How close is a 540 exhaust to a 535? Can it bolt up?

[Jeff N.]

Never been under a 540; do the cats and exhaust end in the same place? Same pipe diameter?

Friend would like to see if my tri-flow will fit their 540. Can it be done?

thx

[Jeff N.]

bump...

anyone?

[Derek A.]

the muffler itself will fit at the tail end. Going to have to do a little pipe work and weld it in. At the engine - 535i was two 3 into 1 manofolds on the passenger side - 540 has two 4 into one maifolds on both sides of the car. Pipe is different almost all the way to the muffler.

[Jeff N.]

Thanks Derek!

[genphreak]

Never been under a 540; do the cats and exhaust end in the same place? Same pipe diameter?

Friend would like to see if my tri-flow will fit their 540. Can it be done?

thxSupersprint do a cat back replacement: The muffler 'looks the same' as the 535 one, as do the centre pipes and resonator, however where it bolts to the cat they provide some additional connection pieces... so I guess this is where the major differences lie- from thereon to the engine the pipes and manifolds are (of-course) completely different. :) Nick

[BMWDriver]

I would not dream of it. The specs on these things are pretty particular. You may end up with turbulence in the exhaust, backfires, poor performance... There is a significant difference in horsepower between the two cars, which means the fumes might not be able to get out quickly enough. Which means it really needs a different exhaust system.

Come to think of it, this is what I just found on realoem :

535 11/92:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/i/h/41.png

540 11/92:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/j/m/5.png

[genphreak]

Good pics, thanks. That is the bit that is different, the rest looks identical. However the connection to the cats I expect might not bolt straight up as the cats are different- maybe th pipes are 5mm further aoart for example.

However the pipes are the same size, the mufflers, resonator etc.- it's a pretty straight through design so any work they do that far down the line will not really affect the engine a lot.

But I agree with the sentiment, unless there is a reeeeally compelling reason, always go stock with these cars... :) Nick

[BMWDriver]

More to the point, come to think of it, we are talking about 6 cylinder vs. 8 cylinder. I'm pretty sure nothing is the same anywhere. The diameter of the pipes need to be wider, even if there is only a small difference in cylinder sizes.


535 The part number is different on item #2.
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/a/g/211.png

540
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/g/p/226.png

[genphreak]

The part number is different on item #2.

Hahahha there's that little Bimmer difference that is always there, always!

Now the BMW muffler (item 2) is not a straight through type, it has baffles inside to do a really good job at muffling.

Knowing Bimmer they'd make these baffles a different length on the V8 muffler to fine tune the sound. I am sure the volumetric/flow capacity is the same for both types.

Plenty of people fit louder mufflers on their cars (like the supersprint) which I doubt is any different, but as you say, for all we know they too could have made a difference there to improve harmonics... I guess it depends, if I could get one of these systems really cheap I'd go to the trouble of see ing how she sounds just for the fun of it- and I'd post an mp3 of it too, but I doubt I'll get the oppo to do it...