jdragon

Advice given to me from a VAG specialist on this topic: A tuning box is easy to spot; it's a physical unit and if you crash your car and haven't told insurance it'll void your policy. And they're s#!t. Remaps can only be discovered if someone is looking for it specifically, and knows exactly what they are doing. Insurance companies don't do this. Audi may however inadvertently reset it 😆

Welcome to the forums What's preventing you from the remap that isn't stopping you from plugging in a box?

It's funny really. I try to keep the cars as long as possible, and these extra little preventative maintenance things do pay back over and over. And for what, an extra 15 minutes work when the brakes are dismantled; it's hardly any effort. I was boring though and opted for black which by his standards must make the car go slower 🙄

I've bought a sensor from eBay to keep in the car 😀 I'm not going to tempt fate by messing around with something that isn't broken. It doesn't appear to be the 'A' version however for £15 it might prevent a bigger issue. Edit: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334119302412?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=uI6ymBN1QH-&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=BbKs5X6FTgi&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I did exactly the same thing (different paint 😉) to the callipers, brake disc drum and brake shields on the wife's Golf, only because the discs can be removed without removing the carrier as I didn't have a large enough bit. Glad you mentioned it - I feel less particular now 😅

Hi Steve, thinking back to when I rebuild the callipers on my A4 I didn't replace the carrier bolts then, and as you say, they had the grip washer. I just cleaned them with a wire brush and added a few drops of blue loctite. I was also surprised about the pads not having the backing on. I've seen it multiple times on various brands I've fitted over the years. Unfortunately ECP didn't have another set in stock to compare. Perhaps QC missed that batch 😄 I'll be going ahead with the full Brembo setup, and will report back on progress in the coming weeks. Thanks guys.

Hi Gareth, I tried Parts in Motion but no luck on these brands for my car this time. The full Brembo setup from CP4L is £149 with the wear sensor and for no other reason than I pass the ECP store every Sunday where I can do a pick-up from 🙂 Thanks for your notes on experience with these also.

Thanks for the feedback and advice Steve - much appreciated. How are you getting on with the Bosch pads? I bought a set for the wife's Golf rear a few months ago, but they did not have a friction pad and squealed loads, so replaced them with ECP cheapest brand and they are doing great. Do the carrier to hub bolts need replacing?

Hi all, it looks like it's time to put some shiny new rear brake discs and pads on my car. I've always opted for Pagid discs and pads however there seems to be mixed thoughts on them these days. The only negative of the setup is was they create a lot of brake dust, but I never had an issue with confidence in stopping the car. With the dust seen on my previous car in mind, I am looking to move away from the Pagid pads at least. ECP have Brembo at around the same price as everything else these days, and people seem to rave about them but I have no experience using them. Having a quick read on here, ATE come up as recommended for discs and pads. Can anyone share experience on either Brembo or ATE or something else? I have a full OEM setup currently, so will be calling TPS on Monday to see how their prices compare. As for the procedure, I understand the calliper to carrier bolt torque is 30 Nm (and the same bolts can be reused if not supplied with the pads if blue threadlock is applied). The carrier to hub bolt torque is 196 Nm but they MUST be replaced. Do I also need to replace the wear sensor? It's not worn. The car is on the original discs and the second set of pads, the issue is the discs are pretty much at the minimum thickness and the lip is about 1.5mm away from rubbing on the calliper. According to my verniers, the discs are close to the minimum thickness, so grinding the lip off isn't worth doubling the effort.

Thanks Steve; I appreciate your thoughts and advice. I'm up to 93k now......I should probably get this done

Gearbox oil change is an interesting topic. Audi and the specialist I take the cars to say for my A5 B9 manual, it's a sealed box and doesn't need changing. The specialist however did say if I'm having issues, and if not, leave it alone. My old A4 B8 had a slight issue at 140k so the oil was changed and slik50 (I think it's called) added and it's now on 265k with the new owner and trouble free.

Have the glow plugs been checked, and MAF sensor cleaned as suggested in my last post?

I had this on my A4 B8 2.0 diesel at more miles than your car has covered. As posted elsewhere on this site (search my posts), I did something like: Cleaned MAF sensor Checked glow plugs resistance (all ok) and checked caps were seated properly Might have been something else but I can't remember just now, but the problem went away. When was air filter changed? Cataclean would be something else to try. Throttle valve could also be an issue if the above does no solve the issue.

That's how it leafy it looked in my car, but with a cleaner filter that had been changed at 59k 😄 I think Audi only have a hoover in the valeting bay...

If it were my car, I'd go to TPS for the shocks. They will cost you around £90 each but for piece of mind, it's worth the little extra in my opinion 🙂 Edit: a garage I trust do however rate Sachs. They fitted Sachs rear coil springs to my old A4 B8 with no issues over the 20k I had the car following or for my mate who now owns the car.