Posted by Adam Wilson in Chicago on August 14, 2004 at 20:37:02 from 69.208.192.10
In the slow saga to prep my M535i to pull the motor for rebuilding, today I pulled the exhaust off it. No biggie really, but getting all the hangers off was a bit of a bugger. I already had it disconnected from the downpipes a few weeks ago.
So I have to say .... this thing is heavy!! I've never had another vintage Bimmer's complete exhaust system to hold as a comparison, but this thing has to weigh 60 pounds at least! Sorry I don't have a picture (yet), but I'll describe it. Two pipes going down from the downpipes (remember, it's a euro so I have two pipes mating to the exhaust manifolds) into a small chamber, about the size of a cat. I don't think the car was fitted with a cat though when it was federalized so I assume this is part of the original exhaust. Then it goes back out into twin pipes to a larger enclosure (resonator?) then again into two pipes out to the can muffler and then the tips pop out the back.
I just can't get over how heavy it is. It's rusty in a few places, and not exactly pretty, but functional. The plan is to put some headers on the car after the rebuild and I'm thinking of a new exhaust that is tasteful and not too "new, bling-bling" BMW like a lot of what is out there. Any suggestions? Bav Autosport said that B&B Triflow can make a custom exhaust if I give them the details of what I have. Don't know about cost though, or how it will look (and sound) on the car.
Obviously finding something off the shelf to fit an E12 M535i is probably impossible. What are the other brands out there, Supersprint, Stromung, Borla? I don't know if they will make something to fit my car though.
Adam Wilson
'80 //M535i 4145018