95 540i exhaust options

[saluki540i]

I'm expecting to replace the exhaust on my 6 spd. car in the next several months. I've looked at supersprint & dinan as replacements, aside from just replacing with stock. Could some of you with non-OEM exhaust on your 540 chime in with recommendations & experiences. Mainly, I'll be replacing from aft of the downpipes/cats. Thanks CAM

[DaCan23]

Will you be eliminating the resonator/center silencer then?

When I do mine very soon I was considering the magnaflow, but it needs some custom pipe work, as they dont make a cat back for our cars. I also plan to go w/ the Magnaflow/Carsound cats, and eliminate the resonator.

[spitfire]

Bought my 540/6 with a supersprint exhaust already on her. Don't know when it was installed but I purchased the car with 110,000 kms, it now has 175,000kms and all is well. Nice little howl from 3000 rpm and up. Hope this helps.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I have a B&B on mine, very mellow, subtle idle, nice V8 sound at WOT. Not very loud, and no resonance. Roughly 50k on it, still looks new underneath.

[grease]

billy boat if you want I will record a clip of mine you then can decide. B&B one of the most precise system I have installed easy to fit and reasonably priced. SuperSprint are nice systems but they cast more and I have found have a weaker sound.

[Beez540]

someone posted video of the magnaflow they put on their E39 540 minus the resonator... I thought it sounded great. Magnaflow would be the least expensive option as well.

I took the resonator off mine and kept the OEM muffler... I like the sound.

[rockyfeller]

I heard resonator off with stock exhaust hardly makes a difference?

[saluki540i]

I'm not sure about deleting the resonator. I'm approaching it from the stand point of a good bolt on kit, preferrably in stainless. Second, I like the idea of a dinan, bit was uncertain how it mated to the tail end of the cat. pipes. Possible welding? I haven't gotten pricing on the supersprint, but the dinan is $1100.00. I'm unfamiliar with the B & B, so you guys will have to humor me on that one

[saluki540i]

that would be cool. How much are they & where are they sold? I hadn't heard of them til now, although I hadn't done anything in the way of bimmer exhaust upgrading either... Are they stainless?

Thanks Christophe

[onewhippedpuppy]

They're stainless, I think Bavarian Autosport sells them, probably others that are cheaper too. Mine was on the car, bolts on to the cat pipes, uses all factory hangers. Probably not a hard install.

[Beez540]

it growls more... slightly louder overall, esp. at WOT

[Aussie e34]

does eisenan or however their spelt do one?
ive also been considering a exhaust for my 540 6sd. and our options are limited in oz to supersprint or custom exhaust. i would def go with resonator delete so long as there wasnt to much of an annoying drone in the car when cruising. i want tha nice grumble you hear from the big v8 fords or holdens cruising round

[DaCan23]

So the Bav Auto Tri Flow is actually the B&B (Billy Boat?) exhaust just rebranded?

[Exact-Oh]

I just need to find a dual-in to dual-out muffler to do mine. I have an exhaust bender, and just want to fabricate the parts myself, but cannot find a muffler that has two inputs and two outputs. I have used two small mufflers side-by-side on past bimmers, but that option will not fit underneath the E34. Anyone know of a supplier with just a muffler to fit?

[632 Regal]

shouldnt be a drone or howl if the tips exit the rear of the car, that problem comes when the exhaust stops before the rear and the sound echos off the ground back up to the bottom of the car.

does eisenan or however their spelt do one?
ive also been considering a exhaust for my 540 6sd. and our options are limited in oz to supersprint or custom exhaust. i would def go with resonator delete so long as there wasnt to much of an annoying drone in the car when cruising. i want tha nice grumble you hear from the big v8 fords or holdens cruising round

[DaCan23]

The B&B/Bav Auto one does I believe.


I just need to find a dual-in to dual-out muffler to do mine. I have an exhaust bender, and just want to fabricate the parts myself, but cannot find a muffler that has two inputs and two outputs. I have used two small mufflers side-by-side on past bimmers, but that option will not fit underneath the E34. Anyone know of a supplier with just a muffler to fit?

[Exact-Oh]

Cool, thanks... I will check it out.

[DaCan23]

Would assume this one listed on BMA's site also is dual in/out as it's a stock replacement...

Item Number: BMW057466
Main Category: BMW
Sub Category: EXHAUST & FUEL TANK
Qualifier: 540I (E34) 1993 - 1996
Description: Muffler
Rear
REAR MUFFLER
Manufacturer: EBERSPAECHER
List Price: $455.00
Your Price: $ 359.75
Core Price:
Weight: 34.000


Cool, thanks... I will check it out.

[95-540iLE]

I have fitted an Eisenmann rear box to my 540i/6 recently and I know a guy who fitted the Supersprint cat back system to his 540i/6 at about the same time.

The Eisenmann certainly gave mine far more presence than the Superspint - without any drone or annoying noise. At idle, there is a low (but quiet) growl and under load a sweet F1 type of V8 wail (but again, not loud - just nice).
I didn't want to go loud, just a bit more V8 presence and the Eisenmann certainly achieved this.

I took advice from the guys on E34.de first and they all recommended the Eisenmann.

Cheers



does eisenan or however their spelt do one?
ive also been considering a exhaust for my 540 6sd. and our options are limited in oz to supersprint or custom exhaust. i would def go with resonator delete so long as there wasnt to much of an annoying drone in the car when cruising. i want tha nice grumble you hear from the big v8 fords or holdens cruising round

[Johntee540]

I had Billy Boat on my MRoadster. I have it on my 540i now. It is the best sound ever. Now that I replaced my cats with the Magnaflow Cats - it sounds even better.

Billy Boat is located at: http://www.bbexhaust.com/

I believe if recall correctly I paid around $700 - JT

[DaCan23]

Where did you get your Magna/Carsound cats from, and how much each?

Thanks


I had Billy Boat on my MRoadster. I have it on my 540i now. It is the best sound ever. Now that I replaced my cats with the Magnaflow Cats - it sounds even better.

Billy Boat is located at: http://www.bbexhaust.com/

I believe if recall correctly I paid around $700 - JT

[DaCan23]

Heres a BB source for $680

http://shop.store.yahoo.com/hopup1/bbcatbaexbmw.html

[Aussie e34]

I have fitted an Eisenmann rear box to my 540i/6 recently and I know a guy who fitted the Supersprint cat back system to his 540i/6 at about the same time.

The Eisenmann certainly gave mine far more presence than the Superspint - without any drone or annoying noise. At idle, there is a low (but quiet) growl and under load a sweet F1 type of V8 wail (but again, not loud - just nice).
I didn't want to go loud, just a bit more V8 presence and the Eisenmann certainly achieved this.

I took advice from the guys on E34.de first and they all recommended the Eisenmann.

Cheers

are you by chance an aussie?
damn you if you are, as i have got a mate looking at picking me up a eisenmann rear box the sport rather than the standard with the twin 83mm pipes and i didnt know of anyone else in the land of oz that had the eisenmann system.
if you dont mind me asking what did you pay?

[540i/6 rob]

I'm expecting to replace the exhaust on my 6 spd. car in the next several months. I've looked at supersprint & dinan as replacements, aside from just replacing with stock. Could some of you with non-OEM exhaust on your 540 chime in with recommendations & experiences. Mainly, I'll be replacing from aft of the downpipes/cats. Thanks CAM


it still looks and sounds great, and the fit is OEM or better. the car is only minimally louder than stock, but rattles the garage windows nicely. i'd do it again tomorrow.

[saluki540i]

I ended up buying the BB as of this afternoon, mainly after finding out the Dinan was not a full cat back system. Either way, the BB seems like a lot of exhaust for the money, and many people out there with them seem happy. I'm gonna have to get my but back out to the garage and reinstall the tranny in preparation for the exhaust showing up this weekend. I'll post any findings of interest when the car is reassembled and driven. CAM

[MBXB]

Christophe,
Post some pics of the project as you go along. That would be a great help farther down the line.

[saluki540i]

If anyone is interested in pictures of what I'm doing right now, let me know what you need, and I'll take them. Mainly right now I'm cleaning up the underside of the car, replacing some of the hardware that corroded over the years, and preparing to reinstall the 6 spd. when the new rubber shift boot comes in. I've already removed the original flywheel, and replaced it. As of this evening it is torqued, and I just finished installing and torquing the new clutch/pressure plate to the flywheel. The new throwout bearing is ready to go inside the bell housing, and I'll probably wait to bleed the clutch fluid after everything is a little more together under the car. My dad had smacked a racoon a while back, so I ended up replacing two of the plastic underpans, along with the aluminum heat blanket over the rear muffler which was pretty tacky too. BMW recommended ATF for the tranny, but didn't say which, so I ended up calling the dealer to verify. It is either II or III - I went with the III in a full syn. After I get the car back on the ground with the new Billy Boat exhuast installed, I'll probably turn my attention to the driver seat which has one of the "up / down" motors inop. Maybe one of you guys know, but didn't the sport seats have power head rests (up/down)? Let me know. Also, I'd like to thank everybody that has helped me out with this new project - It really simplifies things to get quality input like this forum offers CAM

[Beez540]

I'd like to see pics when you get going on the exhaust swap.

[MTechnik540i]

are you by chance an aussie?
damn you if you are, as i have got a mate looking at picking me up a eisenmann rear box the sport rather than the standard with the twin 83mm pipes and i didnt know of anyone else in the land of oz that had the eisenmann system.
if you dont mind me asking what did you pay?

Is that Sport or Race?

[grave77]

why wouldn't you install the 750 exhaust with a custom cat. I have experimented with my exhaust with a lot of options ... the best was to use free flow catalytic converter or chop it off if allowed and keep the OEM exhaust. recently I used custom mufler instead of the cat. and the 750 exhaust, it gains at least 1 - 3 HP by removing the cat. still as Bruno said on his website ... BMW has designed its exhaust system to be a performance one, just compare the diameter of the BMW exhaust and number of pipes with any other V8 car at the same manufacturing year. you will notice that it's bigger and always uses 2 pipes

[MBXB]

The Bently manual covers the M60/v8s very sparingly. So any pics by members doing a mod is always helpful.
'I do have some bookmarked. Email me if you're looking for something in partucular.

Ramon



If anyone is interested in pictures of what I'm doing right now, let me know what you need, and I'll take them. Mainly right now I'm cleaning up the underside of the car, replacing some of the hardware that corroded over the years, and preparing to reinstall the 6 spd. when the new rubber shift boot comes in. I've already removed the original flywheel, and replaced it. As of this evening it is torqued, and I just finished installing and torquing the new clutch/pressure plate to the flywheel. The new throwout bearing is ready to go inside the bell housing, and I'll probably wait to bleed the clutch fluid after everything is a little more together under the car. My dad had smacked a racoon a while back, so I ended up replacing two of the plastic underpans, along with the aluminum heat blanket over the rear muffler which was pretty tacky too. BMW recommended ATF for the tranny, but didn't say which, so I ended up calling the dealer to verify. It is either II or III - I went with the III in a full syn. After I get the car back on the ground with the new Billy Boat exhuast installed, I'll probably turn my attention to the driver seat which has one of the "up / down" motors inop. Maybe one of you guys know, but didn't the sport seats have power head rests (up/down)? Let me know. Also, I'd like to thank everybody that has helped me out with this new project - It really simplifies things to get quality input like this forum offers CAM

[rockyfeller]

Isn't the aTri-Flo just a simple bolt on deal that fits factory hangers etc. That's what I heard, anyone can do it....Or will need help from my bud at Meineke?

[saluki540i]

The only reason I'm changing the exhaust is because it is original, and developing several holes from 11 chicago winters. I don't want to mess around with fabricating an exhaust for this car, or the Dinan would have been more of an option. Dinans exhaust was basically a muffler that got spliced in place of the rear on the 540. Seems moot now, but I will never drive the car through all the salty junk my dad did. I've said it before, but didn't those clever bavarian engineers ever hear of galvanic corrosion? Plating is helpful, but why would you use steel on aluminum to retain a host exhaust, and associated heat blankets? So obsessive compulsive people like me have excuses to buy new parts that most "normal" people will never even look at underneath the car... It's gonna be a long winter

[Aussie e34]

i have just placed an order for the racing twin 83 mm muffler.

[grave77]

thats another issue ... since there is salt all over the place u will need a stainless exhaust system, in my place exhausts lives for 3 - 5 years without rust ... I replaced mine because it became noisy. using galvanized material for exhaust makes it less heat resistive. thats why they didnt use it. also it bends and becoms rough. Aluminium hybrids doesnt weld, that leaves them infront of 2 choices ... stainless ( expensive ) and what u have now ...

[BigKriss]

I'm liking this thread on exhausts. I don't understand why guys in the USA go for "brand name" exhausts and not a custom design. I'm thinking the best exhaust is a single pipe, large diameter with a variable butterfly valve installed near the rear muffler. You can have the best of both worlds. The valve closes at low rpms, to increase exhaust scavanging and lower the SPL. You know what is going to happen when the valve opens. Your engines going to be working hard and it's going to sound loud like a race car. I was thinking about this for a while and don't understand why other gentleman haven't tried it before.

[grave77]

Go Kriss Go .... I just hate running behind brand names !!!

[95-540iLE]

Chris

Yes, I am an Aussie and you know me. David from Tasmania, whose Petrol Mica LE you looked at buying before you picked up #16 at a steal of a price.

I have a Racing Performance Eisenmann box with 70mm tips fitted to #62.

Sounds very sweet, but not overly loud. I did a lot of research - looked at Billy Boat, Supersprint, Remus and custom and ended up going with the Eisenmann as being able to best deliver what I was looking for - more V8 presence, without getting too load and without losing any performance (and maybe even gaining a few hp).

The guys on www.E34.de were very informative on this subject and the clear recommendation was an Eisenmann.

The reason why I didn't go custom, as queried by Big Kriss, is that the 'name' brands are all fully tested and designed to deliver the optimum results (you just need to know what results you want!!). Custom is a bit of a lottery.

So, when you have your Eisenmann fitted, you will be the 2nd E34 540i with one in the country.

Cost to me, including US$300 for freight from the US, was US$1124.00 It came straight through customs so that was the total cost - worked out to A$1538.34 on the credit card. Then about $80 to fit it!

Cheers
David


are you by chance an aussie?
damn you if you are, as i have got a mate looking at picking me up a eisenmann rear box the sport rather than the standard with the twin 83mm pipes and i didnt know of anyone else in the land of oz that had the eisenmann system.
if you dont mind me asking what did you pay?