Exhaust Comparo Conclusion

[S656MT]

I've been doing research on all full exhaust options up to $6,000. Going between axle back, to full system, etc. The goal was to find one that balanced the following:

Objective Factors (NOTE: Many exhausts did not score points in several factors. These are simply factors I used to evaluate each exhaust I thought were interesting to me.)
[] R&D
[] Race proven / heritage
[] Dyno proven
[] Durable / Quality Materials (plus is exotic/titanium)
[] OEM Fitment
[] Price point
[] Positive forum reviews

*Sound was a factor, but to me, the above balance are the objective elements I wanted to sort out and decide from there to see if sound could override a decision.

Reviewed: EVOLVE Valvetronic, IPE Valvetronic, Akrapovic Evolution, Eisenmann, Meisterschaft, BMW M Perf., Fabspeed, Challenge, Active Autowerke, DINAN, Kreissieg. Full systems and axle back only.

After all the research I ended up with one exhaust that was still KING across above factors - the Akrapovic Evolution Exhaust system. It aces all factors and considering what you get, price wise it's actually a value leader.

Does anyone have other thoughts to add? Just curious if other people when considering such factors would come up with another result.

[burakkose]

there are a zillion discussions about this

[BMWJ]

yes a zillion times

[burakkose]

m3 exhaust stuff always diversifies into a million aspects, akra is great sound, performance and quality material. some will vote for other stuff "as they like".
in the end it's all about what YOU like and not us.

with all my good will, all I can suggest to you is to get a loud axle back and nothing else, or get a relatively quiet exhaust with x-pipe.
akra evo drones, tried, tested. performance? did not really feel the advantage of the weight reduction. but that's my opinion anyway.
i think 99% of the complete systems drone. it disturbs me, but you may like it.
imo i like the tone of m perf and akra slip on. i hate drones. imo the other too loud exhausts look like a peugeot 106 gti with really loud exhaust mods....

[Peahi]

Never been discussed before.

[PhillyNate]

I probably would've bought Akra Evo if it weren't so god damned expensive. I've been married 15 years and with her for 20 years. I don't know how to approach a conversation with her that starts, "I wanna buy a $6k exhaust system for my car." I commend you guys out there who can but I can't. Secondly, I don't EVER want to give BMWNA an excuse to void my warranty. We all know these folks can get shitty and/or finnicky if they want to. Why risk it IMHO. I went Eisenmann Race because it sounds perfect to me, it's rear section only and the price was what I was willing to pay. You can get these used now for a bargain. Debatable whether ANY rear section makes power but my throttle response is much improved along with the sound of the car.
This exhaust sounds so right I doubt I'd change if warranty or price were irrelevant.

[THE-FN-MAN]

Are we trying with another exhaust thread? I mean tu serio?

[Munit]

M-performance is "race-proven"? That is your criteria I think m-performance should be off the list.

If you want zero drone the best option is absolutely stock rear muffler with HFC's xpipe. Get a great sound with zero drone

If you want loud, get hfc xpipe with E race.

[S656MT]

Originally Posted by Munit

M-performance is "race-proven"? That is your criteria I think m-performance should be off the list.

If you want zero drone the best option is absolutely stock rear muffler with HFC's xpipe. Get a great sound with zero drone

If you want loud, get hfc xpipe with E race.

hmmmm...I said "race proven" was a variable I was considering, of course some of them are not. The "list" is everything I wanted to analyze with those considerations in mind.

[signes]

Originally Posted by burakkose

m3 exhaust stuff always diversifies into a million aspects, akra is great sound, performance and quality material. some will vote for other stuff "as they like".
in the end it's all about what YOU like and not us.

with all my good will, all I can suggest to you is to get a loud axle back and nothing else, or get a relatively quiet exhaust with x-pipe.
akra evo drones, tried, tested. performance? did not really feel the advantage of the weight reduction. but that's my opinion anyway.
i think 99% of the complete systems drone. it disturbs me, but you may like it.
imo i like the tone of m perf and akra slip on. i hate drones. imo the other too loud exhausts look like a peugeot 106 gti with really loud exhaust mods....

It does not drone and most others with the Evo would agree, though that is subjective so maybe you are particularly sensitive. As for performance, weight reduction is a small part of that (nice to have but hard to notice.) The real benefit is from the x-pipe and it delivers material gains in hp and torque (not the only x-pipe with this bene...)

The Evo is too expensive new IMO, but I was patient and got decent prices on both the rear section and x-pipe separately. At the end of the day hard to argue with the quality, sound (just right volume and tone), fit, and is very light.

[m3an]

loud and no drone= supersprint

Drone and very loud- gintani

[ms372]

Originally Posted by m3an

loud and no drone= supersprint

Drone and very loud- gintani

supersprint and gintani are indifferent leagues i thing all loud race exhaust will drone no matter who makes them especially around 2k-3k. supersprint sounds tame went compared to something like gintani


you want no drone get something quite with a deeper tone.. stay away from any catless setup as it will always drone no matter what.

[pbonsalb]

I'd like to see dyno results since claims vary widely. BMW claims no gains for its performance rear exhaust, AA claims around 10 hp, someone reported that Eisenmann Race was worth 15 rwhp, and Akra claims something like 3 rwhp, but I don't think I have seen any dyno tests.

[S656MT]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

I'd like to see dyno results since claims vary widely. BMW claims no gains for its performance rear exhaust, AA claims around 10 hp, someone reported that Eisenmann Race was worth 15 rwhp, and Akra claims something like 3 rwhp, but I don't think I have seen any dyno tests.

Read a bit more closely, there isn't a claim to every exhaust I reviewed having dyno results/power increase etc. I had a list of factors and some exhaust did well and some very poorly.

[mhabs]

Eurotuner Magazine has tested the following cat-backs....AFE = No gain; BMW M Performance = +2-3 hp avg (+5 hp on best run); and Gruppe M titanium +3 hp avg (+5 hp best run). In addition to hp gains, area under the curve in both hp and tq was slightly better at 2-3.5k RPMs.

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

I'd like to see dyno results since claims vary widely. BMW claims no gains for its performance rear exhaust, AA claims around 10 hp, someone reported that Eisenmann Race was worth 15 rwhp, and Akra claims something like 3 rwhp, but I don't think I have seen any dyno tests.

[burakkose]

Originally Posted by signes

It does not drone and most others with the Evo would agree, though that is subjective so maybe you are particularly sensitive. As for performance, weight reduction is a small part of that (nice to have but hard to notice.) The real benefit is from the x-pipe and it delivers material gains in hp and torque (not the only x-pipe with this bene...)

The Evo is too expensive new IMO, but I was patient and got decent prices on both the rear section and x-pipe separately. At the end of the day hard to argue with the quality, sound (just right volume and tone), fit, and is very light.

i got bmw m performance. it rocks.

[crabman]

Originally Posted by mhabs

Eurotuner Magazine has tested the following cat-backs....AFE = No gain; BMW M Performance = +2-3 hp avg (+5 hp on best run); and Gruppe M titanium +3 hp avg (+5 hp best run). In addition to hp gains, area under the curve in both hp and tq was slightly better at 2-3.5k RPMs.

In order to prove out such a small gain manufacturers do very extensive dyno work under controlled conditions along with a careful analysis of the very comprehensive data they took simultaneously. Only in this way can they account for ambient temperature, humidity, intake temperature, coolant temperature, engine oil temperature, transmission temperature, differential temperature, air fuel ratio, differing moments of inertia, loading, dyno calibration, and many more factors.

When someone takes a set of cans, makes a few runs on a dyno, and says 2 or 3 hp increase the correct translation is that they were not able to prove out any increase whatsoever as the runs fell within normal run to run dyno variability. It is meaningless.

[mkPOTO]

Originally Posted by S656MT

I've been doing research on all full exhaust options up to $6,000. Going between axle back, to full system, etc. The goal was to find one that balanced the following:

Objective Factors (NOTE: Many exhausts did not score points in several factors. These are simply factors I used to evaluate each exhaust I thought were interesting to me.)
[] R&D
[] Race proven / heritage
[] Dyno proven
[] Durable / Quality Materials (plus is exotic/titanium)
[] OEM Fitment
[] Price point
[] Positive forum reviews

*Sound was a factor, but to me, the above balance are the objective elements I wanted to sort out and decide from there to see if sound could override a decision.

Reviewed: EVOLVE Valvetronic, IPE Valvetronic, Akrapovic Evolution, Eisenmann, Meisterschaft, BMW M Perf., Fabspeed, Challenge, Active Autowerke, DINAN, Kreissieg. Full systems and axle back only.

After all the research I ended up with one exhaust that was still KING across above factors - the Akrapovic Evolution Exhaust system. It aces all factors and considering what you get, price wise it's actually a value leader.

Does anyone have other thoughts to add? Just curious if other people when considering such factors would come up with another result.

I was in the same boat, I also compared the akrapovic, ipe, eisenmann, and evolve. I drove a car with these setups and hands down the evolve unit, I love being able to change the tone. But I guess that's just me. Also another note is, is the car bare able in all driving situations?

[mhabs]

Don't disagree on cat-backs; was responding to question on whether there were any dynos out there and the ones highlighted there showed modest gains, whether you believe them or not...what I did find interesting were some differences in areas under the curve at low rpms (and some losing power in this range), but again all within the margin of error. Of course anyone looking to add real hp, shouldn't be looking at cat-backs period.

Originally Posted by crabman

In order to prove out such a small gain manufacturers do very extensive dyno work under controlled conditions along with a careful analysis of the very comprehensive data they took simultaneously. Only in this way can they account for ambient temperature, humidity, intake temperature, coolant temperature, engine oil temperature, transmission temperature, differential temperature, air fuel ratio, differing moments of inertia, loading, dyno calibration, and many more factors.

When someone takes a set of cans, makes a few runs on a dyno, and says 2 or 3 hp increase the correct translation is that they were not able to prove out any increase whatsoever as the runs fell within normal run to run dyno variability. It is meaningless.

[Team Plutonium]

meh.