[mike@x-ph.com]

Congrats!!!

Im happy to hear you finally got it fixed. Sounds great BTW!!

[sai_dee]

Originally Posted by No_curebimmer

I totally get that, but the drone is a really nice one, not annoying in any sense: the car is more alive, more communicative! If going on a road trip, put it in Efficient mode and no drone whatsoever.

Unfortunately I live in NYC and 70% of my driving would be within drone range.

[No_curebimmer]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

Congrats!!!

Im happy to hear you finally got it fixed. Sounds great BTW!!

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

Congrats!!!

Im happy to hear you finally got it fixed. Sounds great BTW!!

Thanks Mike - yuuuge shout out to Extreme Power House for hooking me up with the AA EL + Dinan axle back! Thanks for being a sponsor member and awesome company to work with! Mike - Now you can direct potential customers to this thread: YES you can connect Dinan axleback w/ AA EL midpipe!

PS I highly recommend welding all connection points…leaves zero room for error or something hitting. I read quite a few EL and/or axleback customers went back to the install shop because something was rattling or moving…welding will eliminate that

[No_curebimmer]

Originally Posted by pawelczyk7

Congrats,,,,,,,,,what you said is what i posted when i did my install ... holding the gears just to hear the sound ! enjoy !!!

Thanks man!!!

AA EL (non resonated) improved the upon the OEM exhaust ~50-60%. But the Dinan axle back brought it to life…i am looking for every excuse to drive it. The exhaust is GLORIOUS!

What axleback did you end up with pairing the AA El with? Remus, AA MPE?

[M3R1]

Sounds fantastic! Definitely will be my setup, resonated version though. What is your best guess on the total weight savings over stock? Just curious..

[No_curebimmer]

Originally Posted by M3R1

Sounds fantastic! Definitely will be my setup, resonated version though. What is your best guess on the total weight savings over stock? Just curious..

Definitely: Dinan + AA EL is superb, and would be happy to recommend to any S55 owner!

Weight-wise, I would venture the Dinan is ~ 1/2 the weight of the OEM, so probably about 30lbs of weight savings ??? I could easily pick up the Dinan with one hand

Note: if you go resonated EL, your sound will be more muted than what you hear in my setup. I don't particularly think my setup is loud, far from it; loud enough in a gentlemany-aggressive way.

[M3R1]

Originally Posted by No_curebimmer

Definitely: Dinan + AA EL is superb, and would be happy to recommend to any S55 owner!

Weight-wise, I would venture the Dinan is ~ 1/2 the weight of the OEM, so probably about 30lbs of weight savings ??? I could easily pick up the Dinan with one hand

Note: if you go resonated EL, your sound will be more muted than what you hear in my setup. I don't particularly think my setup is loud, far from it; loud enough in a gentlemany-aggressive way.

I would suspect the OEM mid pipe is heavier than the AA? Any thoughts on that?

I love the clean sound your car makes. I am not a fan of a super loud cabin. I bet the resonated AA would still sound good. Worst case would be to spend a few extra $$ and get the AA pipes to replace the resonators.

[No_curebimmer]

Originally Posted by M3R1

I would suspect the OEM mid pipe is heavier than the AA? Any thoughts on that?

I love the clean sound your car makes. I am not a fan of a super loud cabin. I bet the resonated AA would still sound good. Worst case would be to spend a few extra $$ and get the AA pipes to replace the resonators.

I didn't get my hands on the OEM midpipe vs AA EL, but I suspect EL is lighter, given that it doesn't have a set of catalytic converters…

I am not sure if I noted this: I have coded out both ASD (BimmerCode) and burbles (BimmerLink). The interior cabin sound is great: I get to hear every nuance my engine and exhaust make. In Sport+, it's about 30-40% louder than OEM, and in efficient is about as loud as stock Sport+. It's 100% livable (it's not a hybrid, Camry or something )

It's a great addition overall, inside and out!

Personally, it's not too loud, and I wouldn't choose the resonated EL…the dB/loudness level is perfect for a sports car that can be a DD and/or track focused. Having experienced this, I would be upset to have it any quieter

[Nicname]

Originally Posted by M3R1

I would suspect the OEM mid pipe is heavier than the AA? Any thoughts on that?

I love the clean sound your car makes. I am not a fan of a super loud cabin. I bet the resonated AA would still sound good. Worst case would be to spend a few extra $$ and get the AA pipes to replace the resonators.

I'll be pairing the Remus Sport with the Resonated EL this Friday. A little worried it might be too quiet but lets see. If it is, hopefully I can find someone willing to swap my resonated section for their unresonated section.

[sai_dee]

Originally Posted by Nicname

I'll be pairing the Remus Sport with the Resonated EL this Friday. A little worried it might be too quiet but lets see. If it is, hopefully I can find someone willing to swap my resonated section for their unresonated section.

Post videos when you can, this may be my combo as well.

[No_curebimmer]

Originally Posted by Nicname

I'll be pairing the Remus Sport with the Resonated EL this Friday. A little worried it might be too quiet but lets see. If it is, hopefully I can find someone willing to swap my resonated section for their unresonated section.

Congrats- should definitely improve on stock!

FYI, if you find the resonated EL too quiet, I believe AA makes just the connection sections with or w/o resonators.

Are you going to weld the connection points or will install with included clamps hw?

[Nicname]

Originally Posted by No_curebimmer

Congrats- should definitely improve on stock!

FYI, if you find the resonated EL too quiet, I believe AA makes just the connection sections with or w/o resonators.

Are you going to weld the connection points or will install with included clamps hw?

There will be some welding around the connecting pipes between the exhaust and the EL. They've done a few equal lengths and no one has complained of any rattling/unwanted sounds so fingers crossed.

[No_curebimmer]

Originally Posted by Nicname

There will be some welding around the connecting pipes between the exhaust and the EL. They've done a few equal lengths and no one has complained of any rattling/unwanted sounds so fingers crossed.

Awesome…welding is the best way!!! FYI, the shop who installed my Dinan, commented how inferior the AA EL clamping system was; for the EL - axleback connection, it comes with 2 very slim aluminum sleeves, so we decided to remove & weld.

My recommendation (see attached). Marked pictures before Dinan install, using AA supplied hardware.

- green mark-up: are solid, just spot weld
- red mark-ups: no clamps, only weld

[atruong247]

Looks and sounds amazing. The stock muffler is the main cause of the tin can sound and I can't wait to get rid of it. Ordered a meisterschaft titanium axleback with an estimated date in september. Hoping to do similar custom fabrication. of course can't weld it completely because titanium and steel don't mix, or does it. The vibrations tin can sound should be a thing of the past! I really recommend anyone who wants the EL midpipe to ditch the stock muffler.

[No_curebimmer]

Originally Posted by atruong247

Looks and sounds amazing. The stock muffler is the main cause of the tin can sound and I can't wait to get rid of it. Ordered a meisterschaft titanium axleback with an estimated date in september. Hoping to do similar custom fabrication. of course can't weld it completely because titanium and steel don't mix, or does it. The vibrations tin can sound should be a thing of the past! I really recommend anyone who wants the EL midpipe to ditch the stock muffler.

Wow…that should sound amazing!!

I don't think titanium- SS welding could be done by a regular muffler shop, so you may have to resort to the included clamping system.

[M3R1]

Originally Posted by Nicname

I'll be pairing the Remus Sport with the Resonated EL this Friday. A little worried it might be too quiet but lets see. If it is, hopefully I can find someone willing to swap my resonated section for their unresonated section.

This is the exact set up i decided to go with. I do not want loud, the stock DB's are fine. A change in sound will be great, however my motivation is to remove the ball sack and not cut up the factory exhaust.

[inTgr8r]

Originally Posted by No_curebimmer

Awesome…welding is the best way!!! FYI, the shop who installed my Dinan, commented how inferior the AA EL clamping system was; for the EL - axleback connection, it comes with 2 very slim aluminum sleeves, so we decided to remove & weld.

My recommendation (see attached). Marked pictures before Dinan install, using AA supplied hardware.

- green mark-up: are solid, just spot weld
- red mark-ups: no clamps, only weld

Really appreciate your work on this, it's a real benefit to the community.
This is definitely the way I plan to go.

[No_curebimmer]

Originally Posted by atruong247

I really recommend anyone who wants the EL midpipe to ditch the stock muffler.

I can attest to this…I wanted to add exhaust pieces individually to asses the effect of each.

1. first bought & installed non resonated AA EL, and lived with it for about 1.5 months
- exhaust improvements max 50%, but also experienced 30% more raspiness/tinny noises than stock, especially < 2k RPM. I became laser focused on fixing that, it was that annoying
- some weight savings (dont have any empirical data)
- faster/easier acceleration

2. Installed Dinan axle-back (although it is sold as a mid-catback, comes with the x-pipe)
- exhaust improvements…full/max/dope level!!!
- removed all traces of raspiness I previously had with AA EL only
- deepened the sound DRASTICALLY
- cleaned it for all RPM levels
- maximized the overall enjoyment factor of my car
- saved ~30 lbs vs OEM muffler
- similar acceleration gains vs the AA EL

Just the other day, I lingered by the rear end and listened to the exhaust while idling: now it has a fantastic growl that neither OEM nor AA EL by itself produced. Just listening to this, one would know this M2C means real business

A few more (very subjective) notes I would like to share:
- didn't particularly liked the higher pitch exhaust the Remus makes (nor the higher cost), so that crossed off my list
- I listened to the AA valved exhaust posted here: https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1845670. To my ears, while definitely louder and somewhat more aggressive, the AA EL + AA axleback still exhibited similar raspiness as the AA EL only, so that didn't seem to help with my 'zero raspiness' goal
- didn't consider others like MPE, Akra,

[No_curebimmer]

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

Really appreciate your work on this, it's a real benefit to the community.
This is definitely the way I plan to go.

My pleasure…glad I was able to help.

I am happy to answer and install questions, and gladly endorse Dinan axleback + non res AA EL exhaust setup for the S55.

[ESB]

Nice!! Glad you finally got a setup you love.

So just to confirm, you think loudness did not change between EL + OEM muffler vs EL + Dinan muffler? Instead it just helped you (1) eliminate the rasp you used to encounter and (2) get a deeper tone across all modes but esp in spots/sports+ ?

[No_curebimmer]

Originally Posted by ESB

Nice!! Glad you finally got a setup you love.

So just to confirm, you think loudness did not change between EL + OEM muffler vs EL + Dinan muffler? Instead it just helped you (1) eliminate the rasp you used to encounter and (2) get a deeper tone across all modes but esp in spots/sports+ ?

Correct on both points you mentioned HOWEVER - SOUND is now louder than stock + EL by a few dBs for sure while still being at a lower frequency-pitch (I didn't perform empirical tests EL + stock muffler vs EL + Dinan muffler).

If I were to guesstimate:
- efficient/non res AA EL/Dinan muffler is about as loud as Sport +/non res AA EL/ stock muffler
- as I mentioned above, with the Dinan axelback and AA EL, the overall note is much lower pitch/growl/frequency than either full stock or AA EL+ stock muffler

Some scientific blah blah write up (some may find it useful. Well, maybe)

LOUDNESS (dB) vs FREQUENCY (Hz):

I am a hifi enthusiast (and engineer by trade) where I do my own in room acoustic measurements (REW, 3D imaging, full frequency response analysis, etc) - and I can tell you that our human ears have a harder time hearing lower frequencies (say < 250Hz) vs higher ones (> 250Hz) even if loudness is of same dB level. You may relate to this if you're into HT movies…most turn up the LFE/bass channels because it doesn't seem as loud as upper frequencies (of course I am not taking into consideration null points, Schroeder frequency/transition freq, room modes, subwoofer placement, x-over freq, etc…).

Simplified Case E.G. (measurement taken at same reference point, same microphone)

SOUND SAMPLE A : a noise/sound at 50dB (loudness) and 3500 Hz (frequency)

vs

SOUND SAMPLE B: noise/sound sound at 50dB and 500Hz

Although both are played at the same loudness level, we will always perceive SOUND SAMPLE A as 'louder' because of its higher frequency

How this is applicable here?? Non Resonated AA EL + Dinan axleback has an innate lower frequency growl (achieved internally by baffles and/or resonators) , and it will be perceived as 'quieter' than say other setups that are sporting AA EL + Remus/MPE/Akra axle backs.

Hope the above proved useful…especially since I read MANY comments on this forum stating that the Remus exhausts are typically 'louder'….true, they may be perceived as such simply because they have a higher pitch/frequency than most other axlebacks. They may still exhibit a louder dB level, but loudness should always be in the same context as frequency.

[No_curebimmer]

Originally Posted by ESB

(2)get a deeper tone across all modes but esp in spots/sports+ ?

You can easily discern between the Efficient vs Sport vs Sport+ towards the end of my parking lot video, the stationary revs (sorry I am not into social media, video editing SW etc) but the commentary would go like this:

- after full stop: a few Sport + revs
- switched to efficient for a couple of revs (noticeably quieter)
- next up was Sport…growling increased
- last was Sport +

Biggest delta was between Efficient vs Sport. Sport vs Sport+ wasn't as evident.