Chinese Headers on eBay?

[germancarsonly]

OK, I will report back with what I find out after receiving a set and installing them. I'm new to this forum, but not new to the E30 cars and have owned more than my share of them over the last 10 years or so.

I don't have a problem buying parts made in Asia and I have seen some good items, including headers coming from China recently. I guess 98% of those parts have been for Hondas and Toyotas, but I see some nice looking BMW parts too. The E30 is a very popular car worldwide and it shouldn't be a surprise that you can buy quality headers direct from the source in China now on eBay for $113.00.

[ethree]

Let's see some dyno charts!:D

[mikeedler]

I have the "china" turbo manifold and am sure it was the same 8 y/o boy in a sweat shop that made it as the reg. m 20 headers.
-- it is a thinner, cheaper( i imagine) metal in comparison to the old Hartge headers i had years ago, but for the price I am sure they arent too bad.- even my Hartge 100000000000000000000000000000euro headers popped leaks once in a while-- its just how headers are.

I am pretty confident the headers are good enough.

[z31maniac]

what makes those so much better? just curious

Longer primary tubes for better exhaust scavenging.

And Stahl's are made with a much higher quality metal.

They also cost a grand for a set of headers though.

[Kilomph]

Would these alter the exhaust note much?

[nando]

Would these alter the exhaust note much?

I imagine so, the tubing is pretty thin so it should get louder. all headers will alter the exhaust note, the stock thick cast manifolds muffle a lot of sound.

if you get them, get them because they are cheap, decent looking and they will change your exhaust note - don't get them expecting a real increase in torque. the primaries are too short to make any difference there.

[TDE30]

No lead jokes? Damn.

[germancarsonly]

I am building a car that I want to run at the local drag strips quite a bit. OK, please withhold all the comments about that's not what BMWs are for, drag racing isn't real racing, and all the other stuff. I've had a few race cars of different types over the years and now I want to go drag racing with an E30.

The tubes are shorter than other makers "long" tubes, but not that short and I think this set of headers is going to help make a little more power. I have a 2.7i engine that has the typical mods done to it and my goal is to get the car as quick as I can without spending a ton of money on it. The only way to know for sure about the headers would be a back to back dyno tests with the original system and the the new system. That's a waste of time and money to me, at least for this project. Again, this is a drag racer and many of the things that might affect a street driven car or even a road racer just don't apply to this.

One thing I can do with this set of headers is lose a bunch of weight. The exhaust system on a 2.5i car is way too heavy and I have a feeling I can take maybe 100 pounds off of my car with these headers. maybe not that much, but I'll weigh the stock system later on today and see what it weighs. I probably don't need a cat and I probably don't need any back pressure, so the new system can be pretty simple.

When I get a set of the headers I'll look at them carefully and tell you guys what I honestly think about them for street use. I'm a pretty good fabricator and I'll inspect the welds and the bends. If they won't do the job, I'll say so and you guys can save your money for the better headers. The price is great and I feel that all headers are more or less temporary. None of them will really last forever. I had a set of Stahl headers on an E30 I bought 8 or 9 years ago and because they hung down so low under the car the tubes were smashed flat and worn thin from dragging on the pavement all the time. They were pretty much toast when I bought the car and were only a couple of years old by then.

[z31maniac]

I probably don't need a cat and I probably don't need any back pressure, so the new system can be pretty simple.

This shows your obvious mastery of engineering and internal combustion engine theory.

Good luck building your car.

[nando]

if you want weight savings, use a single 2.5" ID pipe after the x-pipe to a single in/out muffer in the back. you are right that the stock system is heavy, I don't know about 100lbs but 50 is pretty realistic.

[ColdAccord]

I have ebay headers on my m50, they fit perfect. no problems at all.

there is a discussion of ebay headers in the 24v section, with detailed pics of the welds etc.

[gazellebeigem3]

I have ebay headers on my m50, they fit perfect. no problems at all.

there is a discussion of ebay headers in the 24v section, with detailed pics of the welds etc.

Yeah i have installed a couple of sets and they are pretty damn decent for the money.

[germancarsonly]

Quote:
Originally Posted by germancarsonly
I probably don't need a cat and I probably don't need any back pressure, so the new system can be pretty simple.

This shows your obvious mastery of engineering and internal combustion engine theory.

Well, I said "I probably don't need". This is a drag racer and it really only needs a short power band at higher RPMs. Most cars at the drag strip are running open headers and nothing more.

I'll weigh the system later on today as it's off the car. I did this a few years ago and I think it weighed over 80 pounds without the exhaust manifolds, but i could be wrong. I'll post the weight when I get it.

[Sean]

If you want cheap power out of an M20, you'd get much more bang for the buck with a turbo system??

[ColdAccord]

^wrd