Looking for Performance Muffler for my 1992 525i

[Trancide]

Hello everyone, I just bought a 1992 525i @ 170,000 miles last week and it needs a few things. One of them being a new muffler. The OEM one that is on it now is totally rusted out(huge hole on it). Since the muffler needs to be replaced I figured I would look around for a good performance one, but I haven't had much luck finding one for less than $500. I really don't want to spend any more than that for a muffler. I also don't really know of any brands of mufflers for the car, except for Remus, and SuperSprint which are both very expensive, becuase they say you also need a resonator that is made by them to go with the muffler. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Alexlind123]

Magnaflow. Flowmaster.

[GoldenOne]

i think ANSA is a cost effective upgrade in the exhaust dept...can be found from bav. autos site and other places

[Alexlind123]

Straight pipes. Glasspacks.

[Montreal525]

Waste of time on a 525. I had a custom exhaust put on mine and it's a disaster. Going back to stock. Keep it as stock as possible, no muffler will give you any significant extra performance except more noise, unless that's what you're looking for. My 2 cents...

Jeff

[bfd]

What are you looking for? Louder/more noise? What about things like durability? My OE muffler lasted almost 10 years - I consider that "hi peformance."

Further, since OE BMW mufflers are known to be highly efficient, I recommend replacing with OEM Eberspacher. At about $200, you'll be hard press to find a better "performing" muffler!

[e39dream]

fart can muffler donated from community civic. priceless.

[Kulasstar]

i remember reading that someone put a 535 one on there 525 and i sound great. i was wondering if this was true? wats the difference? is the preformance better too?

ps. OT anyone know a good place to get windows tinted in the bay area i got like 5 cars that need it so im trying to find a good deal

[Trancide]

What are you looking for? Louder/more noise? What about things like durability? My OE muffler lasted almost 10 years - I consider that "hi peformance."

Further, since OE BMW mufflers are known to be highly efficient, I recommend replacing with OEM Eberspacher. At about $200, you'll be hard press to find a better "performing" muffler!

Yeah, I want something that's going to sound nice, not loud or obnoxious, just something that has a nice throaty sound to it. Durability is pretty important.

[joshua43214]

The OE exhaust is already a performance exhaust. It also has the nice feature of fitting properly and being quiet.

It also lasts forever, mine has 183,000miles on it and is still ok.

[Trancide]

I guess I should have said I wanted a nice Sounding exhaust in my first post. I don't want a quiet muffler. I guess i'll have to give my local muffler shop a call and see what they think. Thanks everyone.

[cableface]

I guess I should have said I wanted a nice Sounding exhaust in my first post. I don't want a quiet muffler. I guess i'll have to give my local muffler shop a call and see what they think. Thanks everyone.
You could just keep the one you have with the hole in it. I'm sure it gives a throaty sound. ;)

[BillionPa]

530i M60 muffler = $450, apparently very nice sounding compared to stock, and "should" fit using the stock mounting hardware after welding on (rear hangar part #s are the same, and the body has the same hangar location)

[Gayle]

You could just keep the one you have with the hole in it. I'm sure it gives a throaty sound. ;)

This is a better idea than you might realize. Our former 525 had a stock muffler that was on its last legs and it sounded awesome. It rumbled like a harley. I so missed the sound of it that I sprang for an eisenmann and a new oem resonator (total just under $1400) for my 535 just to improve the sound. And honestly, I think I liked the rumble of the rusty stock better. And I have listened to eisenman, supersprint, and tri flow with and without the resonator. Just my .02.

[cableface]

This is a better idea than you might realize. Our former 525 had a stock muffler that was on its last legs and it sounded awesome. It rumbled like a harley. I so missed the sound of it that I sprang for an eisenmann and a new oem resonator (total just under $1400) for my 535 just to improve the sound. And honestly, I think I liked the rumble of the rusty stock better. And I have listened to eisenman, supersprint, and tri flow with and without the resonator. Just my .02.I guess this is REALLY a matter of preference because I just fixed mine. It was rusted through where the exhaust connects to the muffler. It sounded awful so I had a new piece of pipe welded in. I prefer the quiet "sleeper". You cant beat that silent zip. 525's are that really that fast to begin with. I'd rather exceed someone's expectations rather than let them down. LOL

[nuclearfusion]

You will have a hard time getting a better muffler than Boysen or Eberspacher. Quality is high and they last a long time on our cars.

A custom stainless setup would be nice too - I had a very nice custom-built SS setup on my E28 made up of a Stebro resonator, Magnaflow muffler, a bunch of big stainless pipe and some nice tips. Very satisfactory in terms of sound, appearance, overall quality, durability, etc. I had this done at my local muffler shop. Total cost was about $CAD 500 not including the original BMW cat.

Enjoy!

Fusion

[Trancide]

Wow, thanks everyone for the responces. Yeah I really do wish I could leave the one with the hole in it on the car because it sounds awesome, but it would definitely not pass inspection becuase of it. I'm probably going to have my local muffler shop down the road put on a magnaflow muffler, or I might just look into putting on a 530i M60 muffler on it, as BillionPa said. Thanks again everyone, i'll have some pics of the car up soon.

[Chris'91'525i]

530i M60 muffler = $450, apparently very nice sounding compared to stock, and "should" fit using the stock mounting hardware after welding on (rear hangar part #s are the same, and the body has the same hangar location)

I had a new Boyson 530i muffler put on my 525i.
Got it on eBay for an obscenely low price .
It is about 5" longer and 3" higher than the stock one. It will bolt right in with no mods, except for shortening the pipes that go to it before welding in place.
It gives a very nice factory like performance sound. I'm very happy with it.
I need to replace the resonator now though. I can hear the the guts rattling around now. It's very bad when cold.
So you may want to do both while it's on the rack.
My car was at around 158K at muffler replacement. The exterior looked excellent, but the interior was almost completely rotted out.