Swapped guys with ebay stainless headers. How?

[EtaSport]

I bought mine for 215 off bimmerforums. They look like poo now, but they are better than cast or even the stainless odb2 manifolds.

[Bill 84 318i]

Are these the same thing only in stainless?

ebay - $269.00

Mine are stainless as well, I just had them coated because:

They look like poo now

But yeah, they look exactly the same, and that looks like the same bag of hardware that I got.

[Mot]

how do these headers sound compared to stock manifolds. The shitty ebay shorty I have now rasp like crazy and make my car sound ricerish.

[EtaSport]

I think mine is raspy too, but i have some leaks at my downpipes. They arent solidly welded, but they are pretty tight with the clamps that come with the headers. I am going to weld something up that I can bolt apart and I have an m roadster catback im going to try out.

[Mot]

thats what I was worried about, mine develop a obnoxious rasp at 3k-5k rpm and it really ruins my exhaust note. I think I'm just gonna stick with ob2 manifolds welded for obd1 use.

[1990m3]

I have OBDII manifolds and OBDI midpipes. Mine sounds like shit and I can't stand it. I need to go in and fix some of the leaking welded connections from my exhaust fabricator. I think the manifold ports are welded poorly and I think the flange from the header to the downpipe is leaking too. Sounds like the leak is coming right from the tunnel area.

I was going to swap to ebay headers and make flanges to my OBDI cats, but if they fit like shit then seems like a waste of time. maybe I'll just fix what I have now. I hate the exhaust the most in my swap, the rest of the car is pretty badass I think!

[static]

have a question for someone experienced with cast and stainless manifolds (i.e s50 and s52 ones)
I had full custom job done for the s50 cast ones that are on right now. I'd love to drop some weight by going to s52 ones - would they fit in place of cast ones with no modification to downpipe?

Thanks

[EtaSport]

have a question for someone experienced with cast and stainless manifolds (i.e s50 and s52 ones)
I had full custom job done for the s50 cast ones that are on right now. I'd love to drop some weight by going to s52 ones - would they fit in place of cast ones with no modification to downpipe?

Thanks

I've put them side by side and I can find no difference in where they bolt up to the downpipes. I have both sets if you want a set of obd2. <-goes for anyone.

[1990m3]

yes, they are interchangeable as far as I can tell.

[static]

would you guys recommend going through a hassle? what's the weight diffeerence anyway?

also, are M52 and S52 manifolds the same ?

[dougsic]

I was going to swap to ebay headers and make flanges to my OBDI cats, but if they fit like shit then seems like a waste of time. maybe I'll just fix what I have now. I hate the exhaust the most in my swap, the rest of the car is pretty badass I think!

Me too. My exhaust is crap, sounds like crap and sometimes rattles.

Stock s50 manifolds and s50 pipes (smashed like crazy to clear sway bar) into stock m20 325 muffler.

Freakin' embarassing.

Last thing I want is more rattling. No, the LAST thing I want is the POS I have now.

But what to do?

[golde30]

did those spacers come with the headers?? are they standard installation equipment from those ebay sellers?

[mazur]

I have these headers and they fit perfect. Just barely clear the engine mount arm.

[1990m3]

Me too. My exhaust is crap, sounds like crap and sometimes rattles.

Stock s50 manifolds and s50 pipes (smashed like crazy to clear sway bar) into stock m20 325 muffler.

Freakin' embarassing.

Last thing I want is more rattling. No, the LAST thing I want is the POS I have now.

But what to do?

Well I had custom down pipes made from the headers to the midpipes and the guy who "has been doing exhausts for 25 years" apparently hasn't been welding that long because there are holes in the weld and it leaks. Plus, he chewed up my gaskets between the two flanges and it leaks there too. And it hands really low in the middle because he didn't make hangers like I showed him how I wanted and so I scrape it on the entrance to my parking garage everyday. I tried to fix the height problem but I can't unless I rebend some pipes for more clearance.

I still want the ebay headers and a nice used aftermarket muffler so I can redo the exhaust. At least I can keep the one I have now for when I need to pass emissions, I flew through that no problem...

[bwh13]

Has anyone tried the OBX 2 piece headers on an S52 swap? From all the problems with the long tube headers it seems like the shorty 2 piece would be easier to work with, especially around the engine mount arm and the sway bar...and you can have a new down-pipe made to clear things easier.

I have the OBDII headers on the engine, but since I have to fab up the header to cat pipes anyway when I install the engine, I thought the shorty headers would be an easy way to do it...