SLCBrandon

I've wanted this car for as long as I can remember. Went looking for an S8 and before I pulled the trigger I did a local search in my area and price range and was surprised to find the E55's had dropped this low (listed at $12k, purchased for $10.5k with 96k miles and service history).

Anyhow, needless to say I love the car so far but want to tiddy up a few things.

-I cant seem to find any consensus on the troubleshooting path for the active contour/ortho seats. I.E., pump first? Air line leaks? The controller itself? Fuses? Any help would be great.

-Oddly, my driver side visor wont flip down (into sunblock mode). Is this a "thing"?

-I have the chrome Monoblocks that are in 9/10 condition. Are these valuable? I'd like the silver.

Thanks guys. Great forum.

snakesrus

My 2001 driver's seat leaks from within the seat cushion... found out using a smoke tester for EVAP diagnosis.

I suggest checking the air line going into the seat, usually found directly under the seat cusion in between the seat rails, it faces forward and is easily accessable without removing the seat. The line is a hard plastic gray tube with a 4-prong disconnect clip. Similar design found on some tranny lines. I used a small flathead and a small metal pick to separate 2 of the prongs and kinda pried the other two with a fingertip. It took me about 10 minutes to disconnect!

The line is really high quality and did not permanently disfigure or break when I was prying/bending the parts. This air line will pressurize and fill the seat as soon as the car is started. With the line removed, try starting the car. Is there air pressure at the hose? If yes, then theres a leak in the seat somewhere....

Heads Up: When I disconnect this line, I noticed my telescopic steering wheel function stopped working. It began working again when I connected the line. Weird.

SLCBrandon

Awesome, thank you! I looked at the line under the seat and wiggled it a little at the fitting? Both front seats seemed to have play at the fitting. Is that normal?

snakesrus

The fitting should have play, because on mine the fitting rests in a plastic assembly for the all the seat harnesses.
edit: the fitting's harness is kinda weak, I think its more of a retainer clip to keep the fitting from swinging about.

Solo wing

I have a leak in one of the lines right under the contour controls, I can hear the hissing loud and clear. that would be a good place to check.


I know that the silvers are more expensive, harder to get and nicer looking.
I bought a replacement for $1900.

Strigoi

I tried selling my kind of hammered silver monoblocks with decent tires and they didn't go locally for $600.

Solo wing

Were they in a bad shape?
I looked up and down on the forums but didn't find any listing. I bought the set back in December from a dealer in Miami.

Strigoi

Curb rash and the finish looks like poop IMO. They're straight and I've been tempted to have them refinished since I love how they look on these cars.

The tires are still good (maybe 6,000 on them) and they'll be going back on once I wear through the tires on the 19's I'm currently running.

amthatiam

Congratulations on the new car, the silver wheels are frequently available on the bay reconditioned, their are some there now. I agree that the silver wheels look much better than the chrome. Good luck with the car. O yea, don't forget pictures.

Dan

june82000

Congratulations Brandon. I test drove an '01 and the visor was like that so maybe it's a 'thing'. That car was silver (like most it seems) and I really want a black car and they are hard to come by. I decided to spend a little (ok, a lot) more so I am in negotiations with someone on a black '05 model. Wish me luck!

karpetcm

Congrats, Nice Color its happens to be my favorite, lol. The seats is common, mine don't work either, since both mine don't work it's pretty much from the back either hoses or pump. Just haven't gotten around to fixing mine yet. Do maintenance first ofcourse. The rest meaning mods is all preference but if your IC pump is good do Headers/Tune first and step up your cooling as much as you can. If your gonna go smaller pulley I would skip all the HC stuff and go straight to Killer Chiller and call it a day. Anyway you'll get pulled in a lot of directions with that. Goodluck and welcome.

ATL_E55

5 year bump.... nice find