Anyone know what the inside of the PE muffler looks like?

[e36addict]

I bought a spare muffler.. decided to cut it apart and make a project out of it. I pulled all the glass out of it.. not sure if I want to try it like that, or try to weld solid pipes in place of the perforated pipes.. I figure that is probably what the difference is with the PE..

[stuggy]

I have been interested in doing something similar because I want the sound of the performance exhaust but not the price haha. I believe there was a post awhile back where someone cut open a bmw performance exhaust on a e92 335i. I'm sure there is difference between the 335i perf exhaust and the 135i perf exhaust, but maybe you can take some ideas from that. I'll try to find it. Good luck with though

[e36addict]

Thought I'd update this in case anyone's interested. A friend with an e92 M3 gave me the idea of wrapping the perforated pipes instead of welding. Much easier and fully reversible.. sounds much deeper, the video does it no justice, and got cut off for some reason..


135i N55 OEM muffler mod:

Today I was able to look inside the pipes of a PE with a boroscope, turns out that it has the small perforated pipe intact, but the pipe with larger holes is just straight. Explains why mine is a bit louder and deeper than the PE.

[c_ozanich]

Sounds great man; looks like you did a good job on it. Thanks for the info! I was debating about PE but hard to justify seeing this.

[edisapimp]

That sounds very very good! Nice work!
I know it's back together already but this would be a wicked good DIY for people who want to get that sound!

Did you put the glass back in? How did you close the muffler back up, just welded it?

[e36addict]

Originally Posted by edisapimp

That sounds very very good! Nice work!
I know it's back together already but this would be a wicked good DIY for people who want to get that sound!

Did you put the glass back in? How did you close the muffler back up, just welded it?

Thanks man. I had a muffler shop weld it back together for $30, then I ground down the welds so it's smooth. (muffler shop welds weren't too pretty)

edit: and yes, I did stuff all the glass back in. Figured it might sound gross without it..

[Joaco135]

Any drone with this set up?

[e36addict]

Slightly more than a PE, but nowhere even close to the Berk race I had.

[edisapimp]

I love things like this. I think that is so cool. It's the type of thing that could become a cult DIY mod for E8x. "Quick, everyone grab up all the spare N54 and N55 mufflers!" hehe

[805beemer]

Did you just use header wrap and some big worm clamps? Sounds really good! So you think if I only wrap the pipe with the big holes it will sound closer to a PE?

[e36addict]

Originally Posted by 805beemer

Did you just use header wrap and some big worm clamps? Sounds really good! So you think if I only wrap the pipe with the big holes it will sound closer to a PE?

Yep. I used stainless clamps that you would use for headers, but if I were to do it again I'd just use worm clamps. It would be easier and probably tighter. And yes if you just wrapped the pipe with large holes it would sound just like PE

[805beemer]

Originally Posted by e36addict

Yep. I used stainless clamps that you would use for headers, but if I were to do it again I'd just use worm clamps. It would be easier and probably tighter. And yes if you just wrapped the pipe with large holes it would sound just like PE

Awesome thanks! Is the pipe with the large hole dimpled/dented or is that just from the angle of the picture? Also did you just use a grinder and cut off wheel to cut it open? Would you recommend I cut off the whole lid or just the center section?

[e36addict]

Probably just the angle of the pic.. I'd just cut the center section out, only reason I cut the whole thing was to see what's going on in there. One thing though, one of the holes is in a tough spot right at the bend, and it's impossible to cover the whole thing... might be able to get someone to weld that one up if it's a worry.. also I'd make sure to do the golf tee mod with this.. if the flap closed, the backpressure in the pipe may cause some damage to the wrap.

[805beemer]

Originally Posted by e36addict

Probably just the angle of the pic.. I'd just cut the center section out, only reason I cut the whole thing was to see what's going on in there. One thing though, one of the holes is in a tough spot right at the bend, and it's impossible to cover the whole thing... might be able to get someone to weld that one up if it's a worry.. also I'd make sure to do the golf tee mod with this.. if the flap closed, the backpressure in the pipe may cause some damage to the wrap.

Ok thanks. So the pipe with the large hole has more than one hole? Bought the header wrap today so if I get off work early enough I'll start cutting it open. Is the muffler SS? I know you can't just use any old welder on stainless. If not I have a buddy that has a welder.

[Dackelone]

@e36addict sorry I have never seen pictures of the inside of the PE. But a friend of mine cut open his 1M's mid pipe resonator. He was gonna weld up the resonator - for a louder exhaust note. When he cut it open he found that BMW beat him to it! This is why the 1M has so much drone and why when you install N55 mids on a 1M, the drone goes away.

[spain4065]

Sweet mod, can you take a video of from inside the cabin doing some pulls?

[trainerjon]

Originally Posted by e36addict

I bought a spare muffler.. decided to cut it apart and make a project out of it. I pulled all the glass out of it.. not sure if I want to try it like that, or try to weld solid pipes in place of the perforated pipes.. I figure that is probably what the difference is with the PE..

Ahhh, so that's what you did with my muffler. Nice work man!

[e36addict]

Originally Posted by 805beemer

Ok thanks. So the pipe with the large hole has more than one hole? Bought the header wrap today so if I get off work early enough I'll start cutting it open. Is the muffler SS? I know you can't just use any old welder on stainless. If not I have a buddy that has a welder.

Yes I think there are 3 large holes. The muffler is stainless, so ideally need to use a tig. But I had mine welded at a shop with a bird-shit welder, that's why I had to grind them smooth to look decent. It's not too bad..

Originally Posted by trainerjon

Ahhh, so that's what you did with my muffler. Nice work man!

Haha yep, I had been looking for a spare for a while to make a project out of as if I don't already have enough projects...

[805beemer]

Started on it today. Dropped muffler, cut the lid. Wrapped just the pipe with the large holes. Brought it to the muffler shop. Have one other quick mod I'm going to have him do when I go pick up the muffler. Driving around without a muffler currently. It's actually not THAT loud.

[e36addict]

Originally Posted by 805beemer

Started on it today. Dropped muffler, cut the lid. Wrapped just the pipe with the large holes. Brought it to the muffler shop. Have one other quick mod I'm going to have him do when I go pick up the muffler. Driving around without a muffler currently. It's actually not THAT loud.

What's the other quick mod? I'm excited to hear this! Glad someone else is tearing into it.

[805beemer]

Originally Posted by e36addict

What's the other quick mod? I'm excited to hear this! Glad someone else is tearing into it.

I see you already deleted your resonator, so for you it won't be of any use. But when I removed the muffler I could see inside the resonator. The only place it looked like it had holes was after the y junction in the straight piece. So my plan is to either have him tack all the holes. Or slide in a piece of very thin pipe so exhaust flow isn't affected to much inside the res and tack into place to block all the holes. Hoping it works out and sounds very similar to the PE.

[e36addict]

Originally Posted by 805beemer

I see you already deleted your resonator, so for you it won't be of any use. But when I removed the muffler I could see inside the resonator. The only place it looked like it had holes was after the y junction in the straight piece. So my plan is to either have him tack all the holes. Or slide in a piece of very thin pipe so exhaust flow isn't affected to much inside the res and tack into place to block all the holes. Hoping it works out and sounds very similar to the PE.

Nice. After I put the res delete on, I noticed this inside the resonator, and thought about the pipe method. If the pipe was just the right size it would work beautifully.