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      11-29-2011, 09:51 AM   #133
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Originally Posted by pbonsalb View Post
To me it seems there are a fair number of magazine/book, internet and tuner educated E9x M3 owners, but not very many that work on their own cars and thus remove and install the parts they discuss, and even fewer who have basic welding or fabrication skills.
I've been hands on with every car I've ever owned. Granted, they weren't an M, but that's besides the point. It's a car. It has nuts, bolts, metal, plastic, leather....just like every other car I've ever owned. And I'll work on it myself, just like every car I've ever owned.
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      11-30-2011, 01:33 AM   #134
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Since you were so astute as to stereotype all of us M owners, since you own one, too, which one of these 2 descriptions do you fall under?
don't worry about where i fall under. im the last person to throw an M diss at, not aiming it towards you of course, and I dont mean to sound like a cock or anything but in my family theres 6 brothers, and 4 of us currently have E90 M3, 2 E92's M3's and 1 E46 M3. And 2 of them previously owned 3 E46's and 2 E36's. So I've been around M's my whole life, I work on my car and take pride in what I do to my car. I've been an enthusiast nearly my entire life.

the reason for the sterotype although it might come off as aggressive was strictly targeted for my demographics in LA. In LA this is the crowd u get around these cars from personal experience. And most will agree with me

but not to thread jack, any updates on this xpipe?
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      12-03-2011, 08:48 PM   #135
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More discussion than I expected.
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      12-04-2011, 07:01 AM   #136
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I think it is a great deal. Fits pretty well and is reasonably well made. The only issue for me is that, like any catless and resonatorless x-pipe, it is too loud and raspy. I have removed it and will be installing at least two and maybe 4 resonators. I have the first two and will probably start cutting today.

I think Dinan and Borla use 4 resonators for a good reason. It will still be louder than it was with 4 cats and 2 resonators, but will be civilized for those of us that need to be.

Adding resonators does add to the expense. This x-pipe, unlike the RPI, has a pair of nice straight sections that are ideal for adding resonators. A number of companies sell stainless resonators for $40-70 each. You still come out at about half the cost of a name brand x-pipe with resonators, as long as you can do your own work (I'll do most of my work, but just tack them in place with a mig and pay for tig welding since I don't have a tig yet). It takes about an hour to get the x-pipe off, working on your back with the car on jackstands. I am looking forward to getting a 4 post lift.
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      12-09-2011, 05:53 AM   #137
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Wow, I'm gone for awhile & Top Speed sells e9x M3 products now?!? They use to have a retail shop in my city years ago but it's no longer there. Their warehouse's in Addison which isn't too far from me. I inquired about the s/s exhaust so looking forward to what they have to say. FWIW, their stuff's legit. Back in my Honda days (Prelude & S2000), their stuff (intakes & exhausts mainly) was known to be less expensive than top-tier names (Greddy, HKS, Blitz, etc.) but I don't remember if performance was the same (probably since it was just intakes & exhausts). From what I remember, fitment was rarely an issue then again that was a long time ago, LOL! I'll post some pics of their products if I get a chance to swing by their warehouse one of these days.
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      01-21-2012, 06:53 PM   #138
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I finally got around to adding resonators to my Top Speed x-pipe -- pictures attached. The guy I used for tig welding thought it was pretty nicely made. I had him add a small reinforcement at the center of the "x" like akropovic and also reinforce the two tabs in the two tabs that mount to the rubber isolators on the center brace.

The biggest improvement, and I would do this to any x-pipe regardless of manufacture, was to add four resonators like Dinan and Borla run. I cut the x-pipe, inserted them, tack welded them in place, and then had them tig welded. The result is just what I wanted in terms of sound -- not much louder than stock. I have to put some miles on it but so far, I really like it and have not yet detected any drone.

Cost was $475 for the x-pipe, $80 for two longer body Top Speed resonators, $104 for two short body Vibrant resonators, and $150 for the tig welding. About $800 total. Plus a day of my time to fit, cut, test fit, tack weld, take to the welder, and refit.

I will try it for a while. If the gas smell gets to me, I will add a pair of high flow cats. 100 CPI or 200 CPI or maybe even 300 CPI. They cost $80 to $125 each, so that will add $160 to $250, plus $75 for welding.

Right now, I am using a pair of Vibrant right angle 02 extenders with restrictor fittings with the rear 02s. These cost about $35 each. I have an Akra Delete-R, but want to see how long it takes for the CEL to come on with the Vibrant fittings before I install that. While running the resonatorless, catless x-pipe with no such fittings, it took somewhere around 80 miles to trigger the CEL. There are three restrictor fitting options and I am trying the middle one.

http://vibrantperformance.com/catalo...oducts_id=2009

I had looked for a used x-pipe with resonators but none were available when I was looking. Then, after I bought this one, a good deal came along on one but I was already committed. For most people, buying a used x-pipe is the way to go. For those who want 4 resonators, there is only Borla and Dinan. Many people would be happy with just 2 resonators.

No dyno, but I will get one eventually. Also have a pulley and drop in filter. A tune is on the list, but I have to decide about catless or high flow cats first.
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      01-21-2012, 07:07 PM   #139
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Looks really nice, I think you just inspired me to pull my x pipe off and add a second set of resonators!

And major props for actually getting your hands dirty!

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      01-21-2012, 09:55 PM   #140
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pbonsalb View Post
I finally got around to adding resonators to my Top Speed x-pipe -- pictures attached. The guy I used for tig welding thought it was pretty nicely made. I had him add a small reinforcement at the center of the "x" like akropovic and also reinforce the two tabs in the two tabs that mount to the rubber isolators on the center brace.

The biggest improvement, and I would do this to any x-pipe regardless of manufacture, was to add four resonators like Dinan and Borla run. I cut the x-pipe, inserted them, tack welded them in place, and then had them tig welded. The result is just what I wanted in terms of sound -- not much louder than stock. I have to put some miles on it but so far, I really like it and have not yet detected any drone.

Cost was $475 for the x-pipe, $80 for two longer body Top Speed resonators, $104 for two short body Vibrant resonators, and $150 for the tig welding. About $800 total. Plus a day of my time to fit, cut, test fit, tack weld, take to the welder, and refit.

I will try it for a while. If the gas smell gets to me, I will add a pair of high flow cats. 100 CPI or 200 CPI or maybe even 300 CPI. They cost $80 to $125 each, so that will add $160 to $250, plus $75 for welding.

Right now, I am using a pair of Vibrant right angle 02 extenders with restrictor fittings with the rear 02s. These cost about $35 each. I have an Akra Delete-R, but want to see how long it takes for the CEL to come on with the Vibrant fittings before I install that. While running the resonatorless, catless x-pipe with no such fittings, it took somewhere around 80 miles to trigger the CEL. There are three restrictor fitting options and I am trying the middle one.

http://vibrantperformance.com/catalo...oducts_id=2009

I had looked for a used x-pipe with resonators but none were available when I was looking. Then, after I bought this one, a good deal came along on one but I was already committed. For most people, buying a used x-pipe is the way to go. For those who want 4 resonators, there is only Borla and Dinan. Many people would be happy with just 2 resonators.

No dyno, but I will get one eventually. Also have a pulley and drop in filter. A tune is on the list, but I have to decide about catless or high flow cats first.

Looks excellent. I guess given all the work and cost. It may be more practical to pick up a second hand xpipe thats resonated.
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      01-22-2012, 06:23 AM   #141
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Looks excellent. I guess given all the work and cost. It may be more practical to pick up a second hand xpipe thats resonated.
Practical, definitely. Economical, maybe or maybe not. Depends on whether you can DIY or whether you have to pay for all the work done on your cars. If the latter and cost is a consideration, I recommend buying whatever is easiest for the installer to install. I know from experience that paying mechanics to figure out your custom projects often gets expensive fast. It does help that I like working on my cars (a tig welder is on my wish list so I can weld stainless and aluminum nicely).

A new Dinan quad resonator x-pipe is $2900. A new Borla quad resonator pipe is $1500. A new Challenge dual resonator pipe is $1700. I looked for several months and did not find any used ones that I considered cheap (since then, a used Borla appeared at $600, which was an awesome deal). Most of the used x-pipes that are cheap are resonatorless or hacked up with non-stainless pipe inserts, so all the work still has to be done if you want a quiet exhaust.

I also thought about a used stock midpipe for $400 plus a set of Turner test pipes for $400. There would still have some work cutting the stock pipe out, possible welding in the Turner test pipes for the better sealing, and ramming through the stock secondary cats (or cutting, gutting, and rewelding) if you want to be catless. And it would have only dual resonators (although if you left the secondary cats intact, they would provide additional sound muffling).
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      01-30-2012, 02:46 PM   #142
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pbonsalb View Post
Practical, definitely. Economical, maybe or maybe not. Depends on whether you can DIY or whether you have to pay for all the work done on your cars. If the latter and cost is a consideration, I recommend buying whatever is easiest for the installer to install. I know from experience that paying mechanics to figure out your custom projects often gets expensive fast. It does help that I like working on my cars (a tig welder is on my wish list so I can weld stainless and aluminum nicely).

A new Dinan quad resonator x-pipe is $2900. A new Borla quad resonator pipe is $1500. A new Challenge dual resonator pipe is $1700. I looked for several months and did not find any used ones that I considered cheap (since then, a used Borla appeared at $600, which was an awesome deal). Most of the used x-pipes that are cheap are resonatorless or hacked up with non-stainless pipe inserts, so all the work still has to be done if you want a quiet exhaust.

I also thought about a used stock midpipe for $400 plus a set of Turner test pipes for $400. There would still have some work cutting the stock pipe out, possible welding in the Turner test pipes for the better sealing, and ramming through the stock secondary cats (or cutting, gutting, and rewelding) if you want to be catless. And it would have only dual resonators (although if you left the secondary cats intact, they would provide additional sound muffling).
Ah I see. SO how loud do you think something like the AA xpipe is? I believe it only has 2 resonators.
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      01-30-2012, 04:33 PM   #143
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Loud, but not loud enough to get arrested. If I was ten or twenty years younger, I would run just two resonators. The rear exhaust you connect to has some effect. Mine is stock. There are probably videos with sound if you do some searching. I would not expect one dual resonator midpipe to sound much different from any other dual resonator midpipe, so you don't have to find an AA one to get an idea, but the rear exhaust should match yours.
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      01-30-2012, 09:49 PM   #144
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So is it significantly louder with no cats compared to a high flow set? I have the challenge which has 2 resonators and 2 hfcs with the primaries removed. At first I thought it was loud but now don't even notice and it seems stockish to me. Have considered full catless but unsure if its worth the hastle at this point as I've gained most of the power available from the exhaust.
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      01-30-2012, 10:05 PM   #145
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Quote:
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So is it significantly louder with no cats compared to a high flow set? I have the challenge which has 2 resonators and 2 hfcs with the primaries removed. At first I thought it was loud but now don't even notice and it seems stockish to me. Have considered full catless but unsure if its worth the hastle at this point as I've gained most of the power available from the exhaust.
The cats deff reduce sound. I only have two resonators with no cats and its loud. My car is not a DD and I love the sound so for me it works. Two sets of resonators with no cats is the way to go IMO, all the power with the perfect exhaust note...The folks at Dinan are no dummies!!
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      01-31-2012, 09:17 PM   #146
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My question is who makes a x-pipe that uses Stock Cats besides Challenge? In NY I need to run cats. I have no intention of running a tune so that is why I need a Cat setup.
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      01-31-2012, 09:52 PM   #147
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Fabspeed makes a secondary cat delete with or without resonators which is a few hundred cheaper than the Challenge. You can also find a shop to cut out the secondaries and replace them with straight pipe. I think that is the direction that I am going to take.
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      01-31-2012, 10:01 PM   #148
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My question is who makes a x-pipe that uses Stock Cats besides Challenge? In NY I need to run cats. I have no intention of running a tune so that is why I need a Cat setup.
Sosi Performance has an x-pipe that replaces the secondary cats & both resonators. It cost $495 & he's on this forum but forgot his username (I think it's RockD). Look for it on eBay. Customer service is piss poor (from him on eBay) since I asked a few questions yet I never got a response. The design looks just like the Fabspeed version (except theres has resonators) so maybe it's made by the same shop.
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      01-31-2012, 10:04 PM   #149
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Fabspeed makes a secondary cat delete with or without resonators which is a few hundred cheaper than the Challenge. You can also find a shop to cut out the secondaries and replace them with straight pipe. I think that is the direction that I am going to take.
They stop making the non-resonated version.
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      01-31-2012, 10:10 PM   #150
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Thanks for the the updated info. I called Fabspeed to check on availability last week they took my info and never called back!
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      01-31-2012, 10:21 PM   #151
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Thanks for the the updated info. I called Fabspeed to check on availability last week they took my info and never called back!
That's no bueno! You're welcome! I inquired with them awhile ago (last year I think) & that was their response since I didn't see it as an option on their site anymore.
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      01-31-2012, 10:26 PM   #152
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Excellent job.
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      02-01-2012, 07:54 PM   #153
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Fabspeed makes a secondary cat delete with or without resonators which is a few hundred cheaper than the Challenge. You can also find a shop to cut out the secondaries and replace them with straight pipe. I think that is the direction that I am going to take.
Will I have a CEL with that?
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      02-01-2012, 09:32 PM   #154
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Will I have a CEL with that?
Nope, as long as you still retain the front 2 cats, you're good to go. You can also use a Akrapovic Delete-R box & still not throw a CEL/SES if you don't use any cats if you don't wanna get a tune.
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