[Fraxum]

Tried my hand at the Golf Tee Mod. Read through all the posts (I have no life) and I decided to go the plugging the line approach but I had not seen anything that really satisfied my GTM urge. So I went down to the auto parts store and came back with this stuff:


I picked up some spare vacuum line. Handy stuff to have around anyway.

The fuzzy little white thing is an in-line vacuum reducer. To make it into a plug I filled it with Form-A-Gasket. It is hard to see in this fuzzy shot but it is white and has a little flange in the middle. I was going to take off the flange so I could hide this plug, but then I was worried if I did succeed in pressing the 2 lines together completely I would never be able to get them apart to remove the mod.

So I looked around my garage and came up with this:

It is a little plastic cover for something that had wires sticking out, but I cannot remember what. It is hard to see but it is capped on one end and is very stiff. It also is conveniently the perfect OD to plug a vacuum line! I pulled the exhaust vacuum line off the car and pushed the capped end of the plug about half way in with a little bit of spit. I WD 40ed the end sticking out as it was not as stiff as the capped end. I cut off a few inches of my spare vacuum line and pushed that over the exposed portion of the plug. It slid in snugly. It looked like this:

Then it pushed the line extension into the original exhaust vacuum fitting. Stealth GTM. Here is the finished GTM:

2 weeks later it is holding up perfectly.

Now that I am satisfied with the approach (obsessive aren’t I?) my thoughts on this mod. As I have an E90 the mod does not make much difference. It is very subtle even inside my garage. But now I can hear the engine at least a little all the time. At first it did seem like droning a bit to me but now I have gotten used to the sound I like it. I would really like a more raspy sound but as this is my daily driver I will save the noise for the V8s I really love to hear. Noisy exhaust is fun at first but then can get on your nerves when you are tired or have to travel really far.

I have about 10 more of the little black plugs. PM me if you want one.

[remydlc]

That looks very neat, definitely the best GTM around!

Congrats

[e90AW335i]

If you want a little more rasp have an exhaust shop take out the resonators....

[Fraxum]

Originally Posted by kyleh4852

If you want a little more rasp have an exhaust shop take out the resonators....

Are people doing that with thier E90s? I hadn't seen that.

[e90AW335i]

Originally Posted by Fraxum

Are people doing that with thier E90s? I hadn't seen that.

People have. That is basically what you get with a new exhaust system as well. The new system wouldn't have the secondary cats or the resonators. If you don't want to spend that much money on exhaust just go to a good shop and ask them to cut out the section with the secondary cats and resonators and put in some 2.5" piping. They will probably charge you $80 - $100 I would think....

EDIT: Read this link....http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54126

[stefman]

Did I do something wrong on this mod? I could feel lots of vibration in the cabin after the mod. I used the ball bearing BTW.

[benyl]

I looked at my stock exhaust yesterday after getting home. It is cold as a frozen turd here, and there was snow that was backfilling my left exhaust tip. I need to do this mod. haha

[bman5150]

Originally Posted by kyleh4852

People have. That is basically what you get with a new exhaust system as well. The new system wouldn't have the secondary cats or the resonators. If you don't want to spend that much money on exhaust just go to a good shop and ask them to cut out the section with the secondary cats and resonators and put in some 2.5" piping. They will probably charge you $80 - $100 I would think....

EDIT: Read this link....http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54126

Thanks for posting this link. I'm not yet that familiar with the E90 exhaust. . .I assume the most rearward "catalytic convertor looking thing" is the resonator?

Do E92 exhausts look the same minus this resonator?

Guess I'm wondering what eliminating just the resonator would do to the sound level/tone.

[2FST2C]

hey guys, i just unplugged it from inside the trunk by the tail light. nice little change in sound, i like it

[ohsnap]

Originally Posted by stefman

Did I do something wrong on this mod? I could feel lots of vibration in the cabin after the mod. I used the ball bearing BTW.

i highly doubt that was caused by this mod. i used a 7/32 bb as well. are you sure its not something with your wheels, maybe threw/lost some weights causing balancing issues, hence the vibration?

[samwoo2go]

Whoever said the ballbearing are .08 each is fucking lieing... its 20 cents at ace hardware... lieing bastard...haha

I don't know if im tripping or not, but I swear I can actually hear the turbos spool a little with the window open now that I shoved a ball in her tube.

[sambonator]

Originally Posted by samwoo2go

Whoever said the ballbearing are .08 each is fucking lieing... its 20 cents at ace hardware... lieing bastard...haha

I don't know if im tripping or not, but I swear I can actually hear the turbos spool a little with the window open now that I shoved a ball in her tube.

See if you can shove a couple of more balls in her tube
...to make the turbos louder yes

[Cryokid]

So I read all 12 pages of this post and I came up with a new and improved method of plugging the vacuum line.

I went out to Ace Hardware and bought a 10-32 x 3/8" long stainless steel set screw ($.45) and screwed it into the end of the hose with an allen key. I made sure that it was well recessed and that the hose fit over the original hose connection on the actuator properly. It worked perfectly and is totally hidden. Also, when you want to remove it just unscrew it.

I tried a shorter one first (only 1/4" long) and the vacuum leaked through closing the valve, so I won't suggest anything shorter than 3/8" long. Let me know what you all think.

[sambonator]

Originally Posted by Cryokid

...It worked perfectly and is totally hidden. Also, when you want to remove it just unscrew it. ...

Make sure to cap off the actuator to prevent moisture/debris from getting in there.

[Cryokid]

Originally Posted by sambonator

Make sure to cap off the actuator to prevent moisture/debris from getting in there.

The set screw is deep inside the hose, leaving the end free to reconnect to the actuator just like the ball bearing mod, only it's easier to get the set screw out.

[Fraxum]

Originally Posted by 2FST2C

hey guys, i just unplugged it from inside the trunk by the tail light. nice little change in sound, i like it

There are some gotchas by doing the GTM that way.

[2FST2C]

Originally Posted by Fraxum

There are some gotchas by doing the GTM that way.

i havent gotten any dash lights...what else could there be?

[Hillstreet]

Originally Posted by 2FST2C
hey guys, i just unplugged it from inside the trunk by the tail light. nice little change in sound, i like it

Originally Posted by Fraxum

There are some gotchas by doing the GTM that way.

Like what? I've used this method for 6 months without a single error or remark from my dealer.

[ezatnova]

Originally Posted by Hillstreet

Originally Posted by 2FST2C
hey guys, i just unplugged it from inside the trunk by the tail light. nice little change in sound, i like it



Like what? I've used this method for 6 months without a single error or remark from my dealer.

Internal code storage.

[2FST2C]

Originally Posted by ezatnova

Internal code storage.

so?

[samwoo2go]

so...some people don't want a internal code, probabaly nothing, but worst case scenario, your engine blows up, they look thru your car and found this little code along with your driving style record and says warranty denied because your in the habbit of modding cars and driving fast.
You can probably fihgt that and win, but why give them the reason?

[Hillstreet]

And blocking valves using ball bearings wont throw these codes? I find that hard to believe.