Has Anyone Modded Their Stock Exhaust?

[nomad]

So is the nasty lump after the cat supposed to be a resonator?
I's say the longest possible resonator would work much better.

[oldtimer]

HELP...After posting to this thread and explaining what I have done to my exhaust I got very curious how it really sound.  So I had my daughter drive the car and gave her specific instruction when to shift as I drove behind her in my Boxster.  OH MY ####... my car sounds like a "RICER".  Please help me find another muffler to install so that my car does not sound like some high school boy's car down the road.  

The cat and resinator does not exist in the car anymore.  I have 2 1/2 pipe straight to the muffler.

[Alpine003]

The cat and resinator does not exist in the car anymore.  I have 2 1/2 pipe straight to the muffler.

I would get the longest resonator that you can fit in the straight section of the pipe welded on. Make sure you get the perforated tube version and not anything that is louvered.

Both Summit and Jegs sells some decent pieces that I have used in the past. I believe the secret to most N/A 4 cylinder cars is to have 1 resonator and 1 muffler in the entire exhaust to make it sound decent.

The only decent n/a 4 cylinders that I've heard to date without a resonator in the exhaust path are the Subaru boxer motors.

[e9nine]

The cat and resinator does not exist in the car anymore.  I have 2 1/2 pipe straight to the muffler.

That's the reason why right there. I have posted a vid of my car with the magnaflow on youtube on here. Do a search and listen to it. If your car sounds anything like that I'll send you money for a case of beer. If your car doesn't sound anything like mine, you deleting the resonator (primarily) and the cat contributes to you cars sound. 4 cyl sound==ricer sound most times (sans e30m3) so there you go :eek:

[oldtimer]

Gentlemen thank you for the input.  I will make that as my priority this week end.  As far as the Vid.  How do I view the vid in "Youtube"?  Do I have to join the site to view them?

[ducatipaso]

Call me old or something but unless my car is somewhat fast or powerful, I feel embarassed if I had a loud system and no power to back it up.

I'd rather have a quiet system so if I beat some Honduh ricer, it makes them feel that much worse thinking I had a stock drivetrain. At the same time if I'm really trying to beat someone off the line and lose, it's a saving grace knowing the other driver might not have been sure if I was really trying or not based on the quiet sound.

QFT. Performance systems do not need to be loud. I'd much rather have a nice, near stock volume with a deep sound any day.

[christophbmw]

Call me old or something but unless my car is somewhat fast or powerful, I feel embarassed if I had a loud system and no power to back it up.

im not old and im on the same page as you:) .

[RustyTheDriver]

Out of curiosity, does anyone have a full dual exhaust? I know it is a bit useless on a four-cylinder, but was ondering how the sound was. In fact, an   E30 325is or *maybe* an M3 system might fit. Any ideas?

I have the same question myself. Is it possible to get a kit for a straight 6 and just use the pipes from the cat on? I'd like to have that dual exhaust look and if it was backed up with a good sound that would be great. Any suggestions?

[gearheadE30]

I took a look under my car awhile back before purchasing the same Magnafolw that E9nine has and decided it wasn't worth it. An NA M42 doesn't really need any larger piping than the 2.25 that is there from the factory. With a supercharger or something, that would change, but nothing else would need it. All you would have to do though, is cut off the bottom part of the header at the furthest point that still has 2 pipes. Our headers are 4-2-1 instead of 4-1 because the factory wanted to give it more low-end torque. 2 custom pipes would then have to be made to meet the 325 or M3 exhaust. I'm not sure if there would be any fitment issures, but the floor stampingws are the same so it shouldn't be a problem.

[longms]

...remember driving my 318iS, it has a Magnaflow :rolleyes:

For all you guys out there using a magnaflow muffler, did you take the resonator out of the catback or did you leave it in?

Will the deletion of resonator be too ricer-ish? Would it take away the Euro sound of the car???

My exhaust is shot and have bought the new muffler and am having new catback built. Does anyone know of a replacement resonator that could be put in place of the current one? Or are they not that expensive anyways?

[J///MR]

For all you guys out there using a magnaflow muffler, did you take the resonator out of the catback or did you leave it in?

Would it take away the Euro sound of the car???

I left the stock cat and resonator in mine.  To me, most of the exhaust noise seems to come from the headers anyway.  I would think without them, that it would sound extra buzzy.  

Here's a pic of my magnaflow.  

[longms]

Does it sound quiet but upon standing on the gas your car comes to life so to speak? I want it to be a little louder than stock but keep a nice Euro sound too.

[J///MR]

Does it sound quiet but upon standing on the gas your car comes to life so to speak? I want it to be a little louder than stock but keep a nice Euro sound too.

It's relatively quiet.  This is my first 4 cyl. bmw, purchased with a broken muffler, so I don't have too much of a reference point.  It doesn't sound particularly good or bad to me, it just sounds like a 4 cyl. motor.  

I can definitely hear exhaust noise when I get on it though.

[gearheadE30]

assuming that is part number 11265, it is the same muffler i have. It is loud above 2500 and below 3200, but everywhere else it is great. Granted, I do need a new cat and the resonator is a bosal one that is tiny and probly doesn't do much. It does have a bit of rasp when it is cold, but is great once it warms up.