Old timer Vanquish in the clinic for treatment.
Discussion
Hi my name is Ben, welcome to my Original and arguably the best (ok, im bias) …. Vanquish.
My 2002 460BHP Vanquish is back in the hands of Bamford Rose, not for normal repair and service, but for some welcome upgrades.
Bamford Rose has looked after my Vanquish since 2011 when it was pretty poorly and in need of lots of TLC, the Vanquish had upgrade to magnetic gear position sensor, replacement clutch and lots of other stuff Vanquish is famed for needing repair of. Back in ’11 the Vanquish had about 50k on clock, it now has 84k and since Bamford Rose took charge of upkeep, during those 30k / 3 years, the beast hasn’t missed a beat. I drive it everywhere, it’s a Vanquish to be used and enjoyed, and boy, do I do both!!
However, she now starts to flicker the ASM check light a bit and I fear the gear system needs another overhaul. This is a scary moment for any Vanquish owner, £10k for a solenoid pack, £2k pumps, £3k clutch, that’s not accounting labour costs, just for the system to (inevitably) go wrong again in future and need similar repeat spend.
Music to my ears was when I found out Bamford Rose was on verge of releasing a wave of new products for the original Vanquish, and I wanted to get in there first when I heard ‘Manual’ gearbox was on the menu list!
Additionally, Mike and Adrian have just finished development of a set of high lift inlet cams for Vanquish and a version of their exhaust manifold and high flow catalyst power upgrade kit (same as fitted to new era DB9’s / V12V’s and DBS). They say power of a 460BHP Vanquish will rise to 550 and 510BHP Vanquish S will be if not on the nose, a shade under 600BHP!!! For those that don’t want to go the whole hog of manual conversion, Bamford Rose will also offer a lightweight flywheel and heavy duty twinplate clutch that together with TCU reprogram will totally transform Vanquish Paddle shift behaviour and driveability (they do the same for V8 Vantage Sportshift which gets many rave reviews).
All this evolution is really interesting to me, and I’m going to get Bamford Rose to demonstrate each step to me, so the plan for my beast or ‘Esmerelda’ as BR now calls it (Bamford Rose name all projects, it’s their law and in this instance it’s a Vanquish / demonic / Dusk till Dawn thing, those that know, will know J ).
1- Update to lightweight flywheel, twinplate clutch and TCU reflash
2- Update to highlift inlet cams, tuned equal length exhaust manifolds and high flow cats from 460 to 540BHP
3- Update to manual gearshift
4- If needed, update to Vanquish S brakes and suspension
5- If needed, update to Vanquish S differential
I have seen Many Bamford Rose projects over the years, what impresses me is their values of ‘As if the manufacturer had done it themselves’, ‘never a fault light or error code’ and ‘never is it possible to even see a spanner has been taken to the car’. All values that when come to updating a Vanquish, are very important.
When I delivered my Vanquish to BR today there were 4 other Vanquish in for treatment, there was another manual Vanquish BR had sold to a customer and 3 other repair cars. BR told me they are pushing, if they are not there already in my opinion, to be ‘the’ place for Vanquish in UK, whether sales, repair or now upgrades. Owning a Vanquish is a journey, and I’m glad BR were there for me to have my journey. The cost of upkeep needed to do 30k miles in a Vanquish anywhere other than BR would have proven prohibitive. Now the thought of getting a thoroughbred, Bruising, Brit muscle car back when BR has finished with it makes me sooo excited for the next 30k miles. I’m so glad Bamford Rose has focussed on giving original Vanquish fundamental upgrades, I was looking for some time and then gave up because there just isn’t anything on the market. I’m sure the upgrades BR announce will be welcome to the ears of Vanquish owners like me who love to drive their fine beast.
My 2002 460BHP Vanquish is back in the hands of Bamford Rose, not for normal repair and service, but for some welcome upgrades.
Bamford Rose has looked after my Vanquish since 2011 when it was pretty poorly and in need of lots of TLC, the Vanquish had upgrade to magnetic gear position sensor, replacement clutch and lots of other stuff Vanquish is famed for needing repair of. Back in ’11 the Vanquish had about 50k on clock, it now has 84k and since Bamford Rose took charge of upkeep, during those 30k / 3 years, the beast hasn’t missed a beat. I drive it everywhere, it’s a Vanquish to be used and enjoyed, and boy, do I do both!!
However, she now starts to flicker the ASM check light a bit and I fear the gear system needs another overhaul. This is a scary moment for any Vanquish owner, £10k for a solenoid pack, £2k pumps, £3k clutch, that’s not accounting labour costs, just for the system to (inevitably) go wrong again in future and need similar repeat spend.
Music to my ears was when I found out Bamford Rose was on verge of releasing a wave of new products for the original Vanquish, and I wanted to get in there first when I heard ‘Manual’ gearbox was on the menu list!
Additionally, Mike and Adrian have just finished development of a set of high lift inlet cams for Vanquish and a version of their exhaust manifold and high flow catalyst power upgrade kit (same as fitted to new era DB9’s / V12V’s and DBS). They say power of a 460BHP Vanquish will rise to 550 and 510BHP Vanquish S will be if not on the nose, a shade under 600BHP!!! For those that don’t want to go the whole hog of manual conversion, Bamford Rose will also offer a lightweight flywheel and heavy duty twinplate clutch that together with TCU reprogram will totally transform Vanquish Paddle shift behaviour and driveability (they do the same for V8 Vantage Sportshift which gets many rave reviews).
All this evolution is really interesting to me, and I’m going to get Bamford Rose to demonstrate each step to me, so the plan for my beast or ‘Esmerelda’ as BR now calls it (Bamford Rose name all projects, it’s their law and in this instance it’s a Vanquish / demonic / Dusk till Dawn thing, those that know, will know J ).
1- Update to lightweight flywheel, twinplate clutch and TCU reflash
2- Update to highlift inlet cams, tuned equal length exhaust manifolds and high flow cats from 460 to 540BHP
3- Update to manual gearshift
4- If needed, update to Vanquish S brakes and suspension
5- If needed, update to Vanquish S differential
I have seen Many Bamford Rose projects over the years, what impresses me is their values of ‘As if the manufacturer had done it themselves’, ‘never a fault light or error code’ and ‘never is it possible to even see a spanner has been taken to the car’. All values that when come to updating a Vanquish, are very important.
When I delivered my Vanquish to BR today there were 4 other Vanquish in for treatment, there was another manual Vanquish BR had sold to a customer and 3 other repair cars. BR told me they are pushing, if they are not there already in my opinion, to be ‘the’ place for Vanquish in UK, whether sales, repair or now upgrades. Owning a Vanquish is a journey, and I’m glad BR were there for me to have my journey. The cost of upkeep needed to do 30k miles in a Vanquish anywhere other than BR would have proven prohibitive. Now the thought of getting a thoroughbred, Bruising, Brit muscle car back when BR has finished with it makes me sooo excited for the next 30k miles. I’m so glad Bamford Rose has focussed on giving original Vanquish fundamental upgrades, I was looking for some time and then gave up because there just isn’t anything on the market. I’m sure the upgrades BR announce will be welcome to the ears of Vanquish owners like me who love to drive their fine beast.
Edited by benjackson1964 on Thursday 20th November 19:59
Edited by benjackson1964 on Thursday 20th November 19:59
Edited by benjackson1964 on Thursday 20th November 20:01
Hi Ben. Firstly welcome to the mad house that is the AM section of PH. Your car is in the hands of incredibly capable engineers and your journey I'm sure will be a brilliant one. It is a testament to BR that they are happy to look after the NP cars as well as the Gaydon ones. Don't know if you ever saw the post from the guy who thought his new subframe was going to ruin his experience but the BR popped up to enable him to continue to enjoy his beast. My mods consist of a Tandoori Red retrim of the seats, I love it but it seems I'm in the minority. Oh and get a name down for Cadwell 
Welcome Ben.
I see that you had rather a rough ride, when you first posted your contribution in 'General Gassing'.
I might be the first poster on this topic, who has not had any business connection with BR. I did try, but nothing came of it. Your SEVENTEEN mentions of BR, might possibly have been just slightly too many. There seem to be some sort of rules about advertising on PH.
Do you know a couple in your county called R & M ? You might perhaps have heard their car from the other side of the county. It had a very loud free-flow exhaust.
Great looking Vanquish by the way.
Edited by Jon39 on Thursday 20th November 21:01
Thanks for your replies. I have to say this is my first time 'gassing' on Pistonheads and I have been shocked by the cynicism. I work in business turning around distressed companies but blimey that's nothing compared with the vitriol on here. Anyway, I love my Vanquish, I think BR are great, roll on my upgrade 
) Ben
) Benbenjackson1964 said:
Thanks for your replies. I have to say this is my first time 'gassing' on Pistonheads and I have been shocked by the cynicism. I work in business turning around distressed companies but blimey that's nothing compared with the vitriol on here. Anyway, I love my Vanquish, I think BR are great, roll on my upgrade ) Ben
Ignore it Ben, although I have to say I thought the drubbing you got on GG was pretty fierce. This forum is a little more welcoming but still has, like most others, it's fair share of cynics. A great source of info and advice, banter and b) Ben
ks, but overall a pretty nice place to be. Welcome, and congratulations on owning a stunning car. It's in very good hands 
always have hankered after a Vanquish but posts like this one put me off for ever. The thought of paying out 10k+ every now and again to keep my car on the road fills me with dread. My DB9 aint no Vanquish but after 5 years ownership (the car is 9 years old) my only bill has been a service at Stratstone's every year at a cost of £650 to £950
Enjoy your beautiful car but you can keep your credit card melting bills !!
Enjoy your beautiful car but you can keep your credit card melting bills !!
benjackson1964 said:
Thanks for your replies. I have to say this is my first time 'gassing' on Pistonheads and I have been shocked by the cynicism. I work in business turning around distressed companies but blimey that's nothing compared with the vitriol on here. Anyway, I love my Vanquish, I think BR are great, roll on my upgrade ) Ben
Welcome Ben....Don't worry about it - f) Benk 'em 
Rise above it - they will need to get over it. Maybe GG wasn't the best place to post as most that respond 'won't get it' when it comes to AM ownership. I remember seeing the post Nick refers to about front subframe corrosion and the stunning job BR did of engineering a jig and subsequent repair to A1 condition. If I had a Vanquish I know where mine would go
Now...where is that stock list of stunning Vanquish S cars that I recently looked at for sale at Works
ps Don't mention red seats to Nick - He will post a picture of the Tandoori Express
doh...too late!
every opportunity 
Don't get that one Tone
V8V12VTECwoollie said:
As an ex-owner of a V12V I was still always drawn to the Vanquish. Ben, you have my dream car and what I consider the best of the later era Astons. Truly a stunning car and it will be even more so after the TLC it is going to receive
There are some stunning examples for sale at Works currently in the Olympia building - just sayin' 
Thanks all. You're right posting on GG left me wide open. You learn from your mistakes.....well actually in my case for 5 mins or so (goldfish memory). Well like many beautiful things the Vanquish does need lots of love, and even more cash. My first experience was at a dealer, they didn't even know about the well known gearbox problems ! So after a couple of months getting to know my local AA guys (car variety, although at that stage the other AA was becoming very appealing) I went to a company called Derby Motor Services (remember them ?). To cut a long story short, after a truly horrible botch job my brother (who had a Vantage) recommended BR. Suffice it to say that since then I've had a driveable car, yes the bills can be steep, but are so much better than the dealer network and/or AM works. Also Mike and his team will always talk me through work in a non condescending way and often manage to bypass or delay 'optional' maintenance.
I've done 82k miles now and although I'm trying to cut down the miles it's sooooooooo difficult. At least it's now in safe hands with it's mods programme and not piling on the miles. I know that not everyone can afford one but I was lucky one year in that I raised the capital (re-mortgage, those were the days) and more by accident than design went for the Vanquish. Before that I'd had a Porsche 996 turbo and in 3 years had lost £25k value on it. So I guess if you accept you're going to be spending a minimum £5k p.a. maintenance for a few thousand miles, get out there, sell whatever you've got, and join me in the lunatic asylum
PS still like red seats.
I've done 82k miles now and although I'm trying to cut down the miles it's sooooooooo difficult. At least it's now in safe hands with it's mods programme and not piling on the miles
. I know that not everyone can afford one but I was lucky one year in that I raised the capital (re-mortgage, those were the days) and more by accident than design went for the Vanquish. Before that I'd had a Porsche 996 turbo and in 3 years had lost £25k value on it. So I guess if you accept you're going to be spending a minimum £5k p.a. maintenance for a few thousand miles, get out there, sell whatever you've got, and join me in the lunatic asylum PS still like red seats.
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