I lived in NoCal and happily drove a heavily modded E36 M3 convertible. My job then took me to Minneapolis, and i figured it was a perfect excuse to get a shiny new S4 ('04 Moro blue, 6-speed). Anyway, I've been driving it for some 15 months, happily I might add, until the other day when we had some heavy rain. I hit a (large) puddle and it died. Had it towed to the Carousel dealership, whereupon then informed me that water had been sucked into the intake and have cracked some pistons, rods and other irreparable damage. This cream puff had only ~7K miles on it.

OK, so insurance kicks in and since they (the dealer) don't rebuild these, it would need an entirely NEW engine shipped from Germany, which with labor etc would be ~$20-25K to do, I was thinking they would salvage it, and I was already thinking 911T, but alas they are going to fix it. Now, making things more interesting is that this is a 2-yr lease that ends in 6/06, so even if it aint the same after the rebuild (which i think it might be fine, since the electrical system/frame/tranny etc were not affected), then i would just turn it in and go hunting for another sweet all-weather ride (911T, RS6, maybe M5/E55AMG in the mix). However, I put a large down on the lease so my residual at the end of the term is LOOOOW, and if i were happy with its performance/feel after the new engine gets dropped in, i might just buy it. After all, it really is the ideal car for Minnepaolis, better than any of the aforementioned cars. Also, it's like a free new engine to me, so it's a tempting thought to say the least!

So time will tell whether I will buy it outright, based on my experience in it after the repair. Let's assume it feels as good or better than before.... As fast as it is, I want MORE, which leads me to the second point: What and who can mod this thing for me to kick up the performance? I am sure there are ECU chips, cams, shifters (i hate the stock shifter), and maybe even supercharger/turbos that might be added to make this thing truly wicked! I'm most interested in outfits with proven track records and the closer to minneapolis the better! Your thoughts? I would rather mod this thing than look for a 911T, so what are my options??

Thanks - Art

 

Sorry to hear that - I had a similar issue (actually twice) when water got sucked into the engine )of my B5) - killed the MAF but as far as I know I had no other damage. The first (and worse) time I ran the car on idle and kept the revs going a bit and clouds of steam were pouring ourt my exhaust for about 1/2 hour! I was very gentle driving it (home and then to the dealer later) after that - check engine light was on of course - the severe lurching diminished quite a bit after I dried it out. The second time occured when I was leaving a dealership for some other repairs and it downpoured(first time was going through a puddle at speed that was much deeper then I figured)...again I was driving quickly and confidently as I think i should be able to do in an S4 in the rain - and I noticed the check engine light go on and a bit of lurching...well MAF fried again! Both of these instances were many miles ago - so I don't think (I hope) no lasting damage...

My brother in law had some idiot back into him as he was driving (slowly) through a parking lot less then 1 week after buying his brand new Acura NSX! Yup - $7K+ of damage. The repairs (replaced body panals down passenger side and perhaps a door...) were done very nicely where you couldn't tell - but he was all anxious and upset as you can imagine...so hang in their - it will turn out OK... I imagine the car should run at least as it did before and perhaps better. I don't know about the B6/7 available mods - but if you were to check the various Audi tuner websites I'm sure you'll come up with something to spend your money on....or better yet - sell the S4 and get a new RS4 that will be here shortly - yeah - thats the ticket!