So You’re Thinking About an Audi A5 Body Kit

There’s a moment every A5 owner hits eventually, usually a year or two in, once the new car smell’s properly worn off, where you start looking at your own car a bit too closely. The factory bumper that seemed sharp enough at the dealership starts looking plain next to the RS5 you saw parked outside a coffee shop last week. That’s basically how every Audi A5 body kit conversation starts, more or less.

Good news, there’s a genuinely big aftermarket built around this exact car. Driving a B8, a B8.5, a B9, the newer B9.5, doesn’t matter — there’s no shortage of stuff out there. Front lips, RS5-style bumpers, full wide body kits, carbon fiber trim, all of it. Bad news is most of it ranges wildly in price and quality, and picking the wrong Audi A5 body kit can leave you stuck with panel gaps, paint that doesn’t quite match, a car that somehow looks worse than it did stock.

Quick take
An Audi A5 body kit can mean anything from a £200 front lip to a £3,000+ full wide body conversion. Know your generation (B8, B8.5, B9, or B9.5) before you buy anything for your Audi A5 body kit project, and budget for paint and fitting on top of the part itself — that’s usually where people get caught out.

Know Your Generation Before You Buy Anything

This is the single most common mistake people make shopping for an Audi A5 body kit, and it’ll cost you money fast if you get it wrong. The A5’s been through several distinct chassis codes since it launched, and parts genuinely don’t cross over between them — not even close, in some cases.

Original B8 ran roughly 2008 to 2011. B8.5 facelift covered 2012 to 2017. Then the B9 generation landed in 2017, sharper, more angular looking, and got its own mid-life refresh — the B9.5 — from around 2020 onward, wider grilles, updated LED lights, more defined creases along the body. An Audi A5 body kit built for a B8.5 simply won’t bolt onto a B9.5. Doesn’t matter that both cars get called the A5. Bumper shapes, light cutouts, mounting points, all different underneath.

• B8 (2008–2011) — original shape, increasingly rare to find kits for new
• B8.5 (2012–2017) — facelifted B8, still well supported by most tuning brands
• B9 (2017–2020) — full redesign, sharper lines, the most common base for current kits
• B9.5 (2020 onward) — B9 facelift, wider grille and revised lights, needs B9.5-specific parts

Double-check before you order
Always confirm your exact build year and chassis code against the listing before buying any Audi A5 body kit component. Sellers like German Car Accessories and Can Auto Performance list parts strictly by generation for exactly this reason — cross-generation fitment mistakes are the most common return request in this category.

What’s Actually Inside a Typical Audi A5 Body Kit

People hear ‘body kit’ and picture one big box turning up that transforms the whole car in one go. Doesn’t really work like that in practice. Usually it’s a handful of separate pieces, and most buyers end up mixing and matching rather than buying one complete set off the shelf.

The most popular starting point, by a wide margin, is a front lip — usually the very first thing people add to an Audi A5 body kit project. Sits under the factory bumper, adds a sharper, lower edge to the front end — genuinely changes the stance of the car for not much money, usually £200 to £300 for a decent carbon fiber or ABS one. If that’s not enough on its own, full RS5-style front and rear bumpers are widely available for the B9 and B9.5 cars specifically, swapping your standard S-line or base bumper for one shaped like the RS5’s, bigger air intakes, a more aggressive grille. Pay considerably more for that step up, and factor paint matching in too since most arrive primed rather than finished.

Side skirts run the full length of the car under the doors, tying the front and rear styling together. Not usually the centrepiece of any Audi A5 body kit on their own, but they make a real difference once the rest of a kit’s fitted around them. Rear diffusers come up constantly as well in this whole category — RS5-style ones with faux or genuine dual exhaust outlets, often paired with a carbon lip spoiler on the boot. Karbel and Aero Republic both make dry pre-preg carbon fiber versions that are lighter and stiffer than the cheaper moulded stuff, though you’ll pay for the privilege.

And then at the far end, full wide body kits — about as serious as an Audi A5 body kit gets. SR66 Design’s widebody kit widens the car by close to three inches per side and genuinely changes the silhouette, not just adding trim on top of what’s already there. These need proper fitting work, often cutting and reshaping the rear fenders, and that’s not a weekend job or a budget one.

Roughly What You’ll Pay

Pricing across this whole Audi A5 body kit market is genuinely all over the place depending on material, brand, and how much of the car you’re actually changing. Here’s a realistic spread based on current listings.

Carbon Fiber vs ABS Plastic — Worth Knowing the Difference

Most Audi A5 body kit components come in either carbon fiber or moulded ABS plastic, and that difference matters more than the price tag alone lets on. Whichever you go for ends up shaping how the whole thing feels day to day, not just how it looks in photos online.

Carbon fiber, especially the dry pre-preg stuff from established brands, is lighter, stiffer, holds its finish better as the years go by. Costs noticeably more too, and can be more fragile in a low-speed knock — carbon doesn’t flex and bounce back the way plastic does, it just cracks. ABS plastic kits are cheaper, more forgiving if you clip a kerb on a tight corner, easier to repaint down the line if you change your mind on colour. Downside’s a bit more weight, and the finish on cheaper versions can look noticeably less premium up close.

Neither’s objectively wrong here. If you’re choosing a body kit for your Audi A4, it comes down to what matters most. After the lightest, most show-quality finish? Carbon’s the better call, simple as that. Actually daily-drive your Audi A4 and want something more forgiving? ABS makes more sense.

Fitting — DIY or Get It Done Properly?

Some parts of an Audi A5 body kit are genuinely simple enough to fit yourself, no drama. Mirror caps, badge overlays, grille trims, usually just need basic tools and a bit of patience on a Sunday afternoon. Front lips are a touch more involved but still doable in a home garage if you’ve got the right fixings to hand. None of this is rocket science, to be honest.
Full bumper replacements, anything involving the wide body stuff, that’s a different story entirely. Usually need the front bumper off completely, sometimes cutting or trimming bodywork, almost always professional paint matching afterward. Try DIYing a full RS5-style bumper swap without proper experience and you’ll likely end up with panel gaps, wiring trouble with parking sensors or fog lights, a finish that somehow looks worse than stock did. Honestly one of the more common ways these projects go sideways.

The bottom line Budget for the labour and paint, not just the part itself. A £1,500 Audi A5 body kit bumper set can easily become a £2,500 job once painting and professional fitting are factored in — and trying to cut that corner is exactly how these projects go wrong.

Useful Links

German Car Accessories — B9.5 Audi A5/S5/RS5 parts
Can Auto Performance — B9.5 aftermarket parts and mods
BK-Motorsport — RS5-style body kits for A5/S5
SR66 Design — wide body kits for A5, S5, RS5
Performance SpeedShop — carbon fiber A5/S5/RS5 parts

The Bottom Line

An Audi A5 body kit can genuinely transform how the car looks and feels, but go in with realistic expectations on cost. The part itself is rarely the whole story — paint, fitting, getting the generation right, it all adds up fast, and rushing past any one of those steps is exactly how good intentions turn into a car that looks botched rather than upgraded.
Start small if you’re not totally sure yet. A front lip or some carbon mirror caps lets you test the waters without much financial risk attached, and you can always build toward something fuller once you actually know what look you’re chasing.

Prices and fitment vary by region, generation, and supplier. Always confirm chassis code and current pricing before ordering any part.