[Tips] Rawtek Delete Kit

[rjskalet]

I am more or less posting this to help folks out who decide to go this route since there aren't that many posts about the Rawtek kit on the boards or even the Facebook group on how to install this flanged setup.

As far as the DIY goes I used the beautiful write up that everyone refers to:

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1307679

Just make sure you read the whole thread before you tackle this because there were some bits that I wish I would have read, specifically cutting the DP ports on the OEM DPF to remove it from the car. I spent four hours trying to get it out only to realize that I could cut the ports. Even with dropping the subframe the ports were getting caught on the chassis of the car in my case.

Onward to the good stuff. The Rawtek kit is a pretty self explanatory install except it is a bit more difficult with the flanged setup since you have to align everything before you tighten it down. Unlike the slip setup where you can rotate the midpipe on the downpipe this setup you can not. My suggestion for this is. Mount the first piece of the midpipe to the exhaust hanger and support the other end with a jack. this will help with getting the downpipe lined up with the midpipe. I initially installed the downpipe first and then mounted the midpipe and was way off with where the midpipe needed to be so after doing this countless times and trying to spin the downpipe on the turbo it just wasn't working. I even tried leaving the downpipe and midpipe mounted together to spin it and this didn't work either. It doesn't spin like you think it would.

The second piece to the midpipe is pretty easy as well. However with the Rawtek kit, it has to be cut before the muffler hanger which is different than the other kits that have to be cut at the heat shield seam. Absolutely nowhere could I find this information and the only way I did manage to find this out is finding a random picture on the Rawtek Facebook page of their own install. So what I did was remove the OEM exhaust back to the muffler, cut the SCR out right after the welded seam and reinstalled the muffler that way I could line the midpipe up and cut it to fit. once you have it cut its a really easy install with the provided brackets. A small jack is handy for these instances if you are doing it by yourself since these pipes can get heavy holding them overhead.

FYI this is doable on jackstands. I did it on jackstands in my garage. I think all in all it took me about 16-18hours to complete but that included random trips to Lowes and Advanced Auto. I hope this helps somebody out in the future and if you have any questions feel free to PM me or find me on Facebook. I am always available to help answer questions.