ActiveAutowerke equal length mid-pipe tuned to sound beautiful on a F83

[M3Dreams]

tldr version: If you are the kind of person who loves sweet sounding factory setups and are not happy with the S55 sound, the following setup IMHO gets you to a perfectly aggressive and sweet but not over the top sounding S55, including tractor sound removed.

- 2018-2020 ZCP Exhaust (Factory).
- AA Midpipe with Passenger (one side) resonated (with AA resonator).
- Exhaust Flap closed on Driver's side (Non-Resonated side).
- Exhaust flap wide open on Passenger side (AA Resonated side).
- Both flaps unplugged in above state.
- ASD (Active Sound Design) deactivated.

Now for the full version of the journey.

My love for BMWs started with a drive in an E36 M3. Love at first drive but couldn't afford it at the time (fresh out of college). While cruising through the journey of career/life, I next ran into a co-worker equally crazy about BMWs. He had just ordered his third M3 which was an E46. After driving his car, I just knew I had to get my first BMW. In came a beautiful E46 330i with all packages (fully loaded). That sweet NA inline 6 M54B30 sounded so good for a sports sedan, I just loved the car like my first born.

After 8 years of ownership, I finally upgraded myself to an E90 M3 with the even sweeter sounding S65. Then life took twists and kids and SUV purchases came in the picture and 4 years later I had to let go the M3 and bought an E82 135i. It was a perfect blend between performance of a Baby M and daily drivability of a 3 series.

During the 6 years of ownership of that N54, I started tinkering with the factory exhaust setup and learned a lot after playing around with mid-pipe resonator removal, y-pipes from N55, and different combinations to dial in the right exhaust sound.

Then the kids grew taller (two sons) and it was time to move up to a 4 door 3 series F30 with the B58. While the factory exhaust on the B58 was setup adequately, something was amiss. I had finally accepted the fact that the sound of BMW non-NA engines is going to be different than what they sounded in the past. In went BMW PPK and PPE to make the F30 sound better. While it improved, it also introduced drone as my car was an automatic. Automatics tend to stay in lower rpm ranges where drone is more prevalent. I dialed it back down by adding resonators back in and while it improved, it still was not perfect.

Then Covid. Dang it, now I am hardly driving my 340 or my 987 Boxster S as everyone is working from home. The 340 barely got driven, the 987 put on less than 1000 miles in 2021. I finally caved in and decided to let go both cars and combine them into a 4 seat convertible for the family as that was the only time we drove anywhere as a family. Found a sweet 2020 F83 with less than 4K miles on it with exactly the color combo I wanted. I was a bit worried about the "tractor" like exhaust sound threads and was hoping it would sound better as I would be driving with the top down most of the time.

Well, as we all know, I was highly disappointed at the startup sound. From the sweet sounding NA M54, and S65, and then to non-NA N54, and B58, this was the biggest let down for me. The car just didn't sound right.

So the search began. Now before I mention the journey to perfect sound over the last year, I need to tell you what my goals and preferences are in a sweet sounding ride. I am definitely not the type of guy who likes to announce my arrival 3 blocks away. I like a low, deep, almost V8 sounding exhaust tone that turns into an aggressive tenor in the 4K and above RPM range. Again, not over-bearing, ear piercing, backfiring sound that screams your presence. I am sure a lot of people love that but its just not my cup of tea. So first and foremost, the sound objectives were as follows:

1) Tractor sounding startup has to go.
2) No drone.
3) Burbles are ok but no need for backfiring gunshots.
4) Should make me want to drive the car everywhere.

I started with AA Equal Length Midpipes (Non-Resonated). Tractor sound successfully removed. Score! ASD deactivated as well. However, now the setup had a nasty high-pitched buzzing drone at 3K rpm which to sensitive ears was almost hurtful. I had to get rid of it. I decided to go the AA Resonated pipes which can be ordered independently of the whole exhaust system from AA. I introduced the resonated pipes into the system. While the drone went away, the car got a lot quieter again. And during this whole time, due to the aggressive factory BMW resonator being removed, I began to hear exhaust rattle at startup. Once the exhaust would warm up and expand, the rattles would go away. The rattles only lasted a few minutes into the drive after a cold startup. So annoying, but livable too.

At this point I had started to give up but thought I would give it one last chance. Having the straight pipes left over, I introduced one of them on the drivers side only, to get a bit more aggressive tone back. Voila! we are back. Sound is just about right, but we still have a bit of high-pitched 3K drone back as well. So I decided to close the exhaust flap on the non-resonated drivers side pipe and pull the flap plug so it stays shut. Wow, the sound got deeper, and drone is gone because the drivers side exhaust is getting routed through the muffler. BEAUTIFUL. Objective 2 and 3 achieved!

Now for the finale. I drove the car for a couple of months using "Efficient" Engine setting when I wanted it to be quiet, and "Sport" when I wanted the Passenger side flap to open and make the exhaust sound aggressive. This still bothered me as I had to hit M1 every time I wanted those settings to achieve the right sound balance. We all know BMW in their infinite wisdom have also programmed the flaps to close and open at different rpms under different conditions and this makes the sound not consistent. The last thing I did was to get the Passenger side exhaust flap to open position and unplug the exhaust flap in that position so it remains wide open. OMG, Objective 4 ACHIEVED!

Now I drive the car every chance I get, top up or down, its the perfectly balanced sound. Startup is aggressive but not earth shaking. Its consistent no matter what condition. My neighbor, who also loves BMWs, walked over to my driveway and said, that is the best sounding BMW he has ever heard. He said he rushes to his window to hear it roll by. Some might say I might be robbing the 5hp gain that BMW engineers worked into the exhaust system and the programming of the flaps, but my answer is that I will sacrifice the 5hp any day if it makes me want to drive the car everyday. Sound is much more important to me in this ever increasing minimal feedback based car industry today.

PS: I am working with the boss of the house to acquire an F87 M2C and if that comes through, first order of business would be to install the exact same exhaust setup on it.

[TractionControlDelete]

Originally Posted by M3Dreams

tldr version: If you are the kind of person who loves sweet sounding factory setups and are not happy with the S55 sound, the following setup IMHO gets you to a perfectly aggressive and sweet but not over the top sounding S55, including tractor sound removed.

- 2018-2020 ZCP Exhaust (Factory).
- AA Midpipe with Passenger (one side) resonated (with AA resonator).
- Exhaust Flap closed on Driver's side (Non-Resonated side).
- Exhaust flap wide open on Passenger side (AA Resonated side).
- Both flaps unplugged in above state.
- ASD (Active Sound Design) deactivated.

Now for the full version of the journey.

My love for BMWs started with a drive in an E36 M3. Love at first drive but couldn't afford it at the time (fresh out of college). While cruising through the journey of career/life, I next ran into a co-worker equally crazy about BMWs. He had just ordered his third M3 which was an E46. After driving his car, I just knew I had to get my first BMW. In came a beautiful E46 330i with all packages (fully loaded). That sweet NA inline 6 M54B30 sounded so good for a sports sedan, I just loved the car like my first born.

After 8 years of ownership, I finally upgraded myself to an E90 M3 with the even sweeter sounding S65. Then life took twists and kids and SUV purchases came in the picture and 4 years later I had to let go the M3 and bought an E82 135i. It was a perfect blend between performance of a Baby M and daily drivability of a 3 series.

During the 6 years of ownership of that N54, I started tinkering with the factory exhaust setup [...]

Nice breakdown. Curious though, why do you say there is a 5hp loss?

[M3Dreams]

I am assuming 5hp loss and have no concrete evidence. The only reason I say that is because I have read articles/threads stating that BMW has engineered those active flaps to open/close under certain conditions to control building up of back pressures to help turbos spool up. Personally I am not sure if this really applies and I think they did that only to allow cats to warm up faster. The minimal exhaust flow route change at high rpm due to one flap being closed all the time is the only thing I can say might attribute to the 2-3 (max 5) Hp loss. Exhaust flow, by the time it reaches the muffler box is inconsequential IMHO. This is the reason most companies can’t make tall claims of hp increases when selling axle back exhaust setups. The mid pipe, resonators, and cats make a difference in hp, but muffler boxes at the very end of the exhaust hardly makes a difference.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Thank you for the review

[M3Dreams]

And Yes, Mike above gave me excellent deals and customer service on all AA related purchases. He is impeccable and gives very good advice as well.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by M3Dreams

And Yes, Mike above gave me excellent deals and customer service on all AA related purchases. He is impeccable and gives very good advice as well.

[Gotulukn]

I have an f83 with active's EQL resonated midpipes WITH resonated downpipes. I love the sound, sounds plenty loud! Your take on having one side straight pipe and one resonated, with the one flap closed.. I'm at a lost for words, but I can see how it can balance the EQL sound with one side unresonated but flap closed.. I know videos wont do it justice, but post a video!

[N44RP]

My car sounded like utter ass with the equal length exhaust (resonated & ZCP muffler).
Even more embarrassing with the top down. Removed the following week, never again.

[ONLYACTIVE]

Originally Posted by M3Dreams

tldr version: If you are the kind of person who loves sweet sounding factory setups and are not happy with the S55 sound, the following setup IMHO gets you to a perfectly aggressive and sweet but not over the top sounding S55, including tractor sound removed.

- 2018-2020 ZCP Exhaust (Factory).
- AA Midpipe with Passenger (one side) resonated (with AA resonator).
- Exhaust Flap closed on Driver's side (Non-Resonated side).
- Exhaust flap wide open on Passenger side (AA Resonated side).
- Both flaps unplugged in above state.
- ASD (Active Sound Design) deactivated.

Now for the full version of the journey.

My love for BMWs started with a drive in an E36 M3. Love at first drive but couldn't afford it at the time (fresh out of college). While cruising through the journey of career/life, I next ran into a co-worker equally crazy about BMWs. He had just ordered his third M3 which was an E46. After driving his car, I just knew I had to get my first BMW. In came a beautiful E46 330i with all packages (fully loaded). That sweet NA inline 6 M54B30 sounded so good for a sports sedan, I just loved the car like my first born.

After 8 years of ownership, I finally upgraded myself to an E90 M3 with the even sweeter sounding S65. Then life took twists and kids and SUV purchases came in the picture and 4 years later I had to let go the M3 and bought an E82 135i. It was a perfect blend between performance of a Baby M and daily drivability of a 3 series.

During the 6 years of ownership of that N54, I started tinkering with the factory exhaust setup and learned a lot after playing around with mid-pipe resonator removal, y-pipes from N55, and different combinations to dial in the right exhaust sound.

Then the kids grew taller (two sons) and it was time to move up to a 4 door 3 series F30 with the B58. While the factory exhaust on the B58 was setup adequately, something was amiss. I had finally accepted the fact that the sound of BMW non-NA engines is going to be different than what they sounded in the past. In went BMW PPK and PPE to make the F30 sound better. While it improved, it also introduced drone as my car was an automatic. Automatics tend to stay in lower rpm ranges where drone is more prevalent. I dialed it back down by adding resonators back in and while it improved, it still was not perfect.

Then Covid. Dang it, now I am hardly driving my 340 or my 987 Boxster S as everyone is working from home. The 340 barely got driven, the 987 put on less than 1000 miles in 2021. I finally caved in and decided to let go both cars and combine them into a 4 seat convertible for the family as that was the only time we drove anywhere as a family. Found a sweet 2020 F83 with less than 4K miles on it with exactly the color combo I wanted. I was a bit worried about the "tractor" like exhaust sound threads and was hoping it would sound better as I would be driving with the top down most of the time.

Well, as we all know, I was highly disappointed at the startup sound. From the sweet sounding NA M54, and S65, and then to non-NA N54, and B58, this was the biggest let down for me. The car just didn't sound right.

So the search began. Now before I mention the journey to perfect sound over the last year, I need to tell you what my goals and preferences are in a sweet sounding ride. I am definitely not the type of guy who likes to announce my arrival 3 blocks away. I like a low, deep, almost V8 sounding exhaust tone that turns into an aggressive tenor in the 4K and above RPM range. Again, not over-bearing, ear piercing, backfiring sound that screams your presence. I am sure a lot of people love that but its just not my cup of tea. So first and foremost, the sound objectives were as follows:

1) Tractor sounding startup has to go.
2) No drone.
3) Burbles are ok but no need for backfiring gunshots.
4) Should make me want to drive the car everywhere.

I started with AA Equal Length Midpipes (Non-Resonated). Tractor sound successfully removed. Score! ASD deactivated as well. However, now the setup had a nasty high-pitched buzzing drone at 3K rpm which to sensitive ears was almost hurtful. I had to get rid of it. I decided to go the AA Resonated pipes which can be ordered independently of the whole exhaust system from AA. I introduced the resonated pipes into the system. While the drone went away, the car got a lot quieter again. And during this whole time, due to the aggressive factory BMW resonator being removed, I began to hear exhaust rattle at startup. Once the exhaust would warm up and expand, the rattles would go away. The rattles only lasted a few minutes into the drive after a cold startup. So annoying, but livable too.

At this point I had started to give up but thought I would give it one last chance. Having the straight pipes left over, I introduced one of them on the drivers side only, to get a bit more aggressive tone back. Voila! we are back. Sound is just about right, but we still have a bit of high-pitched 3K drone back as well. So I decided to close the exhaust flap on the non-resonated drivers side pipe and pull the flap plug so it stays shut. Wow, the sound got deeper, and drone is gone because the drivers side exhaust is getting routed through the muffler. BEAUTIFUL. Objective 2 and 3 achieved!

Now for the finale. I drove the car for a couple of months using "Efficient" Engine setting when I wanted it to be quiet, and "Sport" when I wanted the Passenger side flap to open and make the exhaust sound aggressive. This still bothered me as I had to hit M1 every time I wanted those settings to achieve the right sound balance. We all know BMW in their infinite wisdom have also programmed the flaps to close and open at different rpms under different conditions and this makes the sound not consistent. The last thing I did was to get the Passenger side exhaust flap to open position and unplug the exhaust flap in that position so it remains wide open. OMG, Objective 4 ACHIEVED!

Now I drive the car every chance I get, top up or down, its the perfectly balanced sound. Startup is aggressive but not earth shaking. Its consistent no matter what condition. My neighbor, who also loves BMWs, walked over to my driveway and said, that is the best sounding BMW he has ever heard. He said he rushes to his window to hear it roll by. Some might say I might be robbing the 5hp gain that BMW engineers worked into the exhaust system and the programming of the flaps, but my answer is that I will sacrifice the 5hp any day if it makes me want to drive the car everyday. Sound is much more important to me in this ever increasing minimal feedback based car industry today.

PS: I am working with the boss of the house to acquire an F87 M2C and if that comes through, first order of business would be to install the exact same exhaust setup on it.

Thank you for the extensive review, very interesting and informative on your different combinations.

[TRman]

Originally Posted by N44RP

My car sounded like utter ass with the equal length exhaust (resonated & ZCP muffler).
Even more embarrassing with the top down. Removed the following week, never again.

Really? Was that with catless downpipes?

[M3Dreams]

Originally Posted by TRman

Really? Was that with catless downpipes?

From his for sale listing seems like he had the setup combined with VRSF Catless down pipes. I can bet that made it sound over the top loud.