A4 1.9TDI RHD to LHD conversion

**Nesa011** · 10-01-2009,02:51 PM

Hello,

This is my first thread on this forum, and I will try not to be last one. First of all happy New Year to all

, and please do not be too harsh on me if question(s) seem to be silly.

I am planning to purchase my first Audi and to be a model from title. My question is, doesn anyone know of how/where is possible to convert right-hand-drive Audi to left-hand drive in UK? As well, what are pros and cons of doing something like that? Thanks in advance.

Cheers
Nesa011

**Issac Hunt** · 10-01-2009,03:08 PM

Is it April fools' day?!

You must be crazy to even think of doing this. It will be way cheaper to simply sell your car and buy another one with the steering wheel on the correct side.

No company will offer this conversion as there is simply no market for it. The cost would be absolutely enormous, many many thousands of pounds. Madness IMO.

**adamss24** · 10-01-2009,03:21 PM

Originally Posted by Issac Hunt

Is it April fools' day?!

You must be crazy to even think of doing this. It will be way cheaper to simply sell your car and buy another one with the steering wheel on the correct side.

No company will offer this conversion as there is simply no market for it. The cost would be absolutely enormous, many many thousands of pounds. Madness IMO.

Actually, a b5 saloon could be had for max £2k RHD. A similar spec LHD will cost up to 7K euros ! If you do the exchange it would equate to about £6.5-6.7K ! Then, buying a RHD and have it converted to LHD isnt so daft anymore, is it ? If you get a dash, front door cards,LHD front door loom, LHD steering rack, new AC pipes(these can be elongated by an AC specialist or freezer repair guy, engine wiring loom and a dash loom its doable and wont cost much more than 1000 quid. Keep an eye on ebay.de or french one and there are bargains to be found. Allow a full week end for the job and you cannot go wrong. Make shure you get all the parts first though ! Neesa, if you want the converssion done, i can put you trough some guys who do that on a regular basis. Its easy and cheap to do a basic spec one(no AC/Climate control) as there are less complicated and wont require soo many LHD parts. Other than that is just plug and play !

**Crasher** · 10-01-2009,03:26 PM

It is possible but if you consider that the bodyshell, heating system, electrics, steering, brakes etc etc is different you can see how much work would be involved, simply immense.

**kodkod.84** · 10-01-2009,07:42 PM

There is a company on eBay specialising in LHD Audi's, seem to have tons of RS4s on there which are more money than the RHD but I would contact them to see if they can get you a 1.9TDI.

**Issac Hunt** · 10-01-2009,08:19 PM

Originally Posted by adamss24

Actually, a b5 saloon could be had for max £2k RHD. A similar spec LHD will cost up to 7K euros ! If you do the exchange it would equate to about £6.5-6.7K ! Then, buying a RHD and have it converted to LHD isnt so daft anymore, is it ? than that is just plug and play !

The question is in the B7 forum. What about modifying the body shell to accept the steering column or moving the brake master cylinder assembly?

It IS madness.

**adamss24** · 11-01-2009,10:51 AM

Originally Posted by Issac Hunt

The question is in the B7 forum. What about modifying the body shell to accept the steering column or moving the brake master cylinder assembly?

It IS madness.

The holes are allready there me friend, they just blanked out or need drilling. If you look on the driver side where the AC pipes go trough, there is the same cutout on the pass. side. everything elses is mirrored on the other side. I do know people who do these on a regular basis to be able to be registered as LHD in eastern Europe. The conversion cost about 1500 euros all with genuine parts. The costly bits are the heater matrix housing, dash skin, door cards(they ussualy buy all 4 doorcards from crashed cars),steering rack, AC pipes, engine and dash loom. Rest its just plug and play. Then they have custom brake pipes made to fit and thats it really !

**Crasher** · 11-01-2009,03:35 PM

Originally Posted by adamss24

The holes are allready there me friend, they just blanked out or need drilling. If you look on the driver side where the AC pipes go trough, there is the same cutout on the pass. side. everything elses is mirrored on the other side. I do know people who do these on a regular basis to be able to be registered as LHD in eastern Europe. The conversion cost about 1500 euros all with genuine parts. The costly bits are the heater matrix housing, dash skin, door cards(they ussualy buy all 4 doorcards from crashed cars),steering rack, AC pipes, engine and dash loom. Rest its just plug and play. Then they have custom brake pipes made to fit and thats it really !

In that case, why is it if you were to order a new shell from Audi that they have different part numbers for left and right hand drive? Mind you, I have to admit failing to find a single weld on component difference in the separate parts of the shell. Anyway, even if the shells were identical it doesn’t change the fact that converting one of these from LHD to RHD is an excessive in mindless futility. For me to recommend someone to do this would be to go against my maxim of “never build a car you can buy”.