What a boring, review, right? Makes about zero power, saves some weight and looks awesome, but who hasn't seen or heard an Akrapovic yet?
*snore*
Many of you can just skip this as you've already formed your opinion of it. For those that don't know me, I've had many exhaust setups.
For the TL;DR crowd: Switched from Akrapovic Slip on to Eisenmann Sport and like it a lot. Videos coming. Eisenmann is quieter at cold start and louder at higher rpms.
On my 2011 E90 M3 (will miss it!)
Magnaflow
Corsa
Riss Racing
Autobahn Exotics
Vanguard
Vanguard + Fabspeed X pipe (stock primary cats)
Akrapovic slip on + Fabspeed X pipe
Akrapovic slip on
Akrapovic Evolution
Challenge Sport X pipe + Akrapovic Slip on
Challenge Sport X pipe + Arqray titanium
Turner Test pipes + stock
Stock X pipe + BMW Performance exhaust
Turner Test pipes + BMW Performance Exhaust
Turner Test pipes + Arqray
Turner Test pipes + Innotech rear section
On my 2011 E93 M3:
Innotech rear section (doesn't fit with the E93's brace)
Akrapovic Slip on
Eisenmann Sport
If I had to rank all the setups I've had, the Innotech + Turner test pipes is my favorite. From an audio perspective, the Corsa is next, although I think the Eisenmann may take it's place, especially from a total package point of view, because it doesn't make the back of your car look like a constipated elephant.
The E93 is a very different beast than the E90. Clearly heavier and a little clumsier, with the edge taken off the acceleration, especially from a stop... who would want one? Me. I love it. I love the wind in my hair, I love feeling free and open when I drive. The top is great, up, it is just as quiet as my E90 according to a sound meter (although I do notice that rough pavement creates more audible road noise than the E90) Both were DCT, both were optioned very similarly (I got PDC and 6FL with the E93, but no EDC.) I love the little things in the E93, Album art is way cool, the ambient lighting on the door panels is neat at night, especially with the top down on a dark road. The stitching on the thigh bolster makes the seats look more coherent and the additional headroom with the top up (weird!) is noticeable too. The E93 headrests aren't as comfortable and the back seat is WAAAAAY smaller than the E90, as is the trunk with the top down. Obvious stuff, we all knew this. But, combine a love for convertibles, a super cheap lease rate, and an astounding trade in for my e90 and bam!
Anyhow, I thought that I'd done enough exhaust research that I was all set. The Innotech was all set to go on my car. Unfortunately, since there aren't many (or any?) E93 M3 in Taiwan, and the Innotech doesn't fit. Sad Panda. As many of you have read, I love that exhaust, it has a very different tone from others on the market and the ability to shut it up with the touch of a button or to open it up to strike fear into the heart of someone who just cut you off is very impressive. Mike@Rimier went out of his way to make sure I was happy, but at the end of the day, the Innotech just doesn't fit the E93. The V shaped brace interferes with the piping and the backwards brace that made Eisenmann redesign their crossover tube early on, interferes with the cross brace. Very sad. Some minor modifications to the design would allow it to, and I hope later revisions fix it, because I do like it a lot.
I decided that I'd go back to my old standby, my previous love, the Akrapovic. Since my car is only a few hundred miles old, I figured that I'd go slip on until break in and then run my Turner test pipes once I got a tune (Can't wait for my cable from Evolve!). Or, watch for a set of Evolution midpipes to pop up...
The Akrapovic has always been loud at 1200 rpm, so cold starts are very loud. So loud that my wife would cover her ears when the top was down. It was loud and extremely bassy at that RPM, although quiet and docile at most others. I decided that if it was this bad with just the slip on, maybe I'd go elsewhere. I ran the same combo on my E90 and it never bothered me, but with the top down, it was a different story. The top down also gave the Akrapovic the space it needs to sing. I actually began to appreciate it's exhaust note a little more, I've always liked it from outside the car, but from the inside, especially with just the slip on, anything over 4000 rpm and half throttle meant that the exhaust note got drowned out by the intake noise. Which was way less refined sounding. With the E93, the exhaust had more room to sing, and especially in the 3000-4000 rpm range, I could hear more harmonies and interesting engine notes than ever before... but it was still really loud at cold start. My kids would say things and the Akrapovic would just say, "NUH UH, YOU LISTEN TO ME BLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" over them.
And, it got too quiet at the high end (of course, being in break in, I've not yet exceeded 5500 rpm). By 5000 rpm, the only noise you could hear from the driver's seat, top up or down was the massive sucking noise from the front of the car, even more obvious than in the sedan or with the top down. I very much missed the siren song of the Innotech, with the implausible achievement of being quiet at low rpms but loud as heck at higher ones. Kind of like it should be.
So, it was time to try something else. Exhaust slut rides again! Ended up ordering an Eisenmann Sport completely with connecting pipes. IND and their crazy packaging... I thought I'd accidentally gotten someone else's shipment of a Ming Dynasty vase, rather than something I was going to put under my car. I could barely get the packing materials back into the box without the muffler after I unwrapped it! The huge ice chest sized styrofoam tip covers made sure that only my exhaust and the cockroaches would survive a nuclear winter. Props to IND, though, I am sure they lose money on shipping, since the charge was way less than the multiple hours it must take to mummify the exhausts like this.
And, I really like the craftmanship. The Akrapovic is all tig welds, which are nice and even but extremely sterile looking, like a robot did them. They are absolutely beautiful, but the Eisenmann, with it's slightly rougher MIG beads feels much more old world craftman-ish, with a certain degree of love and pride that comes with an artisan doing his work. The welds are all left exposed, as if to say, "Check me out, I'm not as even as a robot, but dammit, I'm a human being and I do damn good work!" And they do.
Installation was fairly easy, although the weight of the unit and the fact that it is 1 piece makes it a little more time consuming than the Akrapovic. I put the connecting pipes on the car first and then realized that it was better to put them onto the muffler first, so did that. The exhaust hangers are the kind that are easy on but not easy off, but they hold the hangers very securely, with the cone shaped end on each of the hangers. Everything lined up pretty well the first time, I tightened stuff from the muffler end, back. No fussing around, this was good. It has provisions for the stock grounding straps (although I can't say I notice a difference with or without them) unlike the Innotech, but like many other exhausts, like the Akrapovic, etc. It's definitely heavier than the Akrapovic and only a little (10-15 lbs by my guess) lighter than stock. Fitment is nice, the tips are centered in the cutouts, the same length and not crooked in any way that I can tell. Doesn't stuff the bumper quite as full as the beautiful Akrapovic tips and a bit more muffler shows, but the piping is considerably larger than the Akrapovic, and I like that since it is 2 piece, like the BMW performance exhaust, you can see right through the middle of of the muffler if you look through the inner tips. It should flow well because of that. It must use some resonators off the side and reflective tuning or something, because something this straight through has no business being this quiet.
It's very quiet at startup, barely louder than stock. It was incredibly stinky as many new mufflers tend to me, probably a preservative chemical or leftover stuff from the manufacturing process. It was like driving my first car again, a 1986 RX-7 GXL with blown apex seals. My friends called me spy hunter because I'd left these cartoonish plumes of smoke every time I started the car. But, this quickly went away with a bit of freeway driving, (sorry all of those on 101 South that got smell-o-visioned by the Eisenmann this evening)
I didn't expect the Eisenmann to be as shiny as it is, but it has a decent degree of bling under the car, although not nearly as much hanging down as the BMW performance exhaust (which is much lighter, being Iconel)
Definitely glad that it doesn't have the BMW performance exhaust look of tips that are too small and cans that hang down too much. The 83mm rolled slash cut tips are very nice looking without being overstated, someone not in the know might just think BMW took some extra time with your exhaust. It doesn't scream aftermarket, in other words.
When I first started it up, I was scared because it was soooo quiet. I felt like I put the stock exhaust back on! Over the first 20 or so miles, it loosened up and started to make itself heard more, but this is a very quiet exhaust. It is bassier than the BMW performance exhaust, but very similar in overall volume. I think that there is plenty of room for an X pipe's additional volume.
If I was never going to do an X pipe at least judging by the first 30 or so miles, I probably would recommend the race version, although it is much more aggressive. But, the sport sounds very nice. It is quiet enough, at least from the inside of the car, that people might mistake it for stock. Very similar in volume to a Mercedes C63 or so, although very different in tone.
It has none of that hollowness or flatness that the Akrapovic does. It has the smoothness brought on by having a bit more weight, with some harmonics and interesting notes as the RPMs climb. So far, it too is drowned out by heavy throttle above 4500 rpm, but I am hoping an X pipe will clear that up. I very much like the tone, though, it's smooth like tearing a fine piece of silk, and exotic, like the subtle flavors of a fine wine. It is more Maserati than mustang, keeping with it's european flavor.
So, videos and stuff to come. I will shoot some prior to putting on the x pipe, but after I finish breaking the car in, so in a few weeks. So far, this is looking like it'll be a pretty decent relationship! All parties have done the deed and the early signs are good, no incompatibilities and no STDs. While the Eisenmann might not be my Mila Kunis, she's a solid 7.7 or 8 that you could bring home to Mom and know that she'd wear underwear and deodorant. Your parents wouldn't assume you hired a cheap call girl or brought your best friend to the family reunion.
ES out.