S3 Update

"Tripper" (tripe46) 08/03/2015 at 10:21 • Filed to: None

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Over a week ago, I told Oppo about my new !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Since then I have been on an emotional rollercoaster that at one point, reached the level of stress normally reserved for new romantic relationships.

The Audi Salesman had been through 3 cars all of which he was “pretty sure” that I would be getting. It took a day with each car to go back and forth via text to work out all of the numbers, only to find out later on in the day that there was some complication and I could not get that particular car. The fourth S3 was “ready to go” pending my confirmation. I confirmed, the salesman verified, and I went to sleep finally satisfied that I had a car locked in. Now all I had to do was wait…again. Which was fine with me, now I had something to look forward to.

The next day I had “one of those days” at work which consisted of an impromptu trip to NYC. When I was 20 minutes from NYC on the train I got an email saying, “We figured it out, no need to come to New York today.” So after starting my day at 4am I spent 4 hours traveling for no reason. On top of that I had a ton of stuff to get done when I got back to our Philadelphia office, to spare you any more boring details the entire day was just one “fuck you” after the next.

I was packing up to leave when my phone buzzed. I saw the Audi salesman’s contact info and I stupidly thought to myself “YES! This is going to be a message saying that my car has arrived at the dealer, and I can get it today! What a perfect end to a shit day!”

The opposite was true. The car that I had a “deposit” on had been sold and I was back to square one with no more Sepang Blue S3’s available. The salesman said that it was time to start exploring other colors/options. Obviously I was disappointed, but I started considering some other colors, and found what I wanted in Mythos Black Metallic. So I sent it to the salesman and went to sleep.

The next day I got up, jumped in the M3 to go to work, flipped on the A/C...nothing! I had a slight conniption about that, meanwhile the tire pressure light came on for my driver’s rear tire! (There is a very slow leak). Part of what got me interested in trading the M3 was this intermittent A/C issue along with an intermittent “limp mode” issue and just a general lack of faith in this particular automobile. I was also dumping in a $15 qt of 10-w60 every 1000 miles give or take.

I started to coach myself. “Whoosah man, you’re in good health, your people (friends and family) are in good health and you’re lucky to have them. This situation is so trivial compared to any “real” problems that could occur, just stop being a little bitch about it.” I just needed the M3 to hold it together for a few more days.

Finally the end result. The salesman came up with a 2016 Sepang Blue S3, Black Optic Performance Package, LED lighting package, and the Tech Package. It was more than I wanted to spend and significantly more than the Mythos Black one that I had found, but I’m glad that I held out. I would have been envious the first time I pulled up next to a Sepang blue one if I had ended up with any other color. I picked it up Saturday morning, and here it is: (Sorry for the terrible pics, I will fix that soon.)

It is a blast to drive! A month ago I was one of those people who absolutely would not have anything but a manual transmission. I don’t miss it nearly as much as I thought that I would. The DSG is really good! Smooth, seamless shifts up and down. I have only driven the car in full dynamic mode (suspension and transmission) So I can’t yet speak to the other driving modes, but I love it. More pics and a review to come.

P.S. I found out that the blower motor in the M3 is located behind the glove box(ish), so I beat the bottom of the glove box like it owed me money. Sure enough the blower popped on!

FSI - alcohol enthusiast with a car problem > Tripper 08/03/2015 at 10:26

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Damn that color is sexy..

jkm7680 > Tripper 08/03/2015 at 10:28

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Amazing car! Love that color.

Van Man, rocks the Man Van > Tripper 08/03/2015 at 10:44

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Absolutely fantastic looking car! Congrats, hope you enjoy it.

qbeezy > Tripper 08/03/2015 at 10:46

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Congrats on the S3! There is no bad feeling than trying to find the car in a specific option set you want. The back and forth can be brutal. Seems like you got out of the M3 just in time!

Tripper > qbeezy 08/03/2015 at 10:56

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Thank you, and yes it just seemed like the E90 was just waiting to attack my wallet. It’s a fantastic car and I’m glad that I owned it, but I never “used” it enough to justify the potential costs out of warranty.

pjhusa > Tripper 08/03/2015 at 11:06

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Beautiful car

Party-vi > Tripper 08/03/2015 at 11:08

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“I was also dumping in a $15 qt of 10-w60 every 1000 miles give or take.”

I have been led to believe that oil consumption on the S65 engine is normal. Most owners report 5,000 miles per quart lost, but about 10% have need of a refill at 1,000 miles driven.

BKRM3 > Tripper 08/03/2015 at 11:26

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Sorry to see the E90 go - I’m questioning retention of mine more and more, since it mostly sits around while I drive my ratty old truck. I’m re-obsessed with the 997 C2S, which is what I nearly bought when I ended up getting the E90.

Anyway, congratulations on the new ride, it’s a lovely color!

(PS - I changed the blower motor in my E90 because it was making a slight squeak when really cold that was driving me nuts. It was an easy, inexpensive job. Oh, and S65s tend to be all over the place on oil consumption. I had a friend say the same thing as you about topping up. My car has over 4k miles (and therefore overdue) on its current oil and hasnt needed a drop.)

Tripper > Party-vi 08/03/2015 at 11:33

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Yea I heard that too, from 3 separate BMW techs at 3 different dealers. One even showed me the bulletin that says that BMW will not even address oil consumption unless you are adding 1qt every 750 miles or less. However, my inde shop mechanic thought it was too much, and two other E9X owners that I know rarely have to add oil and one of them is a track monkey. I’m not saying that it means there is something wrong with the car, but it just never sat well with me. Also I always needed to add oil at the most inconvenient times, and or I would be out of oil on a weekend. I should have just bought a whole case and left it in the trunk.

Party-vi > Tripper 08/03/2015 at 11:44

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I’m getting anywhere between 700 miles to 900 miles in my E46 before needing to add oil, but that’s with 160k miles.

Tripper > BKRM3 08/03/2015 at 11:45

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Me too:( I never gave it the track time that it deserved, so it just became a really fast really expensive 3 series that I was just putting around town in. Also the thing decided to go into limp mode every so often (always when I was out of town/in the middle of nowhere). Most of the time I would shut it off, turn it back on and it would be fine but no dealer could ever tell me why. So I ended up with this sneaking suspicion that as soon as the warranty was up that it would go into limp mode and actually be a problem. As I got closer to trading it, the drivers door actuator quite, then the problem with the A/C I just felt like the “writing was on the wall”. I remember you saying that your’s did not eat so much oil and I know two other owners that are in the same boat, which is why I felt like mine was just an addict. The S3 is great though, I’m enjoying it.

Tripper > Party-vi 08/03/2015 at 11:46

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See I have an E46 with 88k and I have only had to add a splash of oil twice. (owned since 24k), maybe I was just spoiled by the E46.

Tripper > Party-vi 08/03/2015 at 11:47

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Makes me feel good that you’ve got one with 160, I’ll never let that car go.

Party-vi > Tripper 08/03/2015 at 11:50

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Woah now, let’s not get too crazy. I’ve only got a 330Ci, not an M3.

BKRM3 > Tripper 08/03/2015 at 12:50

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Glad you’re liking the new car. It’s nice to get something different once in a while, no matter what you’re driving. I’m sure it’ll be more fun as a street car for running around on a daily basis. My complaint about the M3 has always been that it’s impossible to enjoy on the street. That whole thing about it being more fun to drive a slow car fast is true... (not that the S3 is slow, but you know what I mean!)

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Tripper 08/03/2015 at 13:02

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Nice Jetta GLI bro :P

lol JK, I love the way it looks! That paint color is great too! Now, just get a tune for it...

Tripper > BKRM3 08/03/2015 at 13:12

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Totally agree, every time I was “enjoying” the M3 on the street I was also risking my license haha. I bought a Honda Grom in March, same deal (riding a slow bike fast) I literally can’t ride it without smiling!

Vicente Esteve > Tripper 08/03/2015 at 14:20

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Congrats! What a cool car! And yes, waiting is the worst...

Tripper > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 08/03/2015 at 14:36

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lol all that showed in the mini feed was “Nice Jetta GLI bro :P” I laughed and thought “...this mf’er, I knew someone would say something like that”. You had me cracking up at my desk.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Tripper 08/03/2015 at 15:08

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LOL that is why I love Kinja... Also, this thing is AWD (Haldex? Like a Golf R?) vs the GLI being FWD and this thing has the engine from the golf R... which is more powerful. So basically, its a Jetta with the Golf R drivetrain and Audi interior :P

Anyways, welcome to the VAG family :)

Tripper > Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen 08/03/2015 at 15:16

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Yep I even considered a Golf R because I could get a full manual, but I would have had to wait too long, and I preferred the look of the Audi.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Tripper 08/03/2015 at 15:27

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Yes! I like the manual, but IMO the new golf has too many sharp edges... I more prefer the MK5/6 look...

anyways, here’s my contribution to the conversation :) my VAG vehicle!

HONDAD > Tripper 08/03/2015 at 16:34

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Cool car, great color! I swear, I only see Audis in black, gray, silver, or white. It’s so refreshing to see some color on them.

Tripper > HONDAD 08/03/2015 at 16:47

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Thanks! I felt the same way, I was really disappointed when I thought I was going to have to settle for a black one. They only have red and blue for the S3 as far as “poppy” colors go, and they produce far fewer of them. I’m feeling pretty lucky that I was able to land a blue one!

e36Jeff now drives a ZHP > Party-vi 08/03/2015 at 17:21

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e46 with 170k on the clock, I’m at 1qt every 5-6,000 miles. usually I do one quart in, then the next time the light comes on, oil change.

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > Tripper 08/06/2015 at 16:35

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I know I’m a few days late on this post, but may I first start off with CONGRATS!!!! The car looks amazing!!!

The A/C issue you mentioned is the exact same issue that my wife has been having with her Fusion. It completely shut off last week and no matter what we set it to, it wouldn’t come back on. Common problem with the car is the evap. temp. sensor going bad and keeping the blower motor from turning on. I took a look at it the other night and wanted to test it just to make sure, so I used my dad’s Power Probe to supply power directly to the blower and see if it came on. Sure enough, it spun right up. Next day, my wife gets in the car and the a/c cranks right up and blows cold, no issues. That was Monday, and it hasn’t given us any hiccups since. So, maybe the blowers just need a little motivation, whether by force or shock, to get them working again, lol.

And did you trade in the M3? I’m sure you mentioned it somewhere but I must’ve missed it.

Tripper > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 08/06/2015 at 16:55

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Thank you! Yes I traded my E90 M3 but kept my E46.

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > Tripper 08/06/2015 at 16:58

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Keeping the E46 over the E90 is definitely a good choice. I had an E46 330ci and man do I miss that car. But, life happens and I’ll get another one someday, lol.

Tripper > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 08/06/2015 at 17:06

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Yea I just was not in love with the E90 the way I am with the E46. Partially because the E46 M3 is a fantastic car, but mainly because of its sentimental value and also the color (Phoenix Yellow).

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > Tripper 08/06/2015 at 17:37

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Damn. The Phoenix Yellow cars are pretty rare. I’m partial to Laguna Seca Blue myself though.

Tripper > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 08/06/2015 at 20:51

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Yea LSB is definitely the prettier color. PY is offensive to some, just like me, which is probably why I like it:)