Back to an SLK55 - x pipe?
Discussion
Well, about 8 years after selling my first SLK55 AMG, I’ve just picked up another one. The first one was my daily driver, but the new one will be an occasional fun work car (regular work car is now an i8, so very different!)
Anyway, I was a bit surprised by how quiet the SLK is - much quieter than I remembered. But then I am used to some pretty noisy cars. Impressed with the ride, handling and solidity of the car, which is a very nice example. The previous owner has even upgraded the Command with a modern touch screen, which looks OEM and seems to work really well.
Anyway, back to the lack of noise. I have done some research and seen the x pipe and secondary cat removal videos. I think doing both will be too noisy for me, would those who have done it recommend the x pipe or cat removal? Not sure which would sound better. I realise most of you may have removed both at once, but any thoughts appreciated....
Anyway, I was a bit surprised by how quiet the SLK is - much quieter than I remembered. But then I am used to some pretty noisy cars. Impressed with the ride, handling and solidity of the car, which is a very nice example. The previous owner has even upgraded the Command with a modern touch screen, which looks OEM and seems to work really well.
Anyway, back to the lack of noise. I have done some research and seen the x pipe and secondary cat removal videos. I think doing both will be too noisy for me, would those who have done it recommend the x pipe or cat removal? Not sure which would sound better. I realise most of you may have removed both at once, but any thoughts appreciated....
Hi,
I've got a R171 SLK55 and have both the 2nd cats out and an Xpipe.
When I got the car, previous owner had removed the 2nd cats. it sounded pretty good but still on the quiet side, only came to life when on full chat.
After having the car like this for a year I decided to get the xpipe inplace of the middle resonator, This transformed the car.
No drone at cruising speed, no cabin drone. But any depression of the throttle results in a fabulous V8 rumble, Tunnels are just hilarious.
I would advise any work done is flanged so you can put the original pipework back in at any stage, this wont be cheap but ultimately will give you a swap and change flexibility if you or another owner desires.
Having driven SLK55's with no exhaust mods when I was searching for mine I too agree the standard set up is just far too Mercedes and not enough AMG.
In summary:
if you want a bit of noise, remove 2nd cats.
if you want more noise keep 2nd cats and put in an xpipe inplace of the resonator. this'll liberate quite a bit.
for near TVR levels of noise and how a V8 should sound, without any drone, remove 2nd cats & resonator box and put in an xpipe.
I have never regretted mine for a second and is how the car should have come as standard.
the only slight, and I mean slight, drawback, is on cold start for about 15 seconds its pretty loud,
if you start it up outside at 5am you neighbours wont thank you.
I had my work done at infinity near Bristol. full stainless and hand made. was a 300 mile round trip but well worth it.
they've done loads of Merc V8's.
Adam.
I've got a R171 SLK55 and have both the 2nd cats out and an Xpipe.
When I got the car, previous owner had removed the 2nd cats. it sounded pretty good but still on the quiet side, only came to life when on full chat.
After having the car like this for a year I decided to get the xpipe inplace of the middle resonator, This transformed the car.
No drone at cruising speed, no cabin drone. But any depression of the throttle results in a fabulous V8 rumble, Tunnels are just hilarious.
I would advise any work done is flanged so you can put the original pipework back in at any stage, this wont be cheap but ultimately will give you a swap and change flexibility if you or another owner desires.
Having driven SLK55's with no exhaust mods when I was searching for mine I too agree the standard set up is just far too Mercedes and not enough AMG.
In summary:
if you want a bit of noise, remove 2nd cats.
if you want more noise keep 2nd cats and put in an xpipe inplace of the resonator. this'll liberate quite a bit.
for near TVR levels of noise and how a V8 should sound, without any drone, remove 2nd cats & resonator box and put in an xpipe.
I have never regretted mine for a second and is how the car should have come as standard.
the only slight, and I mean slight, drawback, is on cold start for about 15 seconds its pretty loud,
if you start it up outside at 5am you neighbours wont thank you.
I had my work done at infinity near Bristol. full stainless and hand made. was a 300 mile round trip but well worth it.
they've done loads of Merc V8's.
Adam.
Tiggsy said:
That would be great - picking up a 2012 this week and only thing I don’t like is the old style command screen (tech moves too fast to run a 6/7 year old bit of gear!)
I know what you mean, I recently sold an older A6 largely because the sat nav etc was so outdated and bought a much newer car. The system fitted to my SLK is a Dynavin N6 GPS DVD with Bluetooth. It cost the previous owner £599.99 in 2017, supplied by CarVision in Droitwich. System is very easy to use and modern touch screen, really impressive. I’m sure the sound is much better than the standard system too, mine is running HK speakers, but I’m pretty sure my previous SLK55 did too. I’ll try and post a few pics for you 
rgv250ads said:
Hi,
I've got a R171 SLK55 and have both the 2nd cats out and an Xpipe.
When I got the car, previous owner had removed the 2nd cats. it sounded pretty good but still on the quiet side, only came to life when on full chat.
After having the car like this for a year I decided to get the xpipe inplace of the middle resonator, This transformed the car.
No drone at cruising speed, no cabin drone. But any depression of the throttle results in a fabulous V8 rumble, Tunnels are just hilarious.
I would advise any work done is flanged so you can put the original pipework back in at any stage, this wont be cheap but ultimately will give you a swap and change flexibility if you or another owner desires.
Having driven SLK55's with no exhaust mods when I was searching for mine I too agree the standard set up is just far too Mercedes and not enough AMG.
In summary:
if you want a bit of noise, remove 2nd cats.
if you want more noise keep 2nd cats and put in an xpipe inplace of the resonator. this'll liberate quite a bit.
for near TVR levels of noise and how a V8 should sound, without any drone, remove 2nd cats & resonator box and put in an xpipe.
I have never regretted mine for a second and is how the car should have come as standard.
the only slight, and I mean slight, drawback, is on cold start for about 15 seconds its pretty loud,
if you start it up outside at 5am you neighbours wont thank you.
I had my work done at infinity near Bristol. full stainless and hand made. was a 300 mile round trip but well worth it.
they've done loads of Merc V8's.
Adam.
Thanks Adam, that’s really helpful I've got a R171 SLK55 and have both the 2nd cats out and an Xpipe.
When I got the car, previous owner had removed the 2nd cats. it sounded pretty good but still on the quiet side, only came to life when on full chat.
After having the car like this for a year I decided to get the xpipe inplace of the middle resonator, This transformed the car.
No drone at cruising speed, no cabin drone. But any depression of the throttle results in a fabulous V8 rumble, Tunnels are just hilarious.
I would advise any work done is flanged so you can put the original pipework back in at any stage, this wont be cheap but ultimately will give you a swap and change flexibility if you or another owner desires.
Having driven SLK55's with no exhaust mods when I was searching for mine I too agree the standard set up is just far too Mercedes and not enough AMG.
In summary:
if you want a bit of noise, remove 2nd cats.
if you want more noise keep 2nd cats and put in an xpipe inplace of the resonator. this'll liberate quite a bit.
for near TVR levels of noise and how a V8 should sound, without any drone, remove 2nd cats & resonator box and put in an xpipe.
I have never regretted mine for a second and is how the car should have come as standard.
the only slight, and I mean slight, drawback, is on cold start for about 15 seconds its pretty loud,
if you start it up outside at 5am you neighbours wont thank you.
I had my work done at infinity near Bristol. full stainless and hand made. was a 300 mile round trip but well worth it.
they've done loads of Merc V8's.
Adam.
The SLK is one of my fun cars, so I can afford for it to be a bit noisy - and no near neighbours to upset! It is also going to replace my TVR Chimaera, so getting a TVR like noise would be great. I’ve spoken to Infinity, they quoted £350-400 to replace the pre cats and fit a custom x pipe, which I thought was pretty good value given their reputation. They are quite a trek from me too, but I think a worthwhile one 
Any other recommendations or thoughts appreciated... My one disappointment, apart from the lack of noise, is that the manual shifts are SO slow. I guess it is just because the gearbox tech is over 10 years old, but it is a bit of a shock compared to the modern DSG style changes I’m used to. My previous SLK had buttons on the wheel, this time I wanted to go for a newer shape one with paddles, but they don’t seem any faster. Is it possible to change the mapping do you know?
notax said:
Any other recommendations or thoughts appreciated... My one disappointment, apart from the lack of noise, is that the manual shifts are SO slow. I guess it is just because the gearbox tech is over 10 years old, but it is a bit of a shock compared to the modern DSG style changes I’m used to. My previous SLK had buttons on the wheel, this time I wanted to go for a newer shape one with paddles, but they don’t seem any faster. Is it possible to change the mapping do you know?
Yes weistec do a gearbox ECU tune for the 7G tronic. Probably needs an em ail direct to them but their UK agents MSL in Birmingham maybe able to do it without the ECU going to the USA.also, google 'G Paddles' - these replace the buttons for paddles and apparently work well both aesthetically and visually.
There is also a stainless handmade exhaust place in St Albans - not sure where you are coming from but they have a good rep on MB forums.
In the midlands there is Torque Flow who are part of MSL. They do alot of AMG exhaust work.
Infinity was along trip for me but the work was 1st class.
Adam.
Thanks, gearbox Ecu certainly worth investigating. Also tempted to get an LSD, I fitted a Quaife one to my C63 and it made it grip like hell, then let go spectacularly. I rally drive an M3 yet found it a real handful. As the SLK is less powerful maybe it would be less of an issue...
New car has paddles, but change is no quicker than with buttons! I’m off to Inf8nity btw, I live in the New Forest.
New car has paddles, but change is no quicker than with buttons! I’m off to Inf8nity btw, I live in the New Forest.
so I've been looking at these chinese headunit upgrades for the SLK55 AMG, lots of sellers under different names seem to be selling the same units which to be fair look proper OE and come packed with features that would bring the missus car up to date and keep her happy..only thing is that i keep reading that these units don't work well with the optical HK system i think we have, some sellers say they will supply a cable for $50 that will enable it to work but that it'll not feed all the speakers, some sellers want a photo of your original headunit, I've also heard the long cable install is a fair bit of work
would be grateful if anyone has first hand experience or technical knowledge that could chip in, id like to get her one if it would work, command is naff in 2019
would be grateful if anyone has first hand experience or technical knowledge that could chip in, id like to get her one if it would work, command is naff in 2019
Quick update - took the SLK to Infinity today for X pipe and cat delete. Really very impressed with their workmanship, price and the noise! I was worried it might be too noisy, but descriptions of it being like a TVR or C63 are spot on. Stunning noise when revved on start up, but quiet on tickover. No drone on motorway either - I’ve driven over 100 miles on them today at various speeds. Overall very, very pleased. I would say noise level is similar to my old C63 and quieter than my stock SLS. The noise is noticeably deeper than the C63 to my surprise. Here are a few pics...
Hmm can’t download pics for some reason, will try tomorrow...
Hmm can’t download pics for some reason, will try tomorrow...
soin said:
so I've been looking at these chinese headunit upgrades for the SLK55 AMG, lots of sellers under different names seem to be selling the same units which to be fair look proper OE and come packed with features that would bring the missus car up to date and keep her happy..only thing is that i keep reading that these units don't work well with the optical HK system i think we have, some sellers say they will supply a cable for $50 that will enable it to work but that it'll not feed all the speakers, some sellers want a photo of your original headunit, I've also heard the long cable install is a fair bit of work
would be grateful if anyone has first hand experience or technical knowledge that could chip in, id like to get her one if it would work, command is naff in 2019
I'm waiting on this feedback too!would be grateful if anyone has first hand experience or technical knowledge that could chip in, id like to get her one if it would work, command is naff in 2019
DMP designs are great with their customer support and very "chatty" - but still not 100% sure
Tiggsy said:
soin said:
so I've been looking at these chinese headunit upgrades for the SLK55 AMG, lots of sellers under different names seem to be selling the same units which to be fair look proper OE and come packed with features that would bring the missus car up to date and keep her happy..only thing is that i keep reading that these units don't work well with the optical HK system i think we have, some sellers say they will supply a cable for $50 that will enable it to work but that it'll not feed all the speakers, some sellers want a photo of your original headunit, I've also heard the long cable install is a fair bit of work
would be grateful if anyone has first hand experience or technical knowledge that could chip in, id like to get her one if it would work, command is naff in 2019
I'm waiting on this feedback too!would be grateful if anyone has first hand experience or technical knowledge that could chip in, id like to get her one if it would work, command is naff in 2019
DMP designs are great with their customer support and very "chatty" - but still not 100% sure
king loud! Yes, it is a little less loud (I hesitate to say 'quieter') than before but really bellows 
Gassing Station | Mercedes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff