Review: Ashley Chetty & Xcede Performance

[CharlE]

Hi all,
First time poster here and just wanted to share my experience with Ashley and Xcede.

I reached out to Xcede around end of September 2025 to get some work done on my BMW 340i F30. This was for a Stage 2 package which consisted of decatted downpipe, TU pump, software and XHP software.

Xcede put me in touch with Ashley and upon dropoff Ashley seemed like a decent enough and knowledgeable guy, and spent some time chatting and informing me about the steps ahead. He did keep me well updated with pictures as he progressed.

I went to go pick up the car the next day and the car felt so much stronger and quicker than before. When picking up the car I did notice some heavy scratches on the boot of the car. I pointed it out to Ashley, as im very sure they were not there beforehand. He told me no It could not have been them, as they never closed the boot which does not really make sense. They quickly tried polishing it out, and got some of it out but there are still alot of deep ones left. I chalked it up to a mistake and left it there, but still gave me an uneasy feeling. The car was not dynoed, which was a bit of a letdown considering the amount I spent. The car itself felt good except for some infrequent jerking between shifts which I just thought could be because of the gearbox software.

Fast forward to January this year I took the car in for some work and inspection at a very reputable Cape Town workshop. Upon inspection they discovered the bank 1 oxygen sensors were unplugged. When plugging them back in the car would start running very rough, jerking and overfueling. I also took the car to a 2nd workshop and they confirmed exactly the same.

This makes me believe the car was tuned with the 02 sensors unplugged. Ashley might have damaged them in the process of the installation of the downpipe, OR the sensor was faulty and for whatever reason he did not mention it to Xcede or to me, which feels very unprofessional. I did reach out to him recently and he of course denied it. The day before I booked in my car with Ashley, the car was in for a service and inspection at a BMW dealership and they mentioned nothing at all wrong on the vehicle. The last person who did any work on the car was Ashley.

I have now replaced the 02 sensor and the car seems to be running fine again and lucikly I do not use the car that much as it seems I have been driving with the o2 sensor unplugged since September last year. I have since heard of a few very similar stories relating to work Ashley did on some cars, which is quite dissapointing as I had hoped it wasn't true. I would definitely not use his services again, and my goal with writing this review is just alert people to be careful when using his services. I have spoken with Juvan from Xcede and he has apologised about the situation, and I do believe they did not know about the sensors.

 

[Greenz]

Welcome to the forum.Sorry to hear about your bad experience.

 

[AshG108]

Welcome to the forum, this is disappointing to hear because Ashley's service is normally quiet stellar.
Sorry about that, many of us are devoted Xcede clients for years and we use Xcede because of their consistent service over these years and they go out of their way to ensure the client/s is/are happy.
Thankfully your car is running well now and it was just the sensor, sorry for your bad experience.

 

[Xcede Performance]

Hi Charl,

As discussed earlier Ashley is no longer apart of Xcede since 01 October 2025 and now trades as Autobots Performance with no affiliation to Xcede Performance.

Sincere apologies for the damages and your putrid experience with Ashley.

This is not level of service we strive to deliver.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[KR_19]

Sorry about your experience and welcome to the forum. This is unfortunately not surprising for me. I haven’t shared my past experience on the forum, but they were negative and played a big role in why I was always hesitant to get a custom tune or any further work done on my car at that branch. I’m glad to hear that Xcede HQ is no longer affiliated with him, and I hope we see another branch open in Cape Town in the near future.

Sent from my SM-F956B using Tapatalk

 

[CharlE]

Thanks for the welcome. I was hesitant about posting about this at first but I do feel in Cape Town we all have had some kind of bad experience relating to car maintenance or modifying which is a shame, but best to be aware of who to trust. I will also say im sure I would have had a much better experience if I was able to send my car directly to Xcede HQ.

 

[Spanky]

Good to air these things out IMO. It counters the mindless glazing which is harmful to the community as it quickly resembles an echo-chamber.

 

[SanM]

Thanks for the welcome. I was hesitant about posting about this at first but I do feel in Cape Town we all have had some kind of bad experience relating to car maintenance or modifying which is a shame, but best to be aware of who to trust. I will also say im sure I would have had a much better experience if I was able to send my car directly to Xcede HQ.

No bud, was very informative since we’re in a self-regulated industry when it comes to non-OEM servicing and tuning, and the bad ones especially need to be named and shamed.

 

[///M Individual]

Good to air these things out IMO. It counters the mindless glazing which is harmful to the community as it quickly resembles an echo-chamber.

100% agree!

Sorry for your bad experience OP and welcome to the forum.

 

[TurboLlew]

my 2c on this is that it is tough having a great business and then relying on a partner to expand into other cities. Unfortunately I don't think this works alot of the time. I remember stories from the past similar to above where the quality cannot be maintained across the franchise (eg: Stealth, CPI IIRC) or there is falling out with partners etc. Ultimate the entire brand is affected.

I think the way that Xcede has handled it in terms of cutting ties can be commended. There was a recent incident in the Alfa community where someone ended up having major work done by a 'trusted' third party workshop in Cape Town and ended up with the car shipped up to JHB to be worked on by actual competent people.

At the same time one must always keep service providers honest and report on this because sometimes HQ won't even know. Always check and double check because folks make mistakes or even just have bad days dealing with fallout from something that went wrong elsewhere, time slipping on other projects etc. It's the nature of running a small business. How one responds to these mistakes/mishaps makes all the difference in the world. Sounds like the CPT dude got what was coming to him, but I think even @General.Massacre and other guys who have moved from JHB to CPT have noticed the lack of quality/trusted workshops across brands for more 'advanced' work.

 

[Teezoh]

Well, this is quite sad to read in all honesty, as I have had nothing but great service from Ashley in the years of only going to him.

The last time was after the whole Xcede parting drama and even then, service was normal.

I've been debating looking for another service provider lately, but not because I don't believe in or trust Ashley anymore, simply because of the distance from me to him after moving recently. Then there is the lack of Dyno too as mentioned, it's never been a deal breaker as we've street logged the car, but, it's always nice to just know what figures and curves she's running.

So sorry to hear about your experience with him and thanks for the transparent feedback.

 

[General.Massacre]

my 2c on this is that it is tough having a great business and then relying on a partner to expand into other cities. Unfortunately I don't think this works alot of the time. I remember stories from the past similar to above where the quality cannot be maintained across the franchise (eg: Stealth, CPI IIRC) or there is falling out with partners etc. Ultimate the entire brand is affected.

I think the way that Xcede has handled it in terms of cutting ties can be commended. There was a recent incident in the Alfa community where someone ended up having major work done by a 'trusted' third party workshop in Cape Town and ended up with the car shipped up to JHB to be worked on by actual competent people.

At the same time one must always keep service providers honest and report on this because sometimes HQ won't even know. Always check and double check because folks make mistakes or even just have bad days dealing with fallout from something that went wrong elsewhere, time slipping on other projects etc. It's the nature of running a small business. How one responds to these mistakes/mishaps makes all the difference in the world. Sounds like the CPT dude got what was coming to him, but I think even @General.Massacre and other guys who have moved from JHB to CPT have noticed the lack of quality/trusted workshops across brands for more 'advanced' work.

have to agree here with you, I have noticed that the amount of quality workshops i used to have access to in JHB is greatly diminished here in CPT.
There are some renowned names here, such as Rolf from Brilliant Mechanical Workshop, who i sadly never got the chance to use after the debacle with the M6. But i would much rather deal with workshops than with tuners.

My TT is currently bone stock, whether it was modded previously in its life, im not sure, but i have no interest in modding it, and having to find a workshop to deal with it. there are some tuners around, but i cant be assed to have to go there and check them out. There is the usual (as with all tuners) mob that praises said tuner to moon, and anyone that goes against that is, as expected, outcast.

The risk with having others try carry your well built brand to another part of the country or city, and hope to high hell that they deliver the same level of quality and friendliness, is rare, and Juvan or Sherwin cannot cater to the whole country, well, they can, but the logistics around that is a nightmare on its own, so i can understand why there are a few shops out there that are situated in one place. and if you want to use them, then you have to transport your pride and joy wherever they may be.

Such as my experience with Budler Motorsport, yes the M6 had its issues, Boetie and his team accommodated the fixes that i queried, and handled the situation, in my mind, extremely well, and re-delivered a very strong car at the end of it all. yes the engine itself seemed to still have an internal issue, but after my chat with Peter@AEW, i am pretty convinced what the issue actually was, and that there was only one way to fix that car the correct manner, which would have been pricey, over and above what i had already spent. Could more have been done from Budlers end? yes of course, as with any shop, but it was not a route i was prepared to go down, and as such did not raise it with them, and thats a decision i made to conclude on.
I still say Budler did a stellar job on the M6 in totality, and would i use them again? hell yes. Even if i still stayed in CPT? An absolute further hell yes.
I can sadly say that my M6 experience was that i bought a lemon, i cant fault the rebuild, if the same result happened on the previous owners rebuild, which means the fault was the car, not the builder.

But im straying from the purpose of this thread, Sherwin and Juvan have a good business, they are knowledgeable and friendly, ive personally dealt with them in the past, again with the M6 when i first got it. and do rsk your reputation on opening a new shop and having someone run it that just doesnt share the same passion? Its not worth it.
id love to run a shop like they have, im sure many of us here who share that passion think we could do the same and provide that level of service, but the knowledge? cant always teach that..

So respect to Xcede, look after your brand, dont let others tarnish it.

 

[Teezoh]

Ok, so I tried, but after reading the post again and the follow-ups, I just have to be that guy.

The technical explanation in this thread doesn’t really make sense.

If the bank 1 pre-cat O2 sensors were unplugged when the car left in September, the car would have thrown fault codes and a CEL immediately and driven badly from day one. You don’t run a B58 for 3 or 4 months with unplugged O2 sensors and only “discover” it in January. That’s not how closed-loop fueling works. Come now gents, don't embarrass yourselves.

“Plugging them back in made it run rough” does not prove they were unplugged before. It only proves the ECU didn’t like the signal it suddenly received, which points more toward a failed sensor, heat-damaged wiring after the decat, or a calibration issue, not proof that someone left them unplugged months ago.

BMW checked the car before the work and found nothing wrong and it then got the work done. The car then drove fine for months. That alone doesn’t support the claim that it left Ashley with unplugged sensors.

What also looks a bit convenient is how this has turned into “Ashley bad, Xcede good” now that he’s no longer affiliated. If this work was done while he was operating under Xcede, distancing yourselves after the fact doesn’t change responsibility. You can’t take the credit when things go well under the Xcede name, but the moment there’s a complaint months later it becomes “he’s not part of us anymore.”

And if there really was something serious enough to cause the parting, then as a loyal Xcede customer who trusted the brand, I would have appreciated proper, transparent communication at the time. A brief mention in a WhatsApp group is not the same as a formal notice to customers. A clear statement or announcement would have gone a long way, instead of everyone only finding out once a problem surfaces months later.

And some of the replies like “this doesn’t surprise me” without any technical detail or evidence don’t really add anything. That’s opinion, not diagnosis. Someone leaving a branch doesn’t suddenly mean every problem discovered months later must be their fault.

Without logs, fault history, or proof showing the sensors were disconnected since September, this looks more like a sensor failure or calibration issue discovered later and now being turned into an accusation because it fits the current narrative.

Scratches on the boot and disappointment about a dyno are valid complaints.
But mechanically, this story as presented doesn’t line up very well.

 

[AshG108]

Ok, so I tried, but after reading the post again and the follow-ups, I just have to be that guy.

The technical explanation in this thread doesn’t really make sense.

If the bank 1 pre-cat O2 sensors were unplugged when the car left in September, the car would have thrown fault codes and a CEL immediately and driven badly from day one. You don’t run a B58 for 3 or 4 months with unplugged O2 sensors and only “discover” it in January. That’s not how closed-loop fueling works. Come now gents, don't embarrass yourselves.

“Plugging them back in made it run rough” does not prove they were unplugged before. It only proves the ECU didn’t like the signal it suddenly received, which points more toward a failed sensor, heat-damaged wiring after the decat, or a calibration issue, not proof that someone left them unplugged months ago.

BMW checked the car before the work and found nothing wrong and it then got the work done. The car then drove fine for months. That alone doesn’t support the claim that it left Ashley with unplugged sensors.

What also looks a bit convenient is how this has turned into “Ashley bad, Xcede good” now that he’s no longer affiliated. If this work was done while he was operating under Xcede, distancing yourselves after the fact doesn’t change responsibility. You can’t take the credit when things go well under the Xcede name, but the moment there’s a complaint months later it becomes “he’s not part of us anymore.”

And if there really was something serious enough to cause the parting, then as a loyal Xcede customer who trusted the brand, I would have appreciated proper, transparent communication at the time. A brief mention in a WhatsApp group is not the same as a formal notice to customers. A clear statement or announcement would have gone a long way, instead of everyone only finding out once a problem surfaces months later.

And some of the replies like “this doesn’t surprise me” without any technical detail or evidence don’t really add anything. That’s opinion, not diagnosis. Someone leaving a branch doesn’t suddenly mean every problem discovered months later must be their fault.

Without logs, fault history, or proof showing the sensors were disconnected since September, this looks more like a sensor failure or calibration issue discovered later and now being turned into an accusation because it fits the current narrative.

Scratches on the boot and disappointment about a dyno are valid complaints.
But mechanically, this story as presented doesn’t line up very well.

You know, we always have a lot of nonsense to say when we on the forums but on a serious note here and with me reading over this very quick, you bring up some really good points to which I think many of us have missed!
Good on you bru, I agree with your pointers here...it makes sense.

 

[CharlE]

Ok, so I tried, but after reading the post again and the follow-ups, I just have to be that guy.

The technical explanation in this thread doesn’t really make sense.

If the bank 1 pre-cat O2 sensors were unplugged when the car left in September, the car would have thrown fault codes and a CEL immediately and driven badly from day one. You don’t run a B58 for 3 or 4 months with unplugged O2 sensors and only “discover” it in January. That’s not how closed-loop fueling works. Come now gents, don't embarrass yourselves.

“Plugging them back in made it run rough” does not prove they were unplugged before. It only proves the ECU didn’t like the signal it suddenly received, which points more toward a failed sensor, heat-damaged wiring after the decat, or a calibration issue, not proof that someone left them unplugged months ago.

BMW checked the car before the work and found nothing wrong and it then got the work done. The car then drove fine for months. That alone doesn’t support the claim that it left Ashley with unplugged sensors.

What also looks a bit convenient is how this has turned into “Ashley bad, Xcede good” now that he’s no longer affiliated. If this work was done while he was operating under Xcede, distancing yourselves after the fact doesn’t change responsibility. You can’t take the credit when things go well under the Xcede name, but the moment there’s a complaint months later it becomes “he’s not part of us anymore.”

And if there really was something serious enough to cause the parting, then as a loyal Xcede customer who trusted the brand, I would have appreciated proper, transparent communication at the time. A brief mention in a WhatsApp group is not the same as a formal notice to customers. A clear statement or announcement would have gone a long way, instead of everyone only finding out once a problem surfaces months later.

And some of the replies like “this doesn’t surprise me” without any technical detail or evidence don’t really add anything. That’s opinion, not diagnosis. Someone leaving a branch doesn’t suddenly mean every problem discovered months later must be their fault.

Without logs, fault history, or proof showing the sensors were disconnected since September, this looks more like a sensor failure or calibration issue discovered later and now being turned into an accusation because it fits the current narrative.

Scratches on the boot and disappointment about a dyno are valid complaints.
But mechanically, this story as presented doesn’t line up very well.

I appreciate you being a supporter of Ashley and his services, but this post I wrote was not bad mouting anyone. I also only said be careful when using his services, not to totally discount him or his work. I simply stated the facts and I have proof of everything. I did not try and pin this on anyone to or try to somehow receive compensation for the faulty sensor or anything else. My thougths on the situation would also been alot different if the response from Ashley was different when I asked him about this discovery. He only said it is not possible and did not try offer help or for me to bring in the car, which I would gladly have done and worked with him.

I stated the work was done in end of September and I did feel some jerking and irregularities here and there, which was not there before the work was done. The car was stock standard beforehand. As I said quite a few things were done to the vehicle so I just chalked it up to the xhp software or the tune. I also only did around +- 800km since September. The reason for taking the car in for a inspection on January was because I felt something weird was going on with the car.

The workshop who discovered the disconnected sensors is well known as being a very trustworthy and reliable business run by ex BMW tech. They plugged in the sensors, ran some tests and diagnostics and then when the car was not running right plugged them out again. Also just to be sure I took it to a 2nd workshop without telling them about the issue and after a diagnostic and inspection they confirmed exactly the same. As they explained with disconnected sensors they car would run on a sort of default fueling setup, which would run allright but not 100%. Immediately when plugging in the sensors the car started overfuelling, jerking and loss of power. The car also never gave me a CEL at all. I do not work on cars, so this is a very rough description.

Here's the other side also of the story, if the sensor was already damaged before my arrival to Ashley, how did he not notice anyting or realise the car was not running properly before commencing with the work? This also is not greatest look in my opinion.

Lastly I have no affliation or business within the vehicle industry, and I just wanted to share my experience, as cases like these are all too common in Cape Town. Hearing from other very similar cases, this made me believe this situation, which I also did not want to believe at first. There are so many more extra details I left out of other things which happened, which in hindsight were very telling signs that I should have been careful.

 

[evnmopwr]

Ok, so I tried, but after reading the post again and the follow-ups, I just have to be that guy.

The technical explanation in this thread doesn’t really make sense.

If the bank 1 pre-cat O2 sensors were unplugged when the car left in September, the car would have thrown fault codes and a CEL immediately and driven badly from day one. You don’t run a B58 for 3 or 4 months with unplugged O2 sensors and only “discover” it in January. That’s not how closed-loop fueling works. Come now gents, don't embarrass yourselves.

“Plugging them back in made it run rough” does not prove they were unplugged before. It only proves the ECU didn’t like the signal it suddenly received, which points more toward a failed sensor, heat-damaged wiring after the decat, or a calibration issue, not proof that someone left them unplugged months ago.

BMW checked the car before the work and found nothing wrong and it then got the work done. The car then drove fine for months. That alone doesn’t support the claim that it left Ashley with unplugged sensors.

What also looks a bit convenient is how this has turned into “Ashley bad, Xcede good” now that he’s no longer affiliated. If this work was done while he was operating under Xcede, distancing yourselves after the fact doesn’t change responsibility. You can’t take the credit when things go well under the Xcede name, but the moment there’s a complaint months later it becomes “he’s not part of us anymore.”

And if there really was something serious enough to cause the parting, then as a loyal Xcede customer who trusted the brand, I would have appreciated proper, transparent communication at the time. A brief mention in a WhatsApp group is not the same as a formal notice to customers. A clear statement or announcement would have gone a long way, instead of everyone only finding out once a problem surfaces months later.

And some of the replies like “this doesn’t surprise me” without any technical detail or evidence don’t really add anything. That’s opinion, not diagnosis. Someone leaving a branch doesn’t suddenly mean every problem discovered months later must be their fault.

Without logs, fault history, or proof showing the sensors were disconnected since September, this looks more like a sensor failure or calibration issue discovered later and now being turned into an accusation because it fits the current narrative.

Scratches on the boot and disappointment about a dyno are valid complaints.
But mechanically, this story as presented doesn’t line up very well.

Now why must you be that guy man??? lol
Just kidding.

You do make a very strong counter argument.