[Slim415]

I live in San Francisco CA and the shop fees are expensive out here. So 5 hours of labor for the N54 downpipes cost about $700 and that's the cheapest I could find. The thought of spending $1,400 every 2 years to take out and put back in for SMOG has me feeling like I might need to do without this mod.

So how important are the DP's in any stage 1/2 build? I never imagined it would take 5 hours for install when I purchased them. For my other cars it was always a simple bolt on.

Anyways, how reliable is the "DP fix"? Would it work for a CA smog check?

[JM98]

Are you awd? Most places don't charge more than 3 hrs labor for downpipes. You can run any of the tunes with stock downpipes, but you'll be leaving some power on the table and be adding additional stress to the turbos. Also, any sort of burble tune will kill your converters.

[Delta0311]

OPs car is an IS so it is rwd. JM98 is right this is a 3hrs job at most, $700 is straight up robbery.

[Antetokounmpo]

$700 is robbery. I paid $315 for my xi which is way tougher than a rwd model.

No

[Slim415]

Yes my car is a 335is RWD MT. I mean I don't know what to say. All the shops say it's a 5 hour job and they all come to over $700. Are you guys saying that there is something that they don't know and it actually takes less time? Or are you saying that I just shouldn't get it because of its expensiveness. And also how effective is the DP fix for smog?

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by JM98

Are you awd? Most places don't charge more than 3 hrs labor for downpipes. You can run any of the tunes with stock downpipes, but you'll be leaving some power on the table and be adding additional stress to the turbos. Also, any sort of burble tune will kill your converters.

Plus if you do put burbles tune it's gonna sound very silent... my friend but burples and he has stock cats and you barely hear it.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

Originally Posted by Slim415

Yes my car is a 335is RWD MT. I mean I don't know what to say. All the shops say it's a 5 hour job and they all come to over $700. Are you guys saying that there is something that they don't know and it actually takes less time? Or are you saying that I just shouldn't get it because of its expensiveness. And also how effective is the DP fix for smog?

I have a 335is and shop took 3 hours as well. 300$ in labor.

[MooreBoost]

Originally Posted by Slim415

Yes my car is a 335is RWD MT. I mean I don't know what to say. All the shops say it's a 5 hour job and they all come to over $700. Are you guys saying that there is something that they don't know and it actually takes less time? Or are you saying that I just shouldn't get it because of its expensiveness. And also how effective is the DP fix for smog?

Are these just general independent mechanics, or do they specialize in BMW performance? A typical shop that doesn't do this often is just going to look up the book time, which might be 5 hours.

Do they just check for codes / check engine lights in San Fran or do they actually check your emissions?

[buster84]

If you were quoted $700 that's because replacing a working catalytic converter with another is illegal and more so if the pipe your replacing doesnt have them. The install outside of CA might be $350, but in CA any shop that does the install could loose their license if you dont prove the car is for offroad only purposes (towed in and out. Not registered for street driving ect...)

I'd just leave the stock ones on or learn to install them yourself. It's not worth the hassle at all if your paying someone to do it.

You could also reach out to VTT and see his prices.

[robrxt]

Maybe go with a high flow cat down pipe.

[Slim415]

So after talking it over with my FaceBook BMW group I came to the conclusion that he was looking up book labor time. So I told him that people who did the install themselves did it without actually having to drop the subframe or steering rack. So he's gonna do it and won't do the unecissary steps if he doesn't need to. He's an Audi/BMW/Mercedes shop and has always done right by me for the past 10 years so I fully trust him. And if it takes him less time then he will charge me less.

[mweisdorfer]

If you are in California, I'd recommend a Cobb exhaust & Cobb High Flow catted downpipes.

At the very least Cobb High Flow catted downpipes.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by Slim415

So after talking it over with my FaceBook BMW group I came to the conclusion that he was looking up book labor time. So I told him that people who did the install themselves did it without actually having to drop the subframe or steering rack. So he's gonna do it and won't do the unecissary steps if he doesn't need to. He's an Audi/BMW/Mercedes shop and has always done right by me for the past 10 years so I fully trust him. And if it takes him less time then he will charge me less.

It should be about 3 hours. Proficient shops that have done the install before can do it in 2 hours.

[mweisdorfer]

Installing them yourself isn't all that difficult. You just need the tools & watch a video or two. You are in a no salt state, so getting the cats separated from the mid-pipes can't be all the difficult to be honest.

[IllSic_Design]

I can do mine in 2 hours no problem. But I have taken them off and on a few times so I have plenty of experience of what to do/remove and no worries of frozen bolts/random issues. Shouldn't take a shop too long, ~3hr, as long as no random issues arise.

[studio54]

Got charged 250EUR for a 135i in an indy garage, but it wasn't done in 2 hours, i remember it was more like 4 hours or something. (Maybe it was the first time for them)

[Rob09msport]

I never had check engine light with stock midpipe cats so you might have shot at passing with them. If not do dp fix and your good as long as you have midpipe for visual you will pass.

[studio54]

Originally Posted by Rob09msport

I never had check engine light with stock midpipe cats so you might have shot at passing with them. If not do dp fix and your good as long as you have midpipe for visual you will pass.

No light with catless dp and stock tune ?

[Antetokounmpo]

Originally Posted by studio54

No light with catless dp and stock tune ?

you will certainly have a cel, you need a tune

[studio54]

Originally Posted by Antetokounmpo

you will certainly have a cel, you need a tune

yes i have MHD, i believe it disables CEL if you flash stage 1/1+/2/2+, but not for stage 0

[Silent9n54]

i did a 11.9 1/4 mile without downpipes, they do help but are definitely not necessary to make power