[Mr. 5]

I took some clips today and they came out crappy.
I really need another guy to help--hint...hint.

[ramorendez]

I'm back in town. PM me and maybe we can work something out

[Mr. 5]

Originally Posted by ramorendez

I'm back in town. PM me and maybe we can work something out

Sounds great man!
Thanks!

[MisterBMW]

I understand Mr. 5 's car is a manual. I would appreciate if someone who has this exhaust with HFCs on an auto transmission car, share if your car experience any DRONE ?

[Mr. 5]

Originally Posted by ramorendez

I'm back in town. PM me and maybe we can work something out

I'm looking forward to meeting you Friday!!

[Nick@aep]

Originally Posted by Mr. 5

I'm looking forward to meeting you Friday!!

I'm looking forward to seeing the videos that come of it!

p.s.

Craig, youre gonna miss streets of willow on friday!

[Mr. 5]

Originally Posted by Nick@Autobahn

I'm looking forward to seeing the videos that come of it!

p.s.

Craig, youre gonna miss streets of willow on friday!

Yah sorry, but I'm hanging with my daughter on Friday most of the day.
I'll drop my girl off at my parents for the runs.

[Olagüe]

great!!

[Olagüe]

congrats!

[ramorendez]

Originally Posted by Mr. 5

Yah sorry, but I'm hanging with my daughter on Friday most of the day.
I'll drop my girl off at my parents for the runs.

What time are you thinking on Fri?

[Mr. 5]

Originally Posted by ramorendez

What time are you thinking on Fri?

Earlier the better.
How about 8:30 or 9?

[ramorendez]

Originally Posted by Mr. 5

Earlier the better.
How about 8:30 or 9?

Let's meet at 9 - hopefully I won't run into too much traffic. Let me know where you want to meet exactly.

[Mr. 5]

Originally Posted by ramorendez

Let's meet at 9 - hopefully I won't run into too much traffic. Let me know where you want to meet exactly.

Thanks a bunch for everything!
It's going to be a great story to tell my grand kids!

For everyone that missed it, here's the new thread that I started:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229069

[DrivingMachine]

Originally Posted by Mr. 5

First off, this review is a little long, but IMO, worth it. Grab a beverage and enjoy!

There are many exhausts on the market and many choices.
The question that one needs to ask before purchasing is, “What does one want from an exhaust?”
Is the only concern the noise and the sound?
Is the concern about the increase in power and torque?
What about the ease of installation and the fitment. Should that be a concern?
If you care about all of the above then I would highly suggest the Autobahn Exotics (AE) exhaust.

I am seriously blown away with how well this exhaust is made and how straight through it is, yet it does such a good job making it sound as good as it does.

AE makes the exhaust with the quad tips as well, and if I had the appropriate bumper, I would have definitely chosen the quad tips. I’ve seen the quad tips in person and they are beautiful!

Installation and Quality

Since this exhaust is in 3 sections, it’s very easy to install each part. The best thing I like about the installation is that each piece is flanged and doesn’t require a slip fit and clamps. I have had my share with exhausts that are slip fitted, and it was alright for the install, but a PITA to take off. Clamps get over tightened and pipes become crimped. I’ve found that there’s a fine line between too loose and leaking to over tightening and crimping. Then again, maybe it’s a personal issue.

The flanged sections prove a point. It proves that AE took their time and did a lot of research with the fitment of this exhaust because there is no room for error. It’s obvious that they didn’t cut any corners whatsoever.
The gaskets that are included are top notch, and the bolts are of perfect size.
I also noticed that AE thought about the way the section 1 pipes connect to the Downpipes. It’s easier to access the bolts. Since I’ve gone through so many arrangements of exhausts, I’ve found that these bolts were usually a pain to get to, but it was quite easy with the AE exhaust. They mandrel bent the pipes in a way where it was easy to get to the bolts.

The pipes are T304 Stainless and all of the sections are mandrel bent. I also really like how the pipes aren’t polished and shiny. Seriously, who cares about the pipes being shiny when you’re never going to see them? I guess the point that I'm trying to make is that I believe that some companies focus too much on how nice and polished their piping is when they should have spent the money in other areas instead of the polishing.

The mufflers are polished and so are the tips. IMO, I could go without polished mufflers as well, but the mufflers do look pretty good from behind. The 3.5” polished stainless steel tips are my favorite, they are resonated so they also play a role with the sound. They just look so fricken cool!

Sound

First off, I have the Ultimate Racing (UR) catless Downpipes (DPs), so by adding the AE exhaust, I went completely catless. I was expecting this exhaust to be unbelievably and unbearably loud. I mean, think about this…I’m going from high flow cats, X pipe, Borla muffler to no cats, no X pipe, no resonators, and just mufflers with resonated tips.
I started it up, and it was a deep mellow sound. It sounded soooo good!
I revved it up and it was perfect!
I let it idle for a bit and then took it for a spin.
This exhaust does exactly what exhausts should do. It’s quiet when you want it to be, and it’s quiet when cruising, but when you get on it, watch out—It screams!
There’s absolutely no rasp! Seriously now, there’s no resonators and no cats, and there’s no rasp? Truly amazing!

The only thing that was bothering me was the emissions. I’m constantly driving the family around and I could smell the CO2 when I would stop for a red light. If I could smell it, I knew that my daughter would be able to smell it, so I opted to install the High Flow Cats (HFCs).
I talked to Nick at AE, and he was saying that the cats that they offer in their HFC version are close to identical to mine. The insides are metallic and configured exactly the same way.

So what changed after I added the cats? Besides the no smell--not a whole lot. The sound dropped a tad and I seriously can’t even tell between power. It feels exactly the same.

IMO, if you are already running catless DPs, I would highly recommend the HFC version of the AE exhaust. You aren’t going to add that much power if anything at all, and you’ll be at least helping a bit with the environment.

Power

I didn’t have the time to do before and after dynos or any before and after ¼ mile runs, but it feels more responsive. I honestly can’t tell between no cats and the high flow cats, so I believe the high flow cats are the way to go.

Why not go with HFC DPs? I had HFC DPs in the past but I read a very informative brief that was written by a Development Engineer from Garrett Turbochargers. In a nut shell, relieving pressure closest to the turbos will create a quicker spool. X pipes or any combination of the exhaust pipes down stream only creates more back pressure. X pipes are great for naturally aspirated engines since there is more of a scavenging affect that is taking place. Unlike Forced Inducted engines, NA cars rely on some back pressure to keep the scavenging going. (For those who are interested in the complete write up by the Garrett Engineer, you can click here)

So, why was I running an X pipe with my previous system? I did it strictly for sound and I have always mentioned that if I didn’t run an X pipe, I would most likely get more power, but it didn’t bother me since I was getting the sound that I desired.
Well now, I can have my cake and eat it too.
I have an unbelievably sounding exhaust, and it flows much better than the previous exhaust.

Conclusion

Sorry if this was too long but there was too much to say. I could go on and on with this exhaust, but the only way for you guys to realize how well it’s made, how good it sounds, and how good it feels—well, you’ll just have to get one for yourself now huh?
AE, thanks for making such a great product!

JPSimon posted movie clips a while back with his completely catless system, but I will be posting what it will sound like with catless DPs and the AE exhaust with HFCs. JPSimon's clips and other AE movie clips can be found here
I’ll take some clips this weekend. If anyone wants to help film or see/hear the exhaust in person that lives in Orange County, let me know.
The movie clips will be updated in this post.

I also added the pictures of the quads for you guys to drool over!
Thanks for reading!

Looks great bro! I have this same exhaust installed on my E93 335i
Where did you get your diffuser from to fit the quads? I purchased one on ebay
But it won't fit at all.