exhaust upgrade complete... BUT...

[crosvs]

Hey everyone, so one of my buddies over at 6speedonline.com referred me to a guy who needed to swap his $1200 custom exhaust setup for a stock one. As a result, I just got hooked up with a new exhaust for only the installation cost of $100.

That said, I DEFINITELY need to post you vid clips ... the thing sounds like the wrath of god lol ... well, from the outside, anyway. No but seriously, imagine the sound of an AMG Merc at WOT ... now imagine something a LITTLE less deep -- think bass rather than baritone lol -- while amazingly, sounding barely louder/deeper inside the car with windows up! Moreover, NO annoying resonant spot at ANY rpm! From the outside then, imagine the stock "throbbing" sound you could hear faintly ... now imagine that MUUUUUUUUUCH louder lol ... if you drive by buildings or other cars, it seriously makes you giggle like a school girl. Which is exactly what my buddy and I did all along Wilshire Blvd the other day =)

Anyway here's the "BUT" portion of this post: while watching them install the exhaust, I noticed something shocking: the exhaust of our cars are not "true" dual exhaust setups!! It's a single straw split into two only at the rear! And since this exhaust does not do a conversion to a dual setup, I'm assuming any power gains will be negligible which is sort of a shame I guess, but oh well, whatever, no biggy. Nonetheless ... just thought I'd point this out because:

... I next want to add the AFE cold air intake, but I'm wondering whether it's worth doing since this exhaust maintains the restrictive single-pipe setup rather than going true dual? Any thoughts?

ALSO: people say the cold air intake is "louder" and that it is "especially" louder with after market exhaust. Explain? And ... how much and what kind of louder are we talking about? I coudn't find too much on here answering this question...

Thank you!!

[powers1]

Originally Posted by crosvs

Hey everyone, so one of my buddies over at 6speedonline.com referred me to a guy who needed to swap his $1200 custom exhaust setup for a stock one. As a result, I just got hooked up with a new exhaust for only the installation cost of $100.

That said, I DEFINITELY need to post you vid clips ... the thing sounds like the wrath of god lol ... well, from the outside, anyway. No but seriously, imagine the sound of an AMG Merc at WOT ... now imagine something a LITTLE less deep -- think bass rather than baritone lol -- while amazingly, sounding barely louder/deeper inside the car with windows up! Moreover, NO annoying resonant spot at ANY rpm! From the outside then, imagine the stock "throbbing" sound you could hear faintly ... now imagine that MUUUUUUUUUCH louder lol ... if you drive by buildings or other cars, it seriously makes you giggle like a school girl. Which is exactly what my buddy and I did all along Wilshire Blvd the other day =)

Anyway here's the "BUT" portion of this post: while watching them install the exhaust, I noticed something shocking: the exhaust of our cars are not "true" dual exhaust setups!! It's a single straw split into two only at the rear! And since this exhaust does not do a conversion to a dual setup, I'm assuming any power gains will be negligible which is sort of a shame I guess, but oh well, whatever, no biggy. Nonetheless ... just thought I'd point this out because:

... I next want to add the AFE cold air intake, but I'm wondering whether it's worth doing since this exhaust maintains the restrictive single-pipe setup rather than going true dual? Any thoughts?

ALSO: people say the cold air intake is "louder" and that it is "especially" louder with after market exhaust. Explain? And ... how much and what kind of louder are we talking about? I coudn't find too much on here answering this question...

Thank you!!

What car do you have?

I have an X5 3.0D and its a dual exhaust set up from the Kat back!

The V8s have 2 kats,two resonators and two rear silencers!

They are all dual exhaust set ups and in most cases ,interchangeable!

[Kewl X5]

I think he is referring to the 4.4i which has one "exhaust can" on each side but with dual tips at the end. Actually, on all X5s, there are two pipes running from the exhaust manifold all the way to the rear "cans" on each side. He is disappointed that it is not a true "quad" exhaust.

If you look at the M5 and M3, it is the same setup.

[crosvs]

Sorry for the lack of clarification: it's a 4.4 and what I see is this:

There *DOES seem to be piping running from both the left and right cylinder banks suggesting a "true dual" setup; however they then merge into one ... catalytic converter? ... and then split back out again into two mufflers each of which have the twin exhaust.

So no, I'm not expecting a QUAD exhaust, I just wanted to make sure we have at least a true dual setup; which, quite frankly, it seems like we do NOT

[94502]

i have a 4.4 with the X-pipe mod and I am thinking of going to customize my exhaust system.. This time I might cut off the orignal mullfer and replace it with flowmaster and put on some nice tips... what you guys think about this mod?? Im affraid it might be too loud, I am thinking of the flowmaster 50 series muffler with single inlet and dual outlet, so I can have nicer tips welded on...

[Teutonaddict]

Originally Posted by crosvs

There *DOES seem to be piping running from both the left and right cylinder banks suggesting a "true dual" setup; however they then merge into one ... catalytic converter? ... and then split back out again into two mufflers each of which have the twin exhaust.

My understanding is that all V8 exhausts are the same. I was able to install the same 2.25" Magnaflow Tru-X 10790 x-pipe on my 4.8 that others have installed on their 4.4's.

What may appear to be a single straw, actually is a true dual setup. Please scroll down to the bottom of this article by DanDE on his resonator removal and exhaust modification to see the photos.

http://www.xoutpost.com/articles/x5/e...-x5-4-6is.html

The factory resonator is actually a single glass-pack muffler with two tubes running parallel. The tubes are perforated in different places to allow the single 'can' to do its job.

Make no mistake, you have a true dual system!

[crosvs]

Oh! Well good, that's certainly a relief to hear. Thank you for that!

[powers1]

Originally Posted by crosvs

Sorry for the lack of clarification: it's a 4.4 and what I see is this:

There *DOES seem to be piping running from both the left and right cylinder banks suggesting a "true dual" setup; however they then merge into one ... catalytic converter? ... and then split back out again into two mufflers each of which have the twin exhaust.

So no, I'm not expecting a QUAD exhaust, I just wanted to make sure we have at least a true dual setup; which, quite frankly, it seems like we do NOT

Are you sure that there isnt another Kat there??

[dkl]

I think he confused the resonator as the cat.

[Teutonaddict]

Originally Posted by powers1

Are you sure that there isnt another Kat there??

The cats are located just aft of the exhaust manifold, before they merge together. There is clearly a left bank and a right bank.

I believe he's referring to the resonator, which is located right at the merge. Because both pipes enter one 'can,' it may have appeared that it wasn't a true dual setup.

Here are pix of my recently departed factory resonator. Replaced, by the way, with a Magnaflow Tru-X crossover pipe.