[Phyrexia]

Originally Posted by Big Mexican Women

what is the difference between the N53 and N52 manifold?

The collectors are more sanely designed. And it looks like a stock part.

[Big Mexican Women]

Originally Posted by Phyrexia

The collectors are more sanely designed. And it looks like a stock part.

are you sure? they look the same to me. either way, it is very time consuming and expensive labour-wise to replace your exhaust manifold. if you were to go through all that work you may as well just get stainless steel headers (if you didn't have to worry about emission testing for example)

you mentioned in your signature that you have a cat delete. how do you pass emissions?

[Phyrexia]

Originally Posted by Big Mexican Women

are you sure? they look the same to me. either way, it is very time consuming and expensive labour-wise to replace your exhaust manifold. if you were to go through all that work you may as well just get stainless steel headers (if you didn't have to worry about emission testing for example)

you mentioned in your signature that you have a cat delete. how do you pass emissions?

I sold the 540 before I moved to California. I wrecked the M3 before I moved to California.

Headers are not a particularly difficult job. I'm sure I could do it myself on a weekend day. There is at least one member with N53 manifolds but his username escapes me presently.

I've considered swapping them out for emissions but I'm told if a police officer were to inspect my vehicle and found aftermarket emissions equipment without CARB certification, the fine is $1500 USD per part and they impound your car. No thanks. I'll just pay $600 for my used Performance Exhaust.

[atmosphericM]

^ Exactly why, though I love so much about California, I would probably never live there. (Among other silly reasons)

Some of us have other reasons for doing exhaust work other than headers.. warranty

[clutchy]

so does it fit the E90 though?

[Wingnutts]

Originally Posted by clutchy

so does it fit the E90 though?

That I don't have an answer for you. I would think it would, but it might take a little modification of some sort. As I have an E92, that is all I've really spent time looking at.

Can anyone offer some insight?

[Phyrexia]

Yeah, coupe PE fits sedan fine. My PE is a coupe PE. The exhaust tips are too long and need to be shortened. Ask nicely and I'll post pics

[clutchy]

Originally Posted by Phyrexia

Yeah, coupe PE fits sedan fine. My PE is a coupe PE. The exhaust tips are too long and need to be shortened. Ask nicely and I'll post pics

Would you please post some shots? I would really appreciate it!

Broke my heart when they discontinued the PE for the E90

[Phyrexia]

The car is ... magnificently dirty. Apologies.

Let me know if you want any other angles. Directly above and to the side seems to show the extra length the best.

I don't mind that you can see the tips from above, but I don't like how it looks from the side. It's sort of ugly that you can see the transition from the pipe to the tip. I've been procrastinating with chopping an inch and a half off the pipes.

[Wingnutts]

Originally Posted by Phyrexia

The car is ... magnificently dirty. Apologies.

Let me know if you want any other angles. Directly above and to the side seems to show the extra length the best.

I don't mind that you can see the tips from above, but I don't like how it looks from the side. It's sort of ugly that you can see the transition from the pipe to the tip. I've been procrastinating with chopping an inch and a half off the pipes.

That is pretty much exactly how mine looks on my E92. I'm on the fence about bringing back in an inch. I do wish though that it did sit a little higher.

[clutchy]

Originally Posted by Phyrexia

The car is ... magnificently dirty. Apologies.

Let me know if you want any other angles. Directly above and to the side seems to show the extra length the best.

I don't mind that you can see the tips from above, but I don't like how it looks from the side. It's sort of ugly that you can see the transition from the pipe to the tip. I've been procrastinating with chopping an inch and a half off the pipes.

nice! I appreciate you posting those. So just to be clear you have the E92 version on your E90 and that's how it looks unmodified?

I assume you could have someone cut length back a bit and have them tightened up to the body a little more...

hmm... nice to know there are options out there.

thanks again!

[Phyrexia]

Hey, check out this new picture. This other 328 with the M wheels must work in this little shopping center where I eat sometimes. It has stock exhaust. So here they are directly compared.

If they were pulled back a little on my car you wouldn't be able to see the transition, as I mentioned.

The guy I bought the PE from cut off the mounts, so I had to get a shop to make new mounts. I can get the muffler to hang a little higher if I mess with the clamps everywhere. The fact that it hangs a lower doesn't bother me as much as the additional length does (...that's what she said...).

Originally Posted by Wingnutts

That is pretty much exactly how mine looks on my E92. I'm on the fence about bringing back in an inch. I do wish though that it did sit a little higher.

[Phyrexia]

Originally Posted by clutchy

nice! I appreciate you posting those. So just to be clear you have the E92 version on your E90 and that's how it looks unmodified?

I assume you could have someone cut length back a bit and have them tightened up to the body a little more...

hmm... nice to know there are options out there.

thanks again!

Yes, I bought this exhaust used from a guy who had a E92 328i. It fits fine everywhere, the mounts are in the right place, everything seems fine. It is unmodified as far as the tips and pipe length goes (had to redo the mounts, as I may have previously mentioned.) I think the E92/93 bumper is physically deeper so the pipes are longer for that part.

[clutchy]

Originally Posted by Phyrexia

Yes, I bought this exhaust used from a guy who had a E92 328i. It fits fine everywhere, the mounts are in the right place, everything seems fine. It is unmodified as far as the tips and pipe length goes (had to redo the mounts, as I may have previously mentioned.) I think the E92/93 bumper is physically deeper so the pipes are longer for that part.

do you think the performance intake is worth the money? $900 is steep.

[Phyrexia]

Originally Posted by clutchy

do you think the performance intake is worth the money? $900 is steep.

The PI's bang-for-buck is questionable, but on the other hand I don't think it would be possible to make a higher-quality intake than the PI, if that makes sense. I'm happy. It looks really neat, it is easier (though still not as easy as my M3 was) to get to the filter element, it sounds great, and it really seemed give a butt dyno bump on the highway. It probably just lowers the IATs because of where it pulls air.

[BimmerNugget]

Hey,

Does the PE delete the secondary cats too? I see it deletes the resonator, but what about the secondary cats? Thanks

[Big Mexican Women]

Originally Posted by BimmerNugget

Hey,

Does the PE delete the secondary cats too? I see it deletes the resonator, but what about the secondary cats? Thanks

No, it does not delete the secondaries. I’d recommend replacing them with some bottle resonators such as vibrant or MBRP for some fantastic PE sound.

[atmosphericM]

That is the best comparison photo that there will ever be for this subject and I hope it sticks around on the internet for as long as these cars are popular.

[martinm0]

My PE looks pretty much exactly the same on my E90 (and I bought the E90 version). I think I have maybe 2.5"-3" left after the secondary cats from cutting the exhaust off, and not sure I can cut more and still feel like there is enough for the clamps to hold onto. And I don't want to hack up the PE Y pipe. My tips don't sag quite a much (I don't think), but I had to adjust several times to get them as high as I could, which is still not where I would want them.

I don't think I'm going to bother to do much more to make it more flush. Well, at least not at the moment...

[atmosphericM]

If I remember correctly, unfortunately when adjusting there is a trade-off between having the muffler sit "up" vs. "back/in." I wanted mine pushed as far back as posssible (not sticking out) so had to give up some perfection when it came to where it sits vertically. I never messed with adjusting where the y-pipe is.. that's not really where you get much adjustment anyway. It's all about swinging the muffler around and clamping the heck out of it with the clamp nearest the muffler. You can check the orientation of the hanger that is on the mid-pipe to see how it sits (the hanger there should be more or less straight up and down, maybe *slightly* angled so as to move the mid-pipe closer to the front of the car).

[TeinBMW]

So thats how they make that exhaust PURRRR...