I paid £350 for an R129 AMG back box from Germany so £500 is a bit steep, rare or not. They weigh a ton and don't sound as good as you think either. In hindsight I'd spend the money on a stainless fabrication from Hayward & Scott or similar and fit some AMG exhaust tips..
talbir
MB Enthusiast
Benefit of buying the original AMG equipment exhaust pieces is that they all connect to each other nicely via proper flanges, that you can simply unbolt to remove any piece...making working on the car bits under there, like diff, gearbox etc very easy.
The way the AMG pieces connect also means everything lines up where it should and looks and hangs properly. It's hard to top a full AMG system on the car. The items were made to measure.
Back boxes in isolation usually don't sound that great....they need the full system on there really, i.e. big radius bends, freeflow and big diameter to bring out the tone.
They do weigh a bit but it is sprung weight and not material in %age terms on anything weighing over a ton
One can buy a complete AMG system for a w124/6 from Germany for less than the full cost of a full bespoke stainless system from anywhere.
talbir
The way the AMG pieces connect also means everything lines up where it should and looks and hangs properly. It's hard to top a full AMG system on the car. The items were made to measure.
Back boxes in isolation usually don't sound that great....they need the full system on there really, i.e. big radius bends, freeflow and big diameter to bring out the tone.
They do weigh a bit but it is sprung weight and not material in %age terms on anything weighing over a ton
One can buy a complete AMG system for a w124/6 from Germany for less than the full cost of a full bespoke stainless system from anywhere.
talbir
kth286
MB Enthusiast
Have to agree with Howard as very limited market.
Unless you have the AMG front system who is going to buy it, as it will not fit otherwise, and is pointless fitting it to a smaller front pipe.
Unless you have the AMG front system who is going to buy it, as it will not fit otherwise, and is pointless fitting it to a smaller front pipe.
talbir
MB Enthusiast
yes, but if one buys this piece, they can also source the front and centre items later on, which do appear on ebay.de time to time.
talbir
bigstuff
Active Member
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but is 500 over the top ?
Ade B
MB Enthusiast
It would appear to be for most posters on here. I would imagine people who buy this kit are enthusiasts and are prepared to spend a bit more.
I guess the market place will determine..
Ade
bigstuff
Active Member
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it would appear most posters on here are right
talbir
MB Enthusiast
500gbp is about right....consider that the centre and front pieces can be sourced for about 500, that's 1k for the complete exhaust. That's 1k for a genuine AMG system that fits like a glove on the car and is designed for it after R&D work from AMG/Sebring.
Ask a custom exhaust fitter how much they would charge for a full stainless system that is not customised to the specific MB engine.
talbir
Ask a custom exhaust fitter how much they would charge for a full stainless system that is not customised to the specific MB engine.
talbir
Ade B
MB Enthusiast
obviously no enthusiasts bidding.. 
bigstuff
Active Member
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its only worth what you can sell it for not what its worth in a ideal world & thats a fact .
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fnkhan68
Active Member
Guys I dont understand why some people are getting hung up on the price, i have put it up for what I feel its worth, doesnt mean it is worth the same to anyone else, ebay is one of those funny places where sometimes you get your asking price and sometimes you dont, it all depends on who your audience is at the time of the auction. I have seen items on ebay where they havent sold because of the starting bid being high however when the item has been relisted with no reserve and a 99p start price it has actually sold for more than the buying price!!!
I know that Simal had a W124 AMG kit in white which he had advertised on ebay for sometime but it wouldnt shift for the asking price however eventually he sold it to some guy in the US for a price he was happy with. Ebay is a funny market which no one can predict however on the plus side I have someone who is interested in it from the states and Cyprus and both own a W124 E36. Will let you know how it goes!!!
I know that Simal had a W124 AMG kit in white which he had advertised on ebay for sometime but it wouldnt shift for the asking price however eventually he sold it to some guy in the US for a price he was happy with. Ebay is a funny market which no one can predict however on the plus side I have someone who is interested in it from the states and Cyprus and both own a W124 E36. Will let you know how it goes!!!
Makes me smile this thread.
1) Member posts an unsual rare item for sale that may interest other members.
2) Theres a heated discussion on if its worth the money, what it is worth, I would only pay XXX, I sold one for XXX
The OP just wanted to help other members. As mentioned its an auction so it could have a £3000 buy it now price, if someone wants it then great? Otherwise the highest bid above the reserve gets it.
So much for helping others.
1) Member posts an unsual rare item for sale that may interest other members.
2) Theres a heated discussion on if its worth the money, what it is worth, I would only pay XXX, I sold one for XXX
The OP just wanted to help other members. As mentioned its an auction so it could have a £3000 buy it now price, if someone wants it then great? Otherwise the highest bid above the reserve gets it.
So much for helping others.
Hayward and Scott design bespoke systems and they have always performed exceptionally well for me - a full tailored system fitted to my SL would definately be well under £1000 ( I asked 3 or 4 years ago when i discovered an MB system would be £1200), and I would be pretty sure it would deliver the goods as well as far as performance is concerned.
That said there are many such as Talbir who prefer the OEM AMG authenticity - surely its each to his own and has already been stated the market will dictate its value as and when it comes up for sale again
Mark
No, the OP opened up a discussion. Virtually every eBay thread posted is about how something is overpriced. Some people agree, some don't - I see no difference here?
talbir
MB Enthusiast
Hayward and Scott design bespoke systems and they have always performed exceptionally well for me - a full tailored system fitted to my SL would definately be well under £1000 ( I asked 3 or 4 years ago when i discovered an MB system would be £1200), and I would be pretty sure it would deliver the goods as well as far as performance is concerned.
That said there are many such as Talbir who prefer the OEM AMG authenticity - surely its each to his own and has already been stated the market will dictate its value as and when it comes up for sale again
Mark
Hayward and Scott wanted upwards of 1500 for an exhaust system on my 500E.
I'm not sure theur systems are bespoke ? Do they use different boxes on type of car ?? For example, i see most custom exhaust shops fit the same boxes/mufflers whether it's a 6 cyclinder or 8 cylinder Merc....and will fit the same to a Clio.
AMG's boxes are specific to each MB engine, i cannot see this being replicated by a generic exhaust shop with no R&D facility.
talbir
Their systems are generally completely bespoke. They do a lot of R&D and come up with off the shelf designs for Porsche, Ferrari and even Mini - as do Larini etc.
Cat back systems are normally around £500 from them - it's the manifolds that are expensive.
AMG only offered the rear box for the later R129s and WIS even describes the 'butchering' process to fit so I wouldn't say they are bespoke either. More to do with a styling package than performance related.
Cat back systems are normally around £500 from them - it's the manifolds that are expensive.
AMG only offered the rear box for the later R129s and WIS even describes the 'butchering' process to fit so I wouldn't say they are bespoke either. More to do with a styling package than performance related.
talbir
MB Enthusiast
Sounds like you haven't read up on AMG's technical data sheets underlying their performance upgrades...every system was designed in conjunction with Sebring to maximise performance.
If anyone had to 'butcher' something to fit, then without question, the AMG box was not meant for that car. If you pick up an AMG box specific to a model, it will fit like a glove. I have fitted a dozen of them, and have yet to come across one that didn't fit straight up.
AMG's detail on value added was quite remarkable....even back in the 80's when they introduced the Widebody kits for the w201/w124/w126, they gave coefficient of drag figures to quantify the improved aerodynamics. Some would think it was a styling accessory, AMG actually proved with wind tunnel data that the Widebody versions were more aerodynamic than the narrow-body counterparts !
One benefits from reading through the vast array of 80's and 90's AMG literature.
I'd also be amazed if any custom exhaust shop produced different boxes if you asked for a 500E versus a 300E.....
talbir
