Buying help from Sicily - C5 2.5 Tdi AKE Avant Tiptronic

[SoundSilence]

Hello! First of all, I'm so sorry for my bad English: as an Italian, English isn't my fist language, but I'll try my best to be understandable. 
 

I'm a 33yo italian car enthusiast that especially bought english cars ( I still have as a "relax driver" a Daimler Six LWB from 1995). 
 

I also still have a LR Discovery Sport 2.0 Ingenium that is a nightmare (please, pretty please, avoid this engines like hell!!). Bought it used in 2021 with 68k Km on it and right now has 168k Km with over 15k Euros of extraordinary maintenance on it. 

 

Two weeks ago, while searching for new windows as I'm renovating my house, I stumbled across a 2005 C5 Avant AKE Tiptronic in marvellous shape. The car owner is the shop's owner aswell. He talked to me a lot about the car. One owner from new, it has 210.000Km made in roughly 20 years and only serviced in Audi. 
 

The car, in fact, was full of Audi invoices regarding some regular maintenance (engine oil, filters and so on) and some extraordinary maintenance ( distribution made at 168.000km in 2016 or 18 I don't remember, a new torque converter in 2018 at 189.000Km, tank diesel pump and so on). 
 

Actually that C5 is not used since 2022 because the owner bought a new Volvo XC60 and he wants get rid of it for 2750 Euros. The car drives smoothly with no esitations...

 

Could it be safe to say that could it be a good car to make 25.000Km/year doing, of course, an oil change every 10.000Km and checking all the components when needed?

 

Thanks in advance, I'll leave some photos of the car here!

 

Cheers

 

Federico

[Steve Q]

Welcome to the forum you'll find the members on here are a friendly and helpful bunch 🙂 

Check for wet carpets in front footwells which is often due to a broken pollen filter housing or blocked battery tray drains. This water can damage the CCM which is under the passenger footwells carpet. The CCM controls a lot of electrical functions so make sure all electrical items work.  

Looks stunning to be fair. Service history is key for the 2.5tdi. People say they're unreliable but this is often because people have failed to keep up on regular maintenance. My A6 2.5tdi had done 344k miles before engine expired. 

Regarding the gearbox, make sure it's been serviced and gear changes are smooth. 

Regarding the ingenium engine my wife has a Jag xe with this engine so fully aware of the issues. 

[SoundSilence]

16 minutes ago, Steve Q said:

Welcome to the forum you'll find the members on here are a friendly and helpful bunch 🙂 

Check for wet carpets in front footwells which is often due to a broken pollen filter housing or blocked battery tray drains. This water can damage the CCM which is under the passenger footwells carpet. The CCM controls a lot of electrical functions so make sure all electrical items work.  

Looks stunning to be fair. Service history is key for the 2.5tdi. People say they're unreliable but this is often because people have failed to keep up on regular maintenance. My A6 2.5tdi had done 344k miles before engine expired. 

Regarding the gearbox, make sure it's been serviced and gear changes are smooth. 

Regarding the ingenium engine my wife has a Jag xe with this engine so fully aware of the issues. 

Hello Steve, nice to meet "online" the man ho helped me indirectly to take a decision ( thanks to your guides in this lovely forum). 

 

If I can sell my Disco Sport during next week, I'll collect that A6 as soon as I can: the owner wrote me this morning, telling me that he wants to offer me for free an oil and filters change before collecting directly in Audi Service. The car, as far as I know, was kept always in a garage ( in fact, the car hasn't any body flaws or dents). I'll check as soon as I can the "battery drain" problem, as mentioned on one of your threads but i was in the passenger seat and the carpets doesn't seems to be humid or full with water. 

 

Again, if I can achieve to collect the A6, my next steps will be: 

• Oil and filter trans change (ZF OEM parts)
• Distribution belts and water pump (Bosch or Continental parts)
• Full fluid change ( brakes, steering, cooling)
• Glowplugs (Bosch)
• Tyres (actually it has some good old Toyo Proxxes, but DOT 2019 and incorrect size, 215/55/17)

[Steve Q]

You're most welcome 😊 my C5 2.5 is off the road due to engine failure but it's een in my family from new so family clued up on them. My dad owned it initially then I inherited it from him. 

Sounds great, definitely peace of mind. Also ask when the cambelt and water pump were last changed. They should be changed every 8 years (I forget at what mileage). 

Body wise they're pretty good. Rust is common on the front wings, which is due to a foam insert on the inside top of the wing.  Common issue in most vag cars of the 90s/noughties. 

Also rust along the bottom of the doors is common below the rubber strips. 

Bless ya. Thankfully my wife's xe is ok for now, but we have been discussing HR next car options when we do start having issues. 

[SoundSilence]

Hello to all! 

 

So... finally, I made it! 

 

 

I bought it yesterday. 

 

So, now let's set some " Year Zero". The car itself is very good but it has some flaws. The owner told me, as I wrote before, that the last oil change was 3 years ago... but the last checked oil change was SIX years ago... 

 

We got it running flawlessy and I made 140Km to get to my mechanic and start some troubleshooting. I don't think, in fact, that is an AKE, because I saw written in the "pink slip" that the engine code is "BDH". 

 

We drained all the old (very old) oil and we put: 

Some shell 5W-30 Audi Specific

All new Mann filters

 

Apart from that, the car last belts change was over 8 years ago ( and over 100.000Km ago) so next week we will do this works: 

 

• Water pump and belts (auxiliary and main)
• EGR blanking
• Swirls blanking (got some error codes)
• ZF Oil, pan and filter for the Tiptronic
• A bluetooth dongle to install in the RNS-D 

 

Right now, my mechanic's advice is to "loose" all the old oils and liquids of the car for one week of daily use and then drain all and put all totally new.

 

Just one strange things tends to happen sometime: at cold, the car first time cranks but not starts. Then I put again the key, crank again and it starts ( we change also the fuel filter and the battery)

 

Here's with my beloved "Old Lady"

Cheers!

 

 

[Steve Q]

Looks fantastic, sounds like you've got a good plan to get it recommissioned. Slow starting could be worn out glow plugs or injector issue. Any blue smoke on start up could be failed injector seals. Please keep us posted on how you get on 

[SoundSilence]

4 hours ago, Steve Q said:

Looks fantastic, sounds like you've got a good plan to get it recommissioned. Slow starting could be worn out glow plugs or injector issue. Any blue smoke on start up could be failed injector seals. Please keep us posted on how you get on 

Thanks man, for sure! I think that can be the injectors... the glow plugs looks fine to me. Anyway, we can put some new glow plugs and some new injectors seals just to be careful and peaceful, no probs: I want to use this car for (minimum) 5-7 years before decommisioning, so it has to be perfect! 

 

Any advices/hints for the "BDH" engine code?

 

Thanks! 

 

P.s. can I ask here regarding the bluetooth dongle or is it better to create a new thread? Thanks!

[Steve Q]

Good plan. 

No real hints or tips to be honest, just be on top of maintenance 🙂 

I'm not too clued up on Bluetooth dongles to be honest. You could always look at an aftermarket head unit with Bluetooth l, android auto etc. 

[SoundSilence]

Hello there, I'm back again! Here's my first week of usage of my new C5 2.5 Tdi.

 

Actually the car is still with me and not in the mechanic's shop due to some delays on other cars in his shop... but it will be soon there!

 

In fact I made a "To Do List" for the mechanic just to track down all the flaws and problems the car actually has and has to be repaired or enhanced, such as: 

 

1. Timing belt + water pump + auxiliary belts

2. Control arm kit

3. Automatic transmission oil + filter kit (ZF 5HP19)

4. Check and clean all radiators (including the transmission cooler. The transmission shifts and downshifts very poorly once operating temperature is reached. Possible issue with the transmission thermostat)

5. EGR valve

6. Swirl valves

7. Excessive smoke under medium to heavy acceleration (EGR?)

8. Check turbo and intercooler pressure and vacuum hoses

9. Warm air from vents when climate control is off (possible issue with engine thermostat or cabin heater core)

10. Injector sealing rings (cold start difficulty with accompanying bluish-white smoke)

11. Install Bluetooth system in car radio (ask electrician friend)

12. Brake pedal very hard, and brakes "stick" briefly after pedal is released. Possible brake fluid issue

13. Power steering pump sometimes noisy. Check fluid level and replace if necessary

14. Check rear suspension height

15. Check and replace dual-filament rear brake light bulbs if needed

16. Replace windshield washer pump

 

Apart from that, she sits quite happily on the road again!
 

 

 

[Steve Q]

Nice one, sounds like the A6 is in good hands. Whilst the front is off for the cambelt and water pump it might be worth replacing the lower pulley as mine nearly fell off! And the thermostat whilst he has easy access. 

[SoundSilence]

27 minutes ago, Steve Q said:

Nice one, sounds like the A6 is in good hands. Whilst the front is off for the cambelt and water pump it might be worth replacing the lower pulley as mine nearly fell off! And the thermostat whilst he has easy access. 

For "lower pulley" do you mean the crankshaft pulley? Thanks!

[Steve Q]

1 hour ago, SoundSilence said:

For "lower pulley" do you mean the crankshaft pulley? Thanks!

You're welcome and yes.