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      05-18-2020, 02:04 PM   #1
tenkies
Second Lieutenant
United_States
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Drives: 2017 M2 LBB 6MT
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Socal

iTrader: (0)

I was looking to upgrade my stock DP and ended up getting a good deal on the catted DP by AA. They guarantee no CEL so I decided to pull the trigger and get one. Delivery from AA took almost 2 weeks. DP arrived well packaged with plenty of bubble wrap .

First Impressions:
Looks ok. The welding on the pipe that connects to the exhaust is a bit sloppy. The other end that connects to the Turbo looks really good. So, I'm not sure what happened *

Install:
I loosely followed some DIYs off of YouTube. I ended up not removing the belly pan completely. Just removed all the 17mm bolts and only the 8mm screws from the front axel back, letting the pan hang from the front 5 screws. I purchased new OEM v-band clamps for the exhaust and turbo side along with 17mm belly pan bolts(I recommend getting these for peace of mind. After torquing these down to spec I'm pretty sure they get stretched a bit). Also purchased a new turbo gasket. With only 10k miles on the car The gasket looked fine and I ended up not replacing it. Biggest issue I found installing the AA DP was that the bracket flanges do not line back up and was not able to re-install all of the DP brackets back completely. I was only able to bolt the bracket on the turbo side and only 2 out of the 3 bolts. The way the DP fits and the V-bands I doubt it's going to move but what's the point of bracket flanged on the DP then...

Initial Start up and driving Impressions (stock/no tune)
First and foremost no CEL on startup Cold start is louder. No raspiness though and it sounds good. I have an Akrapovic exhaust and IMO start up is .5x times louder. I have a garage but for those that park their cars outside...you might not be the "favorite" neighbor during early morning commuting. Driving around, I now have subtle burbles in comfort mode. The exhaust is a bit louder on acceleration but nothing obnoxious. Cruising at speed is no different that when I had the stock DP. In Sport and Sport+ mode is a different story. Acceleration sounds aggressive and you can now hear the turbo spool. On declaration the burbles have increased and are pronounced and louder. Cruising volume is a tad louder barely louder than the stock DP. The butt Dyno is telling me the car feels a bit more torqueier and a bit more responsive.

After driving 15-20 miles still no CEL(hope this last long term) Overall I'm happy with the DP. It's louder but nothing obnoxious. My GF rode in the car and did not complain about noise levels. The car feels better driving overall. If you feel that the car is loud in stock form and not a fan of burbles this DP is not for you. For the rest of you it might be worth getting as long as they fix the bracket issue. Maybe I got a batch who knows.
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