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      12-09-2018, 08:38 AM   #1
Alan l.
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18 ZCP secondary cat delete/swap w. Magnaflow 14156

First off Ive always thought the F80 was the perfect BMW but the one thing that bothered me was how it sounded. I've literally listened to every damn possible exhaust combination online in search for something that actually sounds better than stock and came up disappointed every single time. Louder doesn't mean better imo despite what most here seem to think...

I came to the conclusion that the stock ZCP exhaust tone is probably the deepest sounding one out there which is what I preferred so I started looking into people who modified their stock exhaust threads. The Magnaflow 14156 is the most popular choice, same 2.5" diameter size and its cheap so I ordered it.

$95 each shipped from amazon ($190 total)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I opted to just remove/swap the secondary cats and left the stock resonator in place so can do this in steps and see exactly how each section would affect sound. If the cats weren't enough then the next move would be to replace the stock resonator etc...

Took my car to a place called King Muffler in Corona Queens that had tons of good reviews on google and yelp figuring this is a simple job but I wanted a legit exhaust shop to do the work incase they run into any issues. Its a hole in a wall type place but it was clean, organized and inexpensive. Got to the shop at 8am and I was out of there by 8:45 for $145. I wouldn't hesitate to go back to them for any future exhaust related work.

Work about to begin with my 3yo standing guard


The stock secondary cats


One out..


what's inside


all done.


Sound (I have ASD turned OFF and OEM downpipes)

At first start up I noticed the difference immediately. Not a massive difference but noticeable. Driving home you can tell there is maybe 15-20% more volume and the tone is deeper. There is also less rasp and I can only hear a hint of it now at close to redline where as before I heard it earlier in the power band. I think having essentially dual resonator setup (magna flow and OEM) it helped with the rasp and made the tone deeper which I prefer. With the valves closed you can't really tell anything has changed. If I didn't tell my wife she wouldn't have noticed. Once the valves are open you can hear the difference. Again not drastic but its there.

On the highway it sounds like stock while cruising and you only hear it when you romp on the throttle. Zero drone

The most important part for me was to gain some volume, lose the nasty rasp and deepen the exhaust tone which this mod accomplished. For a total of $335 spent you can't go wrong to give this a shot. I have no issues spending money on a aftermarket setup but if i'm not happy with the sound then what's the point...

All in all I highly recommend this setup for those that want a deeper but slightly louder exhaust tone. Absolutely zero downside that I could see and I don't notice anymore exhaust smell by losing the two secondary cats. Getting rid of some nasty rasp was a big plus for me and that alone was worth it.

Alan

Here's a after shot
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      12-09-2018, 08:52 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan l. View Post
First off Ive always thought the F80 was the perfect BMW but the one thing that bothered me was how it sounded. I've literally listened to every damn possible exhaust combination online in search for something that actually sounds better than stock and came up disappointed every single time. Louder doesn't mean better imo despite what most here seem to think...

I came to the conclusion that the stock ZCP exhaust tone is probably the deepest sounding one out there which is what I preferred so I started looking into people who modified their stock exhaust threads. The Magnaflow 14156 is the most popular choice, same 2.5" diameter size and its cheap so I ordered it.

$95 each shipped from amazon ($190 total)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...UTF8&psc=1

I opted to just remove/swap the secondary cats and left the stock resonator in place so can do this in steps and see exactly how each section would affect sound. If the cats weren't enough then the next move would be to replace the stock resonator etc...

Took my car to a place called King Muffler in Corona Queens that had tons of good reviews on google and yelp figuring this is a simple job but I wanted a legit exhaust shop to do the work incase they run into any issues. Its a hole in a wall type place but it was clean, organized and inexpensive. Got to the shop at 8am and I was out of there by 8:45 for $145. I wouldn't hesitate to go back to them for any future exhaust related work.

Work about to begin...


The stock secondary cats


One out..


what's inside


all done.


Sound (I have ASD turned OFF and OEM downpipes)

At first start up I noticed the difference immediately. Not a massive difference but noticeable. Driving home you can tell there is maybe 15-20% more volume and the tone is deeper. There is also less rasp and I can only hear a hint of it now at close to redline where as before I heard it earlier in the power band. I think having essentially dual resonator setup (magna flow and OEM) it helped with the rasp and made the tone deeper which I prefer. With the valves closed you can't really tell anything has changed. If I didn't tell my wife should wouldn't have noticed. Once the valves are open you can hear the difference. Again not drastic but its there.

On the highway it sounds like stock while cruising and you only hear it when you romp on the throttle. Zero drone

The most important part for me was to gain some volume, lose the nasty rasp and deepen the exhaust tone which this mod accomplished. For a total of $335 spent you can't go wrong to give this a shot.

All in all I highly recommend this setup for those that want a deeper but slightly louder exhaust tone. Absolutely zero downside that I could see and I don't notice anymore exhaust smell by losing the two secondary cats. Getting some of the nasty rasp was a big plus for me and that alone was worth it.

Alan

Here's a after shot :
You know the next question...sound clips...? lol
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      12-09-2018, 08:58 AM   #3
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lol

Sorry no clips. Honestly its hard to capture true sound using an iPhone. You guys are just going to have to trust my sound description
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      12-09-2018, 09:00 AM   #4
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Great job 👍. I Plan on the same mod but adding an X-pipe right after the resonators to simulate the AA mid-pipe design on my M2c
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      12-09-2018, 09:03 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by b18flip View Post
Great job 👍. I Plan on the same mod but adding an X-pipe right after the resonators to simulate the AA mid-pipe design on my M2c
I thought about doing the same thing by adding a X pipe but found out the stock resonator is already a H pipe design so didn't think swapping that would make much of a difference. I also didn't want to mess with the piping by the oem resonator incase I ever do decide to get a aftermarket slip on exhaust that needs to line up with the stock piping location there.
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      12-09-2018, 11:04 AM   #6
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I've done the same and concur. Same price from ebay and my install cost was 100$. I dropped the entire muffler assembly to carry to a custom shop.
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      12-09-2018, 03:25 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan l. View Post
The most important part for me was to gain some volume, lose the nasty rasp and deepen the exhaust tone which this mod accomplished.
Thanks for being the guinea pig on this modification. I have a ZCP and my sole wish is to reduce the amount of rasp with the valves open. If this cat delete + resonator installation gets me that plus a bit deeper and louder sound I am going to do it! Maybe removing the secondary cats will free up a few HP too
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      12-11-2018, 09:05 AM   #8
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this seems like the way to go, probably going to do this.
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      12-11-2018, 11:48 AM   #9
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states with emission testing, will this pass?
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      12-11-2018, 12:36 PM   #10
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Not sure but here in NY new cars doesn't need to do the sniffer test until its several years old. My shop just hooks it up to the obdii to pass all of my cars. This mod would be eqiuvalent to those with full exhaust systems that also removes the secondary cats.
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      12-11-2018, 01:18 PM   #11
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I don't see why it would be a problem. There are no sensors in the secondary cats. The system readiness will read as though everything is fine
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      12-22-2018, 01:13 PM   #12
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After two weeks with this setup I’m still very happy with it. Def better sounding than stock with the valves open and just like stock with it closed. Seems like it got even deeper after a few heat cycles but that could just be in my head lol.

Going to look for a exhaust valve controller that works on my 18 now...

Alan

Last edited by Alan l.; 12-22-2018 at 06:24 PM..
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      12-22-2018, 04:53 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan l. View Post
After two weeks with this setup I’m still very happy with it. Def better sounding than stock with the valves open and just like stock with it closed. Seems like it got even deeper after a few heat cycles but that could just be in my head lol.

Going to look for a exhaust valve controller they works on my 18 now...

Alan
Thanks for the writeup, this is good stuff. I also have an 18' ZCP, and would like more volume and deepness....cant say I notice ANY rasp though even in Sport+ (unless the engine is cold- cold start)...

Question: Did you notice any gain in power? I suppose it would be very small, but still dumping a set of cats should help power right?
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      12-22-2018, 06:23 PM   #14
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This car has rasp in the upper rev range when you are going WOT. Can’t say I notice any power bump. If there is it would be very small and hard to feel in this already fast car. In theory it should free up the exhaust flow slightly by removing the secondary cats.
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      12-22-2018, 08:56 PM   #15
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Originally Posted by Alan l. View Post
This car has rasp in the upper rev range when you are going WOT. Can’t say I notice any power bump. If there is it would be very small and hard to feel in this already fast car. In theory it should free up the exhaust flow slightly by removing the secondary cats.
Thanks for the response. That makes sense. Again though regarding the 'rasp', i just don't get it lol. I've taken my 18' F80 ZCP 6MT into the 6k rpm range many times, and the only time I've ever noticed rasp is when the M isn't 'fully warmed up, and 'cold start' is still present... but I'll look out now for it, as I'm curious as to how I'm not noticing..
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      12-23-2018, 07:45 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jninja View Post
Thanks for the response. That makes sense. Again though regarding the 'rasp', i just don't get it lol. I've taken my 18' F80 ZCP 6MT into the 6k rpm range many times, and the only time I've ever noticed rasp is when the M isn't 'fully warmed up, and 'cold start' is still present... but I'll look out now for it, as I'm curious as to how I'm not noticing..

Drive through a tunnel or under a highway overpass and floor it. It’s super obvious then. I refer to it as a swarm of bees. Can’t stand it. Luckily I can’t hear it in normal driving, unless the road has some concrete median to bounce off of.
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      12-24-2018, 10:33 AM   #17
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Anyone know if this will work with the full MPE?
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      12-26-2018, 09:11 AM   #18
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I believe MPE retains the front portion of the exhaust where the secondary cats are so don't see why this wouldn't work as well.

Alan
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      03-16-2019, 10:09 AM   #19
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Not to resurrect this thread but I was lucky enough to find a second stock midpipe locally. Dropped it off this morning to weld the resonators in and will cut before oem resonator and clamp to my stock system. I didn’t want to deal with welding the secondary cats back in if I ever had to, and this quick swap solution will be much simpler for me. I should have it clamped on by Monday hopefully, will give my opinion and will try to get a decent recording for everyone. Greatly looking forward to this
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      03-19-2019, 05:39 PM   #20
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Ok so resonators are installed! Initial impressions are that at least for me, there is no discernible difference in volume vs the secondary cats. Cold start with valves open is a tad louder, but driving with windows up or down has no noticeable difference in volume.

The one area where this mod shows itself is under wide open throttle. As was mentioned, the high rpm rasp is gone as far as I can tell. I floored it under some highway overpasses and the cringey buzz is completely gone from outside the car. From inside the car, I have active sound unplugged, and the snarl that I used to get is replaced by a silky smooth, ever so slightly bassier tone. With valves unplugged there is absolutely no drone with windows open or closed.

In the end, this mod is not a volume mod, but strictly a tone mod. If I were to compare now to stock so far, I would say that from the outside the tone is much better, but from inside the car, some of that raw snarl is lost but replaced with a pleasantly bassy addition to stock tone.

Total cost for me was $200 for resonators, $180 for separate stock midpipe (optional), and $150 for install, coming out to $530 total. I used a second midpipe for an easy swap back to stock, and I think I can get some money back on the used market for this. But for just over $500, this sounds better than other cat bypass pipes I’ve heard, and if you want to remove rasp without increasing stock exhaust volume, this is the mod for you.

I will try to record a video later this week with a legit camera and upload sometime next week for everyone.
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      03-22-2019, 02:50 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ntgarage44 View Post
Ok so resonators are installed! Initial impressions are that at least for me, there is no discernible difference in volume vs the secondary cats. Cold start with valves open is a tad louder, but driving with windows up or down has no noticeable difference in volume.

The one area where this mod shows itself is under wide open throttle. As was mentioned, the high rpm rasp is gone as far as I can tell. I floored it under some highway overpasses and the cringey buzz is completely gone from outside the car. From inside the car, I have active sound unplugged, and the snarl that I used to get is replaced by a silky smooth, ever so slightly bassier tone. With valves unplugged there is absolutely no drone with windows open or closed.

In the end, this mod is not a volume mod, but strictly a tone mod. If I were to compare now to stock so far, I would say that from the outside the tone is much better, but from inside the car, some of that raw snarl is lost but replaced with a pleasantly bassy addition to stock tone.

Total cost for me was $200 for resonators, $180 for separate stock midpipe (optional), and $150 for install, coming out to $530 total. I used a second midpipe for an easy swap back to stock, and I think I can get some money back on the used market for this. But for just over $500, this sounds better than other cat bypass pipes I’ve heard, and if you want to remove rasp without increasing stock exhaust volume, this is the mod for you.

I will try to record a video later this week with a legit camera and upload sometime next week for everyone.
I would like to hear it. I have the MPE on my F80 and am also looking to get rid of the secodary Cats and replace them with Vibrant resonators for more free flowing /lower tone / and less rasp. I don't think anybody has done this before with an MPE.
Thanks!!!
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      03-22-2019, 02:53 PM   #22
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Originally Posted by ssgm1x View Post
I would like to hear it. I have the MPE on my F80 and am also looking to get rid of the secodary Cats and replace them with Vibrant resonators for more free flowing /lower tone / and less rasp. I don't think anybody has done this before with an MPE.
Thanks!!!
Will post a video next week! I'll have access to some legit camera and recording equipment so it'll be pretty high fidelity.
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