Thanks for all the input, so the easy anwser is no. No maker keeps a vaccum assisted vavle to keep the car with two sound levels.

Looks like since that is the case I will be going RPI.

Thanks

 

Well, no actually, the Meistercraft exhaust does have a valve (electronic, I think) - however, their system is ~$2800. The RPI is less than $1000 and you can order it with silencers that reduce the noise level and drone. Just remember, the RPI will be loud initially, but it mellows out over time.

 

You were absolutely right, bro. Love it even more now. Even my mechanic says its the best sounding car short of an M5 to come into his shop in a while...

 

Glad you like it, RPI does a fantastic job engineering and building their systems. Can't wait to get mine, hopefully REALLY soon.

 

currently in stock

 

Not sure which one you looked at but my meisterschaft does not have a valve on it. My 550i did not have a valve on it in stock form.

 

I had a Remus exhaust, which did little more than lighten up the load and add a little growl at high RPM. Otherwise, you wouldn't know it wasn't stock.

Tried an Umnitza look-a-like dual exhaust, which sounded great, but I couldn't get over smoke only coming from one side.

I ended up going with the RD Sport dual exhaust (quad tips). Being catless with x-pipe, it's straight up BAD A$$.

 

Catless, wow. So you went with the rull RD Sport setup that includes headers then (unless you gutted the catalytics out of the factory manifolds). Which one did you do? The catless RD Sport is like $10,000 or something. Did you do a dyno before and after? I'm running catless as well, we saw some great TQ gains (like, crazy TQ gains), at low rpm's which was very nice.

 

so i went with the Dinan axel back. not exactly a diy unless you've got a lift and a buddy. fortunately $60 baught me a pretty solid "buddy" at my local muffler shop. I do hold the title of being the first, non-truck/non-deisel/non-meant for mud application as far as he was concearned, friend of a friend, ya dig? ttally cool guy non-the-less, i dont know to many shops that let you help with the install, and then let you look at the weld and ask if thats "good for you?" like i would know,lol. the sound though.... wow. even "steve" said to me it was the most legit sounding performance exhaust he's put on a car to date, far surpassing the tin can honda, and even his money maker; the rediculously obnoxious pick-up truck. it'll be awhile before i can note for sure any benefit other than a supposed increase in performance, then again, im the guy that thinks his car gains 20hp after an oil change. ive kept detailed rexords of my fuel consumption, avg. mpg, avg mph, and amount of miles i get per fill up. after 4 full tanks since my exhaust i get the same economy now that i did before the Dinan exhaust install, thing is, i really use the car from stop take offs, and highway on ramps are a joyfull romp on the throttle, ie, im flogging the engine now as compared to before, yet have realized no drop in fuel economy worth note, to me thats nice. i brought the car back after 1 weeks worth of driving and had "steve" replace the two resonators with a narrow bend X-pipe. with this i got a arkish report after i gas it and back off in neutral, as wellas if i hard downshift into 2nd and 1st, pretty cool comong up to a stoplight. the note went from aggrevated below 3K, to downright angry, the idle is a low caughing rumble, and ive been told by someone luck enough to tend my rear quarter pannel after acceleration "its like a ferrari" after i settle down and cruize. there's absolutely no drone on the freeway till the car chimes in going up a steep hill, or passing someone with a purpose.
ok, so here come the qhestions.... i picked up a Dinan throttle body and free flow intake to go with it. the intake is to replace the Afe, oops. like no kidding, big oops. cold mornings....no problem. 30 deg temps.... no issues. 2 red lights in 55 deg temps.... forget it, i might as well drive a ford focus.
Q#1- cani hookup the RPI scoops to this intake? .... to both sides?
Q#2- I also got a throttle body from dinan. is this a diy? any special trixk to unscrewing the old and putting on the new? the directions simply tell me to R+R according to the "correct way" as indicated in the sercice manual....what the hexk is that crap, Dinan?
Q#3- so i got the exhaust, intake, and throttle body, 2 points from the revered Dinan "BADGE"... lol, call me a dork, but, im kinda stoked. so i got the front strut tower brace as well. add to all that, I picked up a carbon fiber engine cover too, so my thinks is; combined with the CF on the intake, it'll all look pretty cool, if nothing else. so is the strut brace a diy? and whats the "badge" look like? does it say "dinan5" or just "dinan"?
thanks for reading, and i hope responding, unless youre gonna preach about wasting my money, canx that garbage please. I had the money to burn because of a tax thing, thats all. no name-sake snobbery here. any help though on my questions is apprexiated, thanks in advance!!

 

I have a 2010 550 and have done some serious research into what upgrades I can do, and besides a supercharger there isn't much. Dinan is really the only way to go.

A#1 - Yes the two RPI scoops will work perfectly with the Dinan intake. (shameless plug) Trinity has them, and they are a great company to deal with.
A#2 - Maybe someone else can chime in here, but I don't see why a throttle body couldn't be a DIY I've swapped them on multiple EFI cars with no issues.
A#3 - The badge is only DINAN, you'll have to take your 5 and put it in the right spot to make Dinan5 if that's what you want.
On another note with all of the upgrades you should do at least a stage 2 to see the true potential of all the other upgrades. Anyway congrats, and good luck with all of your upgrades.