exhaust options

[dougsic]

just whatever you do, don't go straight through. No matter how big mufflers you put on it, it's still loud and droney

Agree!

[BDSax]

what does straight though mean?

[Mr.SWISS]

OK guys. I lied. My exhaust is LOUD and when I go under an underpass and gun it, the sound reverberates as if I were driving a V6 Mustang with glasspacks. I like the sound, so I find myself gunning it every time I go under an underpass.

I finally drove my swap car a fairly long distance, and at idle the car is pretty quiet. But if you open it up, it is positively guttural. Not good for a DD, but plenty fine for impressing the ladies.







Um OK so I lied again. The ladies don't dig the E30.

Oh yeah, 5th gear acceleration FTW.

I just had them connect my stock 325i exhaust system to the m50 down pipes, cat and all. I don't like how they did my O2 bung though.

[static]

what does straight though mean?

straight-T H R O U G H mufflers, means no baffles or anything else on the way of the gas flow. Magnaflow, Vibrant and Borla are straight-through

[BDSax]

i was looking at magnaflow, so i guess that wouldnt be good. any kind of tips as what to buy would be good!

[rede30]

Here is what i did and to me it sounds perfect. I have ebay headers, to stock e36M midpipes, to the left side of an s54m coupe. It has a perfect sound, the only problem is the stock midpipes are pretty big and the muffler is small so its akward to get it to fit right.

[thebmwM]

If I can get this sound I'll be happy

[87-325ic]

What SIZE is everyone running?

and what is sufficient?

Single 2.5" single 3" ?

dual 2.5" /2.25? (the most expensive option)


if i could run single 2.5 that would be best to work with..

[Mike B.]

I am running a single 3" with my euro S50B32, so I would think single 2.5" for an S5x would be fine.

Matt has some well founded opinions on exhaust size (bigger is not better). Take a look at page 2 of this thread.

[matt]

2.5" for anything that isn't 300hp or greater. 2.25" is a better size for an NA m50 or M52, but that can be hard to find.

I actually kinda like the ebay headers (waaaaay more than the ebay turbo manifolds). I am thinking of changing over.

[Shoomakan]

MOT, LOVE the sig. :D

[BDSax]

what im confused about is on the ebay headers i was just going to use the clamps it came with. one is 2" and one is 1.75"

[matt]

e36 secondaries are two different thicknesses. That's by design.

[87-325ic]

So the s52 headers (obd2) and a single 2.5 inch running through a generic cat and to a muffler at the rear.

Probably magnaflow cat and muffler.., any other inexpensive suggestions?

is this going to be a loud raspy set-up? would an extra resonator help?

[static]

So the s52 headers (obd2) and a single 2.5 inch running through a generic cat and to a muffler at the rear.

Probably magnaflow cat and muffler.., any other inexpensive suggestions?

is this going to be a loud raspy set-up?

Yes

would an extra resonator help?

No (unless the resonator is restrictive, i.e not straight through)

ask me how i know

i used to run the stock e36m3 muffler (the thing weighs like 80lbs) and single 2.5 piping along with hiflow cat, and it was very civilized. Then the devil got me to get rid of the e36m3 muffler and sell it (for $20 ), and i am kind of unhappy ever since then.

i really think that the best plan would be to fit the stock midsection with oem cats/resonators, maybe make custom dual downpipes for better clearance, then fit something like supersprint or stromung catback designed for e36m3 on the back.
You might ask me why i won't do just that, and my answer would be that i've spent TOO much money on my full custom SS exhaust as it is. So learn from my mistakes.

Alex