AudiWorld Forums - 2013 Quartz Grey S7 delivered (photos)

I took delivery of my 2013 S7 last week; 20" wheels, LED headlights, cold weather package, comfort seats, black headliner, and driver assistance package.

I immediately swapped out the stock Yokohama ADVAN sport tires for Continental ExtremeContact DWS, as I live in Chicago and didn't want to swap/store wheels as seasons change. If you are interested in buying some new 20" summer rubber (only 42 miles on them), I posted them for sale here:
http://classifieds.audiworld.com/sho...?product=11507

Delivery was smooth overall. My salesman, Drew, at Audi of Westmont, was great. He wasn't the problem, but he and I were both frustrated a bit when I discovered, despite my requesting to not have the car even *washed* when it came off the truck, that the dealer had not only washed the car but also applied their "PermaPlate" products (I noticed the sticker they applied to the inside back window). Twice their finance guy tried to get me to pay for it, but I refused. I almost would have paid to NOT have that crap wiped on my car. I found several smears and leftover product on the paint, and what looked like a sloppily applied Armor-All product on the leather.

Once I got it home, I did a through wash with Sonax on the wheels, and Dawn on the paint, then clayed everything. I washed with Dawn again, and after drying, I did a full wipe-down with 50% IPA. This was to insure I got the paint clean to the clearcoat, with no remaining oils or waxes. I've been a Zaino guy for about 15 years, and their products are fantastic, but I decided to try something new for this car. After a LOT of research, I used Gtechniq products on the entire car, and I do mean everything...the interior carpets, leather, & plastics, the wheels, brake calipers, wheel wells, exhaust tips, plastic trim, the engine bay, glass, and all paint. So far, I'm very very impressed with the results. Here are a few links to their products if you're curious.

http://gtechniq.com/shop/3s-for-cars/

http://autobionix.com/product-catego...or-protection/

http://www.autogeek.net/gtechniq-exo-paint-coating.html

If you search on YouTube, you'll find some very impressive videos too. Here is an Audi TTRS being washed after having their products applied:

After all of that work, it was ready for paint protection film. I like having a layer of protection *under* the wrap, just in case it needs to be removed (which I experienced after an accident in a previous car). I took it to Andy at http://www.clearguardforcars.com in Hoffman Estates, IL, for the XPEL Ultimate wrap. I had him wrap the rear bumper, mirrors, A-pillars, front of the roof, headlights, entire front end, entire hood, entire front fenders, *and* all four doors. He did amazing work - you can't see the film at all, and you can only see the lines unless you search - look at the detail in the cuts around the V8T badges! I can't recommend his work highly enough.

Today, I used the SAVVY unit from Valentine One to route my power to my V1 mounted above the rearview mirror, and I had a Chicago shop called Showtime Audio to wire the remote display (and mute button) into the dash, just to the right of the speedometer. They did a great job, taking the display apart, fabricating a new plastic back that fit into the S7's dash, then wrapping it with felt to prevent any plastic-to-plastic contact noise. It's attached with 3M adhesive so it can be removed in the future without any damage.

I'm trying out this iPhone mount until I find something more permanent, possibly from ProClip. http://www.imagnetmount.com So far it's working just fine, especially for the price. Has anyone else noticed that if your iPhone is paired to Bluetooth, but you're not listening to Bluetooth audio, all of your alerts other than calls are muted? I don't text and drive but I like to know when I *get* a text, because I can at least ask Siri to read it to me or I can call the person who texted me... I also noticed you can use a WiFi media player? Does that option disappear once your data plan expires? I'll also post a photo of my MMI version info, if that helps anyone. (US_AU_P0609)

Tomorrow morning I'm having the rear and side glass tinted with 40% (legal in Illinois) 3M Crystalline tint at Abe's Custom Car Care in Mokena, IL. Debating whether or not I'll have the windshield done in the 3M Crystalline 90%, just to help cut down on summer heat. Once that's done, I'm going to re-detail the car, in order to put a layer of Gtechniq C1 and EXO on top of the XPEL film, and possibly a second coat on the wheels. I'll post more photos with my real camera (Nikon D600) instead of my iPhone when I have more time and the car's tint has cured.

So far, I love the car, even though I'm minding the break-in schedule and keeping RPMs relatively low. I only have two disappointments: The "comfort seats" aren't the same as the comfort seats in the A8. (I never got to see the S7 in person before ordering it). In the A8, the upper backrest articulates, which is one of the reasons I ordered them. The A8 comfort seats also include vertically powered, "butterfly" style headrests - not sure why the same option on the S7 excludes those two features. Secondly, in my dad's A7, there is space directly above the mirror to mount a radar detector and a tollway transponder. In the S7, that space is taken up by what I think is the "Driver Assist" camera, a feature which isn't included on my S7 (there is no button on the turn-signal stalk to activate it). Seems silly to include the camera but not the feature! It makes me wonder if I could somehow use the feed from the camera as a dashcam recorder for insurance in defense of an accident.

Randy

Since I can only post 5 photos per post, I'll post a few more in a row...