RS3 Style Grille Successfully Installed on 2018 A3 E-Tron

[Ben Ward]

Hi all!

Yet to see this done by anyone else so I figured I'd share a bit about the custom job I did to swap in an RS3 style grille on my 2018 A3 E-Tron

Initially I took the front bumper cover off to take a look at how I could remove the charge port door assembly then integrate it to an RS3 style grille.

The charge port door assembly is heat staked to the original grille, I ground off the heat stakes and was able to successfully remove the charge port door without damage.

I opted to order one of the "blank" grilles that have no Audi rings to allow me flexibility of trimming/modifications.

After lots of measuring, and cardboard templates I trimmed out the rough opening for the charge port door/Audi rings, then continued to make small adjustments until fitment around the perimeter was looking good.

Due to having access to a collision shop, I used our plastic welding machine to secure the charge port door to the new grille, and applied plastic epoxy in areas that would not be visible from the exterior. Some zip ties are visible in the picture as I had them on to secure the parts while the epoxy cured.

I'm continuing to iterate on this design and plan to create an adapter of sorts that could allow the charge port door to be trimmed so less is visible from the front.

One issue I have not resolved yet is the radar opening, this is a known problem when installing RS3 Style grilles on A3/S3 with ACC as the bracket positions the radar higher on the RS3, adapters exist but I plan to fabricate something myself. So far driving it has not thrown any errors and ACC works as expected.

Disregard how filthy the car is

 

[icee]

That is an awesome job on that mod! It looks super sleek with that Cosmos Blue paint.

 

[Ben Ward]

That is an awesome job on that mod! It looks super sleek with that Cosmos Blue paint.

Thanks icee!

 

[321_Tino]

Looks great!! I noticed that you have engine intake modifications. Can you share what mods you have done & pros vs cons.

 

[Nuje]

And what I'm guessing are custom DRLs (?) that you have going on in the lower corner bumper area....?
(the yellow things)

 

[strangeTDI]

Looks great!! I noticed that you have engine intake modifications. Can you share what mods you have done & pros vs cons.

Would like to know more about engine upgrades these cars can have...and some exterior mods. I see splitter sided skirts, a rear diffuser, and maybe a high spoiler

 

[Kmatt]

This is awesome, glad someone has been able to do it. This will be my first mod, I hate the stock grille with the chrome and the big plastic rectangle in the middle of it.

 

[Kmatt]

Hate* the stock grille.

 

[CarMark]

I also appreciate what Ben was able to do. That looks really professional! But, i didn't have the time or energy to do that much work and i hate the ugly front USA bumper adapter, too. So, i removed it so only the European insert is showing. Then, I added one of the Audi factory stickers. I also blacked out the lower part of the grill. Overall, i think it looks good for an easy mod. Let me know what you think.

 

[icee]

I like the look you achieved! The remaining chrome stripes almost look like "electrical" lines to the Audi rings where the charge port is hidden.

 

[Ben Ward]

Looks great!! I noticed that you have engine intake modifications. Can you share what mods you have done & pros vs cons.

Would like to know more about engine upgrades these cars can have...and some exterior mods. I see splitter sided skirts, a rear diffuser, and maybe a high spoiler

Will create a separate thread eventually but right now it's as follows:

EA211 "cold air" intake - No name brand from aliexpress, swapped for a K&N filter as the cheap filters can throw debris into your engine. Intended for USDM 1.4 Jettas, or EMEA/APAC MQB platform 1.4 vehicles, zero fitment issues!

EA211 charge pipe with BOV - Another no name brand from aliexpress, again meant for USDM 1.4 Jetta's or EMEA/APAC MQB platform 1.4 vehicles. Fitment is a bit trickier with this as the HV system coolant reservoir clashes with the BOV, requires some modification to the reservoir mount

Muffler and resonator delete - Will be posting a dedicated thread for this effort once the project is complete - Molding in a custom diffuser to the stock rear diffuser with a center exit exhaust (because "rally car") currently with the car essentially straight piped from the secondary cat back the sound is reasonable, but has a lot of drone and hits some Honda-ish frequencies at certain RPM/loads. Working to optimize sound and may offer kits specific to e-tron's eventually once I'm happy with it.

Noticed a bit more throttle response and a tiny bit more low end power from the butt dyno, but these mods are primarily just to scratch my itch for hearing turbo noises. With a tune there's likely power to be gained, but finding tuners that will touch this car in the US is almost impossible.

Other mods:

Rear spoiler extension - Meant for the S-Line/Sport spoiler that you can get on EMEA/APAC versions of the A3/S3/RS3 Sportback, fit no issue on the version of the spoiler the e-tron uses.
Universal side skirt extensions - Generic from Amazon, they come in three pieces and you can trim the frontmost one to match skirt length of car

Universal front lip - Generic again, three piece lip that you just line up and secure to the undertray, desperately searching for a lip that actually fits the car but have yet to figure out which year model/trim combo bumper the e-tron ends up matching up with

RallyArmor mudflaps - Got the cheapest ones for now to see how I like it, I'm originally a Subaru guy so these are a must for any car in my mind relates to Rally racing

Painted stock prestige wheels - Have a set of Golf R Pretoria 19" wheels I will be installing when I get a set of tires for them

Yellow film over stock DRLs - Amazon transparent yellow vinyl wrap

24" LED light bar - Knocked out the center most tabs in the lower grille and mounted the bar here, had the same setup on my 2.0T Quattro A3 before and didn't ever notice cooling issues, a must have as I live in a more rural area where you're more likely to hit a deer than a pothole

Rear quarter window louver - Aliexpress, still not sure if I love them but they add a sporty touch to the car

Not shown in current pictures:
Thule Aero bar roof rack with a generic roof box I found for super cheap on Temu of all places (~$200 USD) shocked at how high quality it is. Has a high gloss finish with the golf ball style dimple texture

MaxPeedingRods coilovers - Spec'd for MK7 GTI, bought the cheapest available to test fitment as no one seemed to have a good answer for e-tron specific coilovers, based on current testing/use the rear springs require a stronger spring rate due to the weight distribution over rear axle since the fuel tank is all the way to the rear. Curb weight of the car isn't that far off from the pure ICE versions of the car, but distribution of the weight is COMPLETELY different. Any MQB platform coilover for vehicles with independent rear suspension will bolt on, just need to verify front strut diameter, and would require correct rear spring strength to optimize. Working on getting my hands on corner balance scales to reverse engineer the weight distribution issue, and then determine the correct spring rate for rear coilovers.

Nolathane rear 27mm sway bar and adjustable end links - Improved turn in a lot, noticed the car really wanted to oversteer/lift rear tire on hard turns, especially with a full tank of gas.

Probably forgetting some stuff, but will be documenting this all more in the next month or so, just been super busy and haven't had much time to work on car stuff.

In the meantime, you can follow along on Instagram if interested! Handle: @slow_etron