Got carried away and bought another A2 - now what to do with it.?

M

motosport

Member
As some might have read in my introduction a few days ago, I got so infected by the A2 bug that when I saw a potential great deal on another A2 I just had to buy it, even though we don't really need another car. So the question now is what to do with it, and I might also need some advise on one or two issues with it..

Anyway, its a 2003 model 1.4 tdi 75 hp, with 250.000 km (160.000 miles) on it but with full VW/Audi service history. Its black and in quite good condition with only a few stone chips and one small scratch on the exterior, and with a very nice and clean interior. It drives really well, engine feels zippy and smooth and suspension actually feels a bit better and less crashy then my silver 212.000 km A2.

It comes with leather/alcantara seats with split rears, fake floor in boot, cruise control, S-line steering wheel, double din with Audi Symphony, Bose sound system, DIS, OSS which has recently been completely replaced with newer updated version and working beautifully, S-line gear shifter, fully working climate control and the little handy factory tray under the hand brake.

Bad points are that it only comes with cheap 15" steel wheels with winter tires, and it has an issue where the ABS, ESP and big red brake warning symbol are lit and the power steering only works sometimes. But I could have it for GBP 2000,- so I just couldn't say no..

As I said at the start, I am not quite sure what to do with it, but my options so far are 1: fix its faults, clean it up and sell it (hopefully with a little profit) 2: swap some of the nice parts that I would like into my silver car and make it even more high spec, and then sell black car off. 3: sell in parts as it has many nice parts and I am sure I could make a decent profit on it.

What do you guys and girls think.?

Also, can anyone point me in the right direction with the ABS/ESP/Brake warning symbol issue and PS only working sometimes..?!? I know first thing is to do a vcds scan, but I am away with work at the moment.. I was just thinking that someone might have experienced a similar issue..

Here are some pics of the little black beauty.. Alex.
 

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Hi,

Great looking car and a great spec.

As for the ABS/ESP/Brake warning symbol issue have you tried the obvious first? These symbols illuminate when the brake light switch is starting to fail, or if both stop light bulbs blow.
So it is worth checking the stop lights.

Steve B
 
Personally I would swap over the parts you like onto your silver car, fix it and then sell it on. It's far too nice a car to be broken for parts!!

In terms of the abs problem its hard to say without the scan but I'd be looking at the abs pump. If the ECU on the pump is faulty it may not alsobe storing the info from the steering angle sensor hence the lack of power steering.
 
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Hi Alex,

Some great options there, even has the external mobile antenna amplification, double dinn and bose.

If you can get this fixed it would be a great car for a member who is after a car with almost all the bells and whistles. Rear electric windows and bench being the only missing options.

If you want to swap parts I'd be interested in the bose set up and door cads on an exchange + cash basis.

Max
 
You could sell the seats to me and fitted them this afternoon, I drove through Demark today :)

If you figure out what to do with this mobile amplifire, please let me know, I guess it is the same as in mine, see if there's Nokia plug somewhere
 
You should be be able to fit a snap in cradle and adapter that diverts mobile phone antenna to external roof antenna over RSAP bluetloth protocol. You will need one of the cradles that supports RSAP, cragyb has done this install.
 
Thanks guys for all the inputs.. I always learn new stuff and get great ideas when I'm reading this amazing forum..

Regarding the issues with power steering and ABS/ESP, I haven't had time to play with it at all as I had to leave home right after picking up the car. But I will be home shortly this weekend, so I will check the obvious stuff like brake lights and brake sensor.. The previous owner somehow believed it was the power steering that was the problem, and had both the PS pump and rack replaced, but to no avail. I did a quick check of PS fluid level and also pulled the fuse which caused the yellow PS warning symbol to be illuminated and also turned itself off again as soon as I put the fuse back in. So I don't think its the PS itself that's the problem.. But I will get a scan done asap and also check the obvious stuff..

On this mobile amplifier and what to do with it, that's all new to me and I didn't even know what the antenna is for or that this mobile devise can actually be used for something useful.. I also have it in my silver car, but I just unplugged it and used the little cubby hole where the plug lived, to install a double USB charger plug.. Maybe its worth investigation what can be done with this setup on the black car, even if I end up selling it..

I hear what you guys are saying about the car being to nice to break for parts, and I am probably also leaning towards swapping a few nice parts over to my silver car and then sell the black one, even if it means a bit lower selling price. Main parts I would like to swap is the alcantara seats with my full leather seats, the little tray under the gear lever and possible the double din unit. And if I could, I would love to swap the OSS in my car with the newer updated version in the black car, even though mine is already working perfectly, but I think that is a project to big..

Regarding swapping those parts, I have a couple of questions.. Is it just me, or are the alcantara seats a more desirable options then full leather.? I know full leather is probably a more expensive option, more practical and mine are in great condition, but I just really like the look and feel of the alcantara seats... What say the A2 experts..?!?

Secondly, how big a job is it to swap the double din unit from one car to another, and is everything plug and play between the Symphony and the Concert 2 in my silver car.? Bear in mind that my silver car is 2002 model and black car is 2003 model..

I absolutely LOVE the Bose sound system, even though I have never been into car stereo stuff, but since I already have that in my silver car, that will stay in the black one and I also think its a great option and selling point.. I also believe its well integrated in the car and not se easy to remove/swap..

Darko, how cool you were in DK.. Shame I wasn't home as I would love to have visit from another A2 with owner.. Kicking some tires and maybe swap cars for a quick test drive, as I am keen on feeling how different A2's drive, feel and behave.. Anyway, let me know if you happen to come through our little country again.. :)

All the best - Alex.
I
 
motosport said:
Darko, how cool you were in DK.. Shame I wasn't home as I would love to have visit from another A2 with owner.. Kicking some tires and maybe swap cars for a quick test drive, as I am keen on feeling how different A2's drive, feel and behave.. Anyway, let me know if you happen to come through our little country again.. :)

All the best - Alex.
I
Click to expand...

I will, Alex.
One black A2 with DK plate was behind me yesterday from Århus to Ålborg, it was blowing like hell, but neither of us had a problem pushing 140 kmh all the way :)

Are you saying you may sell the black leather seats? If they are sport seats, I'm interested! The gray-silver seats in my car are so sensitive, even the raindrops leave the spots on them.
 
MAXAudi said:
You should be be able to fit a snap in cradle and adapter that diverts mobile phone antenna to external roof antenna over RSAP bluetloth protocol. You will need one of the cradles that supports RSAP, cragyb has done this install.
Click to expand...

What cradle, Max? I have only the original Nokia cradle with tthe snap in plug, but couldn't find any compatibility with anything Apple, not even the voltage. And the iPhone refuse to connect to Nokia via bluetooth, so the Nokia cradle is useless.
 
If it were me I'd say get this new one back up to top condition and leave the bits and pieces in it. It sounds like a really good, well specced car and I think if you start ripping it up for bits to swap into your other A2 it'll be a real shame.

The alacantra seats are considered a more premium interior option than standard leather, but they do require more care and attention to keep the suede in good condition.
A bench seat can not be substituted for a split rear, and vica versa.

A full dash swap is a full day's work - there are lots of screws in rather inaccessible places. Bose has a different wiring set up to non-Bose, and a 2 speaker system also has different wiring to a 4 speaker system (e.g. little Blaupunkt amp for rear door speakers). Bose door speakers are also different, along with the sub.

You can retrofit the under-handbrake tray into a single din dash - they're available as a separate item and can be fitted with a bit of bodging. However, If you remove the tray from the tunnel of an OEM double-din car, you'll find the tunnel has a couple of clip holes in it which will be left exposed.

Swapping an OSS system from one car to another which doesn't have OSS is, well, a huge engineering job!
 
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Darko, unfortunately I am not selling my black leather seats, but only swapping them into the black car and the alcantara seats into my silver car, if I decide to go down that route.

Were you on holidays here in Scandinavia or perhaps on a work trip.? As you have seen, we do have some A2's here, but by far the most of them are 3L cars, as they received a substantial discount on the ridiculous car taxes we have in DK, due to its outstanding fuel economy..

Dan - I understand that a full dash swap is a whole days work, but does that also goes if I just want to swap the double din cage with the single din cage from my silver car.? Both have Bose, so no need to swap those parts.. I am not quite sure I understand what you mean regarding the under-handbrake tray.. How is that related to the double din/single din dash.? The tray I am thinking off is the part that is connected to the handbrake cover and sits literally under the handbrake..?

I am still hoping that someone can answer me if the Symphony that comes along with the double din cage, is a plug and play replacement for my current Concert 2 in case I decide to swap it into my silver car..?!?

Regarding the OSS, I know its a massive job to install one into a non-OSS car, but both cars already have OSS. I was just dreaming about swapping the almost new and updated version from the black car into my silver car that still has the original OSS. Just to ensure better longevity and to avoid future problems with my OSS, but I also realize its a very big job too so I will just leave it at that..

Thanks - Alex
 
Hello again.
The double-DIN dash is structurally almost completely different to the single-DIN dash behind the plastic fascia. I actually went through with a modification on my car from single-to-double which involved "Just" swapping the DIN cage and, well, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Removing the double-DIN cage destroys the original dash, and then to insert a double-DIN cage you have to destroy most of the guts of the single-DIN dash to do so, with some custom grinding of metalwork and gluing of what little plastic parts remain. I posted a thread about it, it took 1.5 days. Doing a dash swap is much more straightforward!

The tray that sits under the handbrake - that mounts onto the central exhaust tunnel underneath it with a set of spring clips. So in a double-DIN car, the central tunnel has some holes in it for the clips to connect into. A single-DIN car does not have the tray, and nor does it have the holes in the plastic tunnel. You can make the handbrake tray fit a car with single-DIN by snapping off the clips on the tray and then fixing it with strong double-sided tape. If you remove the tray from a double-DIN car, you'll be left with a tunnel full of holes!

OSS's can be serviced and repaired/replaced - there are a small number of specialists who do that sort of work across Europe.

Your Symphony will be plug and play provided both cars have the same speaker configurations.
 
I was in Flensburg with my A2, I service my Audis in Germany, the local Audi service is not good, they usualy make me return three times to get things done right, not to mention lost screws and 'it's an old car, it shouldn't work good' attitude.
And, it not far for me to drive down there, I'm not far from Kristiansand... I understand about the seats, no worries :)
 
Dan - thanks a lot for clarifying things and answering my questions.. Its great to learn new stuff about our little cars.. I guess what confused me a bit was that I some time ago saw a double din cage for sale on german Ebay, and therefore figured it was possible to just swap cages, or at least the middle vertical part of the dash. And looking at how you did it, its clearly easier to do a full dash swap. So my next question is.. Is there a guide somewhere on how to remove the dashboard.? I looked in the "How to" section, but no luck. I would sure like some guidance before I attempt to tackle this job..

Regarding the centre console tray, does it come automatically on cars with double din dash.? I tried looking at the guide in the "how to" section on removal of said tray, but I can't actually see any guide in the first post..?!? Has it gone missing or is it just my computer that's acting up.?

Thanks - Alex.
 
Yes the centre console tray is standard on double DIN (because you have lost the "cubby hole")

Steve B
 
Hi
What a great spec car - if only mine was as good.

I had the same issue with the abs light on my A2. After an extensive scan it shows the G200 Lateral Acceleration Sensor to be faulty. So a scan will probably show the same problem with your car.

By the way - does anyone have a sensor for sale?

good luck
chris
 
chrisnic said:
Hi
What a great spec car - if only mine was as good.

I had the same issue with the abs light on my A2. After an extensive scan it shows the G200 Lateral Acceleration Sensor to be faulty. So a scan will probably show the same problem with your car.

By the way - does anyone have a sensor for sale?

good luck
chris
Click to expand...

They are very expensive, £60 plus, I need one for my sons car, but there is someone on eBay offering a repair service for £36?

Perhaps Tom might start offering a G200 repair service?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/REPAIR-SE...494?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item35ecc48fa6

Steve B
 
Ahh, yes of course.. That makes perfect sense Steve.. :) I would just really like to have one in my silver car, as I am always looking for a spot to put my coffee cup, keys, phone etc.. Any idea of how much a new one from Audi will set me back.? Might be better to buy a new one rather then robbing the one from the black car..

Chris - thanks for advice.. sounds like a very plausible cause.. I am dying to get home from this work trip and start tinkering with the car, get a scan done and fix its small niggles.. Someone else also suggested it could be a faulty ABS/ESP module, as they are known to fail sometimes which I have experienced on my previous VW Touran. That car was also throwing ABS/ESP warning lights as well as power steering faults, and it turned out to the brake pressure sensors that had failed, and since they are built into the ABS/ESP module, the whole thing had to be replaced. And that was quite a bitch to do on the Touran, as the module is located behind the engine in a recess in the firewall. But on the A2 it sits right in front of you and should be a doodle to replace, if that turns out to be the reason.

Yes, the black beauty is quite a nice and well equipped car.. Maybe I should just talk wifey into getting a second car.. I'll tell her she looks really hot wearing black.. ;-)

Alex.
 
I can't remember the price, but they are apparently still available and I think they are not mega expensive.

Try Stoke Audi, they take orders online and deliver?

Steve B
 
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