Stainless exhaust for a W202

[NW_Merc]

I am considering this as a possible mod.

I know demon tweeks do custom stainless exhausts.

Questions I have are:
1. Will the noise of my car change with a SS exhaust?
2. Are remus exhausts stainless?
3. Do I need to get the whole exhaust including down pipe changed over to accommodate?

Help please...

 

[PeterE320Cdi]

On my W210 the quote for a stainless steel remus tailbox was the same as the quote from longlife so I decided to go with longlife as I believe you have some choice as to the final sound.

They will be cutting off the old tailbox and reusing the rest of the system.

 

[Roger Jones]

!. Yes, the noise will change and, without a doubt, it will increase. I had my Capri done at Longlife (SS only because there are no OEM exhausts available now) and chose a noise level near the quiet end of their range, but had to go back and get them to fit tailpipe inserts to reduce the noise further to a comfortable level, which remains higher than the original system. They did that without hesitation or charge (Carshalton branch -- manned by "teenage" fitters, but I've had no problems with the system, which cost me £399 29 months ago).

2. Don't know. Try http://www.europerformance.co.uk/Remus_Exhausts.htm

3. Longlife left the downpipe in place and said it rarely needs replacing anyway.

Although I am now happy with the result, I wouldn't do it on my MBs because of the noise factor.

 

[pluggers]

Yes the noise levels will change,Should sound a lot deeper tone if you went for something like a remus back box.,really good in built up areas.Different company's will do cheaper systems or back box's but I personally prefer remus(nicer looking and don't look out of place) and yes they are stainless.

The only draw back with the remus is the bore of the pipe is larger than what you will have from your centre box so you will need an adaptor fitted to match the 2 different pipe diameters.If you get someone to do the job of fitting the box, chances are it will work out expensive cus of what's involved.I'd recommend having a centre box made to suit by someone like powerflow? And fit them both at the same time.

I've still got the photos of mine with the remus fitted in my gallery.

 

[BTB 500]

Companies like Longlife will sort out pipe diameters etc. when fitting a rear box you have supplied. They fitted my AMG rear box as the 'official' adapter pipe for that is no longer available, and later replaced my centre muffler with straight-through pipe (which involved fabricating a Y piece to connect to the two cats). In each case the total cost was about 100 quid IIRC.

 

[roj]

I've currently got a custom stainless cat-back system on my 190E 1.8. It was made/fitted by a company local to me called Free-Flow. I was impressed by the quality of their work(though not the style!) that I'd seen on some crazy 6-exhausted and triangular and square piped Saxos and Corsas!

Anyway, they use different size/shape/amount of boxes/silencers to get the sort of sound you want. Mine is as quiet as they could make it and while there is a difference in sound, there is a very marginal increase in volume. Very happy with it, almost inaudible at steady revs on long journeys etc.

I also had a remus half system fitted to my old C230k W202 and was again very impressed with the sound/tone and the almost inaudible increase in volume. Gave the car a nice burble, a nice look and wasn't noticeabley louder than standard, except with the windows down going through tunnels! I' pretty sure it wasn't a stainless system, although it may have been stainles under the coating.

 

[TVRTASMIN]

There are a number of stainless exhaust fabricators out there.
I use JP Exhausts in Macclesfield; http://www.jpexhausts.co.uk/

They can custom build you anything from the cylinder head(s) backwards in 304 grade.
The noise emmitted depends on the number of silencers and packing. It is quite possible therefore to have a quieter than standard system that has a lifetime guarantee.

I've also used Top Gear and the Powerflow system. They use a cheaper quality of stainless steel which actually rusts but seems not to get too severe.
They are only usefull for silencer changes rather than a bespoke build, and i recommend you to keep the receipt as the silencers have a tendency to blow out the packing!

If you intend to keep the car, a stainless exhaust is probably a good idea, but you won't get your money back when you sell the car.

 

[BTB 500]

Also be aware that a 'modified exhaust system' may affect your insurance, depending on the company.

 

[Flash]

Also be aware that a 'modified exhaust system' may affect your insurance, depending on the company.

Luckily, with my current insurer no matter what option/extra is fitted to the car from the factory it will not affect the premium unless after market.

Some insurers will even bump the premium up for factory options...

 

[NW_Merc]

So stainless steel exhausts are a no no in terms of insurance?

 

[BTB 500]

So stainless steel exhausts are a no no in terms of insurance?

You need to ask your insurer if it's not an OEM exhaust or direct copy. Some insurers won't care, others will (increased premium and/or excess).

I changed from Direct Line to Elephant because the latter were much more relaxed about mods (no increase in premium when I had my exhaust done).

Direct Line hiked my premium and excess when I declared that my car had 17" M-B alloys instead of the factory standard 16" ones. Other people haven't had this problem with them, policy seems to vary from one day to the next!

If your car is inspected after an accident and there are any undeclared mods the insurers could potentially refuse to pay out. Things like wheels and exhausts are pretty easy to spot.

 

[Birdman]

They fitted my AMG rear box as the 'official' adapter pipe for that is no longer available, and later replaced my centre muffler with straight-through pipe (which involved fabricating a Y piece to connect to the two cats).

What was the effect on noise and power? Btw which AMG model did you mod - or was it only the exhaust system that was AMG?

 

[BTB 500]

What was the effect on noise and power? Btw which AMG model did you mod - or was it only the exhaust system that was AMG?

This is my R129 SL500, the rear box is the AMG "accessory" one made for it. They are something like £1500 new (yes, just for a back box!) but mine was a cheap one via eBay in Germany (unused, but with a few small dents and scrapes from careless handling in storage).

Negligible effect on sound when fitted, and what's worse .. the tailpipes were set up to clear a rear skirt (part of the AMG body kit) so it looked a bit daft on the car too! However a nice local bodyshop sorted that for me, doing a cut & weld job on the tailpipes to raise them up. Before:

After:

So I had a nice looking exhaust now, but still too quiet (basically silent, unless you were flooring it). Hence removal of the centre muffler, which in fact only slightly increased the exhaust note. It's still virtually silent when cruising, but on acceleration there's just enough noise to keep me happy. M-B centre mufflers are supposed to be heavily baffled and quite restrictive, so I expect power is up a bit ... but that wasn't the objective (the car was fairly quick already).

 

[Birdman]

.....So I had a nice looking exhaust now, but still too quiet (basically silent, unless you were flooring it). Hence removal of the centre muffler, which in fact only slightly increased the exhaust note. It's still virtually silent when cruising, but on acceleration there's just enough noise to keep me happy. M-B centre mufflers are supposed to be heavily baffled and quite restrictive, so I expect power is up a bit ... but that wasn't the objective (the car was fairly quick already).

There's only one thing more annoying than a noisy silencer and that's a too quiet one!
What mileage have you got out of your cats? This is a worry of mine.

 

[BTB 500]

What mileage have you got out of your cats? This is a worry of mine.

They are original AFAIK, so 47k miles so far.

Pretty sure I heard somewhere that removing the centre muffler could help the cats live longer due to less heat & back pressure. No idea if this is true or not!

PS is that a Tiger Moth? The only wood & fabric DH I've flown in is a Dragon Rapide