BoldUlysses' 540i/6 Log & Thread o' Questions

[BoldUlysses]

Car looks great and good choice on the chip and Konis!

Thanks!

*sigh* You're making me jealous again. Your car was so tight except for the shocks, and now that those are done it's gotta be pretty awesome. Mine is so tired in comparison - but at least I know that now. It's funny how the 'tired' sneaks up on you over mileage...you don't notice it till it's really 'tired', then you're disappointed you let it get that bad. At least, that's my feeling... Very nice on the new parts - enjoy them. One other thing - where are the Koni's set right now? Full soft?

Fox

Thanks Fox. First test drive was on full soft (that's how they came from the factory), next was with them cranked up a full turn. That was too harsh, so I dialed them back half a turn.

So, now that you've got the Koni's in, how is the feel compared to your old 525? I recall you saying how you felt the 525 handled better/lighter. Do the Koni's close or eliminate that gap?

Good question. They very nearly eliminate the disparity. The 540 weighs 200+ lbs more than the 525; there's no getting around that, but the Konis made a HUGE difference. The biggest change is that the steering feels lighter. I don't know how they would make it feel that way, but a big part of what bothered me before was the 540's nose-heavy feeling where the 525 felt perfectly balanced around the center of the car. Not only that, the heavier steering made the car give me more of a workout through the twisties. Now, I like a bit of heft to the steering, but it felt excessive. The Konis don't completely do away with the slightly nose-heavy weight bias, but the 540 now feels much more collected and harmonious, like all the controls have exactly the right amount of feedback and effort. Every movement is controlled; everything is totally buttoned-down; nothing is loose at all. The new shocks really brought the whole car more into focus, if that makes sense.

No rubbing noise from the left front (see burn mark on shock, previous page) is a nice bonus too.

[thatonedood]

Thanks guys. Cleaned out the garage earlier and the E34's back in it for the first time in a couple of months (house projects, etc). Nice to have it "home." I need to take a pic for the "Where Your E34 Sleeps" thread...



I don't know. I just don't know. I'm so on the fence about it. On the one hand it's just extra clutter; on the other hand it does look nice in profile and gives my E34 a point of difference from others...

I think the real deciding factor will be once I put wheels on it. If it clashes with the wheels, off it comes.

I know I earlier said it's not bad – and it's not, but I'd lose it. But, then again..

thatonedood has a serious impediment to seeing good taste.

..

[bubba966]

Good question. They very nearly eliminate the disparity. The 540 weighs 200+ lbs more than the 525; there's no getting around that, but the Konis made a HUGE difference. The biggest change is that the steering feels lighter. I don't know how they would make it feel that way, but a big part of what bothered me before was the 540's nose-heavy feeling where the 525 felt perfectly balanced around the center of the car. Not only that, the heavier steering made the car give me more of a workout through the twisties. Now, I like a bit of heft to the steering, but it felt excessive. The Konis don't completely do away with the slightly nose-heavy weight bias, but the 540 now feels much more collected and harmonious, like all the controls have exactly the right amount of feedback and effort. Every movement is controlled; everything is totally buttoned-down; nothing is loose at all. The new shocks really brought the whole car more into focus, if that makes sense.

No rubbing noise from the left front (see burn mark on shock, previous page) is a nice bonus too.

Good to see that the Koni's did pretty much what I told you they would do. They did about the same thing to my Touring. Though I was comparing that to the EDC in my M-Sport. The M-Sport has a lot more advantages over the Touring in the handling/driving feel department. But the Koni's cut that gap by a good amount. The Touring will never feel as good as the M-Sport does. But it's much more similar now.

[BoldUlysses]

Met up with Tim (gixxer) at the local Pull-A-Part earlier this afternoon and found some goodies. Electric fans, shrouds and relays from a Volvo 960 and S70, and rear door weatherstripping from an E39:



The pair of E34s I saw a month or two ago were no longer there, which I was pretty bummed about. Still, we made the best of it.

Here's the 960 assembly:



and the S70 (renamed 850) one:



The S70 shroud is slightly wider, but the 960 assembly is much cleaner. Not sure what I'm going to use, especially since the S70 shroud is 22.5" across and my 540's radiator core measures 25.5". Hmm. Will have to figure that out.

In the meantime, I got the weatherstripping spliced in so all the corners now follow the contours of the doors:



Finished the job and sat in car admiring the inside of the B-pillars for a good 10 minutes. Only an E34 owner...

The E39 weatherstripping is a very close match, but not perfect. The large "bulge" is slightly bigger and it contains an integral metal strip absent our E34s' weatherstripping. But the grippie portion is identical and the splices will work just fine until an E34 pops up in the yard and I can score the proper piece. I took a bunch of pics of my procedure and will write up a DIY in the very near future. The most extreme shrinkage was on the driver's rear door, where the rubber had a full 2.5" gap when cut and re-seated all around.

The car is as close to perfect now as any car I've owned, to the point where I can actually contemplate "upgrade" projects with a clear conscience, knowing that all the essential maintenance and repairs are taken care of, except for a couple of things. Loving it.

Here's the car sleeping, next to my feral child having fun in the driveway:

[AndrewH]

put the caps back. thatonedood has a serious impediment to seeing good taste.

Lulllllll stock wheels look stupid without caps, just looks like something's broken, especially on stock springs (and this is coming from a ricer who used to run an e28 capless) but that lasted all of 2 weeks. Car is looking nice man.

[BoldUlysses]

Thanks Andrew. Yeah normally I like wheels with exposed lug nuts/bolts, but if the cap it supposed to be there I put it on.

Although, in the interest of full disclosure, I did run this cap-less for quite some time:

[Binjammin]

Thanks Andrew. Yeah normally I like wheels with exposed lug nuts/bolts, but if the cap it supposed to be there I put it on.

Although, in the interest of full disclosure, I did run this cap-less for quite some time:

Should have run that cap-less, into a tree.

[BoldUlysses]

Y'know Ben, it's reached the point for me where it just doesn't feel right if I post something Audi-related and don't get a quip from you.

Is that co-dependent?

[Binjammin]

Y'know Ben, it's reached the point for me where it just doesn't feel right if I post something Audi-related and don't get a quip from you.

Is that co-dependent?

To tell you the God's honest truth, I had a friend with an Audi 4000. It convinced me I should buy one of my own, so I did, a 4kq. It had a mild hit in the front and would have been an easy repair. I wanted to swap the stock turd-pump out and swap in a 1.8t. It should be a pretty easy bolt-in. I thankfully came to my senses and sold or junked the car, I can't even remember what happened to it and it was only like 12 years ago or so. For the sake of all the time, money, and thinking I spent about the project back then I'd still like to build one nowadays, and then immediately burn it to the ground or sell it to some other sucker.

[BoldUlysses]

Ben actually owned a...VAG product?



Two questions, then we'll return to this thread's regularly-scheduled programming:

1. Did you like the car?
2. What finally convinced you not to do the 1.8T swap? Be specific, if you would.

[Leonator134]

will be taking on the e-fan project soon as well!

[Binjammin]

Ben actually owned a...VAG product?



Two questions, then we'll return to this thread's regularly-scheduled programming:

1. Did you like the car?
2. What finally convinced you not to do the 1.8T swap? Be specific, if you would.

I also currently own a mkIV jetta 2.0 auto. Tornado Red. I don't make judgements without experience.


I barely drove mine, just around the shop. I drove my buddy's non quattro frequently. it was underpowered and a pain to work on for a lot of things that shouldn't have been. plus CIS sucks. When it ran well it was just an ok car. Fwd and nothing special.

I never got around to it because it was like 2002 and a 1.8t was way too. pricey back then and the car was a wreck.

[ShapeShifter]

With a little trimming the 940 shroud is a pretty good fit.




That's funny, I just installed some e39 weather strips a couple weeks ago. My drivers door was long in the tooth.

[BoldUlysses]

I also currently own a mkIV jetta 2.0 auto. Tornado Red. I don't make judgements without experience.


I barely drove mine, just around the shop. I drove my buddy's non quattro frequently. it was underpowered and a pain to work on for a lot of things that shouldn't have been. plus CIS sucks. When it ran well it was just an ok car. Fwd and nothing special.

I never got around to it because it was like 2002 and a 1.8t was way too. pricey back then and the car was a wreck.

Fair enough. I get the distinct impression that it's a period of your car life you'd rather forget, so we'll move on.

With a little trimming the 940 shroud is a pretty good fit.

[IMG]

That's funny, I just installed some e39 weather strips a couple weeks ago. My drivers door was long in the tooth.

Thanks the picture, Pat. If you don't mind busting out a tape measure, how wide is your rad core, from tank to tank? I think the stock rad may be wider but thinner.

[Binjammin]

Fair enough. I get the distinct impression that it's a period of your car life you'd rather forget, so we'll move on.

Not at all, in fact I'm an open book. I don't know how you managed to glean that out of posts about an old Audi, but there really isn't too much more to the story. Maybe it's because I was posting that from my phone that it was a bit brief?

My buddy had a 4k and he did a ton of work to it. Moved from CT to Boston and back a bunch of times, the car ended up racking up a ton of miles and he and I did a ton of work on the car. The exhaust fell off in a parking garage under the Boston Common one night, and the next week the clutch failed. He had an e30 at the time and a 240sx, so the Audi went to the scrap heap. I bought my Audi not on a whim, but after reading about Quattro cars and the capabilities of the 1.8t. I believe at the time we had planned on running it on a Megasquirt, but it's so long ago that I honestly don't recall. The details of it really escape me. From what I recall the bellhousings on the 5 cylinder and the 1.8t are the same, so it would have bolted up, and from there it was going to be just a matter of making it fit.

That was a while ago in my life, and it was not the happiest point, but it wasn't the worst either. I was in my mid 20s, had a gf I was planning on getting married to (in between break-ups) and I ended up moving back to Boston. The car was basically left behind in CT when I moved, the owner of the shop was (and still is) a very good friend of mine, and he let me keep the car there for a long while, but in the end it had a minor front end hit that would have required at least some cutting and welding. The car had hit a pole at like 10mph or something and it V'ed the front bumper and bent the hood and radiator support, and I think lower support. Obviously grills and headlights and stuff were all fussed up too. Back then I had no idea there was even a market for parting out cars like that, and I didn't have the time or place to do it. I'd owned the car for a year and a half, I think I paid $200 to buy it, and I junked it for around $100. I can honestly say I don't miss the car even a little bit, and I'm not even a little sorry that I moved on, but if the chance ever came up I'd consider the possibility of building the same car some day, just to see what could have been. They were light, AWD, and with a 1.8t it could have pushed an easy 250hp in 02/03 when it all went down. Might have been a fun car.

[BoldUlysses]

Should have run that cap-less, into a tree.

I'd consider the possibility of building the same car some day, just to see what could have been. They were light, AWD, and with a 1.8t it could have pushed an easy 250hp in 02/03 when it all went down. Might have been a fun car.

These two quotes are interesting to juxtapose.

Yeah I think it must've been 'cause you were on your phone that your reply seemed curt in a way that made me think that. Appreciate the insight. FWIW I really enjoyed the car, but hated the weight distribution and complexity of everything. The E34 suspension, for example, is a godsend in comparison to the 4kq's. That and for some reason lost in the annals of time Audi decided not to relay the headlight switch, and I literally melted down a couple until the plug was unrecognizable.

* * * * * *

In other news, I used some of this on the bumper trim:



and the Euro trim and center piece match perfectly now. Recommended!

[Binjammin]

These two quotes are interesting to juxtapose.

Not really. If you check back, I've always said Audis drive fine and are nice looking cars, but they're terrible to own from a maintenance point of view. They're poorly packaged and difficult to work on, needlessly. So, yeah, it probably would have been a fun car, but I sure as hell don't want to own one.

[BoldUlysses]

Got some nice "reference" shots over the lunch break today. For all those wondering exactly how a stock (except for chip and shocks) Arktisgrau-on-Dove 540i/6 should look from all angles, enjoy:











And a good shot of the profile:



Which of course means it's time for.......WHEEL OPTIONS!

Lowered the car a bit, aaaaand....

Style 19s:



T-Stars:



M-Pars:



What say you?

* * * * * *

In other news, I've had a nice up-and-down movement-dependent *squeak* creep up from the right rear over the past couple of days. I'm thinking it's something to do with the shock install. Plan to drop the shock assembly this weekend, grease everything up (there was no grease involved in the initial install) and reassemble.

[clevertd]

I can't believe you p-shopped the T-stars on backwards. Please turn in your moderator badge on your way out.

[Binjammin]

what exactly do you plan on greasing?

- - - Updated - - -

I can't believe you p-shopped the T-stars on backwards. Please turn in your moderator badge on your way out.

♥

[BoldUlysses]

I can't believe you p-shopped the T-stars on backwards. Please turn in your moderator badge on your way out.

Woops! Fixed.

Unfortunately, moderator status ≠ infallibility.

what exactly do you plan on greasing?

Spring pads, shock-to-trailing-arm bolt, for starters. Should I not? Seemed like the logical place to start given that the noise cropped up in the past couple of days and the only thing I've changed in that area are the shocks, last Monday.

The other detail concerns the install itself—the guy I had helping me didn't seat the bottom of the spring on the pad properly, and I had him come over and "fix it," which I believe he did by rotating the spring (or something?) into position. So maybe something's binding in there?

[Binjammin]

I wouldn't go around slopping grease all over the underside of my car trying to prevent a squeak. The grease will only work temporarily and will eventually work its way out of wherever you've stuck it, then back to squeak city.

Try to isolate where the noise is coming from and fix it.

[clevertd]

T-stars, but only because I'm 100% biased. I had Mpars too, either way, some M bumpers will help out your cause immensely.

[PorscheH6]

M-pars ride noticeably worse than T-Stars. The latter is also the lightest of all your options, and quite strong. After messing around with more than a few wheels I always come back to the stars. Oh, and I almost always choose Michelins...the car deserves nothing less.

[staystackin]

M-pars will look Better than the photoshop does justice. T-stars are classics too. Either way ditch that spoiler, stat!

I think your color would actually look better with clear Hellas vs the ambers.