Whats quietter and less drone han akra

[M3/4 life]

MPE all day!!

[IzzyGray]

Originally Posted by Hujan

Thanks for the feedback, Izzy.

Challenge Race is no cats and no resonators, right? I imagine things would tone down a bit with the resonators and 200 cpsi cats in the OEM x-pipe, no?

It has a set of resonators(no cats) which surprised me when I heard it. I cannot imagine an x pipe with no cats or resonators :X The smell(which I don't really mind) is obviously catless

[Tfk]

Originally Posted by KennyPowers

what are your thoughts on cat delete on oem x pipe with stock muffler?

I'm running test pipes (primary cat delete) on an otherwise stock exhaust and stock car.

There are 4 differences between this setup and 100% stock:

1. Cold start is louder, more raspy and smells a tiny bit more
2. Wide open throttle is Noticeably more raspy/throaty between 3600-4100rpm, and screams more north of 6000rpm
3. Downshifts are more audible from outside the cabin - inside and out
4. Definitely more power and torque; even without a tune. I didn't dyno the car before and after, but I can tell by the increased of number of car lengths between my car and my brother's 1M. I don't know about 20 wheel horsepower, but there must be an easy addition of 20 crank horsepower.

The above aside, whilst daily driving, in a civilised manner, the car honestly feels 98% the same as stock. Inside and out.

[Hujan]

Originally Posted by IzzyGray

It has a set of resonators(no cats) which surprised me when I heard it. I cannot imagine an x pipe with no cats or resonators :X The smell(which I don't really mind) is obviously catless

You're right; my mistake. The Race+ is the one that is pure pipe. Hopefully the addition of the two 200 cpsi cats in the OEM pipe will reduce the drone and bass in your Corsa setup.

Generalizing here, but I gotta think that the spectrum looks something like this:

catless/res-less x-pipe >>> catless x-pipe with 2 res >>> quad-res x-pipe >>> x-pipe with 2 res and 2 HFC >>> OEM x-pipe

[Brians]

Originally Posted by Hujan

That's what I'm running now.

There were three things I did not like about the Evo:

The first was extreme bass and rattling in the cabin at very low RPM, such as when going in reverse or rolling from a stop.

The second was the spike in boominess at 2k and 3k RPM, with the worst being at 2k. The peaks are only 300 RPM wide, but they are very obtrusive, IMO. Especially at 2k.

The third was a rattle/resonance, almost like a plastic sound, when going WOT between 3k and 4k.

Going with test pipes did almost nothing for the first, significantly reduced my second complaint, and eliminated the third. That said, for me, I still find the bass at very low RPMs and the boominess at 2k and 3k RPM close to the threshold of what I find acceptable in a daily driven car.

Moreover, having now driven around in the Akra since August, I've come to the conclusion that the best thing about the M3 is the induction noise, which is why I think BMW went with such a quiet stock exhaust on the M3. So now I want to find an exhaust that will mesh better with the induction noise.

I am basically looking for a no-compromise, low bass setup that will allow me to run a cat delete without rasp or funky noises. I'm hoping that's the Corsa.

Great post!!!

I loved my Dinan cat back setup when I had my stock x-pipe.

Then I installed the Gintani hi-flo cat x-pipe. Then, things changed.

I thought I could deal with the now louder sounds. Really amazing at WOT and I could drive quietly most of the time when necessary, except for the bass at 2000 rpm (where the car seems to be a lot) I could not. As this is a daily driver, and I sometimes have clients in the car, I just couldn't live with this.

Just pulled the Dinan pipes off over the weekend and replaced with stock. The bass is gone at 2000 rpm, but so are the other great sounds. It doesn't sound bad, but it's a bit quiet, and I hat the look of the stock setup.

I was thinking maybe going Akra, but now not so much after this post. It doesn't sound like they've addressed the bass at 2k rpm either.

Anyone have a hi-flow cat x-pipe rig with a non OEM cat back system that doesn't have the bass around 2k rpm?

Oh, also, will regretfully be listing my Dinan pipes later this week, so be on the lookout for those who are interested.

[Hujan]

Originally Posted by Brians

Great post!!!

I loved my Dinan cat back setup when I had my stock x-pipe.

Then I installed the Gintani hi-flo cat x-pipe. Then, things changed.

I thought I could deal with the now louder sounds. Really amazing at WOT and I could drive quietly most of the time when necessary, except for the bass at 2000 rpm (where the car seems to be a lot) I could not. As this is a daily driver, and I sometimes have clients in the car, I just couldn't live with this.

Just pulled the Dinan pipes off over the weekend and replaced with stock. The bass is gone at 2000 rpm, but so are the other great sounds. It doesn't sound bad, but it's a bit quiet, and I hat the look of the stock setup.

I was thinking maybe going Akra, but now not so much after this post. It doesn't sound like they've addressed the bass at 2k rpm either.

Anyone have a hi-flow cat x-pipe rig with a non OEM cat back system that doesn't have the bass around 2k rpm?

Oh, also, will regretfully be listing my Dinan pipes later this week, so be on the lookout for those who are interested.

Other than stock, the only system I've seen that is basically guaranteed not to have low-end boominess is the Innotech with the valves closed. What's neat is that the system can be setup to automatically open the valves at higher RPM, so you don't have to do anything. Basically, driving around town, half the valves will be closed and the exhaust will be whisper quiet, even with an x-pipe/test pipes. The only "downside" is that the exhaust can get pretty loud outside with the valves open.*

The only two exhausts I might try are the Corsa and Innotech, probably in that order. If I can't get either to work to my satisfaction, I will probably go back to the stock muffler.

*People tend to talk about volume, but I think this is not a useful approach to the issue, as it's unclear whether they mean inside or outside the cabin. The M3 has a lot of soundproofing. Other than low-end bass, the Akrapovic is very quiet in cabin. Yet, my parents and in-laws always say, "We heard you coming up the road," when I drive to their houses. So an exhaust that is, for the most part, quiet inside can be very loud outside. Speaking only for myself, I tend to prioritize in-cabin volume over outside volume. As long as it's not crazy, police-inducing loud, I don't mind the exhaust announcing itself to outsiders, so long as it is not too obtrusive in cabin.

[Brians]

You and I are 100% on the same page. Please do post your results if you make another move with your exhaust. And thanks for addressing the "bass" issue that no one seems to address.

[Hujan]

Originally Posted by Brians

You and I are 100% on the same page. Please do post your results if you make another move with your exhaust. And thanks for addressing the "bass" issue that no one seems to address.

I will absolutely do so. I might just have something in the works. Stay tuned.

[Superfly_M3]

I have Dinan axle back and I love it. I had Akra Evo before, and it was too "boomy" for me at low RPMs. IMO Dinan rocks.

[slipaway37]

Originally Posted by Superfly_M3

So here we go again.

I had Akra Evo, and beside the low rpm drone (800 - 1500) the exhaust was awesome. There was some "hissing" sound midrange WOT but most of the time it was a joy to listen to.

Does anyone have experience with and exhaust (weight is not huge issue) that sounds like akra midrange but has no drone down low. I was even thinking about pairing up Akra with some kind of custom midpipe to get the desired effect.

Any input is appreciated

I have the Akra slip-on with Gintani catless x-pipe and am in total love. Before that I had the MPE with OEM x-pipe and again was in total love. It's when I paired the MPE with the Gintani that I had major headaches!

[Superfly_M3]

hhha, I forgot I was the one who started this thread. I was like ... lets reply to the OP. oh well.

[slipaway37]

Originally Posted by M3/4 life

MPE all day!!

+1
The best sound I EVER had was with my MPE: gonna miss it.

[BPMSport]

Originally Posted by Superfly_M3

hhha, I forgot I was the one who started this thread. I was like ... lets reply to the OP. oh well.

[Brians]

Originally Posted by Superfly_M3

I have Dinan axle back and I love it. I had Akra Evo before, and it was too "boomy" for me at low RPMs. IMO Dinan rocks.

I love the Dinan without the Gintani HFC/X-Pipe/Resonator setup. With it, it has that big bass at 2k rpm.

Do you have a similar setup, or just the Dinan cat back?

[the_road_less_traveled]

Eisenmann Race with Challenge x pipe and no cats or resonators! (=

[Hujan]

Thought I would bump this thread.

I ended up trying the Corsa with my test pipes. The good news is that it is very smooth down low with none of the bass of the Akra. In fact, the Corsa w/ test pipes is less bassy/droney at 2k RPM than the stock exhaust with test pipes (which is what I have on there at the moment). That's no joke.

The downside for me is that the exhaust is a bit loud outside the car on throttle. It sounds great, don't get me wrong, but it will attract more attention than I'd like. But I can confirm that it is very, very mellow down low compared to the Akra Evo and Akra w/ test pipes.

The idea exhaust would have the low-RPM characters of the Corsa, with the mild manners of the Akra at higher RPMs. I am starting to suspect that no such thing exists.

My only beef with the OEM exhaust with test pipes are the aesthetics and the rasp. I'd love to find an exhaust that is basically stock like, but that looks a little better and doesn't have as much rasp.

I am looking at the Bastruck (old version) which a member has for sale. Painted black, I like the look, as the double-wall tips fill the valences nicely. I also like it's flange approach to installation. The only problem is this is one of the least documented exhausts on the market. Virtually no one has any experience with this exhaust. Would be a bit of a leap of faith.

[Krockit1]

I jumped in with just a modest start (ESS axles back only) thinking if I wanted more I could add pipes, go catless, etc, but the overriding concerns I kept reading about here were exactly OP's (drone and bass boom), and a third- drowning out the intakes. When an S65 gets to drink at WOT it is an amazing sound and so many full exhaust mods bury that banshee scream in too many decibels. I am really happy with my axle back set up, no drone or boom to speak of, wide open is just a killer sound from back AND front, and it solved that huge cosmetic issue- those butt ugly OEM cans hanging down! I even had ESS paint the muffs matte black so they've pretty much disappeared under my Jet Black paint.

[S65 Underdog]

Originally Posted by Chriskm3

Acm mod !!! No drone. No rumble. Just intoxicating sound.

+1

I have actually had people state my exhaust as being intoxicating so I fully agree.

[M3-S65]

Originally Posted by Krockit1

I jumped in with just a modest start (ESS axles back only) thinking if I wanted more I could add pipes, go catless, etc, but the overriding concerns I kept reading about here were exactly OP's (drone and bass boom), and a third- drowning out the intakes. When an S65 gets to drink at WOT it is an amazing sound and so many full exhaust mods bury that banshee scream in too many decibels. I am really happy with my axle back set up, no drone or boom to speak of, wide open is just a killer sound from back AND front, and it solved that huge cosmetic issue- those butt ugly OEM cans hanging down! I even had ESS paint the muffs matte black so they've pretty much disappeared under my Jet Black paint.

Agreed, I have the exact set up, I bought the satin black. Here is my review on ESS it has a link in it to hear the sound from the thread that ESS created also: http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=941402

[Hujan]

Are you guys with the ESS just rolling with the muffler or have you played with the cats at all? I am curious how the ESS muffler would sound with test pipes.

[Krockit1]

Originally Posted by Hujan

Are you guys with the ESS just rolling with the muffler or have you played with the cats at all? I am curious how the ESS muffler would sound with test pipes.

Yep, axle back only. The sound is so right for me that I feel no need to change. And again, last thing I want to do is drown the intakes out. Hey it's loud enough that cars in front of me are lookin back when I downshift and the rev match hits - don't need any more attention than the car's sound already musters

[The Automotive Enthusiast]

I had the Full Set-up.It's pretty awesome. It's for sale, actually.