M30 Resonator Options

[ILoveMPower]

Looking for possible resonator replacement options... purchased a Magnaflow muffler, but when I replace my guibo I noticed how rotted the flange (#4) in the below pic looked. Curious if I should just talk to the guys at the exhaust shop and see what they feel?

The reason I ask is because I heard the stock resonator is about the best choice

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/a/g/211.png

[ILoveMPower]

Come on, no suggestions?

:(

[GoldenOne]

not really affecting e34 but my roommate removed his from an e46 330i and replaced it with glasspacks....i didnt notice much difference

[ILoveMPower]

not really affecting e34 but my roommate removed his from an e46 330i and replaced it with glasspacks....i didnt notice much difference

Hmm, interesting... and cheap too

[genphreak]

Stock is the only way to go on M30, except for supersprint (stainless glass pack). Other glass packs DO NOT work, they are too short and cause severe exhaust harmonics inside the cabin. Stay stock, they last a long time and are very good + cheap. Not sure if the ANSAs are so good, but others will probably report on them...

[ILoveMPower]

Stock is the only way to go on M30, except for supersprint (stainless glass pack). Other glass packs DO NOT work, they are too short and cause severe exhaust harmonics inside the cabin. Stay stock, they last a long time and are very good + cheap. Not sure if the ANSAs are so good, but others will probably report on them...

Thanks for the wise words, that is what I seemed to remember after reading about Gayle's exhaust work.

Do you happen to know somewhere I could pick up a stock resonator for decent price? Realoem quotes something $300+ US

Thanks,
-Jeremy

[BigKriss]

What about straight pipes to the rear muffler?

[ILoveMPower]

What about straight pipes to the rear muffler?

I am just very worried about completely ruining the luxury ride/killing my audio by filling the cabin with exhaust noise.

[AngryPopTart]

Stock is the only way to go on M30, except for supersprint (stainless glass pack). Other glass packs DO NOT work, they are too short and cause severe exhaust harmonics inside the cabin. Stay stock, they last a long time and are very good + cheap. Not sure if the ANSAs are so good, but others will probably report on them...

Really? Other glass packs do not work? Why not? Besides someone picking one which is too short, that is.

[GoldenOne]

two short ones = one long? lol

[genphreak]

Really? Other glass packs do not work? Why not? Besides someone picking one which is too short, that is.Get underneath and have a look. The standard unit is very complicated to make in comparison to a glasspack as it is a metre long, very flat and bent like a banana. The rear muffler is also bent to use the space efficiently, but it is much bigger as it has to do more than just prevent bad harmoincs. 525 is different, I think the bigger engines have more harmonic problems- that 's what you get with a decent motor and exhaust system.

Why would one of the world's most basic and crumby muffler designs beat one of BMWs? They would have used it IF it were better.

[AngryPopTart]

Get underneath and have a look. The standard unit is very complicated to make in comparison to a glasspack as it is a metre long, very flat and bent like a banana. The rear muffler is also bent to use the space efficiently, but it is much bigger as it has to do more than just prevent bad harmoincs. 525 is different, I think the bigger engines have more harmonic problems- that 's what you get with a decent motor and exhaust system.

Why would one of the world's most basic and crumby muffler designs beat one of BMWs? They would have used it IF it were better.

With the exception of reflection mufflers, like Flowmasters, all mufflers are basically glasspacks but with larger casings. A perforated core surrounded by packing... but some aren't straight-through. And since we're talking about replacing a resonator which has even less packing, if any, it doesn't seem like it should amount to "OMG REPLACING THE FACTORY RESONATOR WITH GLASSPACKS EQUALS MEGA CABIN RESONATIONS!" Yeah, the bigger engines need larger mufflers. I had a big-block chrysler with true duals and ran glasspacks right under the front seats and there was no cabin noise to speak of. But they had very nice, thick outer casings and were packed well. That's about 3 liters of exhaust note per side, compared to the 1.5 liters per side on the 530? Yes, the lift and duration on the cams are different, but still.

I still have those glasspacks lying around and they would be about the same length as if you ran them in place of the factory resonator and then had to make that extra bend with just tubing.

If you heard about someone running glasspacks and it was extremely noisey, maybe some exhaust guy that was very dumb, used generic exhaust mounts and essentially isolated the mufflers to the body. That would cause some NICE resonations in the cabin.

[ILoveMPower]

Where would you recommend me to get a cheap OE resonator?

Sorry, I don't really trust glasspacks on my M30... I can hear the raspyness already just thinking about it

[AngryPopTart]

Where would you recommend me to get a cheap OE resonator?

Sorry, I don't really trust glasspacks on my M30... I can hear the raspyness already just thinking about it

I cannot imagine why you would think that... unless you believe that I am suggesting you run glasspacks in place of the factory resonator and remove the rear muffler. I did not mean to suggest this at all. Running glasspacks in place of the factory resonator while retaining the factory rear muffler would just make your car even quieter. Resonators don't hardly muffle at all, they mostly change the exhaust note. Longer or not, the factory resonator contains hardly any packing, which also makes it a whole lot lighter than a couple glasspacks. So if you're worried about the weight, don't do it.