Shado1019

Ok, I'm dangerously close to my 2010 S5 order going into production and need to make any changes ASAP. I'm hoping I can get a quick response from everyone here.

Trim:

I love how the carbon fiber trim looks around the doors, but I hate how it looks around the center console. So, I would like to have the carbon fiber on the doors, but have the standard aluminum trim around the center console. Does the aluminum trim match the aluminum around the gauges and navigation screen? If so, I think that would be perfect.

So, what do you think? Should I order the carbon fiber trim and then special order the center console aluminum trim once the car is delivered? Or should I order the aluminum trim and then special order the carbon fiber door trim for replacement. My salesman says it would probably be cheaper doing the latter because the center console will take significant labor to remove while the door trim just slides out. But I can't imagine it would take more than 5 minutes to remove the center console trim. I would think they're designed to be removed easily.

Assuming I order the carbon fiber trim, does anyone here with aluminum trim want to trade their center console trim for my carbon fiber center console trim?

Alacantara:

Does anyone think that Pearl Silver alacantara will look dingy or dirty over time (worse than leather)?

Drive Select:

What is the official word on lowering cars with Drive Select? Will springs screw up the entire system

Graphite Gray vs Daytona Gray

I currently have Daytona Gray on order. I saw Graphite Gray on a Q7 Friday and thought it looked great. How do these two colors compare? Which is darker?

Thank you to anyone who can offer some thoughts or advice!

Alkivar

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA

*grabs aching sides*

took me 4 hours to take all my trim out of my A5 without breaking s**t.
lots and lots of little clips and you practically have to disassemble the whole dash just to get the center console trim out to do it without breaking. It is increadibly thin and breakable.

Alcantara always ages and looks dingy if you dont keep up on it. Mr Clean Magic Eraser and a sweater de-fuzzer will keep it looking pretty clean though.

Springs will not screw it up, but will definately change the feel of the drive select settings. Changing the magnetic dampening shocks for coilovers however will completely disable the drive select feature and give you an idiot light on the dash which I have not heard anyone has found a way to disable.

stick to Daytona, changing paint now could possibly push back your build date again.

dseag2

To answer your question, the aluminum trim doesn't match the trim around the guages. It is much lighter, especially in the sunlight. If you want an honest opinion, I think carbon fiber on the doors and aluminum trim around the console would look odd and kinda busy. Then you've got the painted silver around the guages...

If I can make a suggestion, have you looked at the Stainless Steel upgrade? With Pearl Silver I think it would look great. There is an S4 at the dealership with the Black/Silver interior and it has the stainless steel option. The stainless steel on the doors is nicely etched and around the console is piano black. It looks quite sharp with the light-colored interior.

You can also find a couple of S4's in that forum with Black/Silver interior and both options. Here's one with Stainless Steel and Piano Black...

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho....php?t=2762027

Here's Black/Silver with Aluminum...

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho....php?t=2762257

Hope this helps!

acadia

Which ever is the cheapest, you should order stand alone, and get the more expensive option as part of the car. So, get the carbon with your order, and order the aluminum console seperately.

Shado1019

Thank you, guys, for replying. I appreciate the thoughts. Here's my responses:

That's disappointing.

That concerns me, but I think I'll give it a shot anyways.

I'd like to do springs, but I've read people saying that it could end up blowing the shocks on the Drive Select system. Is that a real possibility?

My problem with the trim options is that anything other than the standard aluminum trim is kind of "busy."

If you choose stainless steel, you get:

1. stainless steel with silver lining on the door trim
2. piano black around the gear shift
3. the standard silver around the gauges

That's 3 different trims (assuming the silver lining on the door trim matches the silver around the gauges). I also hate piano black just in general.

If you choose carbon fiber, you get:

1. carbon fiber with silver lining on the doors
2. just straight carbon fiber around the gear shift
3. the standard silver around the gauges.

That's still 3 different trims (assuming the silver lining on the door trim matches the silver around the gauges).

Now, if the carbon fiber around the gear shift had a silver lining like it does on the doors, then it would tie in better with the silver around the gauges. But, it's just straight carbon fiber, which makes it kind of odd to me. That's why I hoped that the standard aluminum trim would match the silver around the gauges.

So, long story short, I think I'm going to stick with the standard aluminum trim. Since the center console is black to begin with, I'd like the trim around the gear shift to stand out more - and black carbon fiber on the black center console just isn't enough (from a contrast perspective).

newbie2quattro

If I'm understanding you correctly, I'd have to agree with you on this one. The plastic beneath the armrest covering the transmission tunnel that comes up and meets the shifter and mmi functions needs to have a "material break" (be it piano black, carbon fiber, wood, etc.) rather than just having the two materials "collide". For this reason, its why I decided to stay with the aluminum hologram on my A5 instead of the wood. It really would have been nice to see a thin piece of aluminum separating the two different materials. Details, details.

Red Angel

I have the black Alcantara (which is more like a charcoal) and it's beautiful. Not high maintenance but like other have said, just give it a quick brush every several months...no biggie. Not sure how the white Alcantara would hold up over time. As for the carbon fiber I love it on the doors and center console. Looks great against a black interior on a silver or gray car. My S5 was custom ordered in Avus Silver and I wouldn't change a thing.