Black Styling Pack, opinions?

[TomJ]

Hi

Viewing a Lava Grey B8 A4 with the Black Styling Pack this weekend. Haven't seen too many on the road, so maybe its not that popular (or even noticeable). That said, I would be interested in hearing peoples opinions on it (...I know its personal taste, but it would still be good hear).

Personally, I have mixed feelings; on one hand I think it looks more sporty, but on the other, I think that the chrome gives the car a more upmarket appearance. Overall, I really hope I am not too bothered.

Thanks

[eob]

I have a Black Edition and while I like the fact that it looks a bit different from the normal S-Line, there are a couple of points.
Firstly, unlink BMWs Shadowline, the Chrome has been removed completely (BMW paint it black). This means that the windows surrounds are rubber and IMOH look a bit cheap.
The trailing edge of mine on the passengers side is not seated properly and I had to stick it back down myself.

If you look through the forums, quite a few people have achieved similar or better results by spraying the items with Plasti-dip. This has the advantage of being removable.

It's actually the interior items which I wanted from the Black edition. Namely the Bang & Olufsen sound system, piano trim and flat bottomed wheel. The 19" Wheels are nice too and dead easy to clean.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/eob_/eob_cars/DSC_0003_zpsc95abe5a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/eob_/eob_cars/DSC_0006_zps93e6337e.jpg


Hope this helps.

[miatang]

Black edition for me aswell. I prefer it to the Chrome as it gives a more stealthy look to the car

[TomJ]

That's a great looking car. The black roof bars really suit the Avant. Nice location too.

Yes, I read some the Plasti-Dip posts, and seen some nice results.

It must be said, the car I'm viewing isn't a Black Edition - it has the optional Black Styling Pack - which has all the external styling mods except for the smoked wheels (unfortunately).

Slightly off-topic, but what is your opinion on the B&O (is it difficult to setup, did you compare it to the OEM system before selecting, etc)? This is an option that I am really keen on.

[eob]

That's a great looking car. The black roof bars really suit the Avant. Nice location too.

Yes, I read some the Plasti-Dip posts, and seen some nice results.

It must be said, the car I'm viewing isn't a Black Edition - it has the optional Black Styling Pack - which has all the external styling mods except for the smoked wheels (unfortunately).

Slightly off-topic, but what is your opinion on the B&O (is it difficult to setup, did you compare it to the OEM system before selecting, etc)? This is an option that I am really keen on.

The B&O is awesome. Much more definition than the standard unit (my friend has an 08 Saloon and I was driving an A5 for a couple of months prior to delivery) and the bass is nice and deep.
There isn't really much to setup, the B&O upgrade is only speakers and amp. The head unit is the standard Audi offering.
I've got a few bugbears with it's operation to be honest. It annoys me that regardless of what you set the volume too, mute for example, the next time you get in the car it comes back on. And another is if you have the unit off and want to change a CAR setting, the music starts again!
Also, track navigation is a bit pants compared to what BMW are offering even in their standard unit. Album art and everything. :mad:
But, that aside, it does sound awesome. And the DAB is good too.

[Longdog]

Lava grey with the black styling pack looks great, I'm biased but it looks great when clean and dirty!

[c.grex]

Talking about the B&O, I looked at a 2010 A4 black ad. And also a standard 2010 s line, and the B&O was loads better. But in my 2012 s line I thought the sound was much better than the 2010 one! I mentioned this to the dealer and he told me the had upgraded the speakers in the A4 to ten speakers with a sub and that was the reason. Unsure if this is true, but I find the standard set up in my car really good with plenty of base with no distortion.

one thing I thought about when looking at Black additions was tyre cost over the 18's. so guess that won't matter if it doesn't have the 19's.

[neebsta]

I've just picked up a used A4 B8 that came with the B&O system - early verdict is it's a winner! Great sound and hooked up to the iPod I can access almost my entire music library!!!

black optics packs are IMHO better than the 'chrome' as the 'chrome' is actually plastic coated aluminium. After a while it suffers with water ingress and turns to a mottled look. My 2006 A6 Avant I've just traded in suffered badly with it, as have a fair few cars I've seen on the road.

[eob]

I've just picked up a used A4 B8 that came with the B&O system - early verdict is it's a winner! Great sound and hooked up to the iPod I can access almost my entire music library!!!


Agreed. I have a 16Gb SD card in mine and the access time is negligible. On my VW CC with the same card, you had to wait a couple of seconds to access tracks. It was annoying but I got used to it.



black optics packs are IMHO better than the 'chrome' as the 'chrome' is actually plastic coated aluminium. After a while it suffers with water ingress and turns to a mottled look. My 2006 A6 Avant I've just traded in suffered badly with it, as have a fair few cars I've seen on the road.

Again, this happened on my CC, the first couple of times I managed to polish it off but as it slowly penetrated the coating it just became cloudy. The car was silver so it wasn't too noticable, but what I did was to take some fine wet and dry to it all to make it look intentional. Kind of like brushed aluminum. I think the fact that it was more uniform instead of blotchy was the winning appeal.

[converse420]

How do you guys find the road noise from the 19" wheels on the Black Edition, Ive just got one and find it deafening at times?

[eob]

Not an issue here.
I regularly drive with the radio muted or off and don't find it intrusive.
What tyres do you have? The Contisport Contacts?

The only annoying sound I have is a creak/crack coming from the rear passenger seat area when I go over a bump.