A bit of exhaust advice needed

Bahamablue

Member
 South Coast
My M is a joy to drive, but it’s just a bit quiet. I have an Eventuri intake which turns the car into an animal from 4k upwards, at which point it sounds awesome. However this means that in normal traffic and general driving, the car is just too quiet and polite. The obvious solution is to drive it hard and keep it in the sweet spot (which is totally addictive) but this does mean that you quickly find yourself in excess of the speed limit.

So after hours of listening to youtube clips of various aftermarket exhausts and reading many forum threads I’ve got a fairly good idea about what each systems offers. The question I can’t find an answer to, is which one would work best with an intake?

The intake sound is lovely, so I don’t want this drowned out. I’d just like something that on start-up has a nice growl, and at lower/mid-range also makes a deeper more purposeful sound. Obviously without any drone.

Anyone here have a combo of intake and exhaust?
Would be great to hear your advice and experiences.
 
Maybe the answer is x-pipe only. I have a CSL airbox with euro headers, SS x-pipe and factory mufflers. No drone but you can still hear the low rumbles… sounds like a sporty OEM+. If you wanted something that clearly shows you have an aftermarket exhaust, guessing Stromung ($$) or Supersprint Sports ($$$$) are your best bet. RPi and Rogue will be drone city. Remus is the more conservative aftermarket option but they’re no longer available new, and TBH most folks find them a tad underwhelming. But it may also be exactly what you’re looking for.

Alternatively, if you know of any competent exhaust shops, you can pay to have the factory boxes modified. That was initially my preferred route but I was lucky enough to snag an x-pipe for the less than the cost of opening up the boxes.

Here’s a clip of my car comparing windows up vs down. Granted CSL is louder than Eventuri but it’s clearly not drowned out by the x-pipe.

Here’s a clip of just what the exhaust sounds (i.e. pre-CSL airbox) from the outside.
 
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^^ same here. SS x-pipe with OE mufflers give a deeper tone, no drone, and can give subtle pops on deccel. Mine is paired with EU headers and aftermarket cats.
 
Thanks for your replies. I'm quite happy with a more aggressive sound. I had Dansk 'loud' mufflers (rather than sports) on a previous 911 and they were stunning – no drone – sounded like the gates of hell had opened on startup, but with a gentle throttle you could cruise and have a conversation. Hadn't considered x-pipes – just need to ensure that it's easily reversible if I ever need to sell the car.
 
Thanks for your replies. I'm quite happy with a more aggressive sound. I had Dansk 'loud' mufflers (rather than sports) on a previous 911 and they were stunning – no drone – sounded like the gates of hell had opened on startup, but with a gentle throttle you could cruise and have a conversation. Hadn't considered x-pipes – just need to ensure that it's easily reversible if I ever need to sell the car.
Rogue and SS both both offer x-pipes that bolt up to factory piping. SS actually offers 2 versions, one for oe muffler and one for non-oe.

Rogue’s version is cheaper and lighter, however I’ve read one off cases of fitment issues which is surprising considering their stuff is usually good.
 
I run Eisenmann race back boxes which are lovely and then I added SS decats, kept the stock X pipe to reduce drone, setup works well and drops some kgs.
 
I’ve tried Stromung boxes and Rpi coke cans but now extremely happy with BCS Powervalve back boxes
 
Got any sound clips? Is there a hint of drone?
Can probably dig some sound clips out but yes there is drone around 2000 to 2500rpm, I wouldn't say it's really boomy but it's loud enough, it's easy enough to drive around though, at 70mph on the motorway it's near silent, faint hum which I like. The mid range is the best though, the sound is epic, imagine old skool racing BMW straight 6, has a hint of XK engine for those into British straight 6s.
 
Remus backboxes here. They’re significantly louder than OEM but no drone, plenty of pops and bangs on the overrun and sound fantastic at full chat.
I had them paired with an aFe intake, and they were beautifully matched. I swapped to a GruppeM intake recently and I’ve found that the exhaust overwhelms the intake sound. After fitting a noise generator (as per non-M models) there’s more intake sound in the cabin, but the GruppeM isn’t a patch on the aFe for accentuating the rasp of an S54 above 5k rpm.
Compared with my Exige (which sounds like an unsilenced sports bike and hits 100db in the cabin at 8k rpm when the valve is open), most exhausts for the Zed are somewhat muted, but the Remus boxes are a perfect blend of loud under load and more civilised when driving gently. I’d recommend them….if they were available!
 
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I run RPI back boxes on my Z4MC and they sound great. RPI claims a 7 bhp bump, but offer no evidence, and lower weight than stock which is certainly true.

RPI_EG117-2_480x480.jpg
 
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