[Biturbos4] several niggling issues

[Brandon Rogers]

Hey guys-
My S4 is not well.  All sorts of niggling issues.  I like the car,
basically, but haven't "fallen" for it like I did ny A4 - and I finally
figured out why - all the "driver input" systems are out of whack.
 
1.  Throttle response - the engine is super-hyper-sensitive to throttle
input.  Can be jerky.  I am putting together a pressure tester and hope
to pressure test the intake in the next day or two.  
 
What are symptoms of bad (either 1 or 2) bypass valves?
 
2.  The brakes are soft.  There is lots of pedal travel (usually) then
over-boosted brakes.  It is inconsistent - sometimes the pedal travel is
long - every once in a while the brakes engage almost immediately.  Car
has new front pads/rotors - but I think the system needs to be flushed
and/or bled.
 
3.  Suspension. Stock is very high and lots of nose dive.  More
importantly - the car gets thrown around (I'm not talking tramlining
here) over virtually any and every road surface imperfection.  I had the
car aligned shortly after I got it (Feb) but it still does this - maybe
needs to be re-done - maybe they missed something.  There does not sem
to be any looseness in the front suspension - I've had plenty of
experience with loose control arms on the A4.  I do have soem H&R/
Bilsteins in the garage but am wary to install prior to getting other
issues sorted.  Catch 22 I don't want to have the car aligned only to
install the new susp and have it done again.  Money doesn't grow on
trees around here...
 
4.  The shifter has vague 1st and 5th engagement - sometimes pops out.
I've had the dealer adjust it and it made a big difference and is
definitely a lot better - but the shifter action in my A4 is _much_
better.
 
5.  Rearview mirror is broken - has that "oval" when the auto dim fluid
goes by by I guess...will find a used one...
 
6.  Washer fluid reservoir has a leak - it hold a fair amount of fluid -
but not enough to keep the "low fluid" dash symbol on all the time.
Maybe the reservoir is leaking where the sensor is installed - hopefully
I can just seal the leak instead of replace the whole reservoir....
 
Any insight/tips/fixes appreciated
 
Brandon
'84 urquattro 20Vt
'01.5 S4
'98 A4 1.8Tq