andrewturner
05-05-2010, 10:32 PM
I've been meaning to do this for a while now, and having been to CPC twice, I figured I'd offer some feedback with regards to my experiences.
I dropped my S50 off with an oil leak from the engine, dropping oil from the front left (looking at the engine from the front), requiring new rear top mounts and the AC system needed looking at.
Phil went through all the issues with me from quite a lengthy inspection he performed and diagnosed the problem as an oil leak from 3 places (vanos main seals, crank pressure valve and more worryingly the head gasket). In addition he advised the reason the AC wasn't working was due to the compressor being seized and that the centre prop donut was perishing, the discs were past their best and there was some play in the ball joints. Also, he pointed out that on higher mileage S50's they are also known to spin the main bearing shells, and offered a price to replace them in addition to ARP rod bolts (the oem bolts stretch with age and cause the shells to spin at high rpm).
We agreed a price at the start of the job, as he informed me that should it change he'd let me know prior to doing any work.
I collected the car the day after the 'promised' date, which was no problem for me and on the whole I have been pleased with the work.
What Phil did was stick to his word and no additional charges raised their ugly head, in addition he didn't charge any labour when I requested that he puts a new clutch in whilst the engine was out ( i liked that as he could have easily stuck another 30 mins on at least).
The not so great aspects of the visits the car has had to CPC was the communication. I did have to call him all the time to get a) the quote (took a week to diagnose all issues) b) an estimated delivery date and progress updates (engine out surgery in my book is pretty major so I could have done with a courtesy call for the warm fuzzy feeling we all like).
The standard of work was good, however I feel that a little more attention to detail could have been applied (nothing major, however it was only evident that the rocker cover bolts needed retapping once the engine was back in and assembled by which point I wanted the car back, the engine bay took a fair amount of detailing by myself to get it back to the standard it was when I took it in and there was an idle fault which I had to take it back for - a decent test drive may have shown this up... then again maybe not).
I did feel comfortable with the car being with him, as the premises are large with plenty of nice cars in there which is encouraging. He does know his stuff (replacing the shells was a good idea as they showed signs of movement) and he is a nice guy too.
I will use CPC again, however if you use them do be prepared to wait for your car back (he is V busy which also is a good sign), and dont take it personally if he doesnt call back... just be persistent and accept that you are paying £55+ VAT per hour and not main dealer rates.
Oh and here are a couple of pics of the shells and also the OEM bolts which you can clearly see have stretched;
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i217/andrewturner/photo-1-4.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i217/andrewturner/photo-2-1.jpg
I dropped my S50 off with an oil leak from the engine, dropping oil from the front left (looking at the engine from the front), requiring new rear top mounts and the AC system needed looking at.
Phil went through all the issues with me from quite a lengthy inspection he performed and diagnosed the problem as an oil leak from 3 places (vanos main seals, crank pressure valve and more worryingly the head gasket). In addition he advised the reason the AC wasn't working was due to the compressor being seized and that the centre prop donut was perishing, the discs were past their best and there was some play in the ball joints. Also, he pointed out that on higher mileage S50's they are also known to spin the main bearing shells, and offered a price to replace them in addition to ARP rod bolts (the oem bolts stretch with age and cause the shells to spin at high rpm).
We agreed a price at the start of the job, as he informed me that should it change he'd let me know prior to doing any work.
I collected the car the day after the 'promised' date, which was no problem for me and on the whole I have been pleased with the work.
What Phil did was stick to his word and no additional charges raised their ugly head, in addition he didn't charge any labour when I requested that he puts a new clutch in whilst the engine was out ( i liked that as he could have easily stuck another 30 mins on at least).
The not so great aspects of the visits the car has had to CPC was the communication. I did have to call him all the time to get a) the quote (took a week to diagnose all issues) b) an estimated delivery date and progress updates (engine out surgery in my book is pretty major so I could have done with a courtesy call for the warm fuzzy feeling we all like).
The standard of work was good, however I feel that a little more attention to detail could have been applied (nothing major, however it was only evident that the rocker cover bolts needed retapping once the engine was back in and assembled by which point I wanted the car back, the engine bay took a fair amount of detailing by myself to get it back to the standard it was when I took it in and there was an idle fault which I had to take it back for - a decent test drive may have shown this up... then again maybe not).
I did feel comfortable with the car being with him, as the premises are large with plenty of nice cars in there which is encouraging. He does know his stuff (replacing the shells was a good idea as they showed signs of movement) and he is a nice guy too.
I will use CPC again, however if you use them do be prepared to wait for your car back (he is V busy which also is a good sign), and dont take it personally if he doesnt call back... just be persistent and accept that you are paying £55+ VAT per hour and not main dealer rates.
Oh and here are a couple of pics of the shells and also the OEM bolts which you can clearly see have stretched;
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i217/andrewturner/photo-1-4.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i217/andrewturner/photo-2-1.jpg