape as people are suggesting the used market might suck also.

 

[Stereodude]

With skill aluminum can be welded. However, most places will probably tell you it can't be done. You'd also have to refinish that part of the wheel, though being on the inside the finish match isn't so critical. That's probably also the sort of thing you'd want to disclose when selling them which won't help your sale price either. Your sort of in a tough spot no matter what.

 

[Handruin]

With skill aluminum can be welded. However, most places will probably tell you it can't be done. You'd also have to refinish that part of the wheel, though being on the inside the finish match isn't so critical. That's probably also the sort of thing you'd want to disclose when selling them which won't help your sale price either. Your sort of in a tough spot no matter what.

You're right which is why I was saying lessons learned on my part. I don't know how comfortable I would feel with reselling a welded wheel for safety reasons even if I could find someone to do the work. I'm not sure how viable it is to weld a forged wheel? It sucks to lose out on money but I don't want to potentially jeopardize someone's safety for it. I would certainly disclose that if I went that route.

 

[Clocker]

You're right which is why I was saying lessons learned on my part. I don't know how comfortable I would feel with reselling a welded wheel for safety reasons even if I could find someone to do the work. I'm not sure how viable it is to weld a forged wheel? It sucks to lose out on money but I don't want to potentially jeopardize someone's safety for it. I would certainly disclose that if I went that route.

You should have no trouble finding a wheel repair shop that can fix it. I would have it fixed and sell the set after disclosing everything to the buyer. You will not get top price but something is better than nothing. Or just don't fix it and let the buyer handle it.

 

[Stereodude]

So what ever happened with your wheels Handy?

In other S4 news I made an appointment to get the 48K8 steering TSB, airbag recall, and my windshield washer fluid sensor fixed for Friday since my warranty is about 300 miles away from being expired. Apparently Rain-X washer fluid will corrode the sensor (per what the service guy told me). I stopped using it last fall after I remembered reading on the forum that it caused issues with the sensor.

 

[Handruin]

One wheel is still damaged with two cracks in it and I'm not giving any more money to Morr to build a new one. I've decided to get new wheels and I needed new tires anyway so I'll have both done. I'm also making plans to lower my car with Bilstein PSS10 coil-overs. Other than that I don't have any other changes or plans for my S4.

I believe I had the airbag recall done but there was no steering TSB for my year that I recall. I'm sure it has the more recent software because the steering feels mostly all the same in all three modes. I tend to leave the steering in comfort now because it feels more firm than it used to. I never used Rain-X so I don't think I have a sensor issue at least not yet.

 

[Handruin]

My new wheels arrived this morning via fedex. They came with the correct length bolts in black and nylon centering rings since the hub size is slightly larger for these wheels. They even painted the wheel weights black to that they don't stand out on the gunmetal colored wheels which is nice. I installed them and everything seems fine after a quick trip around the town. They're 19x9.5 TSW Bathurst in gunmetal with Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires at 255/35/19. Next up is getting the car lowered a bit to remove that wheel well gap.

 

[Stereodude]

Looking good. I need to get new tires here soon. I need to get my buddy motivated so he'll buy me a set of 18" 40/245 Conti DWS 06 with his discount.

I passed 50k miles about two weeks ago so my warranty is now gone. I guess it's time to revisit the stage 1 tunes that are available.

 

[ddrueding]

I recently put the 5th set of Conti DWS on my car, 109k miles now. The main reason I went with APR was that the local guy who did APR tunes was nice and knowledgeable. I don't think any of the tuners do rocket science or that their parts are exceptionally shiny.

 

[Stereodude]

Have you tried the newer 06 version yet?

 

[mubs]

Handy, those wheels look really sharp, really classy!

 

[Stereodude]

The main reason I went with APR was that the local guy who did APR tunes was nice and knowledgeable. I don't think any of the tuners do rocket science or that their parts are exceptionally shiny.

The main reason I'd avoid APR is because of Arin Ahnell. I'd really like a flash at home solution. I think EPL has one for the B8.5. Unitronic was also working on one.

 

[Handruin]

I recently put the 5th set of Conti DWS on my car, 109k miles now. The main reason I went with APR was that the local guy who did APR tunes was nice and knowledgeable. I don't think any of the tuners do rocket science or that their parts are exceptionally shiny.

I might be forgetting but are you going with the DWS because of the occasional off-roading you do for work? I'd of thought the DW would be a better option in your area of the country no?

Handy, those wheels look really sharp, really classy!

Thanks mubs!

 

[ddrueding]

Have you tried the newer 06 version yet?

Didn't realize there was one. I ordered 8 from Tire Rack last month. (Set for the wife as well). Does not specify 06 on the receipt. Is it just a refresh or a different SKU?

 

[ddrueding]

I might be forgetting but are you going with the DWS because of the occasional off-roading you do for work? I'd of thought the DW would be a better option in your area of the country no?

Partially the off-roading, but also the NVH scores are considerably better and traction not much worse. The DWS seems to just be a much better rated tire. Doesn't hurt that they are cheaper.

 

[Stereodude]

Didn't realize there was one. I ordered 8 from Tire Rack last month. (Set for the wife as well). Does not specify 06 on the receipt. Is it just a refresh or a different SKU?

Different SKU AFAIK. They are explicitly listed at Tire Rack as DWS 06. They were selling both for a while. For my S4 they now only have the DWS 06.

 

[ddrueding]

That'll have to be the next set. With the current power levels traction control has fits when I floor it from a standstill, so I pretty much always drive with TC off. This gives my car a significant appetite for tires.

 

[Handruin]

The main reason I'd avoid APR is because of Arin Ahnell. I'd really like a flash at home solution. I think EPL has one for the B8.5. Unitronic was also working on one.

I thought you were Arin's biggest antagonizer fan!?

I'd like to go with a tune eventually also. Likely not this year...so it'll make me wonder how much will be available once the B9 is out in the wild. I suspect they'll focus on that platform either abandoning the B8.5 or maybe discounting the price.

 

[Stereodude]

I'd expect the price will drop, not sure exactly when though. B5 tunes are pretty cheap now AFAIK.

 

[Stereodude]

DWS 06 tires are ordered. Delivery is supposed to be Monday.

 

[Handruin]

I'm yet again fighting balance issues with my new wheels and/or tires. It took me some time to get a longer distance highway drive in to notice it but there's something there above 70MPH. I either seem to be very sensitive to balance issues or unlucky (or both). Now I'm trying to figure out something with the vendor to get this resolved. I'm considering seeing if I can just return them.

 

[Stereodude]

Do they have hubcentric rings? Have you have them roadforce balanced?

 

[Howell]

I lived with the balance problems in my DWSs for several years until I replaced them last year. Tried to get it fixed every tire rotation, at least twice a year. Since I bought from Tire Rack and had a local guy install them I had no recourse. I had no problems with the same model on the vehicle just prior.

 

[Handruin]

They do have hubcentric rings and they're installed. I've not yet had them roadforce balanced but that was the request of the vendor to see how far out of balance they are. When I installed them I torqued them down while the wheel was still in the air in a star pattern. I'm going to take them off and check for any play/gap with the hubcentric rings to see if this is the issue. He claims no one else has had balance issues with this setup but maybe it's just a line he's feeding me.

Part of my issue is I feel awkward going to my local tire/wheel guy because I didn't buy from him given he was almost $400 more than what I paid but I'm sure he'll be happy to take my money for balancing them. My concern becomes if one or more of the tires need warranty replacement due to out of round or some bullshit.

 

[Stereodude]

I lived with the balance problems in my DWSs for several years until I replaced them last year. Tried to get it fixed every tire rotation, at least twice a year. Since I bought from Tire Rack and had a local guy install them I had no recourse. I had no problems with the same model on the vehicle just prior.

Handy has Michelin PSS tires, not DWS's. I had DWS tires (not the 06 version) on two cars and didn't notice any sort of balance issue. You could have had a bad tire or some sort of balancing issue. Usually with the sort of problem you're describing you want to unmount the tire, rotate it relative to the rim, and try again. Were you ever able to narrow it down to a specific tire, or they all had it?

I plan to have the DWS 06 tires roadforce balanced via Hunter GSP9700 after I have them mounted. I pick my tire shop based on whether they have a GSP9700 or not. So far so good on the S4.

 

[ddrueding]

I can understand the awkwardness. I managed to avoid it (at least in my head) by never even asking for a quote. Tire Rack just ships straight to his shop and I call to let him know they're mine after they arrive.

 

[Howell]

I'm pretty sure I did have a single bad tire so it wasn't as bad as it could have been so I alternated between vibration in the front and skipping a side for rotation. I would be surprised if they didn't think to rotate the tire relative to the rim; they give very personal service and I've been making special requests of them for years. I've seen there are some shops that coordinate with TireRack in a way. I'll probably look for one of them next time because I did love the DWS.

Edit:
So according to the Hunter GSP9700 Equipment Locator my shop has a "Road Touch Force". Is that something I would have to ask for?