You can replace the resonator with custom piping and would sound much deeper too.
i want to keep my stock amg muffler but want a deeper sound... can i just knock out all the resonators and replace with custom piping? does anyone know how many resonators the c43 has and can this be done in order to make the exhaust deeper/louder
You'll notice quite a difference if you knock out your resonator. I had the resonator removed on my C230 and it was not an extremely loud vehicle until you jumped on it. I think personally it would sound sweet and it's inexpensive.
\"Children in the front seat can cause accidents, accidents in the back seat can cause children!\"
There are 4 cats and 1 resonator on the C43. You can not remove the 2 primary cats because they are before the o2 sensor (unless you get something to fool the o2). You can remove the 2 secondary cats as well as the resonator. That's what I did and I love the sound as well as the power increase. If anything, you will remove a good deal of weight by doing this.
The tone will be nice a deep. Your car will rumble but will not be too loud. With the windows up I can barely notice the sound. But I have had plenty of people ask me what I have under the hood because they say that they have never heard a mercedes sounding like mine...
Hope this helps....
98 _benzo,
does your 230 sound ricey in any way? where is the resonator on that car and if its a diy?
We've built manifold back systems for C43s. If there is anything to be replaced on the system is those restrictive cats. You actually get deeper tone by swapping these out due to the higher flow. The resonator is pretty straight through already.Originally posted by slipNslide
There are 4 cats and 1 resonator on the C43. You can not remove the 2 primary cats because they are before the o2 sensor (unless you get something to fool the o2). You can remove the 2 secondary cats as well as the resonator. That's what I did and I love the sound as well as the power increase. If anything, you will remove a good deal of weight by doing this.
The tone will be nice a deep. Your car will rumble but will not be too loud. With the windows up I can barely notice the sound. But I have had plenty of people ask me what I have under the hood because they say that they have never heard a mercedes sounding like mine...
Hope this helps....
Thanks
Ken
thanks guys, how much did it cost for piping to take out the resonator and the two cats after the o2 sensors? also did you guys do mandrel bent piping? i cant find any shops in the bay area that have mandrel, they are all crush bent. also what piping size did you use? 3"???
There are only 4 mandrel benders used by exhaust shops in the country! None is in Cali. Magnaflow has theirs in CA, but they are strictly a manufacturer.
It wasn't horribly ricey sounding. It sounded more like the new WRX's at high RPM's. The resonator is located almost right underneath the passenger seat. It is really long, you can't miss it.does your 230 sound ricey in any way? where is the resonator on that car and if its a diy?
As for weight, they weigh about 25 pounds, so it's not substantial weight loss.
Easiest way to see if you like the sound of your resonator missing...unbolt the bolts infront of it and start your car up, your car will actually be a little quieter once you put a straight pipe in place of the resonator, but it will give you a basic idea of the sound.
\"Children in the front seat can cause accidents, accidents in the back seat can cause children!\"
If you decided to take out the 2 secondary cats and the resonator you do not need a mandrel bends. The cats and the resonator are all in line with one another. The two cats go into the resonator and then merge insided the resonator and becomes a single outlet from the resonator to the muffler. There is a flange between the resonator and the fuffler. So the side after the resonator can just be unbolted. Have a muffler shop make a cut right before the cats and weld flanges to the open pipes. Also weld flanges to your cats so that you can put them back on later if needed. Then the muffler shop will need to create 2 straight pipes and have tem collect at some point. Then after they collect to 1 pipe, connect that end to the muffler.
There are several ways of having the 2 pipes collect to 1. I went the route of extending the 2 pipes (size = 2.5" each pipe) all the way back to the flange of the muffler. The I used a collector to merge the 2 pipes together and bolted the collector to the muffler flange.
CKlasse has a nice setup! Different than mine.
Oh also I had to get my car smogged and I was questioning whether or not to bolt my cats and resonator back on for the test. I decided to leave them off and just see what happens. I passed with flying colors. So I don't think the cats and resonator are ever going back on....(at least not if I can help it)
Hope this all made sense....
made good sense and ya i was worried bout smog too, but now I guess i am not worried too much anymore, this is gonna be done on sat. in 2 days!!! hope it goes well...
actually how much did all of that cost you where was it done at??? and do u think it would be better to do the y pipe after the cat and have just one pipe going to the muffler rather than two goin all the way down the car then at the end y pipe into the muffler??? you get what im sayin??? maybe do 3" piping with just one pipe and the y right after the cats... what u think?
That's a matter of preference. Do you like TORQUE or HP?
It's like CKlasse mentioned, torque or HP. Either way, I think that the difference will not be that dramatic between the two. Just a little more one way or another, but definetly more power.
My thought was to not disturb the flow of the exhaust. 2 - 2.5" pipe should flow more that 1 - 3" pipe. So I tried to carry the pipes out until I had to merge them into the single to the muffler. Now I'm no exhaust expert but I like what is has done to my car and that's good enough for me. I think that the V8 has a good amount of torque already so I'd rather have some more umph up top. The AMG was made to be an Autoban shark and that's what I got. I've run a few E46 M3's on the freeway and stayed dead even with them from around 50mph to 130mph.
I was afriad that the exhaust might resonate inside the cabin but that didn't happen. Only thing that does happen is on startup, the exahust will emit a bit of raspyness. Once idle settles down it goes away.
I'm in So Cal. and had the work done at a place called Mike's muffler. I've known Mike for years back when he did work on my imports. I trust his work. As far as price, I really can't remember but if I had to guess, around $120. Don't quote me on that.
Good luck and let us know how it turns out...
Oh yeah , just another side note, the pipe diameter of the stocks are not exactly 2.5. They're somewhere between 2.25 and 2.5. I remember this becaust after we cut the pipes, we tried matching them up with either 2.25 or 2.5 and they didn't match. Same with the rear pipe from the muffler. I think it may just a bit smaller or larger than 3".
If you want an ulitmate AMG setup, find a muffler section from the E55 and use that one. That muffler has 2 inlets compared to the one on the C43. Run a X cross pipe like Cklasse and that will make a kick ass system.......
as far as deep tone what would be better one 3" pipe or 2- 2.5" pipes??? i dont care bout torque or hp cuz i think that the c43 hasw plenty of power to spare, i would think on the freeway the m3 would be slower... what year m3 did u race, the newer style then ya i believe it, the older modesl i would assume would be slower...
nm i see that u put the e46 model not e36.... i should read a lil bit better
hey thanks, i think i'll try this weekend. oh yeah, did you have the straight pipe welded or how does that work?Originally posted by 98_Benzo
It wasn't horribly ricey sounding. It sounded more like the new WRX's at high RPM's. The resonator is located almost right underneath the passenger seat. It is really long, you can't miss it.
As for weight, they weigh about 25 pounds, so it's not substantial weight loss.
Easiest way to see if you like the sound of your resonator missing...unbolt the bolts infront of it and start your car up, your car will actually be a little quieter once you put a straight pipe in place of the resonator, but it will give you a basic idea of the sound.
That's because it is 100MM.Originally posted by slipNslide
Oh yeah , just another side note, the pipe diameter of the stocks are not exactly 2.5. They're somewhere between 2.25 and 2.5. I remember this becaust after we cut the pipes, we tried matching them up with either 2.25 or 2.5 and they didn't match. Same with the rear pipe from the muffler. I think it may just a bit smaller or larger than 3".
anyone have pics of their custom exhaust???
I had it welded, BUT if you want to go really fancy and cool....cut out the resonator and then get a piece of straight pipe....then use flanges to hook the straight pipe up. That way if you don't like the way the straight pipe sounds or if you just want to put the resonator back on you can simply do it. It's not going to add a ton more work to it, but you just need to buy 4 flanges and then you need someone to roll the ends of the pipes for you, so they make a nice tight seal when you hook it up. Hope that helps you out!!hey thanks, i think i'll try this weekend. oh yeah, did you have the straight pipe welded or how does that work?
\"Children in the front seat can cause accidents, accidents in the back seat can cause children!\"
taking out the two cat and resonator, are you sure you passed ca smog??? did you do the dyno smog???
i took the car to a muffler shop, they wanted hella money to do it. they said if i kept the resonator and take off the two cats it would be a deeper sounding tone . he said it would sound like a rice rocket if it took everything out, any opinions????
I have a dual 2.5" system that uses high flow cats from BMS(CKlasse) and a Magnaflow muffler that is a dual 2.5" in and out. The center of the muffler forms an "X" pipe. Then I have dual 2.5" pipes that go out to the back with no other mufflers. Not too loud at all. Sounds very racy at WFO throttle.
So I don't think your C43 is going to sound ricey.
Jeff
1999 C43 Obsidian Black; Penske Remote Adjustable Shocks; Adjustable Spring Perches; SSR Comp Wheels, 9.5 & 9.5x17\"; Custom 31.75mm front & 19mm rear swaybar; Ported Manifold; Limited Slip Differential, Headers and race Cats, Other Stuff
speedybenz how much did you pay for the piping and where was it done at, i go to school in davis near sac... did they make it a complete bolt on/off system or they just cut and weld???
You REPLACE the cats w/ high flow cats. And I'd recommend you to keep the stock around just in case.Originally posted by 99amgc43
taking out the two cat and resonator, are you sure you passed ca smog??? did you do the dyno smog???
i took the car to a muffler shop, they wanted hella money to do it. they said if i kept the resonator and take off the two cats it would be a deeper sounding tone . he said it would sound like a rice rocket if it took everything out, any opinions????