Hey everyone, I mentioned in another thread that I’d be doing a full review of the valved cat-back exhaust from Turner Motorsport for the F3x N55. This is that review
I’ve now had a few hours of seat time with the exhaust installed, and feel like I’ve gotten a well-rounded idea of what it’s about and how it behaves on the car. So, here we go. Decibel testing chart, pictures, and sound clips are all at the bottom of this post.
Build quality, finish, and fitment: The Turner system gets top marks in this category. I was a little worried about the quality, as many people said Turner sort of “fell off” after their dramatic acquisition by ECS, but this was certainly not my experience. The stainless is really nice, the welds are great, and the fitment was perfect. All the pipes slid together perfectly, as you’d expect from a high-quality exhaust. I was able to get it installed in only a couple hours on jack stands in my garage (albeit with my Dad, not by myself). Even if your mechanical experience is limited though, I wouldn’t shy away from installing it yourself. It fit like a glove and was very easy to install. Only tools need are basic sockets, torx, and preferably an electric impact for those unfailingly rusty bolts. I know ease of install isn’t necessarily specific to this exhaust, but it should speak to the fact that the R&D was adequate in that all the pipes bend in the right spots, the DP connection was the right size etc. 10/10 here, see pics attached to get an idea of what the system looks like for yourself.
Design of the system: I think it’s important to note with any exhaust system how it’s actually designed: what sort of connections and flex joints and clamps it uses/comes with, how the muffler is laid out, how smooth the bends are etc. etc. Again, I think the turner system gets top marks in this category. You can see that all the bends are very smooth, more so than stock (especially right after the downpipe), and the flex joint they use in that area is, in my opinion, preferable to the metal weave you see on some other systems (or at least what I saw on other N2x systems from my old 328i) as these tend to come apart and leak after time, in my experience. Another quick note, the clamps that they supply are high quality, not some cheapo weak clamps that I've seen supplied with other (albeit non-BMW) systems.
One important note about the design of this system relates to the muffler. You can see that there is a Y at the muffler inlet, and this is where the valve is located. One side of the Y is for valve open operation, and the other side is for valve closed. This means that the valve is on the opposite side than it is on the stock system, and a valve extension harness is required and supplied. I routed the extension wire behind the heat shield, and it’s secure there and very much out of the way… I’d recommend doing the same if you end up getting this system yourself. I’m generally impartial towards this design decision, and to be honest, I highly doubt it makes any difference in sound as some folks suggested it might, and think it’s there exclusively to serve the function of the valve. Either way, something unique about this system that’s worth noting.
Also worth noting, the system is listed online as coming with 3.5” tips. I placed my order through the phone with ECS and asked for the 4” tips, which they swapped out at no additional cost. So, if you want the 4” tips too, make sure you talk with someone as they don’t come with the standard kit.
And one small gripe in this category: the stock exhaust has a place to thread in the screws for the valve motor on the valve motor bracket, the Turner system does not. I had to use some nuts that I had laying around in order to secure the motor to the bracket. Something the keep in mind.
Sound and Volume: Alright, now for what is almost definitely the thing people are, understandably, most interested in: how it sounds! Overall, the exhaust is not super loud, and I would imagine that it falls on the tamer end of aftermarket systems for the N55 powered F3x cars. That said, I’ve not heard any other exhausts for this car in person, so that could be completely wrong. So, take that claim with a pretty large grain of salt or two. Either way, it’s not the loudest system out there, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t sound
reaaally good. Whether that’s just the character of the N55 or this specific system is up in the air, but regardless, it sounds fantastic. The idle sound is deep and pulses with a resonance that you can literally feel in the air, it’s pretty cool to just stand behind the car at idle and listen to and feel it. In around-town cruising and under light throttle, you can tell that the car has an aftermarket exhaust, but it’s quiet enough to not upset neighbors or be obnoxious. Even in these settings though, it has a markedly deeper tone (and more volume) than stock that makes even around-town driving more pleasurable. Under partial throttle and more aggressive accelerations, it really starts to tell you it’s there as the volume is noticeably louder than stock, and it just has that sonorous growl that the N55 is known for. It’s a really pleasant thing to listen to when you start going not WOT, but with just enough throttle to start accelerating faster than you probably need to. In all honesty, I think these 40%-60%, 3000rpm-5000rpm applications are where this exhaust shines. I’m going to get repetitive if I keep talking about it, but it just sounds
right in these situations. The right volume without being obnoxious, and a really nice rich tone and depth. Now, that’s not to say that it doesn’t sound good at WOT. I think if it were louder, I’d prefer WOT to partial throttle, but because engine noise increases more at WOT (obviously), the exhaust can get drowned out in these situations by the engine. You can still hear it at WOT, but the exhaust noise isn’t front and center at WOT like it is under partial throttle. WOT still sounds great and is louder than stock, but it’s not the best way to enjoy this exhaust, IMO. Overall, I’m really pleased with how this system sounds.
The valve: One of the interesting things about this exhaust compared to say, AWE or Borla, is that it retains the stock valve functionality (and uses both tips at all times, which is cool). Generally speaking, I wouldn’t place all that much value on the valve UNLESS you’re really concerned about drone. In my experience, the only difference the valve makes is in drone. With the valve close (i.e. in comfort mode) there is no drone at all when cruising at any speeds and in any gear. This is not the case in sport mode (i.e. valve open) where you do get some drone when cruising at highway speeds. It’s a similar story with very light throttle, low rpm accelerations. In sport mode, you get some resonance and slight drone in these situations, and while you still do get some in comfort mode with the valve closed, it’s cut down by I’d estimate 80%. So the valve is very effective in fighting drone, but it doesn’t really do much volume-wise, as far as I can tell. You’ll have to take my word on this too, as the valve is always open at idle except when cold starting, so I couldn’t do any decibel testing on this (and you can see that comfort and sport have effectively the same values in the chart, because the valve is open in both cases).
Decibel testing: At the recommendation of
thejeremyman9 , I did some decibel testing of both the stock exhaust and the Turner exhaust to compare. All rev tests were taken from 3ft behind the center of the rear of the car. I used the Decibel X app and my iPhone 11 pro for this testing. You can look at the chart for yourself, but the general theme is that the Turner exhaust is pretty significantly louder than stock in all scenarios.
Conclusions: Overall, I’m very happy with this exhaust. The overall quality is great, it sounds great, it has an effective drone-fighting valve, and it’s not so loud that when I inevitably pair it with a downpipe my neighbors will file HOA complaints against me. It’s made driving the car a much more fun and enjoyable experience. So, if you’re in the market for a high-quality system that will wake your N55 up a bit, without also waking up your sleeping neighbors, give Turner a shot. However, if you want something really loud, this system probably isn’t for you, and you might be better suited by a muffler delete or some other, louder cat-back systems.
Pictures and Videos!:
