Downpipes for our cars...

[Joe_435i]

I've heard a lot of good things about downpipes for our cars and wanted opinions on the good and bad. My only concerns are 1). I do have a warranty on the car for another 30K miles and swapping them in & out for warranty work would be a pain. 2). I live in California and emissions are strict. Let me know all your thoughts. Thanks

Instagram @hopeless_135i

[Rallim]

Most of them are catless, and being in Cali I imagine that's going to make you fail emissions instantly. There's catted ones I've seen, but the gains won't be as much, and even then you'd have to make sure its actually 50 state CARB legal or you still run the risk of failing.

[dsocold]

im catless dp just do it a tiny increase in sound i already had the PE before it. As far as the smell concern i hardly even notice it, ive been catless for about 2 years and my car doesnt smoke or exhibit any bad symptoms, and to be honest they are not to hard to replace this is the first car ive worked on myself and i can take em off and put them back on in an about an hour the first time took 3 tho, all done on jackstands. about warranty i was tuned and i had my transmission replaced problem free.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Well if California emissions and passing is a concern then stay stock.

There is not a CARB legal downpipe available, even with a high flow cat.

If you are like most people in CA who mod, you either play the game or go back to stock when necessary and roll the dice.

[Joe_435i]

Hey Jeff, I wouldn't have to smog for another year and a half, so I'm not too worried about that. I just wanted to know if downpipes are worth it and if anyone has had any bad experiences with them installed. Like excessive clutch wear (from added power), smell, CEL, etc

[mike@x-ph.com]

Downpipes will give you very noticeable performance gains and car will sound amazing so yes they are worth it

As Jeff mentioned they are not emission legal

Talk to your dealership and see how mod friendly they are, most will not give you any hard time as long as you are not trying to get to fix an issue related to your mods

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by Joe_135i

Hey Jeff, I wouldn't have to smog for another year and a half, so I'm not too worried about that. I just wanted to know if downpipes are worth it and if anyone has had any bad experiences with them installed. Like excessive clutch wear (from added power), smell, CEL, etc

With any removal of the catalyst some smell is possible.

A CEL would only occur if you did not have a tune that removes the CEL.

As far as clutch, well that is a wear item and downpipes increase power.

If your car fell between the point of a worn clutch and you increased power it could very likely start to slip. We are talking 25WHP gain potentially with a tune.

That being said this motor is strong, the clutch when new is strong and is more then capable of handling downpipes and or a tune.

We have guys with over 700HP on stock motor

[PhillyfaanM3]

Agree with Mike...you'll def see an increase from the DP. You'll also see see some improvement in exhaust sound. I'm running the Wagner catted DP and unfortunately it does throw a CEL. I'm putting down 378h & 435 Tqe I think I'm seeing 28 lb ft Tqe more due to DP.

[ShocknAwe]

Fwiw your stock clutch will be ok until you force it to play nice at levels north of ~425whp. Assuming you haven't smoked it with driving already.

Downpipes are totally worth it. No question.

[Joe_435i]

Originally Posted by Jeff@TopGearSolutions

With any removal of the catalyst some smell is possible.

A CEL would only occur if you did not have a tune that removes the CEL.

As far as clutch, well that is a wear item and downpipes increase power.

If your car fell between the point of a worn clutch and you increased power it could very likely start to slip. We are talking 25WHP gain potentially with a tune.

That being said this motor is strong, the clutch when new is strong and is more then capable of handling downpipes and or a tune.

We have guys with over 700HP on stock motor

I'm running a Cobb tune right now, so I believe it will take care of the CEL, yeah? I appreciate all your insight, Jeff!

[DaveyN54]

I'm not sure about Cali, but I know that in Ontario all an "emissions test" consists of is an OBD readiness and code scan. So as long as you can clear the CEL with a DP fix, you should be fine to pass your emissions test.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by Joe_135i

I'm running a Cobb tune right now, so I believe it will take care of the CEL, yeah? I appreciate all your insight, Jeff!

Yes Cobb will hide the CEL code as long as you select stage 2 map and up

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by Frank 135i Vert

Agree with Mike...you'll def see an increase from the DP. You'll also see see some improvement in exhaust sound. I'm running the Wagner catted DP and unfortunately it does throw a CEL. I'm putting down 378h & 435 Tqe I think I'm seeing 28 lb ft Tqe more due to DP.

Get the BMS can flap module and it will hide the code

[infinitekidM2C]

My experience. First I've never noticed any gas smell or anything like that. No noticeable difference with that or smoke or whatever. The car will sound deeper/throatier. I noticed the gains at top end, felt like it had more pull to the redline. I was tuned like you so I think you'll be happy with the difference. By the way, I have a set of Macht Schnell catless DPs to sell which i have not yet listed.

[PhillyfaanM3]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

Get the BMS can flap module and it will hide the code

I'm currently running the P3 gauge which works well.

[Joe_435i]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

Yes Cobb will hide the CEL code as long as you select stage 2 map and up

I talked to a Cobb Rep today and they stated their Stage 2 maps will NOT hide the CEL and will give me driveability issues. Their stage 2 tunes are for catted downpipes only... Thought that was interesting.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by Joe_135i

I talked to a Cobb Rep today and they stated their Stage 2 maps will NOT hide the CEL and will give me driveability issues. Their stage 2 tunes are for catted downpipes only... Thought that was interesting.

Thousands of people (me included) run cobb maps with catless downpipe with no CEL

He was just trying to sell you their catted downpipe

[Joe_435i]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

Thousands of people (me included) run cobb maps with catless downpipe with no CEL

He was just trying to sell you their catted downpipe

haha good call Mike!

[Joe_435i]

Originally Posted by Jeff@TopGearSolutions

With any removal of the catalyst some smell is possible.

A CEL would only occur if you did not have a tune that removes the CEL.

As far as clutch, well that is a wear item and downpipes increase power.

If your car fell between the point of a worn clutch and you increased power it could very likely start to slip. We are talking 25WHP gain potentially with a tune.

That being said this motor is strong, the clutch when new is strong and is more then capable of handling downpipes and or a tune.

We have guys with over 700HP on stock motor

It seems like everything around our motor seems to break lol Glad to hear our block is sturdy though.

What clutch are these guys running? I'm curious for when mine needs replacing.

[mike@x-ph.com]

VRSF Downpipes

[Bodie217]

IMO it's not worth it in CA. The power increase is not substantial, unless you're considering the difference between Stage 1 and Stage 2 maps. Even then, the power difference is not as big from S1 to S2 as it is from stock tune to S1. The sound improves more than the power does. Despite some people saying there isn't much smell, that's a damn lie. It WILL smell if you have the windows down at all. Everyone behind you will smell it, including cops.

If you're happy to swap stock DP's for emissions and service, then by all means do it.

[YearOneOne]

Originally Posted by Bodie217

IMO it's not worth it in CA. The power increase is not substantial, unless you're considering the difference between Stage 1 and Stage 2 maps. Even then, the power difference is not as big from S1 to S2 as it is from stock tune to S1. The sound improves more than the power does. Despite some people saying there isn't much smell, that's a damn lie. It WILL smell if you have the windows down at all. Everyone behind you will smell it, including cops.

If you're happy to swap stock DP's for emissions and service, then by all means do it.

I couldn't agree more it does stink and I feel like people around me are like wtf but I don't care, why? Because racecar lmao