cp-e™ SS Cat Back System

[jtsherri]

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

[twin fed]

WOW.....looks like a real nice system. Congrats!

[eunosracr]

Very very nice. ! So are these in stock and ready to go?

[jtsherri]

Originally Posted by www.cp-e.com

WOW!! Thanks so much for taking the time to create such a thorough review! I think you've done a great job at trying to put the noises/sounds into words, which I know can be pretty tough,

Thanks again for your business, and please let us know if you need anything!

Will do - thanks again for dealing with all of my calls! :biggrin:

I can't wait for others to start getting their systems installed to hear what they think. I'm extremely pleased with mine and am sure you'll sell a bunch!

[XLR8IN]

+1 for the awesome sound, it has a great tone to it.. makes me want one real bad..

[///M ichael]

Is it non Res??

[MastaMind]

Congrats, it looks like a nice catback.

Do you have any pics of the underside of the car (ie. on a lift)?

[jtsherri]

Originally Posted by ///M ichael

Is it non Res??

This one is non-resonated. I believe resonated is an option on the site for $200.

Originally Posted by MastaMind

Congrats, it looks like a nice catback.

Do you have any pics of the underside of the car (ie. on a lift)?

Sorry, the best pic that I have of the underside of the car is above. I believe if you look in the cp-e thread there's a pic of their prototype axleback on the test mule.

EDIT: From their thread ~



If you're looking for something specific I can try to get a pic for you, but no guarantees. Might be worth seeing if cp-e could provide one as well...

[eunosracr]

Originally Posted by www.cp-e.com

As embarrassing as it is to admit, I don't think that we have any pictures of the exhaust that we haven't already posted. The lighting in our shop is pretty poor, and our camera is even worse:



Some days it doesn't work, and when it does sometimes I'm sorry it ever turned on, hah! When we get the exhaus back onto the 135i I'll snap some more pics with some good lighting. I'm really sorry about that!

Are the units in stock and ready to ship?

[tjockey]

Mine was shipped today....yehhhhhhhh.......Can't wait until the weekend to put 'er on....May take me more than 2 hours....for the socket challenged....Don't have a lift either but do have a camera...Can't guarantee anything....Please ignore any plasma remnants that may be in the pics.....language not suitable for small children.....

Thanks Josh and the gang....Good 'ol made in the USA products...

[Papito135]

Is the muffler section straight thru or chamber design?

[jtsherri]

Originally Posted by eunosracr

Are the units in stock and ready to ship?

I'm guessing that based on tjockey's reply below that I didn't get any special treatment and that units are shipping, but I'll let cp-e jump in and answer for sure... :smile:

Originally Posted by tjockey

Mine was shipped today....yehhhhhhhh.......Can't wait until the weekend to put 'er on....May take me more than 2 hours....for the socket challenged....Don't have a lift either but do have a camera...Can't guarantee anything....Please ignore any plasma remnants that may be in the pics.....language not suitable for small children.....

Thanks Josh and the gang....Good 'ol made in the USA products...

You're going to absolutely love it, man. Doing it alone I think I would have needed close to another hour; however, if I had to do it alone after having done it once I could pull it off in close to 2 hours. I wish I could remember all of the tools I used to give you a hand, but honestly can't recall. I DO know that you'll need either a reverse torx set or some "easy outs" to get one of the brackets holding the stock exhaust up - just a heads-up!

Also, I'm not sure what you have access to, but I found the easiest method to get the car off the ground was through the use of 2 jacks and 3 jack stands.

Here's the process I used:

1. Chocked the front wheels for safety-sake.
2. Jacked up the rear of the car using the differential case as a jack point.
3. Placed 2 of the jack stands under the rear plastic jack points.
4. Lowered the jack and move it to one of the two front jack points and the other jack to the opposite side.
5. Had someone help evenly jack the car up (this could have been done alone by jacking a few pumps at a time and alternating between sides).
6. Once the car was up in the air we placed the 3rd jack stand under the center pad towards the front of the car. Lower the jacks slightly to put pressure on this stand and then gave each jack a 1/4-1/2 pump to keep the weight evenly distributed in the front.

**This process is for informational purposes only. If anyone reading this follows these directions and hurts themselves in the process it's not my fault!

Originally Posted by Papito135

Is the muffler section straight thru or chamber design?

Wish I could answer that question for you... I'll leave that up to cp-e to speak on.

[F0Bman]

DUDE MAN! That is a very good write up!

[Carbon3]

i'm gettin mine tomorrow....im gettin mine tomorrow...lalaladadla

[AZ135]

I want it so badly, but I'm having a tough time justifying paying twice as much as the BMW exhaust. Plus I keep hoping that someone will come out with a good quad system. Do you hear that, cp-e?

[jtsherri]

Originally Posted by F0Bman

DUDE MAN! That is a very good write up!

Thanks. I figured I'd be one of the first running it and wanted to let fellow 1addicts know that some good quality parts are starting to become available for our cars!

Originally Posted by Carbon1

i'm gettin mine tomorrow....im gettin mine tomorrow...lalaladadla

Congrats - add some comments here after you get it installed! I wanna know what you think. :smile:

Originally Posted by AZ135

I want it so badly, but I'm having a tough time justifying paying twice as much as the BMW exhaust. Plus I keep hoping that someone will come out with a good quad system. Do you hear that, cp-e?

I can understand that the price is the deciding factor for many, but if you take a good look at the BMW performance exhaust it's A LOT different than what you're getting here. Being that BMW puts their name on it I'm sure it's undoubtedly a quality piece and the sound is pretty decent; however, if you look at the design is going to be considerably more restrictive as well. There are still lots of kinks and bends it it, the muffler is still quite large and the flow has to make what looks like 2x 90 degree bends prior to exiting. The cp-e piece has a nice fluid design with minimal bends/restrictions and is SUPER light compared to stock. I wish I would have weighed it for comparison-sake prior to the install...

I do agree that a quad system would be SUPER cool, but feel that the cost will be quite high based on what will need to go in to R&D in addition to the need for an additional (or larger) muffler AND the addition of a new rear diffuser. I would guess that the center exit system that cp-e is working on would be less costly and will still give the rear of the car a cool, new look! Just my $.02 :thumbup:

Here's a PS of what they're going for:

[e90AW335i]

^^^^, thats real cute, you get to look like a mini now....

[jtsherri]

Originally Posted by e90AW335i

^^^^, thats real cute, you get to look like a mini now....

An uber-quick, non-hatch, RWD, big brother of the Mini, maybe!

[coolguy]

Awesome write up:roundel: Nominating for C&D auto writer:headbang:

[TunedM2C]

That's a great looking exhaust you have there.

[Carbon3]

Originally Posted by jtsherri

Thanks. I figured I'd be one of the first running it and wanted to let fellow 1addicts know that some good quality parts are starting to become available for our cars!



Congrats - add some comments here after you get it installed! I wanna know what you think. :smile:



I can understand that the price is the deciding factor for many, but if you take a good look at the BMW performance exhaust it's A LOT different than what you're getting here. Being that BMW puts their name on it I'm sure it's undoubtedly a quality piece and the sound is pretty decent; however, if you look at the design is going to be considerably more restrictive as well. There are still lots of kinks and bends it it, the muffler is still quite large and the flow has to make what looks like 2x 90 degree bends prior to exiting. The cp-e piece has a nice fluid design with minima bends/restrictions and is SUPER light compared to stock. I wish I would have weighed it for comparison-sake prior to the install...

I do agree that a quad system would be SUPER cool, but feel that the cost will be quite high based on what will need to go in to R&D in addition to the need for an additional (or larger) muffler AND the addition of a new rear diffuser. I would guess that the center exit system that cp-e is working on would be less costly and will still give the rear of the car a cool, new look! Just my $.02 :thumbup:

Here's a PS of what they're going for:

WOW, you take shyt right from under people when they aint around, huh...

[Carbon3]

I thought i'd share... # 2 cp-e 135i exhaust, probably because i was beggin them as much so they need a way to shut me the hell up!