[ifound2pac]

Originally Posted by VegasG42

My friends, please take a moment to look at the M340i Alibaba success stories thread. Lots of pictures and videos.

https://g20.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2095221

At this point, there are hundreds of people successfully running the Alibaba sourced exhausts.

Hell yeah haha. That guy's car sounds insane too, I wish the newer models were so easy to unlock just so I could get them pops and bangs

Originally Posted by Red_sir

You don't know the grade of stainless used. Stop ASSuming.

You also contradict yourself when you say you can't judge a weld with the naked eye yet that is what you are doing here. Judging with a very inexperienced eye I might add since you can't tell if those are GMAW or GTAW welds.

🙏

[VegasG42]

Thank you for your contributions to the thread, IanH

[IanH]

Tbf you thought they were "excellent"

In Europe there is a point to getting a catback, in the us you are just paying for useless piping and more bad welding work.

[ifound2pac]

Originally Posted by VegasG42

Thank you for your contributions to the thread, IanH

Attachment 3629379

You literally posted a link to a whole thread of users having success but this guy has to justify the money he spent so he doesn't feel like a dick.

[VegasG42]

Originally Posted by ifound2pac

You literally posted a link to a whole thread of users having success but this guy has to justify the money he spent so he doesn't feel like a dick.

Exactly. And I was trying to be civil and friendly about it as well.

Oh well, it's the internet, what can you do

[VegasG42]

Originally Posted by ifound2pac

You literally posted a link to a whole thread of users having success but this guy has to justify the money he spent so he doesn't feel like a dick.

Btw, the fuse attachment goes to fuse number 251 - it's the 20amp protected 12v cigarette lighter circuit.

This is on the right side of the trunk.





https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BZKW9M5...title_0_0&th=1

[IanH]

Exhaust fits great. Sounds amazing.

[Red_sir]

Originally Posted by IanH

The welds look so shit that they could be MIG, but yes I know they are TIG... but in China they use bastardized metals for everything including the wire feed.

There's a reason why I would have to recall a part made with counterfeit Chinese steel if I found that to be the case when auditing the certs.

You can't tell the weld strength by looking at it but you can see whether consistent process was applied. Anyone who calls the welds in OP "good" has never welded anything because it looks like that guy was on his first day at the shop.

If this active autowerke exhaust is trash, which I kind of expect it to be, I will get an eisenmann system and be done with the bull

My friend, you're obviously not a welder. Shit GTAW welds don't look like GMAW welds AT ALL. I'm a journeyman welder and I follow strict qualified welding procedures at work. I personally would not put out welds like that but I would have absolutely no worries having those welds on an exhaust. If you really cared about the welds you would be looking on the inside for sufficient penetration and that back purging was done to prevent oxidation/sugaring.

I do understand the reservation about the grade of stainless. I've worked in small shops that have gotten stainless from China that weren't what they were supposed to be. But I also work in large shops that buy tens of millions of dollars of alloy steel from China every year with no problems. I wouldn't write off a company just because they are from China. There are plenty of reputable vendors on Alibaba nowadays.

Btw, we use a lot of Lincoln wire at work. And their quality is actually really bad and inconsistent. Should we stop trusting American companies too now?

Including a couple pictures of old welds to show I'm at least not a keyboard welder.

[VegasG42]

Holy shit , those are perfect

[VegasG42]

A little tunnel action :

View post on imgur.com

[ifound2pac]

Originally Posted by VegasG42

A little tunnel action :

https://imgur.com/a/iRpE7re

Sounds good! Tho that induction sound made it hard to hear the exhaust 😅

[ifound2pac]

Photos of the same exhaust but in stainless

[VegasG42]

Hell yeah, very nice!

[VegasG42]

Originally Posted by ifound2pac

Sounds good! Tho that induction sound made it hard to hear the exhaust 😅

Yeah, lol, I apologize for my shitty videos. You hear mostly wind and road noise in this one.

[VegasG42]

Quick hit

View post on imgur.com

[kudos]

How's the drone?

[VegasG42]

Originally Posted by kudos

How's the drone?

I would say right near 1.9/2k rpm there is a tiny bit, since I do have the AA downpipe..... Not enough to be any issue for me.

But the exhaust isn't overly loud, so any slight drone near 2k isn't really bothersome.

I typically have the stereo / subwoofer up loud, so it's even less of an issue.

[Littlecoupe]

Looking at the picture of the factory exhaust you hung on the wall and the new replacement, is the axle forward portion not almost identical? I can't tell if those are mid-mufflers or resonators just past the 1 to 2 split off the downpipe.

I ask because I wonder if you'd get 8 or 9 10ths of the difference just going axle back and saving a few bucks? Much point to getting the whole catback?

Just weighing options for a potential future upgrade.

[IanH]

Originally Posted by Littlecoupe

Looking at the picture of the factory exhaust you hung on the wall and the new replacement, is the axle forward portion not almost identical? I can't tell if those are mid-mufflers or resonators just past the 1 to 2 split off the downpipe.

I ask because I wonder if you'd get 8 or 9 10ths of the difference just going axle back and saving a few bucks? Much point to getting the whole catback?

Just weighing options for a potential future upgrade.

The only point of a "catback" on US cars is to add a resonator or X-pipe (which most dont even do)

Catback much more impactful in EU where GPF are on the car in the midpipe section.

I wouldnt buy an exhaust because its catback or axleback for the US, essentially the same. The axlebacks use the OEM cut points suggested by BMW.

[VegasG42]

Originally Posted by Littlecoupe

Looking at the picture of the factory exhaust you hung on the wall and the new replacement, is the axle forward portion not almost identical? I can't tell if those are mid-mufflers or resonators just past the 1 to 2 split off the downpipe.

I ask because I wonder if you'd get 8 or 9 10ths of the difference just going axle back and saving a few bucks? Much point to getting the whole catback?

Just weighing options for a potential future upgrade.

So US spec etc. doesn't have any resonators or mid mufflers.

To be honest with you, from the downpipe to about a foot or so before the factory muffler, the piping size is fairly robust. I can't see anywhere where it looks like a choke point, or where there would be any noticeable improvement.

But as you near the muffler , the driver side piping is a bit 'crunched' down in size. And of course the gigantic factory muffler is meant to minimize sound. And it is big and heavy.

So honestly, an axle-back would give you most of what you want from a cattback.

I just didn't want to cut my factory exhaust , and wanted an entire cattback. The factory one piece exhaust system is fairly heavy .

And the idea that an axle-back for our car is close to $2k shipped , while an entire cattback with an electric or vacuum valve system is just over $1.1k shipped.

I have no idea why Alibaba isn't selling an axleback yet for our cars.

Here is where the only potential choke point on our factory piping is. And even this is debatable . What you lose in height of pipe, you gain in width :

[kudos]

When you guys got the new exhaust tips from this seller did you ask them or was there another page for just the exhaust tips to purchase from?

[VegasG42]

Originally Posted by kudos

When you guys got the new exhaust tips from this seller did you ask them or was there another page for just the exhaust tips to purchase from?

Ordering process back and forth chat they ask you.

They ask what type of valve system you want - electric motors or vacuum system.

And they ask you what exact tips you want. They will even ask for a picture so they can get it exactly right.

My dry carbon fiber / black inner tips didn't cost anything extra, because they were part of the available choices they already had.

But Ifound2pac chose the ///M tips, so they had to charge him a bit more.