Installed my RPI Exhaust today!
05-26-2012, 07:38 PM
#1
Senior Members
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Central New Jersey
Posts: 289
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
My Ride: 2007 525xi
Thanks to Nerwell @ Trinity! 
I promised him pics, and here they are! I did the job with some help from the old man. (He'll never turn down an excuse to use his powertools!)
The job is do-able by one person, but it's a lot less fun and a lot more royal-pain-in-the-ass. The stock exhaust is HEAVY, and having to hold it at an awkward angle by yourself isn't pleasant.
Overall though, the job is about a 3.5/10 on the difficulty scale. 0 being driving the car, 1 changing a tire, 10 disassembling the engine
Tools/Supplies Used:
We had an uphill driveway to work with, so backing up the car up on some ramps worked really well. Gave us plenty of room to work with underneath the car once it was up. Remember to always have someone spotting you as you back up these things! Bad stuff will happen if you go too far.
Looking over the guides on RPI's site - As they mentioned in the first guide, they changed the clamping system for the newer exhausts. No longer has that round grooved-up clampy thing - just the one that grabs the two pieces together. So, if you're doing this - follow the 525/530 guide, then just look at the 545/550i guide for the clamp. I marked where I was going to do the cut with some painter's tape, and took the sawzall to it.
The material that the stock exhaust is made out of is... strong. I used a new blade on the sawzall, and tossed it in the garbage once I was done. It almost didn't finish making the cut straight through. Teeth were almost cleanly shaven away!
After that, continuing to follow the RPI install guide... remove a few screws, and slide the exhaust hook out of one of the rubber thingers, and it's loose! And it's heavy! Make sure your helper is around.
Here's the RPI exhaust and the stock exhaust next to each other:
And a few shots of the underneath with no muffler:
I promised him pics, and here they are! I did the job with some help from the old man. (He'll never turn down an excuse to use his powertools!)
The job is do-able by one person, but it's a lot less fun and a lot more royal-pain-in-the-ass. The stock exhaust is HEAVY, and having to hold it at an awkward angle by yourself isn't pleasant.
Overall though, the job is about a 3.5/10 on the difficulty scale. 0 being driving the car, 1 changing a tire, 10 disassembling the engine
Tools/Supplies Used:
- Sawzall Reciprocating Saw
- 13mm Socket
- 15mm Socket
- Wrench
- Painter's Tape
- Permatex High-Temp Red RTV Silicone Gasket
- BMW E60 525,528,530 Axle Back Exhaust Installation - http://raceprecision...pic.php?f=7&t=4
- BMW 545i/550i Exhaust Installation - http://raceprecision...pic.php?f=7&t=7
We had an uphill driveway to work with, so backing up the car up on some ramps worked really well. Gave us plenty of room to work with underneath the car once it was up. Remember to always have someone spotting you as you back up these things! Bad stuff will happen if you go too far.
Looking over the guides on RPI's site - As they mentioned in the first guide, they changed the clamping system for the newer exhausts. No longer has that round grooved-up clampy thing - just the one that grabs the two pieces together. So, if you're doing this - follow the 525/530 guide, then just look at the 545/550i guide for the clamp. I marked where I was going to do the cut with some painter's tape, and took the sawzall to it.
The material that the stock exhaust is made out of is... strong. I used a new blade on the sawzall, and tossed it in the garbage once I was done. It almost didn't finish making the cut straight through. Teeth were almost cleanly shaven away!
After that, continuing to follow the RPI install guide... remove a few screws, and slide the exhaust hook out of one of the rubber thingers, and it's loose! And it's heavy! Make sure your helper is around.
Here's the RPI exhaust and the stock exhaust next to each other:
And a few shots of the underneath with no muffler:
05-26-2012, 07:38 PM
#2
Senior Members
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Central New Jersey
Posts: 289
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
My Ride: 2007 525xi
The neighborhood kitty decided I was doing something interesting, so she came by to watch:
Once I got the RPI Exhaust mounted... all that was left was clamping it into the rest of the car's exhaust path. This is where I got a little worried... The RPI Exhaust, even after fiddling around with the rubber mounts as much as I could, didn't quite line up that great with the other pipe.
However, once I clamped it on it seemed to force itself into the proper alignment.
Few shots from the back!
What am I supposed to do with this thing now??
I also have a video of me turning the car on with no muffler.. just for kicks:
https://picasaweb.go...feat=directlink
You'll notice that by the end of the video, the lens have all completely fogged up. Partially because of the car's exhaust fumes, but also because of how extremely humid it was outside. I couldn't walk in and out of the house without my glasses fogging up!
And here's the link to my full album. Contains more pics of the kitty!
https://picasaweb.go...InstallOn525xi#
I didn't take a sound clip after the exhaust was installed ... There are already plenty of them out there, and you can never really truly capture the wide frequency range of a car's sound with a built-in camera mic.. so didn't bother.
But it does sound great! Drove around quite a bit this evening, loved every second of it. It seems to sound the loudest while in the 2.5-3.5k RPM range, while under load... Outside of that or while not under load, it sounds fairly normal.. just a 'tad louder though, which I like.
Not sure if it's a placebo effect (pretty sure it's not), but I did notice a bit more strength on my butt dyno.
And that's all for my review/picture thread/half-assed diy! Enjoy!
Once I got the RPI Exhaust mounted... all that was left was clamping it into the rest of the car's exhaust path. This is where I got a little worried... The RPI Exhaust, even after fiddling around with the rubber mounts as much as I could, didn't quite line up that great with the other pipe.
However, once I clamped it on it seemed to force itself into the proper alignment.
Few shots from the back!
What am I supposed to do with this thing now??
I also have a video of me turning the car on with no muffler.. just for kicks:
https://picasaweb.go...feat=directlink
You'll notice that by the end of the video, the lens have all completely fogged up. Partially because of the car's exhaust fumes, but also because of how extremely humid it was outside. I couldn't walk in and out of the house without my glasses fogging up!
And here's the link to my full album. Contains more pics of the kitty!
https://picasaweb.go...InstallOn525xi#
I didn't take a sound clip after the exhaust was installed ... There are already plenty of them out there, and you can never really truly capture the wide frequency range of a car's sound with a built-in camera mic.. so didn't bother.
But it does sound great! Drove around quite a bit this evening, loved every second of it. It seems to sound the loudest while in the 2.5-3.5k RPM range, while under load... Outside of that or while not under load, it sounds fairly normal.. just a 'tad louder though, which I like.
Not sure if it's a placebo effect (pretty sure it's not), but I did notice a bit more strength on my butt dyno.
And that's all for my review/picture thread/half-assed diy! Enjoy!
05-26-2012, 07:45 PM
#3
Members
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Carpentersville, IL
Posts: 105
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My Ride: 2008 550i Sport
You're a brave man doing this with that humidity we had today. I moved my 4 M172 wheels from my car to my porch (5 feet) and I was soaked like I weighed 400 pounds. lol
Looks great! Enjoy
Looks great! Enjoy
05-27-2012, 10:05 AM
#6
Contributors
Enjoy the exhaust , I am not sure if you have a K&N filter already but it would be icing on the cake to have it on there with this new mod you have.
05-27-2012, 09:45 PM
#9
Senior Members
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 924
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like
on
1 Post
My Ride: 2008 AW N52 with sports package & premium package; natural brown interior
MODs:
Orion V2s
3000K H8 Yellow Fogs
Matte Black Kidney Grills
20" Miro 111
Hankook V12 Tires
H&R Sport Springs
Special coding via Simon (dbl flash hazards, digital velocity, etc.)
LED Side Markers from Trinity Autosports
LED License Plate Lights from Trinity Autosports
Carbon Delete
BMC Air Filter
RPI Scoop
RPI GT Exhaust
Future MODs:
Mtech Kit
KW Variant 2 Coilovers
CIC Retrofit
Upgrade Audio System
I just got mine put on two weeks ago. I love it!! Enjoy and great documentation of your efforts.
