Rare 1990 320i (6) twin pipe exhaust front section

[Islander]

My 320i project hit a snag. the front section of the twin pipe exhaust is blowin. Took it to a mate who runs a pipeshop. He reckons this is the type that were only fitted to these cars during a 9 month period - then BMW replaced the exhaust with a new design. As a result, nonr of the nromal pattern exhausts will fit, so I got to order this exhaust from BMW direct which will set me back £450. Is this for real? ..or is the newbie being burned here. Help from those far more E30 wise than me would be much appreciated.

[gooner1]

Surely if that was the case it would be cheaper to have an exhaust made up, or at least the front part?

[gaz306]

Well ive just changed the entire exhaust on my buddies 1988 f-reg 320i ,and the one that come off was it a 2 pipe downpipe then into a single pipe ,think your mate has got it wrong ,if you werent so far away from me id give you this old one as the front pipe was fine ,he just wanted a 2 pipe front to back from a 325i

[chicken]

im having the same sort off problem looking for a front pipe for my IS

oh and finances too!!

[Simon]

I suspect your 'mate' is telling your porkies, your car more than likely has a 3 piece system, 2 short sections of pipe from the manifold, with no silencers?

[gaz306]

well i didnt want to say he was telling porkies ,or bullshi**ing ,even though he is .

[StuBeeDoo]

If your 320i has twin pipes all the way from the front to the back, AFAIK there is only one aftermarket supplier who makes the front half.
A genuine BMW front section is somewhere around £200 inc VAT, so £450 may be about right for a genuine full system.
You can replace the 2-piece system with the 3-piece early 325i system. When comparing the 2-piece systems fitted to 320i and 325i, the only difference is that the 325i has larger diameter tips.
HTH
Stuart.

[Islander]

[quote="essbee"]If your 320i has twin pipes all the way from the front to the back, AFAIK there is only one aftermarket supplier who makes the front half.
A genuine BMW front section is somewhere around £200 inc VAT, so £450 may be about right for a genuine full system.
You can replace the 2-piece system with the 3-piece early 325i system. When comparing the 2-piece systems fitted to 320i and 325i, the only difference is that the 325i has larger diameter tips.
Stuart

Thanks Stuart..thats a huge help!!! Listen to this man people...he knows his stuff!

I will lay seige to the nearest supplier in the morning.

[Dr Firefly]

What year and reg is it, and was it a 3-piece or 2-piece exhaust? My 320i F-reg Sep 1988 (which had an original 3-piece twin-pipe exhaust) needed a new middle section recently, and that would have been £200 from BMW - paid £100 for an aftermarket one (cheapo - think it was Timpsons or something). The front section (if I'd needed one) would have been £35 for an aftermarket one. But that's a 3-piece one, tell me more about which one yours is and I might be able to help.

[frankiej]

My '89 320i exhaust goes something like this...

Each item bolts to the next.

-Exhaust manifolds (2) one for cylinders 1, 2 & 3 and then one for 4, 5 & 6.

INTO:
-Daul (seperate) downpipes.

INTO:
-Middle section with HUGE catalytic converter with dual pipes and dual pipes out.

INTO:
-Last section with the muffler with dual tips.


I ended up junking the whole assembly and running daul straight pipes to my MagnaFlow muffler. Hope that I didn't waste anyone's time with this.

-Aaron

[HairyScreech]

hmm, my 320 touring 1989 has a manafold, a downpipe/mid section and a rear section. i just welded mine up recently though.

[StuBeeDoo]

hmm, my 320 touring 1989 has a manafold, a downpipe/mid section and a rear section. i just welded mine up recently though.

I think I'm right in saying that all the Tourings had 2-piece systems.

frankiej.... Yours will be slightly different to ours in that the RHD cars have one-piece manifolds with a twin outlet.