Reparing Exhaust

[wilreyca]

Hello everyone,

My 2007 X3 has a gasket that goes between the manifold and the exhaust pipe where the catalytic convert is. The gasket is old and now the X3 sounds like it's missing part of the muffler.

There is a repair kit listed on realoem.com but it only has the gasket and nuts. However from what I see I also need screws for those nuts that I don't see them listed on realoem. It also looks like the part where the nut goes is also not in great shape but it might be part of the pipe.

Besides those issue, the muffler and pipes look good so I don't really want to spend thousands replacing a whole exhaust system.

Anyone has experience repair this kind of issue?

Thank you,

[jmalouin]

Hello wilreyca,


I had a similar issue with my 2005 X3. The bolts you are referring to are actually studs. They are difficult to remove from the flange and may require drilling them out, which I needed to do.


Once drilled out, you can easily install bolts in their place and be good to go. If your current studs are in good shape, you may be able to remove the nuts with some penetrant (like Kroil) and a special socket that grips tighter when loosening fasteners.


I ended up using high grade stainless steel bolts/nuts in lieu of what RealOEM suggests. Worked great. Hope this helps,


-J