Think of the B5 S4 as a high maintenance girlfriend. If you pay attention to it, buy it shiny things, and fix the baggage the last owner created it will treat you to a night of your life.
I own a 98 B5 A4 1.8T (FWD tho). Great car, drives better than the E46 I have owned (I'm sorry BMW guys, it does) and I love every aspect of it. It was my daily driver for a while, now I have made it my project car to turn into a street legal track car. Parts are everywhere and upgrade parts are easy af to find.... Oh and btw, here in Europe they came with a bunch of different engines, ther was the 90 and 110hp 1.9 TDI, a 100hp 1.6, 125hp NA 1.8 20V, 150HP 1.8T (mine), 180HP 1.8T, 150hp 2.6 V6, 165hp 2.4 30V V6, 174hp 2.8 12V V6 and the 193hp 2.8 30V V6. And then the S4 and RS4 of course. But I'd recommend getting either the 1.9TDI, 1.8T or the 2.8 30V, those are the best engines to find in the A4. Or get an S4 and build it like crazy lol
Daily driven A4 B5 1.8t 5 speed Manual Quattro Avant for 12 years, DIY isn't difficult, with a decent toolkit. There's a huge amount of support in forums worldwide. I've also owned a B5 S4 Quattro Avant, which admittedly can be a bit daunting, but dont be afraid to get into learning, sharing knowledge & maintaining it yourself.
so i have a 2.8 quattro and def is a very reliable car. Mine has 208000 miles and the only issues are the sun roof, they are relatively quick for a normal car on the road. The 5 speed that it comes with is pretty damn indestructible. If its not electrical then the car is very easy to work on, and sounds great even stock.
This video has made me realize how lucky I got with my $1000 b5 other than it’s a (N/A) v6 I won every other category (manual, Quattro, Avant) but from personal experience I’ve had mostly annoying electrical problems
Coming from someone with a b5 2.8 I haven’t had many issues with my car my motor was beat its whole life (200k miles) the parts from the s4 and rs4 can be put on the 2.8 the 2.7 and 2.8 are the same motor just turbo vs na that literally it the engine size on any scanner connected to a 2.8 and 2.7 says 2.777 there is some fail points on them but same as any car the auto trans is slow and sluggish but the manuals are where the fun is
Hi, I daily a modified b5s4 here (hard to find the s4s unmolested these days). Does it suck to daily? Sometimes. These cars are incredible, best car I've owned and has treated me well. However, you must do the maintenance and do not neglect this car. The maintenance gets expensive, and most maintenance jobs are not easy, definitely not a car I would recommend to a novice car enthusiast getting into cars. I think the real cripple of this car is a lot of work that is easy on most cars is not on this car, a lot of maintenance requires the entire front end to be removed and in some cases completely pulling the motor. What's nice is audi designed this in mind so with some patience and experience with the car, removing the front end and pulling the motor can actually be a relatively easy process. It's also an old audi, so expect lots of fluid leaks until you're able to refresh all your seals.
I'm thinking about getting a quattro A4 convertible with the V6. When I owned a convertible (Sebring) and lived in Pittsburgh and had winters, I was fine keeping the top down through most of the winter. That could make my first Connecticut winter more fun.
You're asking for trouble with the cars you're getting...I'd look at data like maintenance costs and mechanic testimonies before buying anything unless I had a lot of money to burn.
bro where thhe fuck do i find a b5 meet up like the one i just witnessed. i would actually pass out if i was around so much b5. i saw 2 in scottsdale and teared up
I know this is late asf but these are awesome cars to rwd swap and it's easier also more reliable than a subaru, and can handle 350hp pretty easy with basic upgrades.
Welp my grandpa is giving me one of these for my birthday. He had it for a long time so I’m not sure the condition or anything. He’s said he’s gotten it to drive soooo and is putting it thru emissions so 🤷🏽♂️
My stage 3, 2013 B8.5 A4 just blew the motor at 154,000 miles. I’m in the market now for a B5 1999 A4 Avant 1.8T Quattro, 5 speed manual. Thanks for the video!
If you want the realiability of a daily and don't mind the FWD you can also get the 1.9 tdi. Definetely not the best sounding stuff but VERY reliable EXTREMELY good mileage and you can still do some mild tuning to have some power, even though again it will sound like a tractor. If you're in only for practicality, 1.9 tdi is basically unbeatable.
in like 2014ish i got a '00 A4 2.8 with 60kish miles for $6k for my first car. While it was a car driven in Boston, it was single owner who was an old lady, was garaged and overall was in great shape. Father brought it to Audi prior to buying it, said it was in great shape for what it was. Nowadays, if they're asking 8k, id see that as being ok, all things considered (inflation) but would recommend bringing it to Audi to have their input before buying it. If i remember correctly, the belt was going to need to be replaced after 20-30k more miles and i think we replaced the fuel pump, but that was more so preventative.
