Stainless steel exhaust; quieter or louder with age?
Discussion
I've got a 2005 BMW E46 330ci that had the rear exhaust rust away. Understandable given the age. Exhaust has been welded previously but was beyond saving. BMW UK didn't have any OE replacements available.
New rear silencer fitted (scorpion back box), rest of the system standard.
It's awful loud with lots of drone now. Somehow, it's louder than the old exhaust which had a hole in it!
Will the new exhaust get quieter or louder over the next few weeks?
What are people's experiences. Internet is not agreeing on what to expect.
New rear silencer fitted (scorpion back box), rest of the system standard.
It's awful loud with lots of drone now. Somehow, it's louder than the old exhaust which had a hole in it!
Will the new exhaust get quieter or louder over the next few weeks?
What are people's experiences. Internet is not agreeing on what to expect.
it'll get quieter as the inside cokes up - it'll sound less tinny/raspy as well as the carbon deposits act as sound deadening and insulation.
that said, its entirely possible that the design of the new backbox is louder than the existing one, even with a hole in. standard silencers will be very muted with various expansions chambers and baffles to cut drone and certain frequencies - a sports exhaust will be more concerned with throughflow of gases and wont have such importance in the design as sound suppression.
that said, its entirely possible that the design of the new backbox is louder than the existing one, even with a hole in. standard silencers will be very muted with various expansions chambers and baffles to cut drone and certain frequencies - a sports exhaust will be more concerned with throughflow of gases and wont have such importance in the design as sound suppression.
Codswallop said:
I've got a 2005 BMW E46 330ci that had the rear exhaust rust away. Understandable given the age. Exhaust has been welded previously but was beyond saving. BMW UK didn't have any OE replacements available.
New rear silencer fitted (scorpion back box), rest of the system standard.
It's awful loud with lots of drone now. Somehow, it's louder than the old exhaust which had a hole in it!
Will the new exhaust get quieter or louder over the next few weeks?
What are people's experiences. Internet is not agreeing on what to expect.
Thanks for the heads-up, I have a 2001 E46 330ci, had it from new and it's still on its complete original exhaust system at 150K miles. I would say under acceleration it was a little bit growly when new, noticeably quieter now after 23 years!New rear silencer fitted (scorpion back box), rest of the system standard.
It's awful loud with lots of drone now. Somehow, it's louder than the old exhaust which had a hole in it!
Will the new exhaust get quieter or louder over the next few weeks?
What are people's experiences. Internet is not agreeing on what to expect.
Codswallop said:
I've got a 2005 BMW E46 330ci that had the rear exhaust rust away. Understandable given the age. Exhaust has been welded previously but was beyond saving. BMW UK didn't have any OE replacements available.
New rear silencer fitted (scorpion back box), rest of the system standard.
It's awful loud with lots of drone now. Somehow, it's louder than the old exhaust which had a hole in it!
Will the new exhaust get quieter or louder over the next few weeks?
What are people's experiences. Internet is not agreeing on what to expect.
If you want a standard exhaust, buy a standard exhaust. There seem to be no lack of them available.New rear silencer fitted (scorpion back box), rest of the system standard.
It's awful loud with lots of drone now. Somehow, it's louder than the old exhaust which had a hole in it!
Will the new exhaust get quieter or louder over the next few weeks?
What are people's experiences. Internet is not agreeing on what to expect.
Although it would seem odd that just the rear silencer is making that drastic a difference. Although the E46 is quite a huge rear silencer ?
more than likely it will only get louder with whatever packing material is in it burns away over time, but unlikely a few weeks.
paintman said:
Fitted a full sports stainless steel system incl tubular manifolds to my 3.5 Range Rover Classic some 25+ years ago.
It hasn't got any quieter & on long motorway journeys it's becoming a bit of an irritation - perhaps I'm just turning into Victor Meldrew.
Ultimately if it's your daily....just leave it std ! It hasn't got any quieter & on long motorway journeys it's becoming a bit of an irritation - perhaps I'm just turning into Victor Meldrew.
If it's a toy, then do silly things.
Still find it hard to believe a rear silencer only could make such a huge difference. Scorpion certainly aren't one of the best makes, but equally not the worst.
Thanks for the feedback guys.
Mixed bag of experiences again, so clearly there isn't one right answer if it'll quieten down or not.
I'll leave it on and see how things go over the next few weeks. Car is a weekend toy, but I do not want it to sound anti social.
The OEM BMW exhaust it one piece from cat back and costs almost £3k! None available in the UK either, hence why I went aftermarket and just got a back box.
I honestly did not expect a back box to make such a huge difference to sound levels. If it doesn't get quieter I'll get a mild steel back box from Autodoc or similar.
Mixed bag of experiences again, so clearly there isn't one right answer if it'll quieten down or not.
I'll leave it on and see how things go over the next few weeks. Car is a weekend toy, but I do not want it to sound anti social.
The OEM BMW exhaust it one piece from cat back and costs almost £3k! None available in the UK either, hence why I went aftermarket and just got a back box.
I honestly did not expect a back box to make such a huge difference to sound levels. If it doesn't get quieter I'll get a mild steel back box from Autodoc or similar.
TBH having had several stainless exhausts over the years, it is more a case of the purpose of what you have bought rather than it being stainless.
You have bought a "performance" exhaust, as more sound makes ANY car go faster it now makes more noise.
Having said that it MIGHT get a BIT quieter, but you would likely need sensitive measuring equipment to detect a difference.
You have bought a "performance" exhaust, as more sound makes ANY car go faster it now makes more noise.
Having said that it MIGHT get a BIT quieter, but you would likely need sensitive measuring equipment to detect a difference.
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