# Buying a '92 S4



## FluidMotion (Dec 5, 2009)

I will be looking at a '92 S4 latter today and could use some advice. 121k, red paint, 5spd. What issues should I be looking for with this car? Heard that Audi's red paint fades easily. Will this car be a money pit? What do you love and hate about your Ur S4?


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## Type44 (Jan 20, 2007)

In order of your questions:
Transmission noise. is 1st quiet? If so, good to go.
The paint does fade easily. But OTOH, it is 18 yrs old. I wouldn't expect perfect paint on *any* '92. My black '93 has been repainted.
No. Mine has needed a coolant reservoir, an 02 sensor, and a slave cylinder in the past 26 months/30,000 miles. It's now at 105,000 and apart from this $150 worth of parts has been bulletproof. Only ths clutch hydraulic problem was immediate, and I still got home from 150 miles away.
It' s not for everyone, but it's the most amazing of the 27 cars I've owned.


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## Chapel (Jun 23, 1999)

*FV-QR*

The OEM ignition is robust, but original pieces are starting to fail now. (not a bad life)
The OEM pieces are prohibitively expensive.
Some people like the VW/Audi coilpacks, but I'm not one of them. 
for the same price, you can go to EFIExpress.com and have Marc build you an LS2 coil pack conversion kit for $400.
It's a great kit that produces amazing results and the coils are cheap and plentiful. The first upgrade I would recommend.
The heads could use a refresher around 200k miles. new valve guides and seats and while you've got the head off, probably wouldn't hurt to have it ported and polished and then cleaned and squared. However it's not necessary. plenty of 200k+ mile motors with original heads. Mine was rebuilt last year at 160k. It's great.
Transmissions will start to see wear (crunchy 2nd is a tell tale sign and a noisy 1st or second), but the 01E transmission is plentiful, but not terribly cheap. However the 6 speed from the B5 S4s and even the later B6 and B7 1.8Ts bolts up with the removal of a few guide dowels
The brake accumulators can fail. They're expensive to buy new but there's a guy on the s-car-list that recharges them for a C-note
The 92s are actually one of the best years too.
switchable ABS
quattro script on the rear windows
high intensity washer reservoir (I was thinking of buying one of these, refitting the HI washer reservoir as the main reservoir and using the large regular reservoir as a meth injection tank)
better suspension
My only complaint of the car in stock form is the brakes (at least on the US version) are just barely adequate. At least for me anyway. I've heard with fresh pads, thick rotors and a well bled system they're not too bad.
Also, the stock exhaust manifold is kinda crap. 2-3-4 feed the turbo directly while 1-5 feed direct to the wastegate. RS2 manifolds are the way to go. all primaries feed the turbo. The stock turbocharger is a bit weak willed too. with some software it can wake it the **** up, but they run out of steam in the top end.
However, the camshafts from the 7A can help wake up the top end for a $100-200.
it's a wonderful car. it's kind of a big ass Jetta 16V turbo with 4WD.
Easy to DIY.
fairly robust
fairly cheap to get parts for
great aftermarket (surprisingly)
lots of power potential


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## S4orceaudi (Oct 20, 2004)

*Re: Buying a '92 S4 (FluidMotion)*

I liked my UR-S6 better then my mint 1995 BMW m3 in all aspects. Go for it, nothing eats up mils like a UR-S car. It is also a excellent highway car with plenty of traction to spare. The brakes feel a little soft but when you need them and put your foot into them they bite better then most people think, you got to remember its a 3,800 pound tank, I mean car. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif I'm on the hunt for anouther right now.


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