[Surajdave]

Where can I purchase ramps like those?

[LMB335IS]

Originally Posted by Surajdave

Where can I purchase ramps like those?

They're Rhino ramps. Advance Auto has them.

[s!ke]

So I installed my downpipes, and am getting a ton of light smoke right at start up on a cold car.

Is that just burning off the antiseize? Or the pb blaster? or a really bad exhaust leak? It's coming from the engine bay (turbo areas), not the exhaust / catback

[J38]

Originally Posted by s!ke

So I installed my downpipes, and am getting a ton of light smoke right at start up on a cold car.

Is that just burning off the antiseize? Or the pb blaster? or a really bad exhaust leak? It's coming from the engine bay (turbo areas), not the exhaust / catback

Yes. Go ahead and update us that it went away after a drive.

Thanks OP. I have more time than money, so I'll be giving this one a go when my VRSF arrive. Preeshate ya!

[J38]

Ok, what in the actual shit.

Just got my car up on ramps. Got on the creeper, and I can't fit under the damn car. I'm an average size 'merican. 6'0", 225, not *too* fat. I'm in the gym 3x a week, etc. What gives? I have to extend my arm all the way to reach the downpipe bolts on the midpipe.

This ish ain't cool, but is it normal? I figured I'd at least not have my chest compressed by the lower cover while seeing if I could reach the bolts.

Btw I edited my rating on this. I would say I definitely do not come anywhere close to recommending doing this DIY on the ground. I certainly cannot imagine screwing with this for 4-7 hrs with a car pushing on my chest.

I dropped the car off at my exhaust guru, some things are better left to a lift.

[bimmertt]

Originally Posted by J38

Ok, what in the actual shit.

Just got my car up on ramps. Got on the creeper, and I can't fit under the damn car. I'm an average size 'merican. 6'0", 225, not *too* fat. I'm in the gym 3x a week, etc. What gives? I have to extend my arm all the way to reach the downpipe bolts on the midpipe.

This ish ain't cool, but is it normal? I figured I'd at least not have my chest compressed by the lower cover while seeing if I could reach the bolts.

Btw I edited my rating on this. I would say I definitely do not come anywhere close to recommending doing this DIY on the ground. I certainly cannot imagine screwing with this for 4-7 hrs with a car pushing on my chest.

I dropped the car off at my exhaust guru, some things are better left to a lift.

You need a jack and jack stands to raise the car to a more comfortable level. No way I would recommend doing this on ramps.

[robc1976]

Originally Posted by J38

Ok, what in the actual shit.

Just got my car up on ramps. Got on the creeper, and I can't fit under the damn car. I'm an average size 'merican. 6'0", 225, not *too* fat. I'm in the gym 3x a week, etc. What gives? I have to extend my arm all the way to reach the downpipe bolts on the midpipe.

This ish ain't cool, but is it normal? I figured I'd at least not have my chest compressed by the lower cover while seeing if I could reach the bolts.

Btw I edited my rating on this. I would say I definitely do not come anywhere close to recommending doing this DIY on the ground. I certainly cannot imagine screwing with this for 4-7 hrs with a car pushing on my chest.

I dropped the car off at my exhaust guru, some things are better left to a lift.

I am 6'4" 285....I feel your pain lol! I didn't fit either lol!

[J38]

Originally Posted by bimmertt

You need a jack and jack stands to raise the car to a more comfortable level. No way I would recommend doing this on ramps.

Me either.

Originally Posted by robc1976

I am 6'4" 285....I feel your pain lol! I didn't fit either lol!

I DIY whenever I can, but man I've never quit anything in my life as fast as that downpipe job.

[Dcara]

Just want to say great DIY couldn't have gotten my downpipes in without it!!!

When I did my install my bank 1 pre cat o2 sensor was a real pain to crack loose. Once I got everything back together I was getting a fault code as my O2 sensor was damaged. I took some pics as I replaced the sensor and thought I would share them here so if anyone has a sensor that they can't break loose with the downpipes in place they can just unclip the sensor(s) from the harness in the engine bay and then remove the downpipes. If I would have done this and then removed the sensor from the downpipes I have no doubt I would have saved my self $280 that a replacement sensor cost me. The cables from the sensors run up to the engine bay. You have to remove the cowel and the engine cover to access them. They run to from the passenger side of the engine around the back and then back up to the top of the engine where they plug into a harness (near the oil cap). They are simply held In place with metal clips and it's very easy to remove and replace.

Here are the pics...

[alexve90]

Anyone replace their auto transmission oil pan and mechatronics sleeve? Is this harder than that? Just replaced my mechatronics and oil pan/fluid last weekend on jacks and ramps and wondering if doing the VRSF Dp's would be worse?

[aeturbo]

Great write up, OP. Thank you. One trick I did re the top O2 sensors, just pull the wires out of the harness clip beside the valve cover. This gives enough slack to carefully unscrew them without putting too much twist pressure on the wires, risking breaking them, and without need to pull the cowl off.

One question I have. I marked all my sensors, but didn't mark which plug the lower sensors go too under the bell housing! :/ Car seems fine though. But just curious. I connected the O2 sensor that was more toward the driver/left side dp to the plug that was more toward the driver/left side under the bell housing. This seemed logical. But would feel better if someone could confirm this.

[NoPwrOvrMe]

Thanks OP this helped a lot last night when installing VRSF DPs.. O2 and band clamp were a bizznatch to deal with. Wish I looked through the entire thread instead of the first page on how to remove the O2 sensors -__________-...

On another note, I marked the o2 sensors, but I get the code P0040 swapped 02 sensors.... Not sure why. I will attempt to swap them in the near future when I have time to see if that will solve it. Though I don't know why I get that code when I put them where they belong -__-

Update 9-8-14:
Swapped the o2 sensors from the top under the engine cover, and so far everything is all good. No codes or misfires.

[Beans562]

Thanks OP!, This DIY helped me install my vrsf DPs over the weekend.

[Zach1328]

Great DIY guide, however considering its 2015 most of us n54 guys will probably be better off letting a shop do this install.

I had my turbos replaced under extended warranty less than 2 weeks ago, and let me tell you - almost every nut/bolt/screw/clamp felt like it had been super glued on there for decades.
I'm 6'2" and 190 pounds and barely have enough room to work with and my car is on jack stands, not the rhino ramps. I tried rhino ramps (I have the sport package) and I hardly fit under the car.

Needless to say, this is the most straight-forward yet complicated DIY I have ever attempted. Everything goes well until you get that 1 nut that takes an hour to get off, another clamp that takes an hour, an o2 sensor that takes 2 hours, etc.
Including trips back and forth to the tool store, I've spent ~8 hours on this install and the stock DP's are still on my car. One of my o2 sensors is seized and won't budge. I imagine once I finish that o2 sensor it will take me another 2-4 hours to install the VRSF downpipes.

With a lift, proper tools, and even a half decent mechanic this is a 2-3 hour job. With your typical tools, jack stands, and a half decent mechanic this is an 8-12 hour job - maybe even more depending on how lucky/unlucky you are with seized nuts, bolts, etc.

I can't say I'm disappointed with my decision to DIY the downpipes because I'm very patient and love to DIY anything I can on my car. However, to experience it once is enough for me. Unless I have a lift and better power tools I don't think I'll ever find myself installing downpipes on an n54 again.

[rpa440]

this gasket im speaking

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/i...TB5pzhhv8qX0Q_

[shadow191]

Old DIY, but probably the most clear one I've read on downpipes. Based on this, I finally decided to install a set I've had for a while. Had downpipes when I bought the car a few years back, but had them pulled due to emissions issues/registration. Not enough time to get the DP Fix to work then. Decided I wanted to go catless again and no convenient shops near me want to install these so I thought I'd give it a try.

Overall much easier than I expected based on everyone's comments. None of my bolts were frozen since I live in the south and a shop removed DP's a little over 2 years back. Not done yet since sadly I broke a V-band trying to put the rear pipe on - didn't realize it was so fragile, so new ones ordered from ECS. But in 90 minutes, I got the old ones out and was in the process of installing new ones, and this is on ramps. I think I could have done the entire project in 2.5 hours start to finish had I not broken the clamp.

Next time I'll definitely use stands. I fit with ramps, but I can't use a creeper and had to spend a lot of time repositioning to get to things like the V-bands. My car is too low to get a regular jack under the front so will need a lower profile. I did not remove the heatshield, one bolt is right under a coolant hose and I was too lazy to try and get it off. But no issues with clearance even with the shield in place so not sure why it has to be taken off.

As a precaution, spray every bolt with PB Blaster or something. I had no trouble with the exhaust bolts or V-band bolts which thought I would since they had some rust. But I sheared off the muffler clamp bolt with no effort at all. I had a short handled socket and the bolt just snapped. I also snapped the bolt holding the PS hose, the rubber part sheared. Our cars are pretty old now.

And does anyone have any tips on getting the V-bands back on? I was working for 20 minutes on just the rear before I broke it (my fault, I took it off and was trying to spread it a little more). Couldn't seem to get it to go over both flanges. I kept it on the turbo per the DIY, but have read elsewhere that you should leave it on the DP flange.

I'll finish this up in 2 weeks after I get back from vacation and get the new clamps in. But all in all, great DIY and easier than anticipated.

[shadow191]

Slight update, I read up on how to get the rear V-band on and saw an old post where they said to go under the car feet first (towards the rear). I did that and used the 1 clamp I still had...really wished I had done that yesterday. I got the rear clamp on in 90 seconds vs. the 20 minutes I messed with it yesterday before I broke the clamp. So if you're doing this on ramps or jackstands, definitely do that to get the rear clamp on. The angle is so much better and you can easily get both hands on it.

[taz2ko0]

Just did this. Straight forward with a little help of the video. The old downpipes where easier to take off then to put on (VRSF version 2) new ones. Not bad if it is not hot outside.

[-JrHatch-]

Awesome Diy! Used this last weekend to install mine and was super helpful

[midlifez]

Nice write up! Installed DP on my 2013 335i Convertible this weekend. Took around 6 hours BUT I was not rushing it at all and had a beer or two during the process.

Only thing that was a PITA was getting the bolt in for the clamp at the top where DP attaches to the turbo. Finally found a slightly longer one I had laying around and used it as I was not able to get the gap short enough to use the OEM bolt.

Upon starting the car up got a warning saying there was a problem, power would be reduced, etc. and needed to take to the dealer. After a few minutes it went away and has not returned. ?? Does this mean I do or do not need the DP fix I read about?

I have JB4 on my car, if that matters.

[fedejunin]

Thank you!

[Esixty1]

Originally Posted by alexve90

Anyone replace their auto transmission oil pan and mechatronics sleeve? Is this harder than that? Just replaced my mechatronics and oil pan/fluid last weekend on jacks and ramps and wondering if doing the VRSF Dp's would be worse?

Old question i know but someone might find the answer useful. Changing the oil pan and mechatronic sleeve would be a relative walk in the park, 2 hours from start to finish should be plenty of time, assuming you don't have too much drama getting the fill plug out.