BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE "UPDATES" & "VIDEOS" SECTION AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST!
So this past Friday I arrived home and was pleased to see the following sitting on my doorstep:
(Click for larger images)
I'd been bugging the cp-e™ team for a few weeks about when I could expect it and last week I was pleasantly surprised with my tracking #s... Mind you, it wasn't that they weren't on the ball; it was just that I wanted it NOW and the parts to build it weren't quite finished! Call me "impatient!"
So after changing in to some "garage clothes" I went out to open it up and then start the install. Having modified several other cars I was very pleased at the job that cp-e™ did in packaging this unit compared to other exhausts that I've run. From the professional looking box down to the materials used to package the hardware & directions everything was VERY nice...
Some pics of the "depackagifying" process:
Safe and sound!
Clamps, washers/nuts/bolts & directions
LOTS of packaging...
Once it was all out and unwrapped the first thing I noticed was the quality of the muffler. It's a very well-built can that's bent and welded quite flawlessly. It's a very nice piece that's complimented by some VERY sexy tips with the cp-e™ logo on each of them. It was quite clear at the time of this picture that they had put some serious time in to building this thing! You really need one of these for yourself to truly appreciate the quality of this work as my picture really doesn't do it justice. The bends are all nice & precise, the welds are gorgeous and the joints are all very well built - not to mention the polish work! :thumbup:
Here she is in all her glory:
Unfortunately I don't have pics of the install because I was working with a friend of mine that wrenches on BMWs regularly and he works VERY fast. I've worked on my share of cars, but this guy works
much faster than me and I ended up being more of a "do-it" man than anything. Regardless there weren't any surprises during the install and the most difficult part was getting the stock exhaust off of the rubber hangers... I wish I could say there was a trick to these, but it's literally just a matter of muscling them off of the exhaust with a long screw driver or pry bar.
I'd have to guess that from the time we backed the car to the time we fired it up for the first time took about 2 hours. Mind you, we ended up loosening up the mid-pipes from the Y-pipe after that to add some RTV (which is recommended per cp-e™ anyway) and then REALLY pushed it back together because of a
very small leak and it sealed right up! So say... 2 hours, 10 minutes for the install. :smile:
I know there's not a whole lot to see regarding an exhaust on a car and these pics convey most of what others will be seeing, but I still wish there was something more I could show you guys! If I had access to a lift I'd most definitely shoot some shots from the DPs all the way back, but the world isn't a perfect place for all of us!
Here's a shot of the under-side. You can see the exhaust pretty much all the way to the front if you look at the larger image (again, click to see it bigger):
The tips are nice and straight and took little to no effort to get them this way:
Detailed shot of the tips:
(Sorry, didn't have a chance to wipe them clean after a weekend of driving!)
As far as power goes, I don't feel right commenting too much on this because when new parts go on a car almost always feels different... regardless of whether it actually makes more power or not! While a cat back system is absolutely capable of making more power and my gut tells me that the car feels smoother and more lateral it's hard to really know for sure. I'm considering paying for some dyno time in the next few weeks to compare against another 135i that's run at the same shop though... So I guess we'll see!
I guess all that's really left is to comment on the sound, which is... Intoxicating! I wish I could properly explain how it sounds, but there's no way to accurately explain it - your best bet is to follow the link to the web page below and listen to the different clips they have up. The exhaust is definitely quite a bit louder than stock and sounds exactly the way that this car SHOULD sound. It's very deep at idle and quite racy and high pitched at WOT. While the deepness is nice at cruising speeds I find myself getting on the throttle just to hear it open up. I'm definitely not expecting to get good gas mileage over the next 2-3 tanks of gas and place full blame on cp-e™ for this!
On a side-note regarding the sound of the car: I'm sure some of you that have 'Golf Tee' modded your stock exhaust have noted the way the car sounds at start-up after sitting overnight... It's quite lumpy and definitely needs to sit for 20-30 seconds before it smooths out. Well all I can say is it's MUCH more notable after the exhaust goes on. The exhaust really hasn't changed the way the car
runs, per se, but all of the sounds and adjusting the engine is doing when it's first started are much more audible now!
Lastly a shout-out to cp-e™ for building a DAMN nice system - I appreciate the work the team put in to building such a nice piece! I'll be sporting the stickers you included so that everyone knows what helps the car to sound so sweet!
UPDATES
UPDATE: Changing things up a bit...
UPDATE: Changed things up a bit... 'Stage I'
UPDATE: Changed things up a bit... 'Stage II'
LINKS
cp-e™ BMW 135i Cat Back System
VIDEOS
In-car
0-70 mph then downshifting in "Manual" mode w/Steptronic Transmission
0-100 mph in "Manual" mode w/Steptronic Transmission
40-70 mph then passing gear from 70-90 mph in "Drive" mode w/Steptronic Transmission
40-70 mph in 4th gear in "Manual" mode w/Steptronic Transmission
0-70 mph then cruising in "Drive" mode w/Steptronic Transmission
Outside of car
1st & 2nd gear acceleration in "Drive" mode w/Steptronic Transmission
1st & 2nd gear acceleration in "Sport" mode w/Steptronic Transmission
1st & 2nd gear acceleration in "Manual" mode w/Steptronic Transmission
1st gear engine braking in "Manual" mode w/Steptronic Transmission
