OK, so my A4 has been acting up for a while. It's a 2001.5 model with about 81k miles on it. Ever since warranty ended on it, it has been nothing but a money pit. I already had the entire top end replaced due to an oil system failure, the C Pillars have water damage on them (already been replaced once under warranty, Beverly Hills Audi will no longer honor their work), my turbo went from a whine to sounding like the intake from an Evo (deep sucking sound), passenger side tie rod is broken, and the batter will die if I don't drive the car once a week.

I'm not sure why all these problems are happening, and I haven't been able to get definitive answers from my sources as all the shops I know just do drift cars. I don't want to take it back to the dealership either.

Now my situation is this: I'm currently driving a BMW545i, and I'm looking to get a new car 2 years. I've been thinking of a BMW M3 done up in the spirit of the M3 GTR. But I really like my A4, I'd like to fix that and if the performance can be attained, I wouldn't mind putting the money into the A4 instead.

Of course the major setbacks are that my A4 is AT and FWD, and I'm basically looking for an S4 (bigger engine V6 or W8 + turbo) with quattro and 6 speed.

My friends have been wanting to build my A4 for quite some time, but like I mentioned earlier, they mostly do drift cars (240SX 350Z MR-2 etc...). I've seen their work and it's top rate, but I'm just not sure if things will work just because it'll fit.

I know I'm probably all over the place so to sum it up, I'm aiming for 6 speed and AWD plus possible engines.

I'm not really worried about cost right now, I'm really more concerned about getting the informatio that will help me.

Thanks in advance.

 

Sell your car, because it's auto... if you want to mod your car... the transmission will be the weak link... it's only good for 275 ft/lbs of torque... So yeah. Also... FWD... blah.

Sorry to hear about all the troubles though. The oil issue, was it sludge? If you have proof of all the required oilchanges... I think you can get that replaced -- well, you might be able to get reimbursed. Sludging is common enough that audi has acknowledged the problem.

 

The oil issue was mostly taken care of with a few angry phone calls to Beverly Hills Porsce/Audi and Audi HQ. All they told me was that carbon build up clogged up the system.

So I take it that replacing the transmission and drive axles aren't as simple as on the Japanese cars.

 

DUDE M3 GTR would kick *** go for that all the way

 

Yeah if you have the money to do up an M3, then sell the FWD a4 and get an S4, or the M3.

 

Well as of right now, the A4 is just going to be a trade in. It's not worth the cost to fix it and sell it, actually, I think the cost to fix it might be higher than it's blue book value. It's basically a chassis to me.

M3 GTR is unique, the only thing that worries me is the look of the current 3 series. It seems to have lost it's aggressive appeal, although hopefully they'll fix that with the coupe. The next M3 is supposed to have a V-8 with 400+ HP and hopefully enough room to add in a few goodies. Oddly enough, I was very much against BMW's until I drove the 545i.