Concerned with CP-E TMIC

[zer010gic]

Hey Guys,

So on black Friday I ordered a bunch of stuff from you guys but have encountered what may be an issue with one of the items a CP-E TMIC for a MS6. Overall it generally looks pretty rough. The welds are sub par and the finish is dinged up in a few places and the core is pretty dirty and some of the fins on the sides where the tanks meet look a bit mangled. It looks like its either used or a refurbish. I know its new as its in a CP-E box and sealed with CP-E branded tape when I got it but I was really hoping for a nice looking piece.

I can take pictures tonight and attach if you like but I am disappointed in its quality. This is nothing against RPM as your customer service has been excellent. I mainly just wanted to know how you would like to proceed.


Corey

[Gr8Speed]

RPM is awesome. They'll get you squared man!

[zer010gic]

Here are some pics of some of the spots on concern.

[ms6mil]

Korey, I'll reply here as well...

I will say that the part is going in your engine bay and ultimately get just as dirty and will likely bend the fins similar to what you are seeing here.

That being said, if you paid for a new part that's what I would expect to receive. The pic with the fins that look like they were pried open to by a screw driver and the odd placement of the tapped holes for the cold pipe is just weird.

As @Gr8Speed; mentioned just let the RPM guys know I'm sure they'll take care of ya.

[Boostin'likeAboss]

I'd be pissed too

[Mazdaspeed3KHP]

That looks like shit. When i ordered my cpe tmic from rpm it came in perfect shape except for the exception of scratches on the shroud but that was obviously cpe's problem.

I remember reading another guy on here had bought a cpe fmic and the bottom of the ic had a huge dent in it so your not alone.

I hope my cpe fmic doesnt look like that. Its sad that mine looks better and cleaner after a year of use.

[Conman4x4]

Originally Posted by zer010gic Hey Guys, So on black Friday I ordered a bunch of stuff from you guys but have encountered what may be an issue with one of the items a CP-E TMIC for a MS6. Overall it generally looks pretty rough. The welds are sub par and the finish is dinged up in a few places and the core is pretty dirty and some of the fins on the sides where the tanks meet look a bit mangled. It looks like its either used or a refurbish. I know its new as its in a CP-E box and sealed with CP-E branded tape when I got it but I was really hoping for a nice looking piece. I can take pictures tonight and attach if you like but I am disappointed in its quality. This is nothing against RPM as your customer service has been excellent. I mainly just wanted to know how you would like to proceed. Corey

WOW, I never would have expected that to happen, but @ms6mil; Rob is right. If you paid for a new TMIC then i would send it back. When i ordered my old TMIC it didnt look like that. Even my FMIC was top quality with nice clean welds and no bent fins.

[John@RPM]

Originally Posted by zer010gic Hey Guys, So on black Friday I ordered a bunch of stuff from you guys but have encountered what may be an issue with one of the items a CP-E TMIC for a MS6. Overall it generally looks pretty rough. The welds are sub par and the finish is dinged up in a few places and the core is pretty dirty and some of the fins on the sides where the tanks meet look a bit mangled. It looks like its either used or a refurbish. I know its new as its in a CP-E box and sealed with CP-E branded tape when I got it but I was really hoping for a nice looking piece. I can take pictures tonight and attach if you like but I am disappointed in its quality. This is nothing against RPM as your customer service has been excellent. I mainly just wanted to know how you would like to proceed. Corey

I will let Donny know about this. And have him get in contact with you, please pm me your email address and order #

[Yatta]

Originally Posted by zer010gic Here are some pics of some of the spots on concern.

Is there a CPe tag on it (don’t see it in the pictures)?

CP-E TMIC just installed, couple suggestions

[John@RPM]

Originally Posted by Yatta Is there a CPe tag on it (don’t see it in the pictures)? CP-E TMIC just installed, couple suggestions

my cpe tmic does not have a tag either, I am sure not every one has a tag on it.

[zer010gic]

Originally Posted by John@RPM my cpe tmic does not have a tag either, I am sure not every one has a tag on it.

There was not a tag in the box. Also I have PMed my info. I also have a ticket on the RPM site.

[ItsNox]

Yea that looks like shit. I'd be pissed too if I bought a new part that either looked used or half-assed. We have a local NATOR member who had the same thing happen. Intercooler arrived dented and with shitty welds. But he lost confidence in CPe and returned & went with ETS. RPM is a stand up company so I'm sure they'll exchange it out for you. Maybe theyll discount the ETS for you .

Keep us in the loop.

[zer010gic]

I am kind of thinking ETS as well... If they will let me.

[SpeedRebirth]

I don't think there is anything wrong with the placement of the holes. Looks like mine were the same when it was new.

CPE tmic is like a old volvo, heavy and sturdy but not that pretty. But it won't break
If looks is very important then i recommend ETS

[MOCO MS3]

I've known Donny for 10 years, he'll be all over it for you!

[frothy]

Aside from some welds that aren't as pretty as they could be, I don't see anything too alarming or far off from what I received from CP-E.

The holes for the bolts on yours looked a little "off" to me at first, but then I checked mine, and it's about the same:



The bolts go in through the bottom and will be nice and secure. It's covered by the shroud, so once that's on, it won't be visible, if you're concerned about looks...

For me, I was more worried about it being unicorn-dust filled:
Metal flakes inside CP-E TMIC

That checked out. No fucks given... I've been happy with it since.

EDIT: I'd like to add: Be careful torquing down the longest of the bolts that attaches to the cold pipe. Torquing that to spec, for me, resulted in a snapped bolt. I could feel it giving out way before I was near the spec number. I didn't feel comfortable torquing the replacement bolt to spec either... Just something to keep in mind. The spot of rust you see on the front bolt is the bolt I replaced and cut to size. Rust... Awesome.

EDIT x2: One more note: The brackets that attach to the TMIC: I had to cut/shave them. Maybe not ALL of them -- possibly just one -- I don't really recall with any clarity... But I remember that at least one of the brackets sat high on a weld and I wasn't all right with that. I suppose you could possibly leave it as is with no problems, but it bothered me. ...enough to write this.

[John@RPM]

We will take care you of sir. I my self am happy with my cp-e tmic, granted I purchased it second hand, but tbh combine a tig with this and your bat will be pretty low. I my self am surprised that this made it out of cp-e with the bent fins.

[zer010gic]

I trust you guys. The shitty weld and the mangled fins are really what I don't like. It would not be a big deal but I am trying to theme my engine bay.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pat@RPM]

Originally Posted by zer010gic I trust you guys. The shitty weld and the mangled fins are really what I don't like. It would not be a big deal but I am trying to theme my engine bay. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Is your theme going to be nice welds? lol

Just playin.

[zer010gic]

Originally Posted by Pat@RPM Is your theme going to be nice welds? lol Just playin.

LOL nahh I am just after a nice clean engine bay in red and black. I liked the idea of the CP-e being a polished piece.

[John@RPM]

Originally Posted by zer010gic I trust you guys. The shitty weld and the mangled fins are really what I don't like. It would not be a big deal but I am trying to theme my engine bay. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey I talked to donny and he said that cp-e likes to deal with there own warranty claims instead of vendors handling it. So I suggest to contact cp-e if you want to see if they will exchange it, or if you want a etc tmic instead let me know and we can possibly work out a exchange.

[zer010gic]

Originally Posted by John@RPM Hey I talked to donny and he said that cp-e likes to deal with there own warranty claims instead of vendors handling it. So I suggest to contact cp-e if you want to see if they will exchange it, or if you want a etc tmic instead let me know and we can possibly work out a exchange.

At this point I would rather work out exchanging it for an ETS. Additionally if this made it past QC I would rather not roll the dice. I have heard nightmares about CP-E support but I trust RPM.

[Gr8Speed]

Originally Posted by John@RPM Hey I talked to donny and he said that cp-e likes to deal with there own warranty claims instead of vendors handling it. So I suggest to contact cp-e if you want to see if they will exchange it, or if you want a etc tmic instead let me know and we can possibly work out a exchange.

Cp-e deals with warranty claims?

[Pat@RPM]

Originally Posted by Gr8Speed Cp-e deals with warranty claims?

[RPM]

I was out of the country, but am back now. I'm still trying to get caught up on emails and such, but should have a response back to you today or tomorrow. Even if you want to exchange, we will need to get CP-E involved. Most likely it would be something like we have your TMIC shipped to them and then order from ETS, or something of that nature. Or if you want to stick with CP-E, I can have Josh personally inspect a replacement before they ship it to you. We'll get you taken care of either way.

[zer010gic]

Originally Posted by RPM I was out of the country, but am back now. I'm still trying to get caught up on emails and such, but should have a response back to you today or tomorrow. Even if you want to exchange, we will need to get CP-E involved. Most likely it would be something like we have your TMIC shipped to them and then order from ETS, or something of that nature. Or if you want to stick with CP-E, I can have Josh personally inspect a replacement before they ship it to you. We'll get you taken care of either way.

Donny I saw that you called if you want to call back I will answer. I should be avaliable for the next 3 hours.

[zer010gic]

@RPM;

First I want to say that you guys have been great and I really appreciate helping me out the way you have. Its customer service like this that makes you guys an asset to the Mazdaspeed community.

Now that I have buttered you guys up, when do you think the ETS will ship?

[ihasmazda]

I also recently got a CPE TMIC from RPM and didn't care much for the quality of it either, my beef is that the square cold pipe attachment outlet isn't cut out very well and looks pretty shitty and the overall opening is smaller than stock. I really thought about contacting RPM about it too but I said eff it and put it on anyway. So far It seems to perform fine. I also don't like how the factory gasket doesn't fit well because of the one square corner but I think all of the aftermarkets are like that? Do any have that one round corner that makes the gasket fit properly like on the stocker? looking at the pics, even the ETS doesn't.

Now after reading this thread I'm tempted to take some pictures of it and see what RPM says, but not sure if CPE would help me since I've had it on now for a whole 150 miles.

[RPM]

Originally Posted by ihasmazda Now after reading this thread I'm tempted to take some pictures of it and see what RPM says, but not sure if CPE would help me since I've had it on now for a whole 150 miles.

We wouldn't be able to do anything since it's been installed and run. We are able to help zer010gic because as soon as he saw the fitment issues with the crash bar, he stopped, so his kit is completely unused aside from the defective crash bar, which CP-E is replacing.

[someguy]

Originally Posted by ihasmazda I also recently got a CPE TMIC from RPM and didn't care much for the quality of it either, my beef is that the square cold pipe attachment outlet isn't cut out very well and looks pretty shitty and the overall opening is smaller than stock. I really thought about contacting RPM about it too but I said eff it and put it on anyway. So far It seems to perform fine. I also don't like how the factory gasket doesn't fit well because of the one square corner but I think all of the aftermarkets are like that? Do any have that one round corner that makes the gasket fit properly like on the stocker? looking at the pics, even the ETS doesn't. Now after reading this thread I'm tempted to take some pictures of it and see what RPM says, but not sure if CPE would help me since I've had it on now for a whole 150 miles.

They're all like that...just poor casting. You can fix it up yourself, here's what I did to mine:




Took maybe an hour or so with a die grinder and some burrs and a file.

[ibcrusn]

The two CPE units I tried and even the ETS I have now all had the same issue with more material than necessary. I returned both CPE units for poor QC on the condition of each unit.

If your concern is the unnecessary material follow in @someguy; shoes by gasket matching the IC and cold pipe as he did. Either do a good job blowing out the shavings after grinding or hook up a shop vac in blow mode to the hot side and the shavings will be forced out as you remove the material.

[someguy]

Originally Posted by ibcrusn The two CPE units I tried and even the ETS I have now all had the same issue with more material than necessary. I returned both CPE units for poor QC on the condition of each unit. If your concern is the unnecessary material follow in @someguy; shoes by gasket matching the IC and cold pipe as he did. Either do a good job blowing out the shavings after grinding or hook up a shop vac in blow mode to the hot side and the shavings will be forced out as you remove the material.

When I did it I stuffed a rag in the cold side to plug it up, then as I was grinding it down I had my shop vac clamped right beside the bit to collect as much as possible. Vacuumed up what I could before removing the rag, and then with compressed air in the hot side, I slowly pulled the rag out while vaccing. I was damn thorough with cleaning it and had no worries about metal chips after.

[ihasmazda]

Nice work, but I feel that we shouldn't have to "fix" these things right out of the box for being shoddy, they should be done this well by the manufacturer.
I'm surprised the ETS also had quality issues. all of the pics I see they appear to be CNC'ed and super nice... esp for the price they should be perfect...

[someguy]

Originally Posted by ihasmazda Nice work, but I feel that we shouldn't have to "fix" these things right out of the box for being shoddy, they should be done this well by the manufacturer. I'm surprised the ETS also had quality issues. all of the pics I see they appear to be CNC'ed and super nice... esp for the price they should be perfect...

Honestly I doubt the poor casting would have any measurable implications on power.

[ibcrusn]

Originally Posted by ihasmazda Nice work, but I feel that we shouldn't have to "fix" these things right out of the box for being shoddy, they should be done this well by the manufacturer. I'm surprised the ETS also had quality issues. all of the pics I see they appear to be CNC'ed and super nice... esp for the price they should be perfect...

Sorry for the confusion, the ETS unit is top notch as far as build quality and finish. I don't fault them for not making the cold side opening match the gasket because there may have been variation in the gasket when the product was developed and it ensure proper gasket mating surface area.

[ihasmazda]

Originally Posted by someguy Honestly I doubt the poor casting would have any measurable implications on power.

I agree with you, I don't think it would either, that's why I decided to just put it on and forget about it. I recall Corksport considering making an aftermarket cold pipe but they found out that there was no worthy gain to be had in that area so I figured it would be fine, and it seems to be. Looking back though I would have spent the extra money and gotten the ETS if I would have seen this thread beforehand.

[zer010gic]

Yeah I am still waiting on my ETS but I sprung for the anodized finish and with the holidays and all it should be shipping soon.

Right Donny @RPM;

[RPM]

Originally Posted by zer010gic Yeah I am still waiting on my ETS but I sprung for the anodized finish and with the holidays and all it should be shipping soon. Right Donny @RPM;

lol.. ETS told me Wednesday that it would ship either Wednesday or today, but I have yet to see tracking...

[zer010gic]

Just got the ETS. So far it looks gorgeous and top notch. I will post pics soon. Absolutely night and day.

[ihasmazda]

Originally Posted by zer010gic Just got the ETS. So far it looks gorgeous and top notch. I will post pics soon. Absolutely night and day.

But is it worth $165 more than the competition as far as gains? not from what i've read
I dug this up searching for ETS vs CPE:

Corksport / ETS / CP-E TMIC before/after logs - got 'em, post 'em

I'm wondering if these ICs may perform better/differently on a genpu where there is more room for the air to come in. I noticed on my car with the CPE that there is next to no room, and i mean only a millimeter if that in the rear, between the top of the IC and the air duct. I think now I realize why CS stayed with a slightly narrower core design, so that more air could actually flow through to it. Cooling vs flow i guess. But that's a whole nother discussion that's probably been beaten to death already.

All in all the ETS is really nice and if you've got the cash i would have probably gotten it too.