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      05-22-2014, 09:17 PM   #81
Pig Farmer
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Drives: E92M
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Florida

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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1mmaniac View Post
That's really good to hear. To be honest I expected something like that might had happened as they were pretty supportive to me/my dealer when my tips were not on stock. Glad to hear they offered great service. I wasn't familiar with Akra before I bought my bimmer but reading on line about the quality and hearing a few good service stories finally pushed over to buy an Akra. I only have a slip-on and i think that's already expensive but it's well worth it in my opinion.

You have some sweet rattle-free miles ahead buddy It'll feel like driving a new car now you're no longer irritated




Do you mean the discoloration like shown in this pic?
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=757720

Simply put, this discoloration is caused by heat. I don't know the exact numbers but google shouted out that Ti oxidizes from 500 degF and up. The colors change in ratio with the temperature and/or exposure time of the material. The discoloration shown in the picture linked above is way, way worse then on my own (slip-on only!). I only have a straw/brownish colored glaze on the mid section of the muffler and a bit on the tips. These are first colors appearing in this process.
I assume the system linked above has seen some long hard runs, maybe track or dyno judging by the colors seen, the amount of material that has changed color and the 2k miles.

I should be removable by removing the top layer of material, so polishing or brushing should do the trick for the lighter colors. Pink, Grey or white will probably stay on permanently but i have no experience with any of this on titanium myself.
I don't know if there are clear coats available for this application, I doubt it.

You're absolutely correct that the discoloration is oxidation caused by heat. I have an Akrapovic EVO full titanium exhaust on my Yamaha R1. Almost immediately the headers turned bronze. The bronze turned to light blue, then deep purple/blue/green. The color eventually moved its way all the way to the carbon fiber cans. However, given enough time and heat, the headers turned to a dull gray. I've tried everything to polish off the oxidation and have found nothing seems to work. If you rather have blue tips instead of bronze, I'm sure you could hit them with a propane torch and get the effect. Problem is...if you don't like it, it's not reversible.
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