UPDATED 7/23/2010.

Lesson learned.

First off, I must thank providenceleaf for his work with the mod that he did on his X5. The Magnaflow 11235 worked great.
Second, I must thank Gary @ Mieneke in Mahwah, NJ on Route 17 and Billy (his welder) for great work. Billy has over 25 years experience in custom modding with welding. Great price's and mention my name (Baron) and they will take care of you.

Now, on to what I learned. As the first post below shows, the natural sound of the 4.8i is good. Not great, but good for most. I wanted a deeper tone. NU-BE ole' me decided to remove the resonator as seen below in the second video. It had a louder sound, not deeper, plus at 3,200 rpm the waffle effect was annoying.

What to do...a lot of research like before, but this time do it right. Without spending the 2.5K on Eisenmann or Meisterschaft or even 1.4K on Remus, I chose the Magnaflow route like providenceleaf. I listened over and over and over to his YouTube clips. Satisfied with his sound as close to the expensive units, I tried to find the Magnaflow 11235 muffler's. No shops directly around me had them in stock, and the instant gratification in me just had to them immediately. Buying locally was important just in case I decided not to do the job. I found one at Pepboys in Piscataway, NJ and another one in Bridgewater, NJ. With the two in hand, time to make the appointment. Appt. made, and decided to do the muffler job first, leaving the resonator's off and see what it sounded like. Took it for a ride and the sound was insanely deep and loud! But, the waffle effect still eek'd out a little. So, back to the shop to put the resonators back on. The sound is pure orgasmic without the intercourse. Loud & DEEP (NOT raspy, no waffle) when on the gas, quite-like stock at idle or low RPM's and, I repeat, and NO drone. The video's below do the X no justice. You must hear it person (wink wink...Tri-State's Fall Edition coming up...)

I also had the tips (stock 4.8i) move in a little to be more flush with the bumper. No all the way in, but better than stock. Also, the Magnaflows are thinner than the stock muffler so you wont see any muffler's underneath while traveling behind me (but you will hear me.)

Enjoy


2009 brought many changes to my vehicle...refinished wheels, aero kit, running boards....

2010 will bring many changes as well. To start, I was going to have an X-pipe installed today, but changed my mind to only a resonator delete. Sounds good, but a bit raspy. I can live with it, that is, until another inexpensive alternative comes along (shy of spending 2K on eisenmann or miester...)

More mods to come and be completed in July....including caliper refinishing, final bits of chrome (read: roundels) will be painted to match exterior, some grille work in ferric wheel color....and a surprise only to be revealed at the next meet....although I might get a bit antsy and show you on the forum anyway...

Till then....K/B out. (thanks mD for the nickname...)

Before - BONE STOCK


After - STOCK MUFFLER - NO RESONATOR's


After - DUAL MAGNAFLOW 11235 MUFFLER'S - NO RESONATOR's


After - DUAL MAGNAFLOW 11235 MUFFLER'S - WITH RESONATOR's

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