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
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
) Ben
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.
I don't understand the problem here for a certain person. Is it upsetting that there is a satisfied Vanquish owner who has found a safe home for his beloved vehicle. The vast majority of people on this forum want to talk about their car and have a bit of light hearted banter. Is that so awful ?
Anyway back to what we're on here for. I'd love your opinions on this series of upgrades - has anyone had any similar conversions and if so what was your experience. Also brake upgrades were mentioned, I've been forewarned of this and I guess it's entirely logical if you boost one thing then the next needs upgrading too. But any experiences shared would be great. I love this project but I also need your guidance and advice AM folk
Anyway back to what we're on here for. I'd love your opinions on this series of upgrades - has anyone had any similar conversions and if so what was your experience. Also brake upgrades were mentioned, I've been forewarned of this and I guess it's entirely logical if you boost one thing then the next needs upgrading too. But any experiences shared would be great. I love this project but I also need your guidance and advice AM folk
Thanks all. I'm really interested in the comments about brakes, also suspension, I had hoped this wouldn't be necessary but sounds like I was being rather too hopeful. I'll be checking in with BR and will let you know their thoughts on this. Will keep you posted, enjoy your evenings. Ben
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