good exhaust for 325i?

[glenbat]

had a look under the old girl today and its not pretty, from the rear box back the zaust is pretty bashed and scraped so will be replacing it soon, whats best to get? dont want anything too max power but a bit beefier would be nice, but im on a bit of a budget...

Any suggestions?

[orangecurry]

Boysen (what BMW put on it in 1990-ish)

[e30bmlover]

standard exhaust.

[Geoff]

Ok so whats your budget then. No point in suggestions if its out of your price range! But i would say a Hartge rear section £400 and straight through pipes!

[orangecurry]

no offence Geoff, but that would probably lose about 20 BHP.....

you can get original exhaust (Boysen) from the dealers or www.motormec.co.uk

[E30_Aza]

scorpion!!!!

[M5pilot]

You don't lose any power from removing the centre section at all.

How do you define what the best exhaust is?

Something that will last and not blow out it's internals too quickly? Then Scorpion definately is not the best. I know alot of people have these fitted to their cars but the fact is that they simply are not a good exhaust and very expensive for what they are.

You have to understand that once the internals of an exhaust are gone it ceases to be efficient.

Just because the actual shell survives a long time does not mean much.

The standard system made by Boysen is a hard act to beat and from experience only the Sebring beats it. Lasts for ages, properly built and has a slightly bigger bore.

You then have acoustics to think about. Does it drone on motorways like alot of the straight through systems out there? Again the Standard system and Sebring remain quiet on cruising and idle and only make themselves known when you put your foot down - like a proper exhaust should.

Just my 2p.

Sal

[Simon]

Bollocks to scorpion!

I've had 2 systems now, and both have ended up cracked and falling apart, E30 M3 one had cracks in 4 different places around the centre section, and a E30 325i system, same again, cracking around the pipe exits, and the pipes have actually come away from the box.

Standard if you want a nice sounding but quiet system, or a sebring for a nice sound, but that little louder than standard, superb quality too.

[M5pilot]

As mentioned to so many people on the phone who ask to buy a Scorpion - we don't offer them for a reason and Simon has pretty much highlighted why. Any parts trader can get hold of Scorpion but I just can't charge near enough £400 for what is scrap metal.

They sound quite nice when new but then get that distinctive hollow note after about 3-4months. You know what that is? An Empty centre section.

Sebring's have stainless steel internals unlike the mild steel/paper thin rubbish inside a Scorpion.

At Gaydon alot of people praised the Sebring exhausts we had on show. The quality and fit is simply superb.

Sal

[Simon]

And just to back up my claims...

[M5pilot]

That looks like it's cracked because it's been hit at the top - however, they do crack none the less.

Sal

[Simon]

That looks like it's cracked because it's been hit at the top - however, they do crack none the less.

Sal

That was me, hitting lumps out of the shit to seperate it from the rest of the system, the other mess is where it has attempted to be welded.

[M5pilot]

I'm sure you'd abother one again..... Cumon, having to bash your exhaust and have it fall apart is all part of the fun. I'm sure everyone would pay £400 for the priviledge.

You could do worse and buy an exhaust from Quicksilver!

Sal

[Simon]

If it was a one off I could understand, but this has happened to me twice, once on the M3, and then on a 325i, and exactly the same thing, and the same place!

Scrapiron! They do sound nice though, even if it is considered council!

[E30_Aza]

well i cant back up what you boys are sayin cos i have only got the rear box and standard centre section. mine seems to still be in good nick and cant slate the sound of it. i love the sound and most people i know do too.

[M5pilot]

The back box isn't what makes the trade mark Scorpion Hollow noise.

Sal

[Simon13]

it's a shagged centre box which makes the real noise!

i think they are quite well made and don't fall apart after 5 minutes but the baffles are mild steel so u can only expect 6 years max before the inside will fall apart.

U can't knock the noise they make very individual.

Sal can u not sort a quicksilver 325i system made by someone else? U know they are class sounding but everything else isn't!

standard 325i sound but with big bass down low rpm

I want to hear a larini system!

[M5pilot]

Simon,

getting a quicksilver style system made is easy. All you need to do is to give it to someone who will open it up and have a look inside and then just copy it. I doubt it's very complex inside.
Blueflame are pretty good and the quality is much better than Scorpion.

Larini - meant to be a good exhaust but no idea of quality. I've spoken to them on a few times now and they reckon they make the best exhausts in the world.

The best exhaust I have ever heard is the one that Hap and Simon (Alpina C2) got made by Quicksilver who in turn out sourced the work to another company. It's a direct replica of a genuine Alpina exhaust and sounds the absolute nuts.

The Sebring system is in my opinion still the best option out there for a high quality exhaust. The one thing it does share with the Alpina system is that it has the same bore size, shuts up on cruise and makes naughty noises on full throttle.

I am now dealing with alot of other BMW's/German cars and it seems that out of all of the exhaust companies out there, there are only a few that are actually any good. By far the best being Supersprint and Sebring.

Sal

[glenbat]

cheers people

Sal I've got a few more bits to do on her but as soon as she's up and running I may well be in touch

[shaune30]

i agree with e30_aza. ive had my sport fitted with a full scorpion . no looking back for me

[glenbat]

had bad experiences with 2 scorpions on my old saph cossie, ended up changing them for mongoose in the end,
both systems cracked within weeks of having them fitted
Had a Magnex system on one too and it sounded great

budget of about £300 if that helps... will need from the downpipe back

[Simon13]

Interesting i heard Simon Alcorns system which was a quicksilver pina copy with a RHD pina 6 branch. It sounded great. It was wierd though it almost sounded like a stock 325i but with a bit of spice. It didn't have alot of bass but Simon hasn't done the milege to get the bass exhausts do after they have sooted up alot.

[M5pilot]

As you might already know Hap sold his stainless one to tot he guy who owns that 4 door C2 I cam in to Aces once.

It hasn't got a huge amount of bass but it makes the m20 sound like a flat 6 with the BTB manifold.

It's not for everyone, it's extremely quiet on cruise and idle, give is some beans though and it makes one hell of a noise.

I promised I'd let you have a go so next Aces you'll get to see if you like that sort of thing.

Sal

[pnd]

Has anyone had any experience of bespoke exhaust makers MIJ in Walsall they talk a good game but would rather hear feedback before parting with hard earned.

[M5pilot]

Find out a little more about what exactly they give you. Is it just a straight through style exhaust? What materials are they using? Have they done any done testing?

Is it just a noise thing?

I doubt very much they are going to be TUV approved like the Sebrings and supersprints.

Sal