ShinyF1
MB Enthusiast
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2006
- Messages
- 1,117
- Location
- SW London
- Car
- 2012 Audi S5 Cab, 2000 E320 CDI Estate [now gone] , 2010 Mini Cooper Convertible
After a mostly enjoyable year in an Audi S5 Cabriolet, I’m not really sure it’s for me. It’s currently in an Audi workshop awaiting a gearbox fix (I hope) under warranty, but it has taken over a month so far (the fault appeared en route to the Goodwood FoS). It has been diagnosed as a faulty PCB in an electronic control unit within the gearbox, but needs a pile of work to access it. I knew the S-tronic DSG gearbox could be vulnerable but I thought I’d done my homework sourcing a late enough car to avoid the problems.
Anyhow it’s shaken my confidence a bit in the car and I’m debating whether to sell it and come back to the MB fold. Part of the problem I think is not being able to find a trusted mechanic to look after it, and the fear that the fault it currently has could be the thin end of the wedge. I have read horror stories of gearbox replacements in S5s - clearly my research was not as painstaking as I thought!
So chewing over my dilemma now. My original thought process was to get an R129 SL, but having got the opportunity to spend some proper time in one, rather than a quick test drive, it was just too small and too heavy to drive. Next target was a post 2012 E350CGI Cabriolet (straight DRLs rather that hockeystick DRLs), but these are rarer than hens’ teeth. Frustrated with that I ended up searching for any cabriolets that were:
Petrol
3.0 litre minimum engine size
Minimum 6 cylinders
That led me to BMW 3 and 6 series, some other random cars and the Audi S5. The Audi was the most interesting so I found what I thought was a good one. For a year it has been good - looks fantastic, very fast, great exhaust note, reasonable handling (and dire fuel consumption) - but not really great. I think it just hasn’t hooked me enough to see past its recent foible and have faith in it in the long term, and that isn’t helped by not having a trusted tech to look after it (in the way PCS did my old S210).
Anyway what do I do? Should I hang on to it and try and get some longer term value out of it and trust that this repair will do the trick, or chuck it in and resume the search for a 2012+ E350cgi / E400 Cabriolet?
As a further twist before I went off on this convertible wild goose chase I was looking for a later E350CGI S212 Estate (hens’ teeth again), but really liked the look of the CLS350 Shooting Brake, but they’re both only really available as a V6 diesel. The CLS would be great but not sure I can go back to diesel.
Any thoughts?
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Anyhow it’s shaken my confidence a bit in the car and I’m debating whether to sell it and come back to the MB fold. Part of the problem I think is not being able to find a trusted mechanic to look after it, and the fear that the fault it currently has could be the thin end of the wedge. I have read horror stories of gearbox replacements in S5s - clearly my research was not as painstaking as I thought!
So chewing over my dilemma now. My original thought process was to get an R129 SL, but having got the opportunity to spend some proper time in one, rather than a quick test drive, it was just too small and too heavy to drive. Next target was a post 2012 E350CGI Cabriolet (straight DRLs rather that hockeystick DRLs), but these are rarer than hens’ teeth. Frustrated with that I ended up searching for any cabriolets that were:
Petrol
3.0 litre minimum engine size
Minimum 6 cylinders
That led me to BMW 3 and 6 series, some other random cars and the Audi S5. The Audi was the most interesting so I found what I thought was a good one. For a year it has been good - looks fantastic, very fast, great exhaust note, reasonable handling (and dire fuel consumption) - but not really great. I think it just hasn’t hooked me enough to see past its recent foible and have faith in it in the long term, and that isn’t helped by not having a trusted tech to look after it (in the way PCS did my old S210).
Anyway what do I do? Should I hang on to it and try and get some longer term value out of it and trust that this repair will do the trick, or chuck it in and resume the search for a 2012+ E350cgi / E400 Cabriolet?
As a further twist before I went off on this convertible wild goose chase I was looking for a later E350CGI S212 Estate (hens’ teeth again), but really liked the look of the CLS350 Shooting Brake, but they’re both only really available as a V6 diesel. The CLS would be great but not sure I can go back to diesel.
Any thoughts?
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
