hello,

i purchased a 1998 Audi A4 1.8t manuel over the weekend after many hours of looking for a nice one. i origionally wanted a white or silver one but wuold settle for black since they arent so here I am looking....BUTTTTTTTTT i bought a bright red one!

i dont know what i was thinking and actually i havent seen many red ones in my area so i figured it would be nice.
so i get the car home:
my husband and I instantly get on the computer a purchase 17" SSW 003 Wheels Audi Rims in Black with silver lip(small dish on them).
we also ordered a blacked out grill with the german flag emblem.
and that was all with in the first 2 hours we had it home!

so today is now monday and we went out today and set up to have the windows completely tinted on thursday.
and we bought a set of clear blinker lights (the pass one was cracked) so after putting them on I decided that we now need to get new headlight assy. the ones on the car now look bad with the new clear markers.....does anyone have a suggestion as to which ones to go with....I DONT WANT RICEY LOOKING ONES!!!!! I was thinking maybe just replacing them with new stock ones but i dont know if the lenses wll be clear like the markers or they will have that dull look to them? can someone help with this?

There is a sound it started to make today in the front pass side wheel area...maybe the common issue with control arms? makes clunking over bumps and whne driving in upper speeds makes a "unbalanced tire" sound? any suggestions?

I also need a new exterior rear quattro emblem and i looked on ebay but couldnt find just that one in the United states.
But over all I really love the car.

if anyone has any other suggestions like performance mods...please feel free to express!
thanks!

 

i say upgrade to one peice head lights they look alot cleaner and better
here is a write up, if your goin to do this i suggest you buy the Ecode (euro code headlights)
i dont think there is anything ricey about ecodes

here is a DIY
https://www.audiforums.com/m_149303/tm.htm

and i say if your not to crazy about modding i say just upgrade the ecu with a performace chip
look at APR, GIAC and maybe neuspeed
u can also get a full exhuast system

 

the clunking you hear is common. tis either the tierod ends or the upper control arms or both. and yea the only way to make those headlights look good is to upgrade to the 1 pc e-codes

 

yeah i wish i would have looked around b4 we bought the clear corners....but they are no returnable so im stuck with them...so thats why im searching for a nice clean looking headlight minus the corner.....plus i am not thrilled about modifying the car to get the ligths to fit...i want more of a plug and play version.
thanks for the advice!

 

its really not that hard to do but there are similar versions available that will be a direct fit. you can get these on ebay but i hear the quality is crap. there here are from lltek but they are WAY overpriced like everythink lltek carries. besides these two sources ive not seen them anywhere else.

 

or the cluncking could be the engine mounts. My car was makeing that same cluncking sound, and guess what! it was the engine mount the upper contrall arm, and the tie rod ends!!

 

there are a ton of options for headlights, but very few of them are worth anything. the only headlights you should buy are Valeo brand headlights (or bosch if you stick with the old school headlights). you can buy e-codes with no amber reflector, or you can buy us-spec headlights and clear the corners...the headlights are definitely the most important thing to upgrade on the exterior imo...check out these pictures...

old school headlights vs. new style...


[IMG]local://upfiles/6332/E21F90BDB5A048C59051DED23B8FF5A2.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/6332/24B5873C4A6A4492B1F94D4FD0937C6F.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/6332/E91FDDE085854800AF315A791E8AA71C.jpg[/IMG]

 

congrats on your audi!

 

lol....the first pic is what mine looks like....but i now have a clear corner light there with a amber bulb in it....dont want to get introuble with the cops too much if i put a white one....the red car already grabs the looks from them....thankfully i have 2 car seats in the back which will save me somewhat.....
basically i just want to make the lense cover on the original headlight look a little clearer....if i can find the headlight that sandman suggested without the side marker....im gonna get them but so far ive had no luck. if anyone is selling a set of new ones...let me know!

my husband is going to check the mounts and the control arms to see if that is whats making the clunking noise....hopefully it wont be too much of an issue to replace. i know i read somewhere about a recall for them but im not sure if my model and yr it pertains to or if was already done by someone previous to me. I purchased the car from a used car dealer and they had no previous owner information unfortunaly.

...just to let you know the luck im having so far...it only got better this morning....
i purchased these rims on friday in hopes of having for this friday....but today i got an email from the ebay store saying that the rims were damaged in the hurricane and that i can select another style of rim or color and they would send them out.....well they have my 800.00 and they dont have any other black rims like those for sale...plus why would I select another set from them only to find out that the new set i want is also damaged....so im not taking any chances and asked for a refund.....havent gotten it as of yet today.....hopefully this wont turn into a disaster!

so now im seaching local dealers to see if they have any options for me or if they have the rims i want.
i really want black 17" 5 star style rims i think with the blacked out windows the black rims will look awesome!
hopefully i can find a set b4 the winter really sets in and i can enjoy them b4 i have to take them off for the snow!

thanks...for listening to me vent....i needed that!

Erin

 

congrats on the Audi the modding has only starting haha now that you have joined this forum your bank account will be empty soon enough haha BTW how many miles on the car just make sure you have the timing belt and tensioners done by at least 70-80 miles

as for the clear corners you bought try and sell them on ebay as the 1 piece look much better in my opinion

for wheels this is a question I get almost everyday customers come up to me and ask me which wheels look best on there car but it is all personal opinion

as for the whine sound sounds like a wheel bearing problem very common on A4's and for the clunk without looking at the car my guess would be a control arm

and if you are interested in more power make sure to take a look at these few sites

www.goapr.com
www.pestuning.com
www.awetuning.com
www.atpturbo.com