[shimstack]

Hi Everybody,

Thanks to this forum I was able to backdate my garage from an 2017 F31 to this 2008 E91:





2008 6MT RWD, with a few upgrades from the previous owners, at a still-fresh 84k miles.

I'm not planning to cover every detail of my ownership here, but I'll try to post some of the interesting stuff.

[shimstack]

First up, the loudener:



I fabricated a custom exhaust for this car. I didn't like any of the options available, and I've done a bit of fab before, so I took a crack at this:



A vertical band saw goes a long way to help fitup.



I'm a pretty solid TIG welding in aluminum, but stainless is a different beast. Filling the gaps where the pipes slip into the ends of the mufflers was definitely a learning experience! MIG would have been way easier in these spots.



Overall not too bad. I have the car on jack stands for a bit longer while I finish up some other maintenance and a few minor cosmetic repairs, but I'll get a sound video up shortly.

I used a 2X2.25 into 3" Y-pipe from Vibrant, but in retrospect this was probably more work than just doing the merge myself. I had to elongate the legs of the Y and it created some tricky welding.

The resonator and muffler are Magnaflow straight-thru stainless units, and all the piping is 304 stainless.

I used a v-band coupling for the rear section to help install and removal, tweak fit, and maybe add a muffler delete section for extra loundening in the future.

I've only heard it for a couple minutes on jackstands in the garage. So far it's pretty quiet, but I expect it will break in and get a little noisier.

A few more pics installed:

[Peter Morrin]

With your fabrication skills, I want to see more. Very well done. I have the BMW performance muffler which suits me very well, but the exhaust outlets of yours look much better.

Peter

[krhodes1]

Nice job! Tips look much fancier than the BMW PE exhaust on my wagon (and I really need to polish mine up).

These cars should have come with the "loudener" from the factory.