VW Passat W8...
 

In my search for a car I have come across a few of these. I was looking specifically at the 4motion. Anyone know anything about these cars, in particular the W8? Maintenance issues? Timing Belt?

You try vwvortex.com ?

Isn't the 4motion VW's name for the Audi Quattro system? Have you checked out the Audi A6 with the 4.2 V8 or the S6 Wagon with the bumped up HP 4.2? http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/img_popup.jsp?car_id=271055523&photoIndex=3&isStock=false http://images.autotrader.com/scaler/..._A.562x421.jpg Notice the flared fenders , door "blades" and longer all alum. front clip of the V8 A6. Good DYI write ups at Audi Forums and Audi world.

There's a member on here called AdvisorGuy who at one time had owned a Passat W8. You might want to PM him.

The newer S4s have that engine too, they are beginning to go down in price and are pretty much the same size as the older Passats. Fantastic piece of machinery and one of the best sounding engines I have ever heard.

They are kind of like a Mercedes only not as good. Like most VW's you probably need an arm with 6 joints, and have to take half the car apart for basic maintenance; lots of kitty litter to catch the oil leaks, and an Amex Black card to pay the dealer to fix the electronics.

An E430/E500/E550 4Matic is a better car.

I concur with this. In December I was looking at an A6 with the 4.2 and quattro vs. a C320 with 4Matic. I loved the A6 - it was very smooth and very capable, and the 4.2 is a beautiful engine. I have had 3 VW/Audi vehicles (Vanagon, Audi Coupe GT, and A4) and all of them either leaked oil or required continuous repair.

The A6 was a nice car but in the end I just did not want to deal with another Audi.

I absolutely loved the A6 and was ready to replace my C280 with one. Until I found out about the regular timing belt replacement requirement and what that costs. Pass.

It was about 1200- 1500 bucks @a indy. Correct? (500 in parts http://www.blauparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=GH21118%2DA)

The E430 4Matic was one of the other cars I was looking at. I am assuming timing chain? What is the replacement interval? Were the strut towers a problem on the 4Matic cars? What are other issues with the E430? I was looking at '99-'02 to fall withing my price range.

Take the VW enthusiast's advice: Do not buy one of these if you don't want to spend lots of money fixing it. This is a car whos engine bay holds a 4 cylinder nicely but instead has an 8 cylinder crammed in. Replace an 02 sensor? Drop the engine. Very nice, very well handling cars thanks to the virtual axis steering... but that also means there's 8 ball joints to wear out.

The 4Motion system in that generation Passat is an almost direct copy of the traditional Audi quattro system, except that the front and rear diffs are both open. Still has the torson center diff. All W8s are 4motion. 90% are a ZF sourced automatic (which is good, VW can't build a good automatic transmission). 6 speed sticks are hard to find.

The BDP engine (W8) uses a chain drive for the 4 camshafts... a short chain drives an intermediate pulley which drives the chains going up to the heads. Guides, cam phases, and other malarkey abounds. Chains are on the transmission side of the engine. so it gets to come out (again) around 150k when everything is worn out. There is also a toothed belt driving balance shafts at the front of the motor. At least that should be easy to service since unlike Mercedes VW designs the front of their cars to be taken apart. I guess the good news is VW just blew out their inventory of BDP longblocks, and now you can pick up a complete engine for 4k or so.

The W8 is a very highly optioned car. It is the only 5th Gen Passat sold here with factory HID lights, and the only one with a 6 speed stick available. Extra chrome trim, "high pixel" trip computer, heated rear seats, naturally automatic climate control, and two fuel tanks with a little computer managing the level between them.

This is a car I would have leased when it was new, then turned in before the warranty was up. One thing I can't argue against is the sound though..... The VR6's sound is already *indecent comment censored*, but then a V VR4? MMM *Homer Simpson drool*

-Jason

I called a local Audi dealer and was given an estimate of $2K (Canadian dollars) if I opted to replace the timing belt, the recommended pulleys and the accessory drive belt at the same time. Add the taxes to that, and I was looking at just under $2300. So based on that, something in the area of $1500 + tax with an indy sounds about right.

2003 W8 6 speed manual.. One of 424 in the US for 2003 & 2004 - 96 of those are wagons. First one to be delivered on the east coast (lived in NJ at the time) In 6 speed form, it is a completely different car. I drove a 2002 Tiptronic and decided to wait the year for the manual. Deceptively fast.. Not a sprinter but once into 2nd gear, you'd better be driving a fast car. I ran door to door with G35's Mustang GT's and the likes but started to pull on them above 70mph. On the opposite spectrum, I could take 3rd gear down to idle in B2B traffic, squeeze a little throttle and be on my way smoothly.. Subtract the hour fuel & food stop, I made it from north Jersey to Darlington, SC to rescue my stranded partner in 8:45 driving time.. ALLEGEDLY :D

In 75,000 miles, I had: Climatronic unit replaced for throwing false high pressure switch faults, thermostat at 37K and fuel pump at 74K. It holds 9 quarts of oil and the oil filter is a paper cartridge located in the oil cooler just ahead of the right front wheel. DIY oil change is a PITA, only thanks to the belly pan removal. The 21 gal fuel tank made highway trips over 400 miles a breeze if I kept my foot out of it and even being heavier than the 2001 GLX 5 speed I traded for it, I could throw it harder despite the extra weight AND the GLX having more suspension mods. Once you learn to use the Quattro (and a little Skip Barber training ;) ) it was a fun, comfortable car. The all-aluminum W8 is only 20-30lbs heavier than the iron block / aluminum head 2.8 V6. The added several hundred pounds came from the chassis stiffening - very noticeable compared to my 2001 GLX, larger fuel tanks, etc..

I replaced the springs within a week - 1 3/4" drop up front, 1 1/2" rear, mounted 18" BBS RE wheels, a custom Magna-Flow exhaust - stock is true dual. I just went with 2 1/2" pipes, center resonator & straight thru rear mufflers with the stock quad tips welded on. Sounds downright sexy.. The sequential firing order and flat-crank.. Also Wetterauer software removed that pesky US market 130mph limiter. There was a pic floating around VWVortex of my speedometer pointing "north of 165mph" Again, ALLEGEDLY

It's not a car for the feint of heart or shallow of pocket. Cam adjusters are common but there is a "fix" that works very well that does not involve removal of the engine.. As far as the engine removal to replace the O2 sensors.. Yes and no.. I know a VW tech back in NJ that can change them in less than 2 hours with his self-fabricated tool.

Interesting thread. I didn't realize the W8 is all-aluminum or front and rear diffs are both open. Is the Passat a somewhat stretched A4 chassis? Without trying to highjack the thread any comparions to the V8 Audi cars you can add?

97-04 Passat / A4 / A6.. Same chassis, different dimensions, right down to the diffs. The Tiptronic trans is no different, hence the common "torque converter" issues and the 6 speed is from the S4, just different clutch/bellhousing set ups. In fact, you can use Bilstein Sports listed for the A6 4.2 since they don't have a separate listing for the W8 The W8 engine was intended as a possible replacement for the 2.7T in the S4. Audi opted to remove the front timing belt drive in favor of a rear chain-drive 4.2 like the W8. Switching to the rear chain-drive shortened the 4.2 by 3-4 inches..

A 4.2 into a W8 chassis Passat would be a cool swap... Hmm.. Maybe even the RS4 motor.. :D