[tke344]

I had my VRSF DP sitting in a box since their black friday deal and I finally made some time to install it. I wanted to DIY mainly for the experience, and saving the money compared to having a shop handle it was a bonus.

I had already done my spark plugs so I was familiar with getting access to the o2 sensor plugs on top of the engine, that part was very straight forward. Some people do supposedly skip this and disconnect them at the pipe but IMO it's worth the extra time. There is no way I would have gotten them out while connected to the car.

There are already DIYs written out so I'll just list some tips for anyone who is planning to do this. I unfortunately only had ramps so it made the whole ordeal a lot more unpleasant, I'd highly recommend either a lift or at least tall jack stands. I found it necessary to unbolt the power steering rack on the passenger side of the car, you gain a lot of space this way, I imagine it's possible to skip this if you have small hands but it doesn't take long to do. It was the only way I was able to gain access to the bolt on the v-band clamp. Breaking the nuts on the rear of the downpipe didn't go well for me, my car is a 2011 and the nuts were in bad shape. 3 out of the 4 sheared off, even using freeze off. I actually had to hammer on a smaller socket because of the amount of rust. For the center exhaust hanger, make sure you have the inverse star sockets, I tried using a 12pt socket but it just wasn't working. It was the only tool I was missing so I had to run out and grab a set. There's a lot of those types of bolts on these cars so it's worth having. Once the DP was out, I had a lot of trouble with the o2 sensors. I had the correct o2 socket but they were so frozen it was starting to strip the nuts. I torched them, used freeze off, they were just stuck. I came close to giving up and just ordering replacements but eventually they came out with a wrench and a pipe for leverage. A lot of time wasted there but it was worth it since they aren't cheap. I used plenty of anti-seize when putting them in the new pipe.

Re-installation wasn't that bad actually. After trying to support the DP with one hand and align the v-band with the other (unsuccessfully) I had a brilliant (IMO) idea of putting a zip tie on one of the rear bolt holes to hold the pipe up so I could use 2 hands to get the clamp on. Having a second hand for this helped tremendously, I had it on in 5 minutes.

Despite wasting an entire Sunday, it was very satisfying. I can't wait to do some logs and tweak my tune accordingly.

[Viorage]

Congrats, I lose patients really fast working on cars alone. But it's much more satisfying doing it yourself

[D's Bimmer]

Originally Posted by tke344

I had my VRSF DP sitting in a box since their black friday deal and I finally made some time to install it. I wanted to DIY mainly for the experience, and saving the money compared to having a shop handle it was a bonus.

I had already done my spark plugs so I was familiar with getting access to the o2 sensor plugs on top of the engine, that part was very straight forward. Some people do supposedly skip this and disconnect them at the pipe but IMO it's worth the extra time. There is no way I would have gotten them out while connected to the car.

There are already DIYs written out so I'll just list some tips for anyone who is planning to do this. I unfortunately only had ramps so it made the whole ordeal a lot more unpleasant, I'd highly recommend either a lift or at least tall jack stands. I found it necessary to unbolt the power steering rack on the passenger side of the car, you gain a lot of space this way, I imagine it's possible to skip this if you have small hands but it doesn't take long to do. It was the only way I was able to gain access to the bolt on the v-band clamp. Breaking the nuts on the rear of the downpipe didn't go well for me, my car is a 2011 and the nuts were in bad shape. 3 out of the 4 sheared off, even using freeze off. I actually had to hammer on a smaller socket because of the amount of rust. For the center exhaust hanger, make sure you have the inverse star sockets, I tried using a 12pt socket but it just wasn't working. It was the only tool I was missing so I had to run out and grab a set. There's a lot of those types of bolts on these cars so it's worth having. Once the DP was out, I had a lot of trouble with the o2 sensors. I had the correct o2 socket but they were so frozen it was starting to strip the nuts. I torched them, used freeze off, they were just stuck. I came close to giving up and just ordering replacements but eventually they came out with a wrench and a pipe for leverage. A lot of time wasted there but it was worth it since they aren't cheap. I used plenty of anti-seize when putting them in the new pipe.

Re-installation wasn't that bad actually. After trying to support the DP with one hand and align the v-band with the other (unsuccessfully) I had a brilliant (IMO) idea of putting a zip tie on one of the rear bolt holes to hold the pipe up so I could use 2 hands to get the clamp on. Having a second hand for this helped tremendously, I had it on in 5 minutes.

Despite wasting an entire Sunday, it was very satisfying. I can't wait to do some logs and tweak my tune accordingly.

Great write up. Are you happy with the DP's? A noticeable improvement? Any downside or regrets?

[tke344]

The only thing I don't like is the volume on a cold start, it settles down within a minute though, to near stock like levels. I only had a chance to get in one quick 2-3 gear pull but it did feel faster, sounds good under WOT. The rest of my exhaust is stock and I plan to leave it that way, although I wouldn't mind having some new tips welded on. Really need to log and tune since I'm not running OTS maps.

[bfritzsch]

Was this an x-drive install? I was going to attempt my x-drive install till I got underneath the car and saw the tiny working space.

[sirjake]

I wondering how the install with also be on mine with the XDrive.

[mike5809]

X-Drive is a bit more labor intensive. You will have to drop the subframe and some other things to get the downpipe out. On a lift usually it is 2-3 hours of labor.

[tke344]

Yeah my car is RWD.

After driving for a few days I am happy with the sound, not really any louder while cruising, I do have the exhaust flap connected normally. (Stock exhaust) behind the DP. You do catch some fuel smell while sitting at a light, I think I'm going adjust the AFR at idle to run more lean, hopefully it helps. Still haven't had a chance to do any logs to compare the differences but it does feel a bit faster. I was running a pretty aggressive tune to being with so it should be interesting to compare.

[Sidewinderpb]

Originally Posted by sirjake

I wondering how the install with also be on mine with the XDrive.

Fucking nightmare.

[4lss]

No need to drop the subframe on Xdrive. I did mine twice on jack stands using hand tools.
First time took 4hrs, second took 2hrs. It's not easy, but it's totally doable!

[mike5809]

Originally Posted by 4lss

No need to drop the subframe on Xdrive. I did mine twice on jack stands using hand tools.
First time took 4hrs, second took 2hrs. It's not easy, but it's totally doable!

Interesting - both times I had mine done the subframe was dropped. I guess we just couldn't finagle it as well as you

[4lss]

Originally Posted by mike5809

Interesting - both times I had mine done the subframe was dropped. I guess we just couldn't finagle it as well as you

It took a minute to get the damn thing outta there, but it's definitely possible.
I would recommend unplugging the o2 sensors from the engine bay and leaving them attached to the DP, also im my case (11 xDrive e90) taking the metal plate that 'kinda' holds the exhaust attached to the car, made a hell of a difference when moving the exhaust pipes to the side while trying to get the DP out. Learned that on my second install

[Sidewinderpb]

Originally Posted by 4lss

No need to drop the subframe on Xdrive. I did mine twice on jack stands using hand tools.
First time took 4hrs, second took 2hrs. It's not easy, but it's totally doable!

Seriously? I've done mine multiple times on a lift. Took ~5 hours each time.

[4lss]

Originally Posted by Sidewinderpb

Seriously? I've done mine multiple times on a lift. Took ~5 hours each time.

Yep! And I am by no means a mechanic!
Last time it took a total of 3.5hrs to swap VRSF to Stock DP, charge pipe, air intake and uninstall the JB4.

[Sidewinderpb]

Originally Posted by 4lss

Yep! And I am by no means a mechanic!
Last time it took a total of 3.5hrs to swap VRSF to Stock DP, charge pipe, air intake and uninstall the JB4.

Jesus if I were able to swap it in that amount of time, emissions would not bother me at all. Wonder what I'm doing wrong.

[4lss]

Originally Posted by Sidewinderpb

Jesus if I were able to swap it in that amount of time, emissions would not bother me at all. Wonder what I'm doing wrong.

After installing it the first time I decided I would enjoy for a year remove for emissions and never install it again. But when I got to swap it to the stock for the second time and was able to cut down to about 2.5hrs I decided to do it every year. . I just love the sound of the catless dp. You might be doing something wrong, shouldn't take take long especially on a lift.

[Sidewinderpb]

Originally Posted by 4lss

After installing it the first time I decided I would enjoy for a year remove for emissions and never install it again. But when I got to swap it to the stock for the second time and was able to cut down to about 2.5hrs I decided to do it every year. . I just love the sound of the catless dp. You might be doing something wrong, shouldn't take take long especially on a lift.

I've had it out for a while, so I'm trying to remember exactly what the process was. I believe that the most difficult part was reaching the bolt on the v-band clamp, and then wiggling that burly bastard of a dp out of there.

And yeah, I can't live without that catless sound. I've had the stock dp for about 5 months now, and I die a little every day.

[sirjake]

Awesome to hear, I'm going to order some up soon and maybe I can take some pictures and try to make a guide on how it's done.
I've done a large amount of work in the past building things / taking apart things so this shouldn't be a huge job if a lift isn't needed that much better.

[4lss]

Originally Posted by sirjake

Awesome to hear, I'm going to order some up soon and maybe I can take some pictures and try to make a guide on how it's done.
I've done a large amount of work in the past building things / taking apart things so this shouldn't be a huge job if a lift isn't needed that much better.

I was able to do it using ramps on rear wheels and jack stands on front. I had more than enough clearance.

[CantCatchMe]

So since I installed my DP, my car seems to have a weird shake or vibration when in gear. You can hear the vibration, it is pretty moderate. I changed the plugs so I know that can be eliminated. Is this normal? I never felt my car feel like this prior to my DP install. Any suggestions would be good.

[tke344]

I'm getting the same thing, rough idle while in gear with my foot on the brake. I dont know if it's related but I filled up with a higher concentration of ethanol and it improved. Probably has to do with the o2 sensors

[CantCatchMe]

Originally Posted by tke344

I'm getting the same thing, rough idle while in gear with my foot on the brake. I dont know if it's related but I filled up with a higher concentration of ethanol and it improved. Probably has to do with the o2 sensors

Hmm...well I'm getting my stage 2 LPFP installed Friday when it arrives plus the PTF tune. We'll see if it gets fixed.