What to do with OEM exhaust?

[mestes1999]

What do most people do with the OEM exhaust? It's just sitting in my garage taking up space, is there any reason to keep it?

I can't imagine paying to have the OEM put back on then trying to sell the aftermarket is worth the time and effort at trade in?

[Pauldunlop13]

I ended up leaving mine at the dealership. I still have a Dinan Exhaust from my 228 in my garage. Didn’t feel like having 2 there doing nothing. They are one of the worst parts to store for resale or to revert when you sell your car.

Try to sell it on CL

[ilia]

You can try to sell it, or scrap it. I kept the original exhaust for my 335 and ended up giving it to the dealership, thinking they'll replace it, but they ended up scraping it. It wasn't worth the time to replace it. However, if you are leasing the car, I would think replacing the aftermarket exhaust with OEM would be required at turn in... But I'm definitely not a lease expert. Anyway, good luck with your decision.

[RickFLM4]

Sell to someone who needs it for a lease return and forgot to keep their own?

[ntg44]

Clean it and mount it on the wall in your garage to give it some of that "speed shop" flair you've always been looking for.

[cwazy1]

Mine is sitting outside under my deck. I've seen them sell for at most, 300-400$.

On my f30, I scrapped it. Then when I sold it, I had some buyers tell me the exhaust was too loud.. I guess thats the demographic for base 3 series buyers. I have a feeling that it won't be the case for my M3, but since I can tuck it away somewhere, I'm not too worried about keeping it long term..

[avex8]

I am looking to buy the full oem exhaust if anyone got one in SoCal (LA / San Diego area). The new CA exhaust law is bugging me

[SD ///M4]

Originally Posted by avex8

I am looking to buy the full oem exhaust if anyone got one in SoCal (LA / San Diego area). The new CA exhaust law is bugging me

I kept my stock exhaust after installing an MPE in 2016, but I'm also worried about the new law. I really hope that I don't get busted and have to put the stock exhaust back on, but at least I have one. I bolted three large hooks into the ceiling joists and hung it with both rope and chain.

Anyone that still has a stock exhaust should hang on to it. California owners may be looking for them this year.

For those that don't live in CA, we passed a law that went into effect on 1/1 that has a $1,000 fine for non-stock exhausts over 95dB. If you get busted you have to have the exhaust inspected and tested and replaced if necessary.

[AJJ3]

Originally Posted by SD ///M4

I kept my stock exhaust after installing an MPE in 2016, but I'm also worried about the new law. I really hope that I don't get busted and have to put the stock exhaust back on, but at least I have one. I bolted three large hooks into the ceiling joists and hung it with both rope and chain.

Anyone that still has a stock exhaust should hang on to it. California owners may be looking for them this year.

For those that don't live in CA, we passed a law that went into effect on 1/1 that has a $1,000 fine for non-stock exhausts over 95dB. If you get busted you have to have the exhaust inspected and tested and replaced if necessary.

Can a valved exhaust help you pass that 95dB level?

[Poiseuille]

I'd keep it. As mentioned above you may need it at lease turn-in, assuming you lease. If you own it you also may need it if you trade it to a dealer before it's CPO cycle is over. pia to store, I know, but you might end up glad you did.

[SD ///M4]

Originally Posted by AJJ3

Can a valved exhaust help you pass that 95dB level?

I found this video done by a California-licensed attorney who works out of a law firm in Burbank. It's over 30 minutes long and I haven't yet watched the whole thing, but right off the bat, starting at ~4:30, he talks about laws already on the books that make it illegal to have "a cutout, bypass, or similar device". I'm not an attorney, and don't have a device that manually alters the exhaust valve so I can't speak to exactly how it works, but on the face of it, adding something like this would appear to be illegal. Also, the 95dB limit has already been on the books.

I'm concerned because I have an MPE, and on the first day of a two-day HPDE at Laguna Seca, I got two sound violations. This was accelerating at WOT up the hill out of Turn 5 heading towards Turn 6, right past the sound booth. The sound limit at Laguna Seca for most events is 90db, considerably under the 95dB limit of the new law and IIRC, I was told that I recorded more than that.

There's also this article at Jalopnik, which also breaks it down in "plain English". They says that's the law isn't as bad as it's made out to be. Nonetheless, any interface with an LEO for something related to your car isn't a good thing.