New member. New Owner.

A6 All/ S6 All
#1

I just purchased a 2010 with 78k on the clock, as a daily (black on black with the CF inlays). The damn thing is immaculate, save for the wheels, both inside and out, with only a few insignificant scratches here and there. The wheels are curb rashed all to hell (clearly someone couldn’t park worth a damn), but that is getting correcting this Monday and should look good as new.

Sadly, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Before purchase I took the car to get PPI’d. It passed (hence why I bought it), with only some wear items (that will be promptly replaced), a lack of TPM sensors, which I already knew from the light on the dash, and a need to be serviced being an issue. They didn’t go as far as to see if there are any carbon issues, but I didn’t expect them to. After a couple of hours of smooth, trouble-free driving, the car decided to hesitate when on the gas a couple of times. Basically, press the gas, wait a couple of beats, then it responds. Fast forward to the evening and I decide to take the car around the block to see if it would act up again. It did, bucking like a mad horse out of first gear then settling down and driving fine again. Fun times!!

The car will be in the shop next week to get serviced and I will obviously be bringing this to their attention to hopefully get sorted. I am not overly concerned about it…yet. I knew going in there might be some areas that need attention; this isn’t my first rodeo with a car with unique attributes.

So, greetings all, and I look forward to the online camaraderie.

Ed

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/ftg60k3xfpoewvl/firstday.jpg

#2

Welcome, and AWESOME first post! Happy to have another V10 S6 owner in here!

Sounds like you picked up a great car with no major issues. Here’s my thoughts:

TPMS sensors, these have to be replaced every few years anyways, so no big deal.

The jumpiness/delayed acceleration… My S6 exhibited similar symptoms shortly before the high-pressure fuel pump(s) went out. It could be caused by that, or several other things. Namely the fuel injectors, coil packs, or spark plugs. The latter 2 are cheap to replace, and you may want to do that anyways just because it’s a common problem in these cars. The fuel injectors cost a lot more, around $120 each x 10. So I’d recommend replacing the other items first and see if the problem is fixed. The High-pressure fuel pumps also cost a lot (~$800 for the pair) but they are easy and you can do it yourself in 20 minutes. I have a thread in this forum about that.

Wheel curb rash - what are you doing about to fix that? I’m curious for myself, because my wheels look like hell too. I don’t have the budget for new wheels just yet, with a huge overhaul my car is going through right now (see my JHM overhaul thread).

I would definitely get a carbon clean done ASAP, for several reasons. First, these cars NEED it every 30k miles or so. Odds are, the previous owner sold the car right around the time one was due, because it costs about $800 to perform unless you do it yourself (not easy, but there are threads here that cover it if you do go that route). Second reason to do this, is that the intake manifold frequently has problems, and a new car with unknown history should have the manifold inspected to see if the flaps are broken. A new manifold is ~$2500, so hopefully you don’t need one, but if you do, the earlier you fix it the better. The third reason is that carbon buildup might be the reason for your delayed acceleration issue. And thge 4th reason is that during a carbon cleaning, this is the PERFECT time to install JHM intake manifold spacers. It is universally agreed that, dollar for dollar, this is probably the best upgrade you can make to these cars. You will take a LOT of the heat stress out of your engine, which translates to more reliability. Plus, more power through lower intake temps.

One last point I want to make, is make sure you have a competent shop! Most (nearly all) shops even Audi-specific shops, have never even seen one of these motors before, let alone worked on one. If you let us know where you are, we can help you find a shop nearby that will actually know what they’re doing. If you are on the West Coast of the US, then the best shop by FAR is going to be JHM in central CA. These guys not only know the book, they wrote it.

I’m sure I’m leaving stuff out. So my best advice is to read the Infodump thread (pinned), as well as the first couple pages of threads. Nearly everyone in this forum is an S6 owner like ourselves, so you’ve come to the right place. Again, welcome, happy to have you here! And congrats on your new S6!!!

#3

Also, check out your front suspension control arms. These seem to be trashed by around 60k-80k miles on most of our cars, and while your car will run OK with trashed control arm busings, you’ll be leaving a lot of handling on the table. This you can inspect yourself if you just take a look underneath, or have your tire shop take a look when they do the wheels & TPMS sensors. I believe the A6 and S6 share control arms parts, so that will help you find them if you need them, since as I’m sure you’ve noticed S6-specific parts are not that easy to find.

#4

I also want to go over upgrades with you, since I have nothing better to do as I sit here enjoying a glass of wine :wink:

If you plan to leave the car stock, that’s ok but there are a few things you should do anyways, to increase the reliability of your car if nothing else. First is the aforementioned intake manifold spacers, for the reasons I already mentioned. I also recommend the JHM tune, as it not only increases performance, but more importantly it modifies the ECU’s in a way that the engine will be far more reliable. Aside from those upgrades, make sure you stay on top of maintenance. This is something I can’t stress enough. Problems have a tendency to snowball - as one problem gets worse, it often starts to put excessive wear on the next part down the line. Stay on top of it and you’ll be in great shape. Most major engine issues (cylider wall scoring and such) seem to present themselves in cars under 50k miles or so, which means you’ve likely got an engine that’s in great shape - keep it that way. If you get a CEL, investigate it right away. Invest in a Ross-Tech VAG-COM if you can (~$500) and it will help you immensely. Otherwise, a capable VW/Audi shop can check your codes and diagnose issues. Once again, stay on top of maintenance and you’ll be a happy owner. Let things snowball too far, and you’ll be left with a repair bill that makes you regret your purchase.

These cars are so cheap (relatively) because the maintenance is such a headache for most people. Nobody wants to deal with carbon buildup, or bad fuel delivery systems, or other common issues, which allows us to get these cars “cheap”. But the V10 is a freakin’ bullet-proof block. Keep up on the maintenance, and you won’t regret your purchase. These motors are built to last, and they do. Can’t stress this enough, from personal experience plus a couple years on this forum, stay on top of maintenance!

Ok, now… if you want to do some completely unnecessary, but fun, performance enhancements:

-Exhaust. Skip the Milltek exhaust. Yes, it sounds awesome. I have one, and I love it, and don’t plan to change it - however… it doesn’t add any performance. It’s only (If i remember correctly) a 2.375" exhaust, as opposed to the stock 2.25" exhaust, which changes very little. It is an A6 exhaust system that is modified slightly to fit an S6. These cars really want to have a 3" exhaust system, which unfortunately you can’t really buy a pre-assembled kit for (yet). If sound is all you want, then Milltek is fine. Actually it’s quite good. But if you want a few more horses, you’ll need a custom 3" system, and probably headers, and you’re looking at big $$$.

-Intake. There’s not much you can do here. The only off-the-shelf upgrades available are the JHM spacers, and aftermarket filters. I use the K&N filters with great success, they perform much better than even brand new stock ones. A good upgrade for ~$120 or so. Not much else you can do with the intake as of now, sadly.

-Brakes. JHM just came out with (a few weeks ago) some VERY lightweight disks for all 4 corners. Each front disk weighs 15lbs less than stock, and the rears weigh 5lbs less than stock. Huge upgrade.

-Trans. It probably won’t take long before you realize the trans in these cars leaves a lot to be desired. They are bulletproof transmissions, but they’re sluggish. If yours is really bad, a fluid flush might help. Others have had good luck with a “zip kit”, though I have’nt tried it. “ZF Lurch” is also a common problem, there’s a thread about that here.

-Other. JHM has a lighteweight crank pulley that is a great upgrade, but it might be best to wait until you need a belt service since both items require removal of the front-end of the car to change it, better to do it all at once. If you need to service the accessory belts or any belt-related items, you should do the crank pulley, the belt tensioner (JHM has an upgrade for that as well), the belt, and the water pump all at the same time, even if your water pump is working ok.

Additional point - might want to replace your vent hoses now. These seem to go bad around 100k or so in many of our cars, it’s cheap and could prevent a problem down the road. Your coolant return hose plastic Y connector is also a piece of junk, and costs $150 to replace, but there is good news. A brass fitting from Home Depot costs $3 and will last you a lifetime. Might as well replace that now, because it will almost certainly break when you do you carbon cleaning. There’s info about that in some other threads as well, I covered it in my “mystery coolant leak” thread.

#5

Ok I’m almost done. 2 more things I forgot to mention.

The SAI system (Secondary air injection), is generally unneeded in most cars. It’s an emissions thing, helps heat up the cats on a cold start. You might have noticed that your car sounds more awesome than usual during the first 60 seconds or so after a cold start - this is why. But despite the awesome temporary sound, this system is not doing anything helpful for you. JHM makes SAI blocks that cut this system off, which could help you in ways that it’s way above my pay grade to explain, hopefully someone else here can. But it’s cheap, worth looking into. Best to do this while the front end of your car is already off, like during accessory belt work.

The second item is the oil separator heater. In extremely cold weather, this heater warms up the oil separator in your intake manifold to operating temps before everything gets hot enough on its own. That’s great, except that it’s is constantly heating, even when it’s already hot. This is increasing your intake manifold temperature ALL THE TIME. Just for the sake of those few freezing cold mornings when you might first start your car. JHM sells a $15 bypass kit to fix this - I have no idea how hard it is to install, but I believe its pretty simple.

And before you ask, yes you might’ve noticed a lot of plugs for JHM, and no, I don’t work for JHM :smiley: They just, really, are the only company out there right now that knows what they’re doing with these cars. So it’s no cooincidence that most of my (and nearly everyone else in here) recommendations start with them!

#6

Appreciate the welcome.

The injectors, plugs, and coil packs are exactly where my mind went when it happened, and as you suggested, were already on my list of items to be replaced (the coil packs and plugs that is). The fuel pumps and injectors will both be an “ouch” to the wallet if needing to be replaced, but if they must, they must. I’m never against new parts being installed as it allows me to know the history of said parts.

The curb rash is going to be worked on by a wheel refinisher (http://www.aceautorecon.com/. Sand, fill, sand, smooth, color match, that whole deal. This is my first time getting this done, and if the before and after pictures I’ve seen from previous customers are any indication, the wheels should hopefully look new, or at least pretty damn close to new. We’ll see.

As far as the carbon cleaning, you know, I’ve been tossing around the idea of getting it done. That whole “liking to know the history” thing keeps screaming in my head. I’ve been trying to convince myself that perhaps all is well in there, but the reality is just as you’ve stated, and I need to have it done. And yes, the intake spacers were considered as well.

I’m currently in Los Angeles about 10 minutes north of LAX. I’ve been reading up on JHM (I’ve been perusing this forum long before I purchased the car), but central CA would be a bit of a trek to get work done. So close, yet so far. If there are any shops down this way that anyone would like to recommend, please do. If not, I may need to figure something out with JHM.

I’ll have a look at those control arms. Thanks for the heads up.

One last thing, and maybe my mind is messing with me, but I swear the DRLs on this thing are working intermittently. Sometimes they are on, and sometimes they aren’t. During the day, headlights off, they should be on like any other DRLs, right? I’ll have to keep an eye on them.

#7

Oh damn, 2 new posts while I was typing. LOL
Now to read those. ;D

#8

Sorry for the book, you just happened to catch me on a night where I’m in an automotive-state-of-mind and have nothing better to do :smiley: Glad to have you here!

#9

I’m a bit anal about maintenance on my cars, so no worries there with me.

The only “performance” mod I was really considering are air filters. My performance seeking days are behind me, and hell, I ride sport bikes, so when I want to go really fast, there it is.

And no worries on all of the posts, I appreciate talking shop with like-minded people. I used to do it with previous performance cars, I do it with sport bikes, I do it with computers (I’m a custom water-cooling junkie), and now I do it here. I love it!

#10

See my responses in bold above ^

#11

Understandable, I’m a little the same way. My car-pimping days are way behind me - but the products that do exist for the S6 iare designed primarily for reliability, with better performance as a by-product. There is almost zero aftermarket marketplace for the S6, because they are such uncommon cars - but the products that do exist, exist for a good reason.

#12

Oh, certainly. I wouldn’t replace them unless they needed it.

Yeah, it’s pretty much a sure thing at this point. You’ve convinced me, and again, it was already on the back of my mind. I assume this is something JHM can do as well? I’m starting to think a road trip is in order.

It’s looking like that may very well happen. 8)
I’ll have a look at those control arms. Thanks for the heads up.

My other cars have DRLs, and I’m the weirdo that appreciates the styling behind them, as well as uses them as an identifier when I see them on various cars. I remember when no cars had them. Now they are as standard as tires.

#13

PS, far-more-technical people than myself will be along soon I’m sure, this S6 forum only has ~12-15 or so people and most are more knowledgeable than myself, and most live in time zones a few hours ahead. So stand by for more outpouring of knowledge than I can possibly provide myself

#14

JHM is a full-service shop, aside from being a parts manufacturer. My car is on their lifts as we speak, and just got a carbon clean by them along along with about 30 other items 8) I hate to sound like an infomercial but they have by far the best parts and labor rates you will find, and most importantly they truly enjoy what they do and want you to leave happy.

When I had my fuel pump issue, I took my car to a local trusted audi mechanic, and while they really meant well and I can’t fault them too much, they really just were in way over their heads with my car. After they quoted me $1600 to replace my pumps, I ordered new ones myself on eBay and did it myself for $750 and 20 minutes of my time. They meant well, the fact is they were just a small independent shop that mostly works on A4’s and such. JHM is a HUGE facility with a massive staff of people who have a ton of experience with YOUR car. They have exactly your car (my car) on their lifts at this very moment. Your local Audi dealer probably hasn’t even had one in there for so much as an oil change in years, if ever

#15

I’ll give JHM a call on Monday and see what I am working with as far as cost and turn-around time. I’d love to get the car up to them early next week, but would need it back later in the same week, idealy. Having just bought the car outright, I am also feeling a little light in the wallet, so, uh…yeah.

#16

It doesn’t sound like the work you need will cost too much, but I’m not really in a position to say for sure. If you want, they’ll give your car a complete diagnosis and a list of everything they recommend, which you can of course decide for yourself which things you want to address now vs. later. I think they charged me 1 hour of labor for the complete checkover, which no doubt took them quite a few hours to do. They won’t pressure you to do any work you don’t really need. When I asked them if I really needed the new fuel injectors that they recommended, they told me straight up that mine are probably fine for a while longer, it would be nice to do them while the car is apart but it’s not the end of the world if we don’t, so we didn’t. They could have just as easily told me that mine were shot and I needed new ones, and I wouldn’t have known any better. They fully understand the economics concept that return customers make them a lot more money in the long term than do ripped off, unhappy customers. Unfortunately that’s a rare quality in the mechanic world.

Also there’s an Enterprise rental car place that will pick you up from their shop. So you can probably rent a car from there to drive home, use for a few days, and drive back up for less than a couple hundred bucks.

Believe me when I say the piece of mind after having a capable shop like them diagnose and repair your car is priceless. I got really lucky that my S6 didn’t really need any major service for my first 2 years, but honestly those first 2 years were really nerve-wracking. Having no idea what condition my car was really in. Every day wondering if today was the day my car would end up on the side of the highway waiting for a tow truck. Not fun. Wish I’d taken it to a good shop, in my case JHM, in the beginning.

Not to mention, if I’d done that in the beginning I’d probably have had my smaller issues reolved earlier, and spread out over time, maybe saving some money or at least not taking such a big hit on my wallet all at once. Instead I ended up waiting until the last minute and getting stuck with paying for all of it at once, luckily JHM was able to work with me and keep me within budget, since I don’t exactly have a limitless wallet either

#17

Wow scott went to work on just about everything anyone could say. Let me come and say hello and welcome. What you might find is AR is a stright up community of excited and motivated car guys.

You have a great car with lots of potential and lots of fun years ahead. The thing that brings a good portion of people to sell these cars is the past owners dont know enough about the needed maintentance and before you know it bam there are a growing list of small issues that come out of nowhere and it can be a big undertaking.

To back up a few things scott said. CARBON CLEAN CARBON CLEAN CARBON CLEAN. Carbon build up will be the thing that will take out our injectors and ruin your intake manifold. Carbon will cause the car to ping and run rough. Knowing what carbon your car might or might not have is a big part in helping keep the car issue free.

As scott mentioned there is one company that has been doing this for over 10 years. JHM. The JHM formula is buy a car and dig into the car. Find all the issues and fix them for a reasonable price while offering better then OEM parts as replacements. So its not just replace a part but replace a part or add a part thats not just performance but helpful in prevenitive measures as well.

Lots of great stuff going on for the V10 right now. On this forum no question is a bad question. So if you are not sure ask. We are all here for eachother.

You can send them a Email V10@jhmotorsports.com

#18

Again, appreciate the welcome.

The uniqueness of the C6 S6 was a large part of the appeal for me. I could’ve purchased any number of other cars, but kept looking at this S6. It ticked all of the right boxes for me to use as a daily. Once I get it sorted, I look forward to many miles of driving it.

I will be in contact with JHM to hopefully get the car up to them this week. A carbon clean will be one of the top things on the list.

#19

Love the refresh! Welcome to the board

#20

Like you, the uniqueness is what got me hooked too. I wanted a C6 S6 for at least 2 years before I finally got one. I know what I was getting into… and I knew that the C7 S6 was faster, and even though buying a C7 was on the table, I didn’t want a V8. I wanted a V10. Even if it meant it was slower. Fast forward 2 years, and I absolutely don’t regret my choice. This is one of the coolest cars that the average person can buy. It doesn’t get tons of looks on the road every day, except from a select few. My signature line, “sausage magnet”, is a tongue-in-cheek quote from another member here in reference to the fact that the only people who pay any attention to it are gearheads, which are typically male. But that’s the way I like it. Not the attention from dudes… I mean I like the lack of attention in general. The fact that I’ve got a giant family sedan that everyone assumes is an A6 or similar, because odds are they’ve never seen an S6 before. But they have no idea what lurks under the hood, that it’s one of the finest motors ever made. Hell, I LOOK for other S6’s on the road, and to date I’ve only ever spotted 2 others. So the attention it gets when I hammer the gas and it sounds like a freakin’ FormulaOne car is priceless. It’s really impossible to put into words, but as fellow S6 owners I’m sure a lot of you guys know what I’m talking about.