Shifteck Downpipe

[MFUN]

Anyone have a shifteck downpipe? I've never heard anything about them and was on the fence about buying one. The three downpipes I was looking into was shifteck, vrsf, or AR. I believe the Shifteck is so cheap because they stopped making them ($200 on ebay) and the vrsf are cheap because of fitment issues and the AR has no complaints. What do you guys think?

[e36addict]

No comment on Shifteck.. but I've installed both VRSF DP's and AR DP's, and I always find it amusing that the "cheap" VRSF pipe fits better. In my experience, the AR has been the worst fitting DP. Brackets never line up (VRSF doesn't have the bracket since it's pointless)

[MFUN]

cool thanks guys

[DrivingTime]

Eeeeh... I just got one installed today, but I can't tell you anything about it because I only drove it for 5 minutes, from the tuner to my BMW dealership to get a new transmission, lol.

It makes a crazy rattle sound at cold startup, the tuner said that was normal. Can't say I like the sound too much, but once the engine warms up it's ok. I'd give more more feedback soon, but it looks like it'll be a full week before I get my car back, at which point I need to hand it right back to the tuner for spark plugs and tune... le sigh. First world CPO problems. :-)

[DrivingTime]

I'll have to check it out then. It was just on startup, once the engine warmed up it was fine, and I really don't know what to expect from downpipes... first time I've had any mods on a car. :-)

[vivanapoli806]

Originally Posted by MFUN

Anyone have a shifteck downpipe? I've never heard anything about them and was on the fence about buying one. The three downpipes I was looking into was shifteck, vrsf, or AR. I believe the Shifteck is so cheap because they stopped making them ($200 on ebay) and the vrsf are cheap because of fitment issues and the AR has no complaints. What do you guys think?

Some vrsf v1's had fitment issues. That's why they made the v2. Vrsf have some of the best bang for your buck products and good customer service. Send Tiago a message on here and he will take care of you. Some of the people with fitment issues didn't install and rotate them properly

[kleach18]

I've installed a 4in AR, 5in CPE, and a 3.5 bms on n55s only. The AR had the worst fitment by far! The CPE was second but it was on a DCT transmission car so there was less room. The BMS was the easiest and of course the cheapest of the group.....

[dcaron9999]

No one mentioned the n54tuning "performance line" N55 3.5" downpipe. It is even more affordable, made in Taiwan, instead of in China like the VRSF.

I installed it on my 2011 135i two days ago. Fitment is perfect. Did the install on my own on floor stands.

No removal of steering rack or passenger side engine mount was required, but a bit of a creativity was required for the install. ;-)

A little bit painful without the proper tools, working alone, without a lift, and with the space restrictions.

Toughest part was putting on the V-collar on upper side of new DP (easy to remove though). Some recommend loosening the steering rack, or passenger side motor mount to gain access to the DP. I did not do either, and spent a good 30 minutes trying to put the V-collar back on, with DP loosely attached to exhaust pipes, and manipulation of the exhaust pipe height with a jack, until upper DP was perfectly mated to turbo housing. Got to make sure the v-clamp is in the right orientation, so that the bolt is accessible, and facing upwards in the right direction (take a mental picture before removing it from stock DP).

The best installation guide I found was the Cobb one here: http://www.oakos.com/product_docs/COB-5B2202.pdf.
Also read a few DIY's on the net priot to starting, and soaked my rusted exhaust bolts with penetrating oil a few times, a few days prior.

[dcaron9999]

Dumb and off-topic question - Do all N55 downpipes sound the same?

Cant seem to find a decisive answer after some searching ...

I have the stock exhaust, and cant say Im in love with the sound of the DP. After some time, it might grow on me though.

The stock DP sounded better (throaty), but I only listened to my new catless DP (raspy) for a few seconds in my closed garage (it was -30*C/-22*F outside)...

Edit: looks like I might need resonators to solve the catless DP rasp ... Either VibrantPErformance 1792 or Aero AR25 ...

[mike@x-ph.com]

Shifteck product looks like a high quality one but not enough reviews on the forum about it.
It is very hard to go against VRSF with the price, quality and so many reviews that this product has.

[MFUN]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Also with the Catless DP is there some sort of O2 simulator to install for emissions? and if it throws a code the only way to get rid of it is with a JB4?

[MFUN]

Originally Posted by dcaron9999

Dumb and off-topic question - Do all N55 downpipes sound the same?

Cant seem to find a decisive answer after some searching ...

I have the stock exhaust, and cant say Im in love with the sound of the DP. After some time, it might grow on me though.

The stock DP sounded better (throaty), but I only listened to my new catless DP (raspy) for a few seconds in my closed garage (it was -30*C/-22*F outside)...

Edit: looks like I might need resonators to solve the catless DP rasp ... Either VibrantPErformance 1792 or Aero AR25 ...

I was also wondering about this. Seems like they all sound similar that's why I was only worried about fitment issues. I did see a couple videos on the exhaust thread of guys who are running Megan racing DPs and they sounded damn good. I always wonder if its the video quality difference too. If only everyone had high quality cameras and had pro recording skills lol

[dcaron9999]

Originally Posted by MFUN

I was also wondering about this. Seems like they all sound similar that's why I was only worried about fitment issues. I did see a couple videos on the exhaust thread of guys who are running Megan racing DPs and they sounded damn good. I always wonder if its the video quality difference too. If only everyone had high quality cameras and had pro recording skills lol

This is a short sound clip of a 2011 BMW 135i after a cold start. Car has N55 downpipe (n54tuning.com Performance Line) on stock exhaust, and custom Cobb/PTF stage 2 + tune. Listen how the sound starts out raspy and loud, but tones down and becomes throatier with a nice turbo whistle as soon as exhaust flap + secondary air pump closes. This sequence occurs at the 38 seconds mark...

Im thinking about getting Vibrant Performance resonators installed, to deepen the sound, and make it less raspy at cold start, and Wide Open Throttle.

[MFUN]

[QUOTE=dcaron9999;17255815]This is a short sound clip of a 2011 BMW 135i after a cold start. Car has N55 downpipe (n54tuning.com Performance Line) on stock exhaust, and custom Cobb/PTF stage 2 + tune. Listen how the sound starts out raspy and loud, but tones down down and becomes throatier with a nice turbo whistle when exhaust flap and secondary air pump closes. The tone down sequence occurs at the 38 seconds mark...

Im thinking about getting Vibrant Performance resontors installed to deepen the sound, and make it less raspy at cold start, and Wide Open Throttle...

QUOTE]

Sounds pretty good. I like how you can hear the turbo whistle. I kinda like the raspy tone but I also like the deep tone. ahhhhh

[e36addict]

Originally Posted by dcaron9999

This is a short sound clip of a 2011 BMW 135i after a cold start. Car has N55 downpipe (n54tuning.com Performance Line) on stock exhaust, and custom Cobb/PTF stage 2 + tune. Listen how the sound starts out raspy and loud, but tones down down and becomes throatier with a nice turbo whistle when exhaust flap and secondary air pump closes. The tone down sequence occurs at the 38 seconds mark...

Im thinking about getting Vibrant Performance resontors installed to deepen the sound, and make it less raspy at cold start, and Wide Open Throttle...

If you do the Vibrant resonators, be sure to post up some vids.. I've been curious about this lately.

[dcaron9999]

I went for a test drive yesterday evening in -15*C weather.

My god, this car is getting scary! Car is on skinny 205/50R17 winter tires, and I could spin the tires in 4th gear with my Quaife 3.46 LSD!

Great job by Dzenno @ PTF with his quick update to my custom stage 2 agressive tune, and this very affordable N55 downpipe from Mike @ N54tuning! Once the weather gets warm, and Im back on my 255/35R18 ZII's, I will log 3rd gear hard pulls, and send the resuls to Dzenno to make sure that everything is right, and every ounce of performance is squeezed out (all this is free of charge once you buy a custom tune).

The sound produced by my catless downpipe is not that bad and growing on me. can hardly hear anything different in the cabin under normal driving conditions. Under partial/full throttle, a nice exotic sound is produced, and a big howl comes from the turbo and downpipe area, which floods out the exhaust note completely.

I think I will leave the exhaust system as is for now, as the idle sound during cold starts is my only annoyance, and is a minor inconvenience. The exhaust note sounds nice and agressive only when you get on it. What more can I ask for, from my otherwise stock exhaust system!

[vivanapoli806]

Originally Posted by MFUN

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Also with the Catless DP is there some sort of O2 simulator to install for emissions? and if it throws a code the only way to get rid of it is with a JB4?

There is no dp fix for the n55. The jb4 will autoclear so the light on dash doesn't come on but will not allow you to pass emissions.

[MFUN]

Originally Posted by vivanapoli806

There is no dp fix for the n55. The jb4 will autoclear so the light on dash doesn't come on but will not allow you to pass emissions.

damn that sucks. I don't want to be swapping out pipes every time emissions are due.