Equal-length exhaust discussion: new S55 sounds

[Bonziii82]

Originally Posted by McBobby Jr

I think Catless Downpipes, Resonated Equal-Length Midpipe, and the AWE Race Axleback .

Based on the soundclips I've heard this setup seems to sound the best. I have stock DP, EL non-res (on order) and ZCP rear end. < -- This setup is seemingly second best. I'm considering changing to res EL and ordering catless downpipes, it will open up things for my BM3 tune as well. Decisions, decisions...

Note: I know the sound is subjective and it's hard to capture true tone using videos.

[RugbyBro]

Originally Posted by Bonziii82

< -- This setup is seemingly second best. I'm considering changing to res EL and ordering catless downpipes, it will open up things for my BM3 tune as well. Decisions, decisions...

Note: I know the sound is subjective and it's hard to capture true tone using videos.

Resonated midpipe still sounds great with stock DPs and muffler (especially if you can force the valves open with BM3 or controller). Same tone but less rasp and a little less bass low down. You could do that and then swap in DPs if you want more power/volume. Again it's pretty loud just with stock cats and hard to tell from inside due to insulation - have a friend do a drive by so you can gauge it.

[Singham14]

yeah i have the MADMAX muffler and it's loud when the valves are open, but i feel like it can be a little louder lol..... idk if i want to straight pipe it though, might introduce new rasp.

[1000hp]

Originally Posted by bsm.m4

I doubt it. So the original single midpipe - they literally cloned/stole it from Active Autowerke. The engineering and effort behind the AA EL midpipe is significantly more and my point is it's a lot harder to copy. VRSF just makes these from China, and I have no problem with China but my point is they completely ripped off the AA single midpipe product.

AA sources parts globally but assembles and does everything in America. It's a very high quality product.

It's dirty, but that's business for ya. If you don't patent it, it's going to be ripped-off. Which is probably why AA took the time and expense to file a patent for their equal-length pipes.

I don't know how hard it actually is to copy something like that. If companies can rip off complex long-tube headers, which they do, they can copy this midpipe. I actually considered buying a bunch of pre-bent stainless and building one myself (one single unit for my own car only), but I wouldn't have been able to build it as nicely as they did.

I went from the VRSF single midpipe to the AA EL, and the build quality between the two parts is very similar.
The VRSF fitment was perfect, stainless was quality, and the welds on the AA pipe were no better than the VRSF.
Whoever VRSF is using for manufacturing apparently has good QC.

[Bonziii82]

Originally Posted by RugbyBro

Resonated midpipe still sounds great with stock DPs and muffler (especially if you can force the valves open with BM3 or controller). Same tone but less rasp and a little less bass low down. You could do that and then swap in DPs if you want more power/volume. Again it's pretty loud just with stock cats and hard to tell from inside due to insulation - have a friend do a drive by so you can gauge it.

Thanks for this feedback, also a good idea. I'm going to change mine to resonated, it's a good chance I'll change the downpipes, later on, I don't plan on selling the car for the foreseeable future.

I'm looking for someone in the Atlanta area with an EL setup.

[RugbyBro]

As a PSA: if you're in the Bay Area and can help out with removal and reinstall of OE exhaust -> barad55 has an AA EL mid-pipe he can sell you

https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1822485

[six75LT]

Originally Posted by Soul Coughing

I also ordered from XPH, early march and I'm still waiting. If 8 weeks is the time then i should be getting it soon.

Originally Posted by Rantlers

Same, March 4th here.

just got told that new ETA is late may/early june... hate to bring negativity into this thread but its insane to push something back 3 months (was originally told late march by XPH.)

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by six75LT

just got told that new ETA is late may/early june... hate to bring negativity into this thread but its insane to push something back 3 months (was originally told late march by XPH.)

I know it's frustrating but I would not call it insane for ETA to get pushed during the Covid situation, it's actually quite normal.

[R N M]

Any people that had AA single that went to AA Equal Length and prefer the single setup?

I’m looking to submit order and just can’t make up my mind as all these videos have many variables- some sound great and others do not.

BTW i have a stock F80 comp and not planning to update other parts. Just looking for better / louder sound and more volume inside the cabin.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by R N M

Any people that had AA single that went to AA Equal Length and prefer the single setup?

I’m looking to submit order and just can’t make up my mind as all these videos have many variables- some sound great and others do not.

BTW i have a stock F80 comp and not planning to update other parts. Just looking for better / louder sound and more volume inside the cabin.

I did it on my M4, single to non-res EL to res-EL

I can't make up my mind on whether the resonated EL or single sound better.

I think in your case, you will like the single more since it will add more volume and a deeper mid-range tone

[RugbyBro]

Originally Posted by R N M

I’m looking to submit order and just can’t make up my mind as all these videos have many variables- some sound great and others do not.

Agree that it's hard to gauge via video - if you do order, you really can't go wrong with stock DPs and muffler. I would honestly advise everyone to start with that combo and not necessarily order a full setup at once. The one thing that videos don't really get across well is the depth of sound due to the relatively narrow sound band of casual recording devices, processing/compression, and user listening devices. If you truly have the valves open on a stock muffler, there is plenty of low end the builds progressively into a traditional turbo 6-cylinder shriek.

I think what you really need to determine is which sound you fundamentally prefer - the unique S55 unequal sound or the more traditional N55/B58 equalized sound. If it's the latter, I really don't think you'll be disappointed in any way by going EL. I do understand the frustration around shipping and production delays though - it may be a good opportunity to pick up a u-bend and x-pipe and have a shop weld those in similar to Spool's design on the first page of this thread. To this day, I think that his exhaust is one of the best examples and it's just some a res-delete, u-bend, and an x-pipe on the stock exhaust.

[Rantlers]

Originally Posted by six75LT

just got told that new ETA is late may/early june... hate to bring negativity into this thread but its insane to push something back 3 months (was originally told late march by XPH.)

.

[1000hp]

Originally Posted by R N M

Any people that had AA single that went to AA Equal Length and prefer the single setup?

I’m looking to submit order and just can’t make up my mind as all these videos have many variables- some sound great and others do not.

BTW i have a stock F80 comp and not planning to update other parts. Just looking for better / louder sound and more volume inside the cabin.

I went from single to resonated equal length. Everything on my car is stock, other than the midpipe.

With the Single, it killed all of the factory rasp, made the sound much deeper, and there was absolutely no drone anywhere, ever. The 100% stock exhaust had a mild drone in 6th gear on the interstate when the car wasn't fully warm. The single midpipe completely deleted the mild factory drone.
But, I didn't really like the tone with the single, and I wasn't sure how it would pair with an aftermarket rear section.

With the resonated equal-length, the sound is much better and more straight six-like. It has a nice, melodic 2JZ / Nissan RB kind of sound. With the resonated version there is no rasp (I tried it with the non-resonated rear pipes from my single mid, and it was a little raspy even with the other parts stock).
But... it does have a mild drone right at 3,000RPM. Nobody ever talks about it, and a lot of people swear that there is no drone at all from this midpipe. But it's there. It's brief, and it's fairly mild, but it is there. I was pretty disappointed the first time I drove the car. People with DCT cars may not hear it, because the DCT may not ever keep the engine at 3k long enough. But my car is a 6MT, and I am often at 3K RPM driving around town. The drone disappears after about 20 minutes of driving, so guys with cold start deletes may never hear it either. My commute to/from work is about 15 minutes. So most of the time I'm driving the car I have the 3K drone. I'm hoping that it goes away when I get a different muffler. If not, I will probably do the cold start delete to get rid of that as well as the loud-ass cold start.

Long story short, the Equal-Length is better sound. If you want the car to sound like a straight six and not like a farty shitbox, I highly recommend it.
If you plan on changing mufflers, the one guy with the youtube channel has a "just the sound" video of the single midpipe with Akra muffler, and it sounds great. So that could be a good option as well. There just isn't much video out there of the single mid with other mufflers.

[six75LT]

Originally Posted by Rantlers

.

i spoke to AA on the phone today (im not usually this much a PITA but want to get my midpipe before i ship my car out cross-country) and you/me are at the top of the current batch. they just havent received materials that they were supposed to receive a month ago

[McIntoshMotorSports]

Originally Posted by six75LT

i spoke to AA on the phone today (im not usually this much a PITA but want to get my midpipe before i ship my car out cross-country) and you/me are at the top of the current batch. they just havent received materials that they were supposed to receive a month ago

Everyone is buying up raw materials for months in advance, it's insane right now.

[Singham14]

anyone try like a straight pipe muffler with equal length?

[coxxoc]

Resonated equal length midpipe. Stock ZCP everything else.

[ntg44]

Originally Posted by Singham14

anyone try like a straight pipe muffler with equal length?

If you're referring to actual straight pipes after equal length merge, I don't recommend it. It's a bad time.

If you're referring to a straight through style of muffler, rather than a chambered muffler like the stock one, TGM exhaust uses this type of muffler, and I did as well in my experiments (sound clips in post #3 of this thread).

[R N M]

Originally Posted by 1000hp

I went from single to resonated equal length. Everything on my car is stock, other than the midpipe.

With the Single, it killed all of the factory rasp, made the sound much deeper, and there was absolutely no drone anywhere, ever. The 100% stock exhaust had a mild drone in 6th gear on the interstate when the car wasn't fully warm. The single midpipe completely deleted the mild factory drone.
But, I didn't really like the tone with the single, and I wasn't sure how it would pair with an aftermarket rear section.

With the resonated equal-length, the sound is much better and more straight six-like. It has a nice, melodic 2JZ / Nissan RB kind of sound. With the resonated version there is no rasp (I tried it with the non-resonated rear pipes from my single mid, and it was a little raspy even with the other parts stock).
But... it does have a mild drone right at 3,000RPM. Nobody ever talks about it, and a lot of people swear that there is no drone at all from this midpipe. But it's there. It's brief, and it's fairly mild, but it is there. I was pretty disappointed the first time I drove the car. People with DCT cars may not hear it, because the DCT may not ever keep the engine at 3k long enough. But my car is a 6MT, and I am often at 3K RPM driving around town. The drone disappears after about 20 minutes of driving, so guys with cold start deletes may never hear it either. My commute to/from work is about 15 minutes. So most of the time I'm driving the car I have the 3K drone. I'm hoping that it goes away when I get a different muffler. If not, I will probably do the cold start delete to get rid of that as well as the loud-ass cold start.

Long story short, the Equal-Length is better sound. If you want the car to sound like a straight six and not like a farty shitbox, I highly recommend it.
If you plan on changing mufflers, the one guy with the youtube channel has a "just the sound" video of the single midpipe with Akra muffler, and it sounds great. So that could be a good option as well. There just isn't much video out there of the single mid with other mufflers.

Thanks for write up.
The EL sounds tinny in certain videos and the then you have the burbles which prevents from hearing the true sound.

I like that the single is more of a deeper tone at all times but as you state doesn’t have the nice smooth sound that EL provides.

Do you get more sound inside on throttle with single or EL?

[Kuucheki]

A few quick pulls today. Videos don't do this midpipe justice.

AA non res and zcp muffler

View post on imgur.com

[1000hp]

Originally Posted by R N M

Thanks for write up.
The EL sounds tinny in certain videos and the then you have the burbles which prevents from hearing the true sound.

I like that the single is more of a deeper tone at all times but as you state doesn’t have the nice smooth sound that EL provides.

Do you get more sound inside on throttle with single or EL?

I have the resonated EL, so it's pretty quiet. Definitely more sound with the single, but it's kind of more of the same stock sound. Just without the rasp and a little deeper.

Mine never sounds tinny with the resonators. The non-res can definitely be tinny at times. Mostly when not fully warm. I think a lot of people make videos of the car when it's cold, or not fully warm, and that makes a night and day difference in sound with these cars.

[Kilabyte]

Originally Posted by 1000hp

I have the resonated EL, so it's pretty quiet. Definitely more sound with the single, but it's kind of more of the same stock sound. Just without the rasp and a little deeper.

Mine never sounds tinny with the resonators. The non-res can definitely be tinny at times. Mostly when not fully warm. I think a lot of people make videos of the car when it's cold, or not fully warm, and that makes a night and day difference in sound with these cars.

Agreed. My non res MPE will sound like a trumpet when cold. It takes a few minutes of driving (not just idling) to get it warm.