N_Jay

Looks like my daughter and future son-in-law are going to try to fix the 2000 A6 2.8 Q that they crashed.
(All sorts of family dynamics going on since it was my son's car he had yet to drive before lending it to them)

Picture should be coming soon, but it took most of the force to the front and front right corner.
Hood is supposedly slightly bent and right fender is pushed back just enough to touch the right front door.
Radiator is gone (assuming since coolant drained).
No airbags went off.

As they start disassembling it, where should they be looking for damage that will make the repair easy or hard or impractical?

On a second note, anyone have a good front clip including radiator and such?

indoor

Ditto, unfortunately my wife hit a parked car when the windshield iced over late at night during the arctic vortex....

This is what I found after taking the bumper cover off(which wasn't badly affected, except the inner aluminum reinforcement slightly bent):
- radiator bent
- tranny cooler line(only one of them) bent and leaking fluid
- bumper shock absorber bent slightly on passenger side
- air box housing cracked
- passenger headlight gone
- one wing on the radiator fan broke off
- radiator support busted pretty bad(needs replacing)
- hood bent(no go straightening it back)
- passenger fender bent
- FRAME/ fender support/mount bent (with longitudinal weld open)
I think that's about it. The last one is the killer Because looking in the Bentley repair manual, they want me to cut that section off a good(junked) car and weld it on mine(with milimetric precision assuming I can find a good frame with no engine(because it seems to me I would have to remove engine to cut the 'new' section...It might be doable with an oxy cutting torch if air box/ wheel whell cover and ac lines are out of the way...

AC and SAI pump seemed OK, which are likely to be affected... Since they're in that area.

EDIT: even though wife loved the car and wants it fixed, I think it's time for a new car(still C5 as I can't afford a c6 yet and these cars are cheap enough used that it makes the repairs not financially wise. The car only had 105k miles...engine still works(and tranny). I just want to get a new radiator, tranny cooler line and drive it out of my garage...Possible part out...or keep it till I get the 'new' c5 car and use the interior parts from crashed car(seats are in very good condition, new cup holders, third row seat, etc). Then junk it, part it out if I find the time...

N_Jay

Ouch,
That bent/split frame is probably a total if you have to fix it (unless your car is really worth a lot to you).

I am hoping (praying) I don't have an issue like that.
Current idea is to do a quick bend and fit to get it back on the road.
If no frame damage, we will probably fix it later with a new front clip, or at least the pieces needed.
If it has frame damage, it will be used till they can afford a new car then parted or sold.

N_Jay

BUMP!

Quick question.
Are the fronts of all C5 A6 models fairly interchangeable?
Were there any face-lifts or are there any significant differences between engines that could bite me in the butt as I try to find donor parts for the front end.

indoor

I did take another look at my car. It's actually not that bad. It's mostly metal sheet that's bent what I initially thought it was the frame

But I'm curious too about the interchangeable parts: my question is if the avant and sedan a6 from same year have the front end interchangeable(including hood)...

indoor

After a bit of research, it seems for most parts the split is 1998-2001 same parts, 2002-2005 different than 1998-2001, but interchangeable between these years(2002-2005). Then you have 2.8l, 2.7l and 3.0l different within these groups.
Example: your car is a 2001 2.7l; you can exchange from all 2.7l cars made from '98 to '01.

Obviously most engine parts are interchangable on all years (C5)for same size engine, but most outer body parts are not. Does that make sense?

N_Jay

Mine is a 2.8 2000, so I guess I have to look for a 98-01 2.8.
Wondering how different the 2.7 and 4.2 front end parts are?
Guess the radiator and shroud and fan are different, but wonder if the rest of the metal is interchangeable?

The other question would be since I could replace both fenders along with the hood and bumper, is the 2002-2005 front end really a problem as long as I get all the parts?

N_Jay

I found out you can put a 2002-2004 front end (fenders, bumper and hood) on an early car but have to change the headlights also.


Still looking for the 2.7 vs. 2.8 question as I search for an parts car.

audi_nicoya209

2.7 vs 2.8 should interchange as long as it's pre facelift

N_Jay

Does that include radiator, radiator mounts, AC, etc.?