Month: August 2025

1 – First Start – 2001 Audi A8 Barn Find Restoration

The story begins in March 2025, the first steps was to check if the car would fire up. Obviously the battery was totally dead and had to be replaced.

First thing first, replace the battery and try to start it. Result: lights came up in the car and upon trying to start the car, smoke started to billow out of the engine bay.

Suspect No 1: alternator, proceeded to disconnect it and the smoke stopped.

After replacing the alternator, the long process to clear all the DTC (Diagnostic Trouble Codes) started. As the car had sat for 9 years in all sorts of weather, luckily under a partial roof, it was not too bad, however the level of corrosion, especially in the ECU box located in the plenum at the back of the engine firewall, was major.

The main error was linked to the transmission and brakes system. Mainly caused by water ingress and connectors corrosion, I checked and dried the ECU box, protected it somehow from further water ingress – on a a side note – why would the engineers at Audi design a system that is right where most of the water coming from the windsrceen would end up flooding this plenum is difficult to understand. If so, make sure that the box is providing a very good seal, which is not the case; it merely is splash proof at best.

Other items that were found not working well or at all:

  • Alternator shorted
  • Windscreen wipers motors dead
  • Wing mirrors folding not proper operation (since stopped working all together)
  • Transmission (mainly contacts and ABS fault related)
  • Rear brakes calipers seized

First Start

The first start was epic. But I was far from “start up and go”, the next few months would be quite challenging, the first major step was to move the car from the car port as I needed to repair the roof. So I hired a trailer and moved it to my home.

Moves… just

2025 Project – 2001 Audi A8 Barn Find Restoration

You know, sometimes in life, opportunities come your way, and you just can’t let them slip by. This is one of those stories.

When an old luxury limousine that had been sitting idle for nearly 10 years due to its owner’s health issues comes into view, it’s tough to say no. This car belonged to a valued customer, and I had my eye on it ever since I first saw it back in 2015 when I started working for him. Even though it looked a bit outdated, I didn’t realise just how special this rare vehicle was at the bottom of its depreciation curve.

Originally purchased in 2001, a car that would be worth £100,000 today seemed like a steal, especially since I knew I could fix it up and restore it to its former glory, 25 years later.

Neglected for almost 10 years, a fine example of early 2000 luxury limousine.

In 2024, his widow reached out to me for some additional work on the property, one of which was to renovate the deteriorating carport roof. When it came time to move the car to get the job done, I asked if they had any plans for it, and they said it “had to go.”

I expressed my interest in taking the vehicle off their hands and asked what they wanted for it. They told me to make an offer, so I did, and they accepted it right away.

Then began a saga of smoke, corroded wiring, and parts replacements over the next five months… and it’s still ongoing. My partner was not pleased at all, as she was really upset that I prioritised this project over other commitments we had supposedly agreed to tackle that year.

I just couldn’t bear the thought of letting this “ugly” car go to scrap, especially since it had a 3.7-litre V8 engine with only 60,000 miles on it, all for the low price of £500.00.

And so it begins….