Aston Martin advice from Bamford Rose independent specialist

Aston Martin advice from Bamford Rose independent specialist

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faa77

1,728 posts

70 months

Sunday 1st December 2019
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Just watching BR's video on "gear chatter":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38dwuBZMsO4

Which models did/does this affect? Was it eliminated in the V8VS or V8V 2012.25?

V8V Pete

2,496 posts

125 months

Sunday 1st December 2019
quotequote all
faa77 said:
Just watching BR's video on "gear chatter":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38dwuBZMsO4

Which models did/does this affect? Was it eliminated in the V8VS or V8V 2012.25?
No. It can affect all V8 powered Vantages. My V8S does it a little but, as Mike says in the video, nothing to worry about at all.

faa77

1,728 posts

70 months

Friday 6th December 2019
quotequote all
V8V Pete said:
No. It can affect all V8 powered Vantages. My V8S does it a little but, as Mike says in the video, nothing to worry about at all.
Cheers Pete,

jakesmith

9,461 posts

170 months

Friday 6th December 2019
quotequote all
friscorays said:
I have a 2006 V8 Vantage.

I am considering switching out the 2005 / 2006 era seats for the sports seats that became standard from 2007 on. I imagine people have done this but have not had much luck finding out if their are any unexpected roadblocks to doing so.

Would retrofitting the seats be a simple matter of unistalling the old seats and then plugging in the new seats or did the wiring connections change? I'm not interested in the memory function that became available after 2006 but would like the rest of the seat functions to work as they should.

Any advise / input would be appreciated. Thank you.
If you're doing this for the aesthetic then whilst the 2007 seats look much newer, really it is only a double row of stitching down the seat & back that is different. A trimmer could easily add this. If you want to retrofit heated seats, this is easily done at the same time. I had it added to my R8 for £400 from a local place. The button is hidden in the seat base rather than being OEM but I don't care as it saved me £1500 vs OEM retrofit

NickXX

1,545 posts

217 months

Wednesday 1st January 2020
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Love the youtube videos Mike!

I have an idea for QOTW - why do the BR manifolds release so much power on the V8 Vantage, and why are the OEM ones so restrictive? Also, is a remap required to make the most of the manifolds, and if so, what does it do?

LTP

2,047 posts

111 months

Wednesday 1st January 2020
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I have a question about the SSII gearbox that I'd welcome some feedback and opinions on.

Firstly, I always let the gearbox do its clutch learn (LED in the N button flashing) before I engage gear and the car has done about 8.5k miles. I also always drive it on the paddles (not that this should make a difference)

So, the question or issue. If I'm behind slow-moving traffic in, say, 5th, and an overtake opportunity arises, I'll drop down two gears on the paddles, go for it and, as I accelerate past the other car, I notice that the clutch doesn't seem to have fully engaged as it will then do so with a slight bump during the overtake manoeuvre, as though the gearbox has been riding the clutch slightly then finally engages it fully while I have the power on. This only happens if I'm giving the car a fair bit of throttle - normal light-throttle changes are smooth and the clutch takes up immediately.

I had my AML dealer check the gearbox for fault codes, etc and I was told all was normal. There is no sign of clutch slip when the clutch is fully engaged even if you give the car full beans. Any thoughts or ideas? Or is it a case of TADTS and I have to wait a fraction longer between changing down on the paddles and hitting the throttle?

milu

2,346 posts

265 months

Wednesday 1st January 2020
quotequote all
jakesmith said:
If you're doing this for the aesthetic then whilst the 2007 seats look much newer, really it is only a double row of stitching down the seat & back that is different. A trimmer could easily add this. If you want to retrofit heated seats, this is easily done at the same time. I had it added to my R8 for £400 from a local place. The button is hidden in the seat base rather than being OEM but I don't care as it saved me £1500 vs OEM retrofit
I think there is a bit more to the newer seats than just a centre line

leerandle

743 posts

106 months

Friday 3rd January 2020
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NickXX said:
Love the youtube videos Mike!

I have an idea for QOTW - why do the BR manifolds release so much power on the V8 Vantage, and why are the OEM ones so restrictive? Also, is a remap required to make the most of the manifolds, and if so, what does it do?
If you've seen the original manifolds you'll know. The design is terribly compromised and very flow restrictive (bends, indents, collectors etc). Not sure how much extra just the manifolds make, but combined with the ECU remap and 200 cell cats, you get quite an improvement. I am sure Mike will be able to answer all this. I think there is a video explaining the 200 cell cats on their website.

NickXX

1,545 posts

217 months

Saturday 4th January 2020
quotequote all
leerandle said:
If you've seen the original manifolds you'll know. The design is terribly compromised and very flow restrictive (bends, indents, collectors etc). Not sure how much extra just the manifolds make, but combined with the ECU remap and 200 cell cats, you get quite an improvement. I am sure Mike will be able to answer all this. I think there is a video explaining the 200 cell cats on their website.
Yep- Mike’s done a good video of the cat comparison.

griffster

172 posts

96 months

Sunday 5th January 2020
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can the later '400 style' sills be inexpensively swapped to 4.3 style - I have never been a fan of tack on body=kit style wide sills - ruin the original pure design
1) approx cost of earlier parts
2) any mods needed to other panels or are they a direct swap?
3) dont suppose they are bolt on....?

m.barnes

184 posts

210 months

Monday 13th January 2020
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straight bolt on I thought. See quite a few people putting them on. Finding them is the hardest part I think but Astonmartinbits quite often have them

Graze01

1,034 posts

91 months

Monday 13th January 2020
quotequote all
griffster said:
can the later '400 style' sills be inexpensively swapped to 4.3 style - I have never been a fan of tack on body=kit style wide sills - ruin the original pure design
1) approx cost of earlier parts
2) any mods needed to other panels or are they a direct swap?
3) dont suppose they are bolt on....?
See page 22 of the "what have you done with your AM" thread

I just posted photos of changing the sills on my car

Straight swap and paint

I bought them from a pistonheads member, but they sometimes come up on eBay. Can be anything from £100-500

Graze

JonnyCJ

1,309 posts

53 months

Wednesday 15th January 2020
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Here’s one for you Mike...

What’s this elliptical hole for at the top of the front wheel arch liner in a V8V ?



It allows water and muck into the engine bay and ideally I’d like to block it off, unless of course it provides additional cooling and has been designed in for that purpose.

Cheers

Jonny

faa77

1,728 posts

70 months

Monday 27th January 2020
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Interesting latest video on Youtube from BR about fuels

SHIFTY

885 posts

235 months

Tuesday 28th January 2020
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Now I know why the coffee tastes so bad if that's what they keep in the coffee jars.....



Just joking the coffee is very nice.

Edited by SHIFTY on Tuesday 28th January 21:28

Cornwall1

91 posts

53 months

Tuesday 4th February 2020
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Question for Mike, but everyone feel free to add your opinion,

Recently bought a 2006 4.3 Vantage with full main dealer service history.
Serviced every 12 months, with an yearly mileage average of 2,800 miles.
Just coming up for it's 12 month service, total mileage 37,452 which I will
have done shortly.
Question is if a car is only doing 2,800 miles a year, do you think I should
change the oil every six months or stick to 12 months ?
As a retired Aero engineer I am concerned about internal wear in the engine.


jakesmith

9,461 posts

170 months

Tuesday 4th February 2020
quotequote all
Cornwall1 said:
Question for Mike, but everyone feel free to add your opinion,

Recently bought a 2006 4.3 Vantage with full main dealer service history.
Serviced every 12 months, with an yearly mileage average of 2,800 miles.
Just coming up for it's 12 month service, total mileage 37,452 which I will
have done shortly.
Question is if a car is only doing 2,800 miles a year, do you think I should
change the oil every six months or stick to 12 months ?
As a retired Aero engineer I am concerned about internal wear in the engine.
Why do you think the engine will wear internally without oil changes every 1400 miles? That’s a bit nuts. Manufacturer states 10,000 is adequate. It’s a solid engine. Interim oil changes make sense on the Porsche’s that have 20,000 mile service intervals. That’s really too long.

JohnG1

3,462 posts

204 months

Wednesday 5th February 2020
quotequote all
Cornwall1 said:
Question for Mike, but everyone feel free to add your opinion,

Recently bought a 2006 4.3 Vantage with full main dealer service history.
Serviced every 12 months, with an yearly mileage average of 2,800 miles.
Just coming up for it's 12 month service, total mileage 37,452 which I will
have done shortly.
Question is if a car is only doing 2,800 miles a year, do you think I should
change the oil every six months or stick to 12 months ?
As a retired Aero engineer I am concerned about internal wear in the engine.
Six months or twelve months?
Why not twenty-four months?

What do you think will happen to the oil while it sits unused in the catch tank and damp sump?

Modern oil is a wonderful thing and really does not need to be replaced if it's unused.

Hopefully Mike will chip in...

Seakingsam

59 posts

85 months

Wednesday 12th February 2020
quotequote all
Hi all

I live in Auckland, New Zealand and have just purchased my second Aston Martin Vantage V8S, and has just had "the full monty" at Bamford Rose.

I have previously posted in 2017 about my first manual V8VS - purchased new in Auckland in September 2016 - which had been upgraded by importing from Bamford Rose the twin plate clutch and lightweight flywheel kit. After much hassle - caused by the factory changing the configuration of the torque tube to remove the requirement for the spacer, and not providing any notification in their notes to the dealer network - the installation proved as successful as hoped and expected. The resolution of the spacer issue had one great positive - it reinforced for me Mike at BR simply climbed into the issue and provided every support necessary to resolve the matter. When you are 12,000 miles from supplier, that attitude is pure gold, and can never be taken for granted.

Within 6 months, I had decided I wanted to upgrade from the V8S to the V12S and so I on-sold my modified Vantage to a fine buyer in Christchurch, and I started looking for a near new right-hand drive V12S manual in NZ, as well as other RHD markets such as HK, Singapore, UK etc. But then .... but then, I use the car in New Zealand, with good to indifferent roads, but particularly in the deep south of the South Island which is a driver's paradise. My particular interest and motivation is the elegance of the engineering solution to provide a superior drivers car. Yes, I see some outrageous numbers now and again, but by and large, my very real interest is the purity of the driving experience.

That lead me full circle back to the balance, and the "purity", if you like, of the V8VS. The new Vantage, unfortunately to my mind, unfortunately lacks the purity and the beauty of the VH2 design.

So, late in 2019 - I'm slow but deadly on these big decisions - I approached the purchaser of my first Vantage, and offered him a really good price. No way would he part with it, and over a few weeks of chatting, it was clear he understood exactly what he had bought from me - the OEM specification was almost perfect, and the retro-fit of the BR clutch kit was superb and resolved the clutch issue completely, and proved to be the icing on the cake. I got to the point of offering him his money back, but still no joy. I tried a couple of other used V8VS available in New Zealand, but none were to the standard I required.

So, we started looking in the UK, and we found the late 2017 model V8VS (first registered March 2018) manual at Aston Martin Nottingham with just 2,500 miles, in perfect, completely as new, condition. The vehicle was offered at GBP72,000 but as we bought between Christmas and New Year - a short month - we were able to secure a very healthy discount on that price.

We then relocated the vehicle to Bamford Rose for the month of January for the full work up.

The scope of work included :

  • twin plate clutch
  • light-weight flywheel
  • quick shift modification
  • exhaust system, with high flow secondary sports cats and additional silencer behind each cat
  • ECU remap to release the additional 50 bhp
  • N400 air induction system modification
  • switchable exhaust
  • replace OEM comfort suspension with Bilstein switchable suspension, with glass button
  • Bamford Rose sports geometry and ride height adjustment
  • full set of Michelin Pilot Sport tyres
Mike's pre-work inspection and test drive was illuminating and just as I hoped - the vehicle was pristine, and effectively unused. When Mike pushed the car, he said he thought it was the first time it had been at speed.

So now the benefit was emerging - My entry price was such that the cost of UK purchase, and the additional costs of the BR transformation, shipping and NZ tax meant the virtually new vehicle landed in my drive in Auckland cheaper than my first Vantage in 2016. Most importantly, the near new state meant no compromise in condition or potential. I'd take that !

What was also a bit different was my decision to really push the boat out and fly over to the UK for a few days after the work was completed to meet with Mike, Adrian and the team, and to test-drive my transformed vehicle before shipment back to NZ. Certainly, I'd prefer to catch any issue in the UK, rather than try to resolve from afar, but I wanted the process to be more than a little special, as not something I'd likely be doing again.

So, four days in a hotel in Stratford-Upon-Avon, and daily runs to BR. Monday 3 Feb saw the final bits of work completed on the installation of the switch gear in the centre console, and then the following morning Adrian took me out on the circuit to explore the outer edges of the performance envelope.

Impressive. Adrian's driving ability and prior competitive racing experience stands out, and other posts on the forum have talked about the run. All true - very fast, very controlled, very measured. I felt entirely comfortable indeed - Adrian did advise the speed he saw at one point and that would get your attention - but I must say the highlight for me was what he got out of the OEM Brembo six pot brakes - more, in fact, than I had ever achieved previously, and I had stood on them from very high speeds in my previous Vantage, and also in the identical 380mm Brembo big brake kit I had retro-fitted to an earlier E92 M3. Adrian was brutal in his application, and my lovely new Vantage just flew, and stopped, and performed brilliantly.

That run demonstrated the fuel metering was spot-on, with no hesitation or lumpiness and the engine pulled crisply and perfectly from idle to red-line. Better than new. The suspension set up was also perfect - not only at low speed where I believe it is more cosseting then the OEM comfort suspension, but at higher speeds the track setting offers perfect dampening with the springing judged just so. The slides around the odd round-about, and then the transition to full throttle in second gear while winding off the lock was exemplary. In Adrian's hands, the engine responsiveness was a revelation, and the revs soared. The car was taut, handled perfectly, and, let me say, lack of power was furtherest from my mind.

Absolutely perfect, and this was the car I sought. This was what all this effort, including flying half-way around the world, was about.

Thank you, Adrian, that was the tick in the box.

I then wanted to run the vehicle by myself for two days for a complete shake-down, before shipping. We had tried to organise insurance cover from New Zealand for two days, but what a drama. The best we could find, and we tried everywhere, was taking out a full comprehensive policy for a year, then cancelling 11 months, with the result I would pay a premium of GBP700 - for two days. Despite a clean driving record in NZ, and a 65% no claims bonus from my insurer.

Once again, Mike stepped up. Bamford Rose has an all risks policy for vehicles at the premises, and he was able to organise a couple of days use by me on his trade plates, at no cost.

Over the next two days I put 500 miles on the car - over to North Wales and a run through Snowdonia, and in particular the Mach Loop to see the low level jets running through the valleys - great fun. On the run back to BR, the black box controlling the Bilstein suspension failed - probably to heat soak - and the unit defaulted to its neutral setting which was stiff. That was unfortunate for the lumpy run down the M6 back to BR.

Still, Adrian swapped out the box for the second day and all was perfect.

My runs up the M6, on A roads, and along the M54 also highlighted another benefit from the hand-built exhaust. The OEM exhaust - unacceptable monstrosity that it is - is double-skinned, with the effect exhaust heat is trapped between the skins. The BR exhaust is fully exposed, with the result when I came up to a stop sign after a particularly hard run I saw two rivers of heat haze rising from the bonnet vents - lovely, that - a cooking V8, indeed ! I had been a little concerned on this point and had queried a full ceramic coating of the exhaust system before fitting but Mike counselled against it as adding cost, but providing little in the way of performance or heat management benefit. Simply not needed.

So, I returned the car to BR's care prior to shipment earlier this week, and I returned to Heathrow for the flight to transit through Hong Kong (uh oh), and on to New Zealand. Well satisfied in every respect.

So what have been my take-aways from this exercise.

First, I took my time and decided on my requirements, and felt very comfortable engaging with Mike at Bamford Rose to discuss this specification, and the logistics of getting the vehicle to BR, settlements etc. Mike's patience and engagement throughout built out my trust and confidence.

Secondly, nothing was too much trouble for Mike, Adrian and the team. True gentlemen. They love their work and their customer support is exemplary. More than that, their down-to-earth demeanour sits very well with the Kiwi attitude. We want best-in-class expertise, but expect that to be delivered in a professional, focused, timely manner, without arrogance or a sense of entitlement, and with a service ethic second to none. Mike had at least three opportunities to pad the invoice, but each and every time he took the customer-centric path of ensuring I received the benefit, and always clear, unambiguous advice.

Thirdly, the depth of technical knowledge is extraordinary. Prior to committing to this work I approached every competitor to BR. In my experience, none had the product quality, nor the depth of technical knowledge, nor customer-centricity to justify this sort of long distance project.

Fourthly, the final invoice was very reasonable considering the transformational nature of the work done by Bamford Rose.

So, the vehicle is currently at Felixstowe awaiting shipment, and will arrive in my drive in Auckland in 12 weeks, whereupon we will put a very fast 5000kms on her throughout the South Island (Te Wai Pounamu) of New Zealand.

I cannot speak highly enough of Mike, Adrian and the team at Bamford Rose, and I am absolutely delighted I now have the car I wanted, and fulfilled the original promise of the VH2 V8VS.




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NickXX

1,545 posts

217 months

Wednesday 12th February 2020
quotequote all
Superb write up. Your car was up on the lift when I was there in January. I had a quick nosey underneath it- it seemed immaculate!