Cheap my man. $100 or so for headers, $40-70 each for rear resonators depending on what you go with. The Magnaflows are a slam dunk and can be had for 145 shipped for the pair. They're 2.25, 14 inch long and 4 wide IIRC. (i wanted to try the areo resonators this time as they were cheap, good build (stainless build and ceramic packing and had good reviews from the E46 M3 guys). Find yourself a sweet set of exhaust tips to crown your creation. Splurge if you want as you just saved a butt load. I went with a larger 3.5 double wall slant quad tip this time. You can make 4.0 quads fit, depending on what you want. I thought about it, but the 3.5 quads seemed perfect. I think they were 80 for the pair. I reused my OE exhaust manifold gasket and applied just a thin film of UHT gasket maker. No issues. Depending on budget you may buy news ones for peace of mind. I bought some extra studs and copper nuts from BMW Murray, if I have some left over their yours. Just add in what it costs for your shop to weld everything up. My shop is good to me and I've budgeted 150 for all of it, but 200 should cover most shops?

So.... For around $500 for everything, your done.... Until you add in some high flow cats. 50-100 for each. I'll post some pics when I get on my laptop of the components. My current build is $410 with install cost not including cats. That comes later. You'll love it squid. My audio does it no justice.

If you want help putting the headers on let me know. Happy to help on a Saturday. :thumbup:

I know! Aaauugh! I should have bought it back from the Insurance co. Douches.

Green thanks for the tips. I think I will do everything you are doing. I think I have an exhaust leak near the engine so I may have to get new gaskets to be safe. I may even drive up to your shop and have them do it all for me since they will be familiar with the setup.

What would the high flow cats do? Is that to get more power and then only get an emissions pass with the ECU flash, or in your case, the shark injector?

I've been toying with the idea of installing the x-pipe in lieu of the OEM centre muffler. Any thoughts or suggestions in this regard?

Thanks for the info and the tips to find the hidden Wally videos lol!

I came across that thread before as well. Got me thinking like you on the headers.

BTW, you have the 14" Magnaflows on? IIRC stockers are only 11-12" long (sans tips), how did you get those to fit?

So Ryan, now you got me thinking, I have the factory 3.0 resonator mated to the AXLE BACK 4.8iS exhaust, so I have larger freer flow piping from the resonator back, quite the nice tone.

If I wanted to keep the factory resonator in place like you did, and keep my 4.8iS exhaust would I still see same gains from headers and a Shark tune? As you said just reuse the stock exhaust manifold gasket, maybe some new studs/nuts, and a slight modification to fit it since its designed for E46.

How easily would high flow cats be put onto the setup? I can always run the Shark tune, headers, and high flow cats with an L-spacer on the rear o2's, my old VW trick that worked pretty damn well to keep the CEL away.

If slapping headers and high flow cats would keep me under 3-400 bucks and I'd be seeing bitchin gains its something I'd def consider.

High flow cats are just less restrictive (and in our case with the M54's manifold, much less restrictive) and clean up your emissions enough to pass. You have options. You can run 100 cells per square inch, 200,300,400 cpsi, etc and also an option of substrate, ceramic or a metal foil, both of which are treated to cataylize and clean up some pollutants. There are a few factors that influence which one to go with and alot depends on how clean your emissions need to be. Check with your local code first. If they sniff test, you need to be fairly clean. If they are doing a visual with a computer check looking for "ready status" with the ecu, not so much.

Our stock exhaust manifold is designed to be very clean, but is compromise on performance and efficiency. (about 15-20 hp loss)That's okay for most. They want the cats as close to the heat source to get them hot and expedite the cleaning of the emissions at start up. Aftermarket HF cats are going to flow much better, and not really losing hardly any gains from the installed headers. Its honestly the way to go. Its just a question of whats best for you and your area.

As far as software goes, its not needed, unless your working around the CEL, trying to get it off and you live in an area that doesn't require emissions, etc.

The shark Injector just compliments the performance upgrade, but does not turn off the post cat o2 senors,etc, so you will have a CEL if your not running cats and post o2 sensors.

Active Autowerk has a flash that turns off the post o2 sensors to eliminate the CEL, and give a performance boost as well.

You can flash your ECU to a Euro flash(EU2)(free) as well to accomplish similar gains of reported better drivability , responce, and a few extra ponies.

bcredliner needs to post an audio clip of his Dinan 4.6is with nitrous and exhaust dumps.

Nothing with OE exhaust manifolds has EVER sounded as good!

Brians X sounds like the C7-R Race Vette.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVatTkNOYyA

would this be a mod for automatics also?
Manual sound sooo good.. but what about autos?

what do you do about the stock manifolds having 12 holes bolt to head ?
vs
headers having 16 hole bolt to head?

do i just skip the none holes on the gasket and leave the 4 on the headers with nothing?