Audi S4 B5 bucket seat guide
B5 chassis, 1997 to 2001, saloon and Avant, 2.7 twin turbo V6
Before you order anything for one of these, reach under the driver’s seat and work out how it moves. If there is a motor under there you want one Planted part number. If it moves on a lever and a handle you want a different one. Same chassis, same money, two brackets, and nothing on the outside of the car tells you which one you are looking at.
That is the bit worth five minutes on a B5, because plenty of these left the factory with electric seat adjustment and plenty did not, and by now a good few have had a seat swapped in from another car anyway. Everything else about this one is straightforward. The frames are made for the chassis, both mounting routes are open, Schroth build a belt for this exact car, and there are four cages listed for the shell. Get the frame right and the rest of this page is a choice about height, width and how much of the car you want left standard.
- Planted make two brackets for the B5, part SB002 for a powered seat and SB005 for a manual seat, both 185.50 pounds
- Both are listed for the B5 chassis 1994 to 2002 and cover the A4 as well as the S4
- Each one is priced per seat and ordered as RHD driver side or passenger side, so doing both sides means ordering twice
- Planted say the seat mounts to the frame either directly or on side mounts, so both routes are open
- Schroth make a QuickFit ASM belt for the S4 B5 at 232.55 pounds, with a separate part for the A4 B5
- Four seats here take base or side mount, the cheapest being the Sparco Sprint at 210 pounds
- Four cages are listed for the B5 shell, from 440 pounds for a bolt in rear cage to 1544.63 pounds for the T45 kit
- Safety Devices offer their rear cage with a harness bar, which is the shoulder anchorage most owners are short of
- The Safety Devices cages are listed for the 4 door saloon and designed for a car without a sunroof
- Every Corbeau recliner here carries the 291mm x 330mm pattern, as do the Cobra Le Mans, Daytona and Misano
Start under the seat
A frame is the vehicle specific base that bolts to the floor mounting points in place of the standard runners. The seat then sits on the frame. It is the one part on this page that has to match the car instead of the driver, and on a B5 it also has to match a piece of optional equipment.
Planted make two. Part SB002 is listed for the B5 with a powered seat and part SB005 for the B5 with a manual seat, both at 185.50 pounds, both steel, both covering 1994 to 2002. The titles on both cover the A4 and the S4, so the model is not what separates them. What separates them is how the seat you are taking out was adjusted.
Checking is quick. Look for a motor and a loom under the seat, or find the switch. If the backrest and the height are moved by little electric switches on the side of the seat base, that is the powered car and SB002 is the part. If it is a lever for the height and a handwheel or lever for the backrest, that is the manual car and SB005 is the part. Cars that have already had a seat changed are the awkward ones, so if yours has something in it that did not come from an S4, send us a photo under the seat and we will tell you which frame the floor wants.
Both are ordered as an RHD driver side or an RHD passenger side and priced per seat, so if both front seats are being changed that is two orders and it is worth saying so up front so we can get them out together.
The powered and manual brackets are not interchangeableThey carry separate part numbers because they pick the floor up differently, and at 185.50 pounds a side it is not a cheap thing to guess at. The check takes a minute with the door open. Motor and switches under the seat means SB002, lever and handwheel means SB005. If the car has been apart before, or a seat has come in from another Audi, the safest move is to send us a photo of the floor with the seat out and the registration, and we will confirm the part before anything ships. This is the single most common way an order goes wrong on a B5, and it is entirely avoidable.
Base mount or side mount
Both are open on this car, and which one you pick decides what goes on top of the frame and what else you need to buy.
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Frame plus a base mount seat
The one that suits most B5s, because most of them are still road cars doing the occasional trackday. A reclining seat or a base mountable bucket picks up four holes in its own base and bolts to the frame with nothing in between, so you keep the backrest adjustment and the car stays usable for whoever else drives it. Four of the buckets on this page take base mount as well as side mount, so this route is not limited to recliners. Planted do not publish a bolt pattern for either B5 bracket, and the seats here sit on four different patterns, so if a base mount seat is going on send us both part numbers and we will get it confirmed first.
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Frame plus side mounts
The competition route and the lower of the two, which is the one to take if the car sees timed running or if you are tall and want the extra headroom. A fixed back shell bolts to a pair of mounts and the mounts bolt to the frame. The Cobra steel set is 62 pounds, the Cobra Nogaro set is 65 pounds, the Sparco FIA set is 75 pounds and the Cobra alloy set is 104.17 pounds. Cobra list the alloy set as FIA approved and road and track, and Sparco list theirs as an FIA part, so if you get scrutineered that is the column to read before you pick on price.
The fitting kit for a B5
The frame has to match the car. Everything under this heading is a choice. Side mounts only matter if the seat is side mount, and a runner only matters if you want to keep the fore and aft adjustment. On a car one person mostly drives, plenty of owners leave the runner off and take the height back.
Two of the seats further down come with sliders included, the Auto Style Type BS6 and the Type RS6-II, so check that before adding a runner to the basket.
- Planted Audi A4/S4 B5 bracket with powered seat, part SB002, 185.50 pounds per seat, steel, 1994 to 2002
- Planted Audi A4/S4 B5 bracket with manual seat, part SB005, 185.50 pounds per seat, steel, 1994 to 2002
- Cobra steel side mounts, part SUBFR25, 62 pounds, one set mounts one seat
- Cobra Nogaro steel side mounts, part SUBFR31, 65 pounds
- Sparco FIA steel side mount brackets, part SS004902, 75 pounds, steel
- Cobra alloy side mounts, part SUBFR26, 104.17 pounds, aluminium, listed FIA approved and road and track
- Endurance Motorsport sliding runner kit at 34 pounds, the cheapest way to keep the adjustment
- Sparco seat sliding runner kit, part 0049306, 34.95 pounds, steel
- Cobra premium sliding runners, part SUBFR07EL, 70 pounds, 291mm or 405mm handle width
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![Planted Technology Audi A4/S4 [B5 Chassis] With Powered Seat (1994-2002) Seat Bracket](https://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/SB002DR-2-300x300.png)
![Planted Technology Audi A4/S4 [B5 Chassis] With Powered Seat (1994-2002) Seat Bracket image 2](https://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/SB002PA-2-300x300.jpg)
![Planted Technology Audi A4/S4 [B5 Chassis] With Manual Seat (1994-2002) Seat Bracket](https://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/SB005DR-2-300x300.jpg)
![Planted Technology Audi A4/S4 [B5 Chassis] With Manual Seat (1994-2002) Seat Bracket image 2](https://www.sportseats4u.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/08/SB005PA-3-300x300.jpg)
Check the belt buckle before you drive itA frame bolts to the factory seat mounting points, so there is no drilling to do on a standard floor, but a bucket seat usually puts the original seat belt buckle somewhere new. On a B5 the buckle stalk comes off the seat frame itself, so it is worth looking at where it ends up before the car goes out. Torque the floor bolts properly at the same time. If you are pairing a base mount seat with either Planted bracket, send us the seat part number as well, because Planted publish no bolt pattern for these two and we would sooner get that confirmed than have you find out on the driveway.
Bucket seats that fit
Four of these take base mount as well as side mount, which is the useful column to read first if you would rather not buy mounts on top of the frame. The Sparco Sprint at 210 pounds, the OMP TRS-X at 220 pounds, the Cobra Monaco Pro at 235 pounds and the Sparco Sprint L at 237 pounds all bolt straight to the frame. Everything else here is side mount and wants a set underneath, which is another 62 to 104.17 pounds.
Height first, then price. A B5 saloon has decent headroom by the standards of most cars we write these for, so a tall shell is less of a problem here than it is in a coupe, and the frame drops you lower than the standard seat and runners did. The Sparco Sprint, the Sprint L, the Mirco RS2 3D, the OMP ARS-R, the Sabelt GT3 and the Cobra Imola GT are all listed for all heights. The OMP TRS-X covers over and under 6ft. The Sabelt GT-160 Taurus XL at 562 pounds is the only one here listed just for over 6ft, and it comes with head support. The OMP Champ-R, the Cobra Monaco Pro, the Cobra Suzuka T RT and the Auto Style Type BS6 are listed for under 6ft.
On width the Sparco Sprint L is the outlier at a 40in to 42in waist, the widest figure published on this page. The OMP ARS-R and the Sabelt GT-160 Taurus XL cover 36in to 38in. The OMP TRS-X covers 28in to 32in as well as 32in to 36in, and the Cobra Suzuka T RT is the narrowest at 28in to 32in. Most of the rest are 32in to 36in.
Two things to know before ordering. The Cobra Imola GT and the Suzuka T RT are road and track rated and the Auto Style Type BS6 is too, so if you get scrutineered the FIA 8855-1999 shells are the ones to look at. And the Sparco Evo QRT at 475 pounds is an FIA 8855-1999 side mount seat, but Sparco publish no driver height, no waist figure and no HANS rating for it, so those cells are blank in the table below and we are not going to fill them in on Sparco’s behalf.
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Our picks, not the whole listFrame first, then the shell
On a B5 the shortlist falls out of two answers. Whether the seat coming out is powered or manual, because that decides the bracket, and whether the car is a road car with trackdays in it or something you get scrutineered for, because that decides whether you need an FIA shell or whether a road and track seat does the job better for the money. Send us your height and waist, whether a helmet is going on, and what the car actually does at weekends, and Cameron will work out the fit and the best combination for it and cut this page down to two or three seats with the right kit under each one. That conversation also settles the bolt pattern question, which is the one number Planted do not publish.
Reclining seats
On a 25 year old fast saloon that still gets used as a car, this is very often the better answer. A recliner bolts to the frame with no side mounts involved, keeps the backrest adjustment, and leaves the S4 something you can hand to someone else without a conversation about how to get in. Everything below is base mount and road and track rated.
Bolt patterns are worth reading here. The Corbeau VLS, the Sportline RRS Low Base and the PSR pair are all listed for 291mm x 330mm or 345mm x 271mm, so they suit either. The Cobra Le Mans, the Daytona and the Misano Anniversary Spec 2 are 291mm x 330mm. The Sparco R100, the R100 Martini, the R333 and the SPR are 345mm x 271mm. The Auto Style Type RS6-II is 345mm x 280mm and the Recaro Expert S is 405mm x 290mm, so those two sit on their own.
The Corbeau PSR at 465 pounds is a pair listing, a shade over 232 pounds a seat, which makes it the cheapest way to do both sides of a B5 in one go. If you only want the driver’s side, ask first, because some of the single listings in that range have been retired. At the other end the Sparco SPR at 1549.12 pounds and the Cobra Misano Anniversary Spec 2 at 1374.17 pounds are the money seats, and the Misano is made to order with 4 to 6 weeks to allow. The Recaro Expert S at 997.50 pounds comes with a headrest included and is listed for all heights and all sizes, which is the one to look at if nobody else in the house is the same shape as you.
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Harnesses
This is one of the few cars on the site with a belt built for it. Schroth list a QuickFit ASM at 232.55 pounds for the S4 B5, with a separate part at the same price for the A4 B5, and both are 4 point bolt in belts with a clip buckle, 2in shoulder and 2in lap webbing, listed for the saloon and rated road and track. Schroth list them as not HANS compatible, so if you run a head restraint look at the Magnums or the Profi instead.
The car specific part solves the awkward half of the job, which is where the shoulder straps go. Shoulder straps want mounting behind the seat at roughly shoulder height and no lower, and a B5 gives you nothing factory back there to use. If you are fitting a universal belt instead, the answer is a harness bar or a cage, and the Safety Devices rear cage below can be ordered with a bar built in, which is why it is worth a look even at 440 pounds if a harness is the reason you are here.
On the universal belts, the TRS Magnum 6 Point Superlite at 245 pounds is FIA 8853-2016 and the cheapest current FIA belt here, with the Schroth Profi 3×2 at 370.01 pounds on the same standard. Both are HANS friendly. The TRS Magnum 4 Point at 205 pounds is FIA 8854-1998, an older standard some series no longer accept, so read your regulations before buying that one. The Clubman and Takata belts are the cheaper road and trackday options and all four are listed as not HANS compatible. Every FIA belt carries an expiry date that ends its competition life whether it has been worn or not.
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Our recommendationsWork out where the straps go before you buy the belt
The belt is the easy half. On a B5 the question that actually decides what you buy is what the shoulder straps are bolting to, and there are three honest answers. The Schroth QuickFit ASM made for this car, which is a bolt in 4 point and the simplest way to do it on a road car. A Safety Devices rear cage with the harness bar option at 440 pounds, which gives you a proper mounting point and can come back out again. Or a full cage if the car is heading further than that. Tell us what the car does, whether a head restraint is going on, and whether you want it left reversible, and we will tell you which of the three suits it and which belt goes with it. If the answer is that the Schroth on its own is plenty, we will say that too.
Roll cages for the B5 shell
Four are listed for this shell, which is more than most cars of this age get. All four are listed against the A4 B5, which is the same bodyshell the S4 uses, and if you want that confirmed against your car before you commit, send us the registration.
Safety Devices do a bolt in pair. The rear cage is 440 pounds, mounts to the floor and the rear wheel arches, can be used on its own, and comes in three designs: a single fixed diagonal, a single fixed diagonal with a harness bar, or a cross diagonal with a harness bar. The full bolt in kit is 705 pounds and adds a front cage and single door bar options, with the front section needing a rear to bolt to. Both are supplied black powder coated as standard with grey, charcoal grey, silver, white and red available, and both are listed for the 4 door saloon and designed for a car without a sunroof. Safety Devices state on both that they are not MSA or FIA approved, so they are road and track parts.
Custom Cages do two multipoint kits, CDS at 1187.62 pounds and T45 at 1544.63 pounds. Both arrive as CNC formed tubes with profiled ends ready for welding in, plus footplates, a checklist with every tube labelled and a fitting instruction sheet. They are a bigger job and a permanent change to the shell, and they are what the sharp end of competition expects. If you are building to a class, check the current regulations for that class and tell us what the cage has to satisfy, and we will tell you which of these is the right starting point.
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What fits what
Everything below fits a B5 on either Planted bracket, with side mounts added where the mounting column says side mount. Where a cell says not listed, the maker does not publish that figure and we would sooner say so than guess at it.
| Seat | Mounting | Approval | Driver height | Waist | HANS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bucket seats | |||||
| Sparco Sprint | Base or side mount | FIA 8855-1999 | All heights | 32in to 36in | HANS friendly |
| OMP TRS-X | Base or side mount | FIA 8855-1999 | Over and under 6ft | 28in to 36in | HANS friendly |
| Cobra Monaco Pro | Base or side mount | FIA 8855-1999 | Under 6ft | 32in to 36in | HANS friendly |
| Sparco Sprint L | Base or side mount | FIA 8855-1999 | All heights | 40in to 42in | HANS friendly |
| Auto Style Type BS6 | Side mount, sliders included | Road and track | Under 6ft | 32in to 36in | Not listed |
| OMP Champ-R | Side mount | FIA 8855-1999 | Under 6ft | 32in to 36in | HANS friendly |
| Mirco RS2 3D | Side mount | FIA 8855-1999 | All heights | 32in to 36in | HANS friendly |
| OMP ARS-R | Side mount | FIA 8855-1999 | All heights | 36in to 38in | HANS friendly |
| Sabelt GT3 | Side mount | FIA 8855-1999 | All heights | 32in to 36in | HANS friendly |
| Cobra Suzuka T RT | Side mount | Road and track | Under 6ft | 28in to 32in | Not listed |
| Cobra Imola GT | Side mount | Road and track | All heights | 32in to 36in | Not listed |
| Sparco Evo QRT | Side mount | FIA 8855-1999 | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Sabelt GT-160 Taurus XL | Side mount | FIA 8855-1999 | Over 6ft | 36in to 38in | Not listed |
| Reclining seats | |||||
| Sparco R100 | Base mount, 345mm x 271mm | Road and track | Over and under 6ft | All sizes | Not listed |
| Auto Style Type RS6-II | Base mount, 345mm x 280mm, sliders included | Road and track | All heights | All sizes | Not listed |
| Sparco R100 Martini Racing | Base mount, 345mm x 271mm | Road and track | All heights | 32in to 36in | Not listed |
| Sparco R333 | Base mount, 345mm x 271mm | Road and track | Under 6ft | 32in to 36in | Not listed |
| Corbeau VLS pair | Base mount, 291mm x 330mm or 345mm x 271mm | Road and track | All heights | 32in to 38in | Not listed |
| Corbeau Sportline RRS Low Base | Base mount, 291mm x 330mm or 345mm x 271mm | Road and track | All heights | 32in to 38in | Not listed |
| Corbeau PSR, pair | Base mount, 291mm x 330mm or 345mm x 271mm | Road and track | All heights | 32in to 38in | Not listed |
| Cobra Daytona | Base mount, 291mm x 330mm | Road and track | All heights | 32in to 38in | Not listed |
| Cobra Le Mans | Base mount, 291mm x 330mm | Road and track | All heights | 32in to 38in | Not listed |
| Recaro Expert S | Base mount, 405mm x 290mm | Road and track | All heights | All sizes | Not listed |
| Cobra Misano Anniversary Spec 2 | Base mount, 291mm x 330mm | Road and track | All heights | All sizes | Not listed |
| Sparco SPR | Base mount, 345mm x 271mm | Road and track | All heights | All sizes | Not listed |
Common questions
Which fitting kit do I need for an Audi S4 B5?
A Planted bracket, and which of the two depends on the seat that is in the car now. Part SB002 is listed for the B5 with a powered seat and part SB005 for the B5 with a manual seat. Both are 185.50 pounds, both are steel, both cover 1994 to 2002 and both are titled for the A4 and the S4. Open the door and look under the seat: motors and switches means SB002, a lever and a handwheel means SB005. Both are ordered as an RHD driver side or passenger side and priced per seat.
How do I tell if my S4 has powered seats?
Look at the side of the seat base. Powered cars have small electric switches there for the height and the backrest, and you will find a motor and a loom underneath when you lift the carpet edge or slide the seat forward. Manual cars have a lever for the height and either a handwheel or a lever for the backrest, with nothing electrical under the seat except the belt buckle switch. If a seat has been changed at some point in the car’s life, which happens on cars this age, send us a photo under the seat and the registration and we will tell you which bracket the floor is set up for.
Will the same bracket fit an A4 B5?
Yes. Planted title both parts for the A4 and the S4 on the B5 chassis, so an A4 B5 takes the same two brackets and the same powered or manual split applies. Everything else on this page works for an A4 B5 as well, with one exception worth knowing: Schroth make separate QuickFit belts for the two cars, so an A4 wants the A4 B5 part and an S4 wants the S4 B5 part.
Is there a harness made for the S4 B5?
There is. Schroth list a QuickFit ASM harness belt for the S4 B5 at 232.55 pounds, a 4 point bolt in belt with a clip buckle, 2in shoulder and 2in lap webbing, listed for the saloon and rated road and track. It comes in black or red and as an RHD driver side or passenger side. Schroth list it as not HANS compatible, so if you run a head restraint the TRS Magnums or the Schroth Profi are the ones to look at instead. There is a separate part at the same price for the A4 B5.
Where do the shoulder straps mount on a B5?
That is the part to sort before you buy a belt. Shoulder straps want mounting behind the seat at roughly shoulder height and no lower, and there is nothing factory in a B5 at that height to use. The Schroth QuickFit made for this car is designed to bolt in without you solving that yourself, which is why it is the simplest answer on a road car. If you are fitting a universal belt, you want a harness bar or a cage: the Safety Devices rear cage at 440 pounds can be specified with a harness bar built in and can be used on its own, which is the neatest way to get a proper mounting point without committing to a full cage.
Can I fit a side mount competition seat to an S4 B5?
Yes. Planted say the seat mounts to the frame either directly or on side mounts, so a fixed back shell goes on with a pair of mounts underneath. The Cobra steel set is 62 pounds, the Cobra Nogaro set is 65 pounds, the Sparco FIA set is 75 pounds and the Cobra alloy set is 104.17 pounds, each set covering both sides of one seat. Cobra list the alloy set as FIA approved and road and track, and Sparco list theirs as an FIA part, which matters if the car gets scrutineered.
What bolt pattern do the Planted brackets use?
Planted do not publish one for either B5 part, and that is the honest answer instead of a guess. It matters because the reclining seats on this page sit on four different patterns, from 291mm x 330mm up to 405mm x 290mm. If you are pairing a base mount seat with one of these brackets, send us both part numbers and we will get the pattern confirmed before you buy either. If you are going down the side mount route it does not apply, because the mounts take care of it.
Will a Sparco frame take an OMP or Corbeau seat?
On the base mount side the Sparco, OMP and Corbeau seats share one bolt pattern, so a frame set up for one of them generally takes the other two. Manufacturers tend to list their own brand only, which understates what actually fits. Recaro are the exception and their sub-frames really are Recaro only. If a particular pairing is what stands between you and ordering, send us the two part numbers and we will confirm it properly instead of you working from a listing.
Which seat suits a taller driver?
The Sabelt GT-160 Taurus XL at 562 pounds is the only bucket here listed just for over 6ft, and it comes with head support and covers a 36in to 38in waist. The OMP TRS-X at 220 pounds is listed for over and under 6ft and takes base or side mount, which makes it the cheaper option. Among the recliners the Sparco R100 covers over and under 6ft, and the Recaro Expert S is listed for all heights and all sizes. A B5 saloon has reasonable headroom, and the frame sits you lower than the standard seat did, so height is less of a problem here than it is in a coupe.
Which seat suits a wider driver?
The Sparco Sprint L at 237 pounds is listed for a 40in to 42in waist, the widest figure on this page, and it takes base or side mount so it does not need mounts on top. The OMP ARS-R at 428 pounds and the Sabelt GT-160 Taurus XL at 562 pounds cover 36in to 38in. Among the reclining seats every Corbeau covers 32in to 38in, and the Sparco R100, the SPR, the Recaro Expert S and the Auto Style Type RS6-II are listed for all sizes.
Will I keep the fore and aft adjustment?
Only if you add a runner. Side mounts on their own hold the seat in one place, which sits lower and suits a car one person drives. If you want the adjustment back, the Endurance kit is 34 pounds, the Sparco kit is 34.95 pounds and the Cobra premium runners are 70 pounds in a 291mm or 405mm handle width. Two of the seats here come with sliders already, the Auto Style Type BS6 and the Type RS6-II, so check the listing before you add one.
Is there a roll cage for the S4 B5?
Four are listed for the shell. Safety Devices do a bolt in rear cage at 440 pounds and a full bolt in kit at 705 pounds, both for the 4 door saloon, both designed for a car without a sunroof, and both supplied black powder coated with grey, charcoal grey, silver, white and red available. Safety Devices state that these are not MSA or FIA approved. Custom Cages do a CDS multipoint kit at 1187.62 pounds and a T45 multipoint kit at 1544.63 pounds, supplied as CNC formed tubes with profiled ends ready for welding in, with footplates and a labelled checklist.
I have an Avant, does any of this change?
The seats, the brackets and the side mounts are all the same, because the front floor is the same car. The two things to check are the cages and the Schroth belt. Safety Devices list their B5 cages for the 4 door saloon, and Schroth list the QuickFit for the saloon as well. Send us the registration and tell us which of the two you are after and we will get it checked against an Avant before you order.
My car has a sunroof, does that matter?
For the seats and brackets, no. For the Safety Devices cages, yes: both are listed as designed for a vehicle without a sunroof. If yours has one and a bolt in cage is what you want, tell us when you enquire and we will find out what the options are before you order instead of after.
How do I know I have the B5?
The B5 S4 was built from 1997 to 2001 with the 2.7 twin turbo V6, in saloon and Avant. It is the rounded shape with the oval headlights and the small four ring grille sat low in the nose, and the S4 tells are the subtly flared front arches, the aluminium door mirror caps and the twin oval exhaust tips. The car that replaced it, the B6, is squarer with bigger angular lights and a tall single frame style grille, and it takes different parts. If there is any doubt at all, send us the registration and we will confirm the chassis before you spend anything.
More help
If you have ended up here with the later car, the A4 B6 and B8 guide covers what came next on that chassis, and the A4 B7 guide covers the facelift in between. The Audi TT Mk1 shares a lot of its underpinnings with this era of Audi and is worth a look if you are cross shopping. If you want the fit on your own S4 confirmed before you spend anything, or you want us to check a cage or a Schroth belt against an Avant, the contact link is the quickest way to get it looked at.
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