[Willthethrill]

Originally Posted by krautmeister

I did only mufflers... trust me it drones.

Really. How bad. The consensus seems to be that there is drone when adding the mufflers and removing the resonators. And that once the resonators are thrown back in, the drone issue is gone.

[Big Mexican Women]

Originally Posted by Willthethrill

It's my understanding that installing the x-pipe requires the removal of the resonators.

my mistake, looks like you're correct.

wait, so the 550i has two bottle resonators after the downpipes, and then one more resonator connecting the two sets of pipes together before the mufflers??

[Big Mexican Women]

Originally Posted by Willthethrill

Really. How bad. The consensus seems to be that there is drone when adding the mufflers and removing the resonators. And that once the resonators are thrown back in, the drone issue is gone.

everyones idea of drone is subjective. as long as you have your resonators in place, unless you got some sort of extreme racing muffler/straight pipe installed there won't be any sort of unwanted drone.

[Willthethrill]

Originally Posted by Big Mexican Women

my mistake, looks like you're correct.

wait, so the 550i has two bottle resonators after the downpipes, and then one more resonator connecting the two sets of pipes together before the mufflers??

In the diagram it shows each pipe has its own catalytic converter, and then both pipes meet at the resonator which looks like one single piece. And then they divide again with each pipe going to each respective muffler

[Big Mexican Women]

Originally Posted by Willthethrill

In the diagram it shows each pipe has its own catalytic converter, and then both pipes meet at the resonator which looks like one single piece. And then they divide again with each pipe going to each respective muffler

here is a pic of the stock 550i exhaust system. allow me to correct myself:

So at the very bottom of the picture, the primary cats are connected to the piping. the primary cats are not attached in this photo. then you have the secondary cats (which are those two little bottle shaped things right after the primary cats) then you have the resonator, and lastly the mufflers. I would recommend you delete your secondary cats at an exhaust shop (costs like $100 to do, well worth the money) along with your new muffler upgrade. will sound excellent together, still fully pass emissions, all for a very reasonable price one fraction of what a full exhaust system will cost you.

[Willthethrill]

Originally Posted by Big Mexican Women

here is a pic of the stock 550i exhaust system. allow me to correct myself:

So at the very bottom of the picture, the primary cats are connected to the piping. the primary cats are not attached in this photo. then you have the secondary cats (which are those two little bottle shaped things right after the primary cats) then you have the resonator, and lastly the mufflers. I would recommend you delete your secondary cats at an exhaust shop (costs like $100 to do, well worth the money) along with your new muffler upgrade. will sound excellent together, still fully pass emissions, all for a very reasonable price one fraction of what a full exhaust system will cost you.

Hmmm, didn't consider removing those secondary cats. Is that generally what everyone does when modifying this car's exhaust. In the back of my mind, passing inspection was my main concern. What kind of sound difference is there between removing or not removing those secondary cats. Are they really doing anything to effect the sound.

[Big Mexican Women]

Originally Posted by Willthethrill

Hmmm, didn't consider removing those secondary cats. Is that generally what everyone does when modifying this car's exhaust. In the back of my mind, passing inspection was my main concern. What kind of sound difference is there between removing or not removing those secondary cats. Are they really doing anything to effect the sound.

Personally, I have the secondary cats deleted on my 328i (along with a borla high-flow muffler, very similar setup to what you want to do) and I think that deleting my secondary cats was the best $100 I have ever spent on my exhaust. I passed emissions no problem with them removed, it really helped open up the engine sound from the front of the car, the high end pull and throttle response improved which you will notice even more with your turbo engine, and overall it gives your exhaust setup a deeper more throaty tone. really helps make it feel high-flow - very satisfying exhaust note with your resonator in place.

here is a great video comparing a muffler delete with and without the secondary cats in place. Personally, I would strongly suggest removing them along with whatever muffler you plan to install. it will sound great.

[BlackWidow]

550 does not have secondary cats. Those are the twin resonators and then the H Pipe.

[xxpanipuri]

i don't have any droning, I did use the m5 cross member, as this has some bushings, i've hear from others, that if you DO NOT use the m5 cross member you will get droning at low RPM.

[Willthethrill]

Originally Posted by BlackWidow

550 does not have secondary cats. Those are the twin resonators and then the H Pipe.

Diagram I saw shows downpipes are catted, then those 2 bottle tubes are labeled as secondary cats, and then that "h-pipe" is the resonator.

[krautmeister]

Originally Posted by xxpanipuri

i don't have any droning, I did use the m5 cross member, as this has some bushings, i've hear from others, that if you DO NOT use the m5 cross member you will get droning at low RPM.

I found one on eBay... how hard is it to pop one of these in? Any other benefits other than droning reduction?

[xxpanipuri]

Originally Posted by krautmeister

I found one on eBay... how hard is it to pop one of these in? Any other benefits other than droning reduction?

it replaces the stock 550i cross member.

here's the parts list

1: Crossmember: 51618048827
2: Exhaust Hangers: 18207832991
4: Hex Nut: 18307620549
4: Washers: 23412332673

Again these are the only parts that are specific to the m5 exhaust.

also the pipes are different, coming out the back, so you may need to get the actual m5 diffuser

unless you're okay with the way it looks on your stock diffuser once cut out is modified...

[krautmeister]

Originally Posted by daniel_f10

How bad is the drone ? And is it worth it ?

As many have said, it's really subjective. The overall volume at full throttle and anything above 2k rpm is what o would say is a tad bit over the stock AMG level.

The droning below 2k rpm, I can't be on a call with the Bluetooth. I'm gonna look into the cross member or a hemholtz resonator design

ETA: if you cruise on the highway in 7th gear.... not bad, in 8th... it's very annoying.

[xxpanipuri]

Originally Posted by krautmeister

As many have said, it's really subjective. The overall volume at full throttle and anything above 2k rpm is what o would say is a tad bit over the stock AMG level.

The droning below 2k rpm, I can't be on a call with the Bluetooth. I'm gonna look into the cross member or a hemholtz resonator design

ETA: if you cruise on the highway in 7th gear.... not bad, in 8th... it's very annoying.

i'm in sales, so i'm driving around the bay area quite a bit and constantly on calls, not once have i had any issues with droning and noise pollution inside the cabin, this is why i went this route. now i did spend close to 1000 in parts and labor to have this installed properly, however he did phenomenal job, he installed it with the clamps, so that if i ever wanted to swap out the stock resonators with an xpipe or do a custom setup it would be much easier....this way the exhaust can be removed in 2 pieces...

I have 2 kids (5/10 now) and when they were younger there were many times they'd be asleep when coming home at night, and never had an issue.

I do also have the exhaust meister

http://exhaustmeister.com/bmw-valve-parts/

which allows me to open and close my valves on demand.

normally i keep them closed, and only open when i'm driving on my own and want to hear the car a bit.



here is a clip from over a year ago, with the valves open.

this is with my phone on the rear bumper facing down

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by xxpanipuri

You need to add a door edge guard around the diffuser where the cut was made to give it a cleaner look

[xxpanipuri]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

You need to add a door edge guard around the diffuser where the cut was made to give it a cleaner look

oh i replaced that...i put the m5 diffuser on cleaner look and i like the color match...

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by xxpanipuri

oh i replaced that...i put the m5 diffuser on cleaner look and i like the color match...

That's right! I remember you replacing the diffuser awhile back when I came across talking about what your license plate means and i didn't get it at first lol!