To circle back on this now that I've had the exhaust on for a while, and to make sure I'm being transparent about the experience.
First, I still think the sound is about as good as we get on this platform. It definitely does change a bit through break-in as has been discussed a bit already, and time with the system does expose a few weak points. There's a very, very short drone around 1k rpm that I generally only experience during cold start when revs start to come down and normalize. Not an issue during driving.
Coldstart with the valves open is dumb from the inside of the car. It's overly loud, it shakes the car, and it doesn't sound particularly great. That said, it actually sounds pretty good from outside the car; go figure. I was at my dealer recently getting an oil change, and got to hear my car start up vs. a stock G80, and hearing those startups back-to-back really makes it stand out how poor the stock systems sound.
Closing valves for startup fixes most of the above issue, but that brings up what I think is the biggest issue with this system, which is the exhaust valve. drp087 and I have chatted on and off about this, and I'll let them speak to their own experience, but the valve rattles an unacceptable amount when it's closed; it's completely unreasonable during startup, and while it does ease up afterwards, you can still hear it with windows down when you punch the accelerator. I've gone through a fair number of videos and support documents on how to resolve this, and need to get back under the car to attempt to retension the valve actuator again, but I consider the rattling valve to be far more annoying than the loudness of the system with the valves open, so I rarely find myself closing the valves.
The looks are an interesting point. I think I've developed a bit of Stockholm Syndrome to justify my own purchase here, because while I'd prefer something cleaner, I've actually grown to like the looks of the system a bit. It tickles the same part of my brain as seeing an aftermarket exhaust on anything JDM from the 90s or early 00s. I do think it looks better in person than my pictures, but if you care strongly about symmetry and visual presentation, I don't think there's any fixing the fundamental issues with how it looks.
I don't think my opinion has changed. I don't regret buying it, and if I was on the hunt for an exhaust with what I know now, the only difference I think I'd make is maybe going for the stainless steel version rather than the titanium. The difference between those is still an unknown for me. But for what I was looking to achieve, the system met my expectations in spades, and my only real problem with it is that rattling valve, which I think is totally fixable... even if that means removing the valve
