A couple of months ago, I got my hands on this gem at a very reasonable price. After taking care of some mechanical issues, I am ready to tweak the look.

I recently swapped the stock 16s for 18" RS6 replicas. I still have about $350 set aside for appearance-related expenses for this car. I think it probably needs both tint and lowering, but I can only do one now, and I don't know when (or if) I will have money for the other. Sort of depends what I have to spend maintaining/repairing it in the short-term. Obviously, when I talk about lowering on a $350 budget, I'm talking about springs. I can't justify the $800-$1000 to do coilovers. I don't drive my cars hard, and my goal is looks, not performance.

Love to get some feedback from those who know the best way to spend money on these cars getting the most bang for their buck.

 

You don't mention the engine, but other than the 2.7T there is not much you can do with the other engines. I would claybar and wax it thoroughly, then tint. I went 35% on the sides but 15% on the rear to cut headlight glare. I am not a big proponent of lowering, especially if you deal with winter weather. Even stock, these struggle with anything over 8" if slushy, but can go through quite a bit more poof powder. Tint here in MI was $175, leaving the other half for repairs...or at least for necessary maintenance. E.g., owner's manual calls for changing brake fluid every two years; I believe in changing differential fluids every 60k; when is the TB due? (usually in the 80k miles range).