As you know, I have custom carbon fiber trim by oCarbon installed on my Audi A4, so when I went to trade it in, I put the factory (OEM) trim back in so I could keep my carbon fiber trim for my S4. I took pictures of the whole process so I could create a trim removal guide. This applies to any B6 or B7 Audi in sedan or avant format (cabrio/convertible is different) including the A4, S4 and RS4. I used this guide as a basis (also worth a read) then elaborated on a few areas that needed a little more detail. By the way, if you want a new look for your trim, I highly recommend oCarbon – they are experts at what they do and can let you customize the carbon fiber color, weave & pattern to you’re liking. I went with a custom pattern called 5HS which you’ll see pictured below, and I think it came out awesome, just slightly more aggressive looking than OEM for that OEM+ look I know and love.

Step 1 – Door Trim Removal

Start with the doors because they’re easiest, and I’d recommend starting with the rear doors because if you mess up those will be the least noticeable.  Use a flat headed screwdriver and wrap the tip in tape so it doesn’t scratch anything. Gently pry the piece out starting near the front of the car – there are 6 prongs that hold it in. Once the first one or two pop out you can pretty much remove the rest by just pulling on it with your hands:

Repeat on all four doors. The new trim just pops right in using your hands. Like I said, this is the easiest part…it will probably only take a few minutes per door.

Step 2 – Rear Ashtray Removal

I did the rear ashtray next because it’s also very easy. There are two prongs on either side that hold it in. wedge your screwdriver on the side of it and pry it out. It works best to push it either all the way towards the left side or all the way towards the right side to get one of the prongs out, then once one side is out it will simply fall right out.  

The new unit just pops right in. We’re making good progress!

Step 3 – Front Ashtray & Shifter Plate Removal

Now we’re starting to get a little trickier, although still fairly easy. Remove the ashtray cover first as it makes it easier to access the shifter. There are three prongs on the bottom of the trim that go into the three holes above. Pull the trim towards you (towards the shifter) and it will come unhooked from the plastic part below it. You may have to give it a good tug. Here is a picture of the underside of the trim:

The replacement piece pops in the same way, but don’t put that in quite yet, remove & replace the shifter trim first.

For an automatic, the shifter trim can also be removed using the tape-wrapped screwdriver. Be VERY gentle! If you have aluminum or fishscale trim, you can bend or warp the trim which looks really bad.

For a manual you need to remove the leather shifter boot first, which can be done by squeezing together the clips that hold the boot in place. Now that you have the shifter trim out, replace the shifter trim and ashtray by popping in the shifter trim then aligning the asthtray prongs with the holes and sliding it in place.

Step 4 – Headlight Switch Trim Removal

Okay, now on to the somewhat more difficult stuff. It’s not really that hard, but it requires tools other than a tape-wrapped screwdriver, haha. Start by removing the plastic covers on both sides of the car (the fuse panel on the drivers side and the passengers side cover)

Next, you’ll remove the trim underneath the steering wheel. It’s fairly easy, just three bolts and it comes out. They are pictured below:

Bolt 1 - Fuse Box Area

Bolt 2 - Right Above Hood Release Lever

Bolt 3 - Near Center Counsel

With those three bolts removed, the entire lower dash drops to the floor and out of your way. You can also pull the big fuse labeled “640″ at this time to disable the Servotronic/power steering assist and give your car a much tighter and firmer steering wheel feel.

Next, go ahead and remove the trim. There are two bolts holding it in, one on either side of the trim:

One more minor thing – you need to remove the headlight switch from the trim. Turn the switch between the 0 and Auto positions and push it in. It will go in about an inch and you’ll feel it when it goes in, so if you’re having trouble adjust the position of the knob until it works. Once the switch/knob is pushed in, you need to turn it to the right and it will pull out.

The wiring harness just pops out of the back when you press in the clips on either side of the plug, and then you can remove the switch from the trim completely:

You can then install the new trim in the same way (but reverse order) that you removed the trim. You can go ahead and reinstall the lower dash area and fuse box cover as well – you’re done with those! Only one piece left…

Step 5 – Dash Trim Removal

The last piece! First, pop out the plastic trim above the warning symbol/drink holder/card holder. It just pulls right off. That will expose a few bolts you need to remove. Also pull of the cover on the side of the passengers dashboard (exactly where the fuse box cover was on the drivers side, only there are no fuses on this side). Lastly, open the glove box.

 Now, start removing the bolts holding this piece into place – there are four of them. All four are pictured below, starting from left (drivers side) to right (passengers side):

Bolt 1 - Near Steering Wheel

Bolt 2 & 3 - Above Radio on Either Side

Bolt 4 - Right Side

With the bolts removed, gently pull on the trim to remove it.

To install the new trim, pop it into place then tighten all four bolts. Then replace the two plastic covers and you’re all done!

If you’re anything like me, the last step of any mod install is to admire it by going on a nice, long spirited drive. Enjoy your new trim!

B6/B7 Audi A4/S4/RS4 Interior Trim Removal Guide is a post from: Nick Roshon on Nick's Car Blog

Well, the time has come to move on from my beloved Audi A4. She was a great car and I’m really going to miss it – I learned a ton about modding, and really dialed in the car to where I wanted it. I had a ton of fun in the car too, from track days to shows to daily driving to and from work every day. My A4 was my first Audi, and it was such a great car I fell in love with the brand – my next car (and many more after that) are going to be Audis for sure.

As some of you may know, I was in a small accident that destroyed my front bumper and hood. When this happened, I had the car repaired and turned back to factory appearance. I then started to sell off parts, and in less than a month I went from a nicely modded A4 to one that’s virtually indistinguishable from a stock A4. Through a bit of luck, as well as fortune in buying nice parts that people would want, my part-out went very quickly and painlessly, I even managed to sell my air filter. I still have my S4 seats for sale, but otherwise I’m rolling stock!

Here are some fun facts about my car during the three years I owned it:

• It attended 7 track days and three car shows
• I had four sets of wheels on it – OEM S-Line wheels, Sporttechnic Mono 10 Premiums, BBS CH Silver, BBS CH Black Edition
• My first mod was coilovers
• My most complicated mod was S6 LEDs as well as the B7 Pressure Plate Retrofit for my Recaros
• My most regretted mod was a carbon fiber hood – however it only lasted ~3 weeks before my accident
• My favorite mods were always my seats and carbon fiber trim
• My car had its own website, Facebook page, and Twitter profile
• I made a crap-load of friends through Audi gatherings
• I had five sets of door blades – S-Line, S4, Flat, S4, and then Flat again (to trade-in)
• I had the first set of oCarbon carbon fiber trim in the 5HS pattern

Thanks to all those who helped me out along the way, from tuning in to my blog to giving pointers on mods. A big shout-out to Audizine as well for all of the great resources and a continuous stream of ideas.

…and now the big question: what’s next?

I’m not revealing quite yet, but it will have 8 cylinders, a 6 speed manual transmission, and of course – quattro.

Goodbye A4, you’ll be missed!

Goodbye, old friend is a post from: Nick Roshon on Nick's Car Blog

I recently was in touch with the guys at SpoonFedTuning to try out a new carbon fiber lip they’re producing based of the Seat Cupra R lip – and wow am I excited with the outcome. I had previously ran the OEM version of the lip, but I had two issues with it – it never fit right since it was so hard to mount (too narrow), and the finish was kind of blah (textured plastic). The SpoonFedTuning version takes care of both of those complaints – it’s 100% carbon fiber, and they’ve widened the lip and improved the mounting points for a much better fit on the B7 Audi A4/S4…

The installation is simple – they provide the necessary hardware, along with rubber bushings to ensure a close fit without stressing the carbon fiber. They also provide the following diagram to illustrate suggested mounting points (circled in red), which I followed and was very happy with:

The lip is otherwise super easy to install. What I did was jack my front end up (due to coilovers, there isn’t much room to work under the car unless I do) and put the front axle on jack stands. I then test mounted the lip using 3M double sided mounting tape, until I felt I had the lip perfectly aligned. You want to make sure it’s centered, as well as sticking out far enough from the front bumper.

I found that my ideal placement was so that the lip ended on each side of the car with about a 1 finger gab to the end of the bumper. Once you have the alignment where you want with the mounting tape, pre-drill the holes through the lip & bumper (use a size down on the drill bit from the screw) and then manually tighten the screws into the bumper, starting in the middle and then working your way out.

Between test fitting, drilling & tightening the screws, I spent no longer than 1 hour installing everything – and that was working in the dark, by myself, and taking my time, so you can figure that’s a pretty reasonable time estimate.

I’m very pleased with the outcome – I’ll obviously need to be very careful not to hit any curbs or take any bumps too fast, but I think that is something I can manage at this point. The mounting hardware is very easy to install or remove, so you could potentially remove the lip for daily driving and only install for car shows & such – once everything is drilled it should only take a few minutes to screw it back on or take it off…

Here are a few more pictures I’ve taken – let me know if I missed any angles you were interested in seeing and I can provide more pictures upon request!

Thank you to James @ SpoonFedTuning for answering all of my questions along the way. You can also check them out on Facebook here.

SpoonFedTuning Carbon Fiber Seat Cupra R Lip is a post from: Nick Roshon on Nick's Car Blog

The truth is, they’re not that hard to make – they just take a lot of time, or more specifically, a lot of sanding.

To make grilles like I have that will fit the B7 S-line or S4 bumper and accommodate your shiny new S6 LEDs, you do have a few options as I discuss here. I think buying the S6 lower grilles and shortening them yourself is the easiest, whereas the other options require you to know how to lay fiberglass well, or they require you to go completely custom with mesh which is hard to make look OEM.

To make shortened S6 LEDs like I did, you’ll need the following equipment:

1. S6 Lower grilles. Part number 4F0-807-681-F-01C & 4F0-807-682-F-01C (left & right). They cost about $60/each from the dealership.
2. Bondo – you can get a 12oz can for about $6 on Amazon
3. An assortment of sandpaper – from medium to very fine. A kit like this (Amazon link) will have everything you need.
4. Exterior Mounting Tape (heavy duty) to mount the grilles. It is about $5 on Amazon.
5. Super Glue – I recommended Loctite Super Glue Professional Control as its easiest to use and has a good drying time (not too quick, not too slow). Available on Amazon for about $5.
6. Plasti-Dip or Paint – I recommend Plasti-Dip, as I’ll explain later. About $6/can on Amazon.
7. A dremel (optional, but highly recommended) – this will speed up the process drastically, saving you a ton of hours. The Dremel 200 is fairly affordable at $55 (again, on Amazon) and is supringsly handy around the house. You’ll need it to modify your bumper to fit the S6 LEDs as well, so you might as well pick one up. Avoid the cordless one, it runs out of battery way too quickly.

Total cost is about $140 for all of the supplies (without the Dremel) or $195 with the cost of the Dremel factored in.

Once you have everything you need, it’s pretty simple from here:

1) Chop off the rear mounting points

You won’t need these, and they’ll get in the way and prevent the grilles from mounting correctly against your bumper. You will see them protruding out of the back of the grille, and they’ll come off easy with either a dremel or a hand saw.

2) Cut out about an inch in length

Cut out the extra length from the end nearest the middle of the bumper – it is the flatest section and will be the easiest to mold back together. Start from the top and go through all three horizontal bars, making sure you have very straight cuts.

Then, make the same cut about 3/4″ down, so that you take out a 3/4″ section in total from the overall length in between the two cuts.

After you finish cutting through, your grille will look like this:

You’ll probably end up needing to shorten it even more, but start conservatively. By only taking 3/4″ out at first, you leave room to take out more later, but if your first cut is too big, there is no going back really. After taking out a smaller section, go test fit it to your bumper and see how it looks by holding the two pieces together. Depending on how you mounted your S6 LEDs, you may only need to take a little more out, or you may need to take a lot more out.

2. Test fit, sand, test fit, and sand until the length is where you want it

As mentioned in step 1 above, keep sanding a little off the length (or make a new cut through it) until the length is exactly where you want it. Try to sand or cut in straight lines so the two pieces mate up to each other smoothly.

Once you have the length you want, press the two pieces together and make sure they mate up flush. You might need to send the ends so that they are flat and even to ensure that they’ll mate up to each other completely and there will be minimal bondo needed.

3. Super glue the pieces back together

Once you have the desired length, use the super glue to hold the two pieces back together. Let the super glue fully dry before proceeding to the next part.

4. Add bondo to fill in the cracks

Now that the super glue has been applied, fill in the cracks where you made the cuts and reattached the pieces back together with bondo. Follow the instructions on the can of bondo exactly and don’t try to do too much at once – it dries very quickly, so it’s best to work in small batches. Let it dry a full 24 hours before you start sanding. I probably used too much, but its best to have too much and sand down to a completely smooth finish then to not have enough.

Step 5 – Sand the bondo’d area until smooth

You can start with your dremel tool using the cone shaped sanding extension, then switch to sand paper once you’ve got the majority of the excess bondo off. Keep sanding and sanding until there is barely any bondo left, just enough to fill the crack and that’s it. Then switch to the very fine sandpaper until it’s completely smooth to the touch. You can leave a little extra bondo on the underside of the grille as it won’t be visible and will add a little strength.

B7 Audi S6 LED Retrofit Part 2 – Custom Lower Grilles is a post from: Nick Roshon on Nick's Car Blog

The brake lights on my B7 (2005.5-2008) Audi A4 went out several weeks ago – I delayed and delayed replacing them, figuring it was a difficult process. I’m happy to say it is simple as pie, takes only about 5 minutes, and all you need is a flat head screwdriver! This is a super easy replacement that nearly anyone can handle

• Skill level: Beginner
• Tools needed: flat headed screw driver (a smaller one)
• Also applies to: 2005.5-2008 B7 Audi S4, 2005.5-2008 B7 Audi RS4
• Time needed: 5 minutes
• Parts needed: two 7506 bulbs. I used these Sylvania Silverstar bulbs which are 20% brighter, but any 21 watt 7506 ST bulbs will work.

The process is super simple – there is just one screw to remove, using your flat head screw driver, then you gently pull off the light, remove the old bulbs and replace them with the new ones. I recommend replacing at least two bulbs at a time, as if one went out the other is likely not far behind…

Step 1 – Remove the cover located in the trunk

You can remove the cover using your flat head screw driver – open your trunk and you’ll find it right along the edge of the tail light. Pry it off from the top – it’s connected at the bottom, so don’t pry from there, always go from the top.

Step 2 – Remove the screw holding the tail light in

There is only one screw holding in the tail light, which you can see once you remove the cover in step 1. Turn the screw to the left with your flat headed screw driver and it will come out with ease after several turns. You’ll notice I changed screwdrivers, that is mostly because the screwdriver in the previous photo was too large, and I had to switch to a smaller one.

Step 3 – Remove the tail light assembly

This step requires you to be gentle. Use your hands and slowly pry away the tail light from the body of your car. Be sure not to pull too hard from the inner edge – the outer edge of the light has two connectors that you don’t want to break. Pull a little from the inner edge, then pull a little from the outer edge, then repeat and repeat until the light pulls away from the car enough to grab from the center.

The two clips holding it in (that you do NOT want to break) are the two holes in the body which can be seen above, and the two prongs sticking out of the tail light, which you can see below:

Step 4 – Remove the tabs:

Once apart, disconnect the wiring harness and then remove the black backing from the headlight housing by pushing the tabs in, which will then expose all of the bulbs. Just push in the two tabs (one on top, one on bottom) to remove the bulbs from the brake light assembly:

Step 5 – Replace the bulb

The bulbs twist out by turning them to the left about a half turn. In my case, it was easy to spot the burnt out bulb as it had turned black (see the upper right corner), but like I said, you might as well replace them both.

Step 6 (Optional): Clean

While you have the tail light off, you might as well clean. I used a spray detailer to remove the dust behind the tail light to keep my car looking extra clean:

Step 7: Install the bulbs, Test & Reinstall the tail light housings

Put the new bulbs in by aligning the nubs and then turning them a quarter turn so they’re locked in place. Before you screw the tail light back in, give it a quick test. Hitting the lock button will light up the tail light, so you don’t need to even get in your car to do this. Plug the brake light housing back into the car and just let it rest on the ledge, then hit the lock button and confirm everything works.

Once finished, reinstall the light by pressing in the two prongs along the outer edge, then tighetening the screw from inside the trunk. Once the screw is tight, replace the carpeted cover and you’re all done!

There you have it – you can now replace your burnt out tail light bulbs in under 5 minutes, costing you only about $6. From what I’ve read, the dealer charges anywhere from $40-80, so that’s a great deal and only requires minimal effort.

Audi A4 Brake Light Replacement is a post from: Nick Roshon on Nick's Car Blog

I took this picture to show how nicely it ties together with the interior trim:

Another really cool part about these is that they’re relatively subtle from far away. From a distance, they look pretty similar to the OEM gloss black finish – they blend right in for a very clean look. It’s only when you’re up close do you really see how slick these are, which is what I love about them.

Thanks again to oCarbon for the great work – I love that they let me choose the fabric & weave pattern of choice. Right now, I’m the only Audi running 5HS fabric (each strand of fabric goes over 5 other strands, then under one, versus the 1×1 or 2×2 twill pattern that is more common). They have also done some really cool projects in colored kevlar/carbon fiber (silver, blue, yellow, etc) as well as unique parts and styles, and they really tailor each piece to look exactly how you want, which is awesome.

Next up for the car will be some matching mirror caps! I can’t wait for those

One last shot to wrap up this post:

Carbon Fiber B Pillars by oCarbon for my Audi A4 is a post from: Nick Roshon on Nick's Car Blog

What you see above is what get – four valve Caps with the Audi logo, as well as a “wrench” to tighten them. I’m not really sure why the wrench is included, as you can tighten them with your hands just fine, but to each their own… Just be sure not to over-tighten the valve caps when you install them, as you can strip the valve stem or break the cap if you’re not careful. Really these shouldn’t go anywhere as long as they’re moderately tight, so don’t worry about this too much.

Here are a few quick before & after shots to show how nicely they complement the wheels, and how bad the uncovered valve stems stick out.

Before:

Before - ugly gold valve stem

After:

After - matching valve cap with Audi Logo

And again, only zoomed out:

And after:

If you’re interested in picking these up, check them out on Amazon:

Audi Valve Caps – It’s All in the Details… is a post from: Nick Roshon on Nick's Car Blog

The wheels are the same spec as the last set – 19×8.5, ET35 wrapped in 235-35-19 Michelin Pilot Sport Tires. The fronts are actually wrapped in Michelin Sport Cups, which are super aggressive – I really like them. You can buy them at TireRack.com for a great deal:

BBS CH Black w/Polished Stainless Lip Wheels BBS CH Black w/Polished Stainless Lip Wheels priced from $540.

Here is my best attempt at a “Before and After” shot, showing how much different the black finish makes against a light silver car in what is otherwise an identical setup:

Before - Silver BBS CH Wheels

After - Black BBS CH Wheels

Before - Silver

After - Black

And for good measure, here are a few more shots of my car with the new wheels. Let me know what you think!

New Wheels – 19″ BBS CH Black Edition is a post from: Nick Roshon on Nick's Car Blog

Hi my name is Nick and I’m addicted to Carbon Fiber

I loved my carbon fiber interior so much that I asked oCarbon to make a filler plate for me as well. They used the same 5HS weave from my interior to create a matching filler plate for my exterior, giving my car a unique carbon fiber look inside and out. The filler plate was then shot with a few extra coats of heavy-duty clear coat to protect it against rock-chips – I’m going to play it safe and take it off for road trips, track days and long drives, but I’ve been driving with it a few weeks and so far its holding up really nicely and not getting damaged from rock chips or the like. I think its the perfect compliment to my RS4 grille and really ties together the front end wonderfully.

Here is a close up picture of the filler plate – you can see the finish is so shiny that it reflects me taking a photo in it, haha!

And here you can see it in comparison to my interior trim – a perfect match!

Thank you to oCarbon for the top-notch work as usual. Hopefully there will be more matching parts to come!

Custom Carbon Fiber Filler Plate by oCarbon is a post from: Nick Roshon on Nick's Car Blog

Installation is super simple – all you need is a smaller flat head screw driver and about 10 minutes. Finding the E-Brake cover is pretty easy, although it is a little expensive for such a simple item. I generally see them for between $80-120 on websites or through the dealer – ouch. However, if you look on eBay for “RS4 handle” you can probably find one for $49.99 shipped – it is shipped internationally and took about 30 days to get to me, but I was willing to wait for such a good deal.

To install, first pull up the e-Brake handle as high as it will go.

Step 1 – Remove the Old E-Brake Cover:

do this by pressing in the metal tab on the underside of the cover – you can see what the tab looks like in the picture above. Once you pop out the tab, the handle will slide off (you will have to tug at it a little, its a snug fit)

Step 2 – Install the New Cover:

Once your old hand brake cover has been removed, you can simply slide the new one on – make sure the metal tab clicks into place so that it stays on securely. That’s it!

Step 3: Admire The Results

You’re all done! You can see here the RS4 E-Brake cover looks great and matches the other OEM air leather/perforated leather parts very nicely. It’s a subtle detail few will notice, but if you’re anything like me, the subtle details really add up to make a big difference.

For more details on the installation, there are a few good DIY threads on Audizine (1 and 2) for you to check out as well – but compared to most modifications you’ve done, this is going to be about as simple as it gets – just a little tougher than installing a pair of tube socks.

As a side note, I’ve been thinking I might sell my car, and I’ve gotten a few emails with offers.  Did you sell your car recently and have any input? I feel like I’d regret it down the road, but if I could get a new B8 S4, S5 or even just another B7 but with a V8 and manual transmission, it might be worth it. Another plus of staying with a B7 is that I could transfer all of my modifications, like the RS4 E-Brake handle above…I don’t know, just something I’ve been thinking about…

How to Install a Perforated Audi RS4 E-Brake Cover on Your A4 or S4 is a post from: Nick Roshon on Nick's Car Blog