So yesterday I signed a purchase contract for a '98 B5 1.6.
Engine isn't big, but Norwegian roads are _not_ made for speeding, so I don't really mind

This is the car. I get it tomorrow, so I don't have it right here and now.

It's in mint condition, except for a little bit of oil sweating from the engine, my mechanic friend told me. Do I need to worry about that?

Maybe going to swap the airfilter for a racing one, anyone have any ideas about which one? KN? Greenstuff?

I'm wondering, I have a set of double 12" subwoofers which I used in my old car, they're 85cm wide, will they fit in the back?
Also, is there a how-to for cabling from the engine bay to the back? I need a 50mm2 cable from the engine bay on the left side, a remote powercable and a amp remotecontrol cable on the left side and to the headunit, two speaker cables to the frequency divider (don't know the English word for that one! High- and lowpass filter that splits signal to tweeter and midbass!) and two signal cables on the right side of the car to the player.

Also, what's the highest practical wheeldimension for this car (without any hassle or modifications)? 18"?

Thanks!

 

Determine where the leak is and if you want to spend the money. Eventually, it will need to be fixed. If it's a small leak, just be aware of it and keep the oil topped.

Don't bother. It will make your car slower and noisier. The stock airbox can handle a LOT more horsepower and airflow than a naturally aspirated 1.6 can use. A drop-in reuseable air filter is just a waste of money and the oil is not good for your MAF (though many will dispute this, I've seen the resulting MAF death in real life too many times to be convinced otherwise). You'll need to turbo your engine to get any kind of real power gain that's worth it.

Wow. All that weight will really slow down your car!

16" looks decent and rides comfortably. 17" is more sporty and looks the best. 18" rides uncomfortably for most people's tastes, especially if you drive on bad roads. It also begins to look goofy if you don't lower the car. When you lower the car with 18" rims, you'll have to be careful of fitment and ride stance to avoid rubbing. 17" is the best practical wheel size that looks good.

 

The only point of contention I have with your reply is the idea that the drop-in reusable filter is a complete waste. Being careful not to over-oil it will keep it from frigging up the MAF and the one-time cost (vs continually buying OEM filters) is recouped after a few air-filter changes. Buy the K&N one time and the only future expense is a re-oiling kit. For that reason by itself, it's a worthwhile investment. Dead on with the rest of the assessment for sure - I have 18s on my non-sport suspension and it definitely needs an altitude adjustment. It doesn't look flat-out bad, but it definitely could look a lot better sitting closer to the wheels.

 

I respect that. Like I said, lots of people dispute what I say about K&N and some are very happy with them. I just don't like the idea of the possibility of ruining an expensive MAF or letting a little too much dirt or oil into the intake. When I had my 91 SHO, I blew $60 on a drop-in K&N. The factory oiling got all over the intake tube and MAF. The car started to run rough. After a healthy cleaning of the MAF, it ran fine for about 1000 miles. The car again started to run rough, this time due to a dirty MAF... there was a lot of winter sands in the intake tube that the K&N didn't catch. I switched back to the $10 every 10K mile paper replacement filter and no more MAF problems, rough running, or dirt in the intake tube, even driving down sandy winter roads.

Additionally, I've seen numerous Porsche MAFs ruined by factory oiled K&N drop-ins as well as cone filters. One in particular, was a 997 S cab with an EVOMS airbox. The car was running rough at idle and felt down on power. Fuel trims were peeling back according to the PIWIS tester. I opened up the hood and found the EVOMS air filter oil all over the intake tube, accompanied by dirt and dust. After cleaning the MAF and replacing the airbox with the stock box and the stock paper element, the car ran better than ever and fuel trims went back to normal.

So, even if you believe that K&N oil does not come off the filter, be aware that more dirt can potentially get through the filter, still eventually destroying the MAF or worse.


But that's just some of my experiences with K&N. Like I said, some people love 'em.

 

I believe your points as well. From my time as a Euro owner (almost 2.5 years now) I have seen more points such as yours mentioned with the MAF than I saw in my JSpec days with the 300ZX (9 years plus). Maybe the German MAFs are more sensitive to the oils than the Japanese ones (seems unlikely, but you never know), or maybe it's just that my Z was OBD-I and the A4s are all OBD-II cars, and the extra sensitivity of emissions calibration requirements on the newer cars is the deciding factor. I certainly don't dispute what you've seen in your own experiences though

Seems like the lesson learned on these is to be careful with oiling the filters. Maybe even would be worthwhile to wash out and dry a brand-new high flow filter and reoil it more conservatively - they may be over-oiled from the factory and that could be adding to the ruined-MAF stats we're seeing. It appears on here at least that it's almost luck of the draw - some get the filters and run fine forever, others get them and ruin the MAF.

 

I haven't really gone through the engine and sensor system of this car yet, but I'm a tinkerer you could say..
From my experience with Volvos, MAF sensors were only for turbo-cars? I thought most N/A cars used MAP sensors.
18" is out of the question for me then, because first of all there's speed bumps everywhere in Norway, second of all, I want to drive with fat people in the back without having to change tires.

And hmm, the stereo isn't so heavy, the only thing that weighs anything is the 22mm thick MDF enclosures.. Wood is heavy stuff! But I don't know if it's wide enough, it was barely wide enough in my Volvo 460. Nice sound is a must for me (makes an audophiles commute to work a lot more pleasant!)

 

MAP vs MAF is strictly a factor of what the OEM wants to use. Neither has to be used over the other in any given situation. In some turbo applications a MAP sensor could be advantageous since the MAF housing is a specific diameter. What I learned during 300ZX ownership is that above 500hp, the MAF housing becomes a restriction to flow, as its diameter only supports so much hp worth of airflow. Above 500hp, a switch to a dual intake setup is recommended, so that there are a pair of cone filters, each flowing through its own piping to its own respective turbo. One turbo breathes through the MAF, the other through a dummy extender pipe, and the ECU reprogramming takes this into account by instructing the car to fuel for twice the measured airflow. Here's a couple pics of it mocked up on my Z during my twin-turbo conversion:





In the first pic you can barely see (due to the bumper reinforcement) the top of the MAF housing just below the elbow pipe on the driver's side. The dummy extender pipe was on the passenger side. The ECU would simply double the fueling for the measured airflow, so that the engine was fueled properly. Simple and easy solution

 

A neat fix! Haven't really had the problem with getting above 500hp yet, you could say, hehe.. All the ECUs I've had in my cars have been strictly hardcoded, with no way to directly measure pins or reprogram it at all
This A4 is OBD2-right?
You wouldn't believe the taxes we pay for big-engined cars here, we call a 2.2l engine big here

 

+ also;
Anyone who have changed front and rear lights on them? I'd like to have some smoked rear lexus-style lights, and angel-eye front with RS4 grille.
Anyone know of any QUALITY lights that look and feel good, mounts well and give superb lightning? Also, they need to have proper approval for road use.

 

Oh boy. Hope you have a Nomex suit.