[ba] Reliability of B5 vs. B6 A4s? or???

[Michael Veglia]

Great to hear the '91 200q avant has a whole new lease on life! I really like 
Frank and Tomas too. The air springs you are referring to are from Arnott. 
Anyone who has an allroad needs to know about these 
people: http://www.arnottindustries.com/ 

But, I guess we drifted a bit off topic (then again, anyone looking at a used 
allroad used needs to know about the Arnott option because it makes keeping the 
air suspension alive much less of a daunting proposition).

Mike Veglia



________________________________
From: George <sidman at webloq.com>
To: Michael Veglia <msvphoto at pacbell.net>; Chris Maresca <ckm at chrismaresca.com>; 
ba-group at audifans.com
Sent: Thu, December 2, 2010 9:21:44 AM
Subject: RE: [ba] Reliability of B5 vs. B6 A4s? or???

Recent mentions of the allroad remind me that I was in European Motors shop
(Frank & Tomas - Walnut Creek, CA) a few weeks ago, and they showed me a
non-OEM suspension air bag that is vastly superior to the OEM bag at half
the price. The two front bags on my '01 allroad were replaced about a year
ago, and it is fairly common knowledge that the front bags go bad at around
100k miles.  Dirt piles up in the rubber folds and pinholes them.  They also
said they had never replaced rear bags. 

I was there because they had just replaced all undercarriage rubber, shocks
and brake lines on my '91 200 Avant. None of the rubber had been replaced
since new, and at 313,000 miles the old bucket was shake, rattle and roll.
Interestingly, the old tie rod ends, bushings, links, etc. were all in
pretty good condition - but somewhat calcified. We used all Audi OEM parts
and Koni yellows. The ride, handling and braking are as near to new as you
can get and the pleasure in driving this beast is greatly improved. This
rebuild, coupled with a recent rebuilt turbo, injectors, and new fuel pump
and regulator from 034, and I am reminded of the first few years of flogging
this 200 up and down the west coast somewhat above the posted limits. The
challenge now is to see how far it will go on the original clutch......

George Sidman