[StephGOD]

Hey guys - I wanted to create a new thread on here to discuss the specific issues some of us have been experiencing after installing AA's EL mid pipe on our cars with the hope that Andrew & the other guys at ONLYACTIVE can step up and provide some further assistance and potential resolution based on our collective feedback. From what I've seen in the past, AA seems amenable to listening to customer feedback and making whatever adjustments/improvements are necessary so hoping this will have a similar outcome. Also, I wanted to make it clear the intent here is not to bash AA or their EL mid pipe as 95% of the time the sound it produces is pretty damn awesome and they've obviously succeeded in completely changing the tone of the exhaust (S55 engine) for the better in my humble opinion.

Now, the most common issue I've read thus far, which is currently happening on my own car, is this intermittent, but reproducible, so called raspy "tin can" sounding noise that others have also attested to in various other threads. In my specific situation (DCT) this typically only occurs during the first few minutes after the engine has been started & the car is being driven at low speeds (between ~2k to 3k rpm), regardless if the exhaust is cold or already warmed up. However, if I just leave the car idling for the first 2-3min prior to driving it then all is fine and the same "tin can" sounding noise never appears, at least to my ears.

Anyhow, I wanted to go ahead and collect some data to see just how many of us who've installed the EL mid pipe (res or non-res) on our M2C's are experiencing this same issue as of today so I went ahead and created a poll. With that said, please take a moment to vote if at all possible so we can try and narrow down what applications are most common which might prove as useful information later on. Thanks!

Further food for thought - I looked back through TheHoffmobile IG videos of his prior M2C which AA used to develop the first EL mid pipe & valved "the box" axleback prototype's and I didn't hear the same sounding "tin can" noise once in any of them, even during cold start, so it appears something could've perhaps been changed or tweaked on the manufacturing side for the production units that's now inadvertently causing the issue.


*(UPDATE - 6/28) It appears a new issue has popped up as of recently. Two members, thus far, RollingInDubs & Greg094 have both noticed that their plastic OEM diffuser is visibly melting in certain areas after having the EL mid pipe installed (with oem muffler) for a few weeks. Not much more information then that as of this moment but seems like a strange occurrence given the muffler is still stock so the physical tolerances would be identical as prior to installing the new EL mid pipe.

[ESB]

I'm stock DP and muffler + non-res EL and I experience the tin-can thing on cold starts and it stops after a few mins.

For me I have a manual car and it is most pronounced when I press in the clutch at low speed/rpm. So when I start the car I put it in reverse and start reversing. Then I press the clutch in to shift into 1st gear and THAT is when it often times makes a very raspy noise.

I don't want to throw a red herring but I wonder if it may be temperature related? It's been getting much warmer in Seattle lately and I've experienced it less. I also know AA is based out of Florida and my perception of Florida is sun all day every day .... so I wonder if that could explain why they didn't catch this...?

[Greg094]

Here are pictures of my diffuser melting as well, I don't think mine is quite as bad as RollingInDubs as I don't seem to have any damage above my tips either. However, it seems some of the chunks that were sticking to muffler have fallen off after I drive.

[StephGOD]

Originally Posted by ESB

I don't want to throw a red herring but I wonder if it may be temperature related? It's been getting much warmer in Seattle lately and I've experienced it less. I also know AA is based out of Florida and my perception of Florida is sun all day every day...so I wonder if that could explain why they didn't catch this...?

Certainly feasible and we can't really rule anything out at this point. However, this doesn't appear to be the case for me personally at least. It's been close to 90+ degrees over where I live the past 10 days and still consistently having the issue.

[Greg094]

Originally Posted by StephGOD

Certainly feasible and we can't really rule anything out at this point. However, this doesn't appear to be the case for me personally at least. It's been close to 90+ degrees over where I live the past 10 days and still consistently having the issue.

I second this as well, it's been 110+ for a week here in Vegas and been 90+ basically since I got the car just 2 months ago. Sound has been the same since I installed 2.5 weeks ago.

[ESB]

EL was available for M3/M4 before M2, right? Has anyone checked those sub forums yet to see if they've reported similar issues?

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by ESB

EL was available for M3/M4 before M2, right? Has anyone checked those sub forums yet to see if they've reported similar issues?

All problems i have encountered with the M3/M4 section were due to either a bad install or just a bad combination (catless + non-resonated).
I used the equal length on my M4 since it was released without any issues

[Supadice]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

All problems i have encountered with the M3/M4 section were due to either a bad install or just a bad combination (catless + non-resonated).
I used the equal length on my M4 since it was released without any issues

When you say bad installs, are shops not checking clearances etc? Mid pipe touching parts of the car/brace. How about those that are saying they going over the car many times and can't lock down reason. Install wise what problems can we run into besides very tight tolerances

[Fabb]

Originally Posted by Greg094

Here are pictures of my diffuser melting as well, I don't think mine is quite as bad as RollingInDubs as I don't seem to have any damage above my tips either. However, it seems some of the chunks that were sticking to muffler have fallen off after I drive.

It seems like a common issue installing mid pipes not specifically EL. The mid pipe push the muffler further back thus melting the diffuser.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by Supadice

When you say bad installs, are shops not checking clearances etc? Mid pipe touching parts of the car/brace. How about those that are saying they going over the car many times and can't lock down reason. Install wise what problems can we run into besides very tight tolerances

In my personal case, I had the midpipe installed. It looked like a tight fit but fine.

once the car was on , it droned.

I double-checked the install and it turned out that it needs more clearance as it's hitting once the pipes are vibrating when the car is on. I adjusted the install and it fixed it. I encounter a lot of the same issue with these pipes, once the customer adjusts the install it's fixed.

Please note, thats on the M3/M4. Im hearing the M2C is a different story

[Supadice]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

In my personal case, I had the midpipe installed. It looked like a tight fit but fine.

once the car was on , it droned.

I double-checked the install and it turned out that it needs more clearance as it's hitting once the pipes are vibrating when the car is on. I adjusted the install and it fixed it. I encounter a lot of the same issues with these pipes, once the customer adjusts the install it's fixed.

Please note, thats on the M3/M4. Im hearing the M2C is a different story

Ok. My application would be M2CS I'm talking to a few shops right now and they also say it's install related

[photorph]

This thread has me a bit worried as I spent nearly 5k on a Remus + aa el resonated. Going on end of this week. I hope there’s none of these issues!

[Nicname]

Originally Posted by photorph

This thread has me a bit worried as I spent nearly 5k on a Remus + aa el resonated. Going on end of this week. I hope there's none of these issues!

Lol same boat. Remus and resonated should be here sometime this month

[No_curebimmer]

Hey StephGOD...wanted to thank you for creating this; having visited ONLYACTIVE last month when I was in FL, this company has a solid history (>40 yrs), they really care about their products, their reputation and customers' satisfaction, so I am confident that they will research and come up with suitable resolutions.

As I reported in another AA EL thread (https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...&postcount=162), my M2C is stock DP, non-resonated AA EL, stock muffler and I have the tinny can raspy issue ~2k RPM.

The real unfortunate thing is that this issue happens on my car regardless if the engine it's cold or warm, so I am guaranteed to get this every time I drive the car. Per Mike@x-ph.com and input he received (primarily on F80/F82 platforms) it seems that, if you had a bad install, the car would drone - but mine doesn't drone at all, and drone on F87 platforms doesn't seem common at all.

At this point, I would settle for a 'cold start' problem only like most of other F87 owners reported, but since I have to rev past 2k RPM every time I drive it, and I am the lucky one to get the crappy tinny-raspy noise every time. Am I the only one that has experienced this noise on both cold and warm engine?

Relating to the other issue...melting rear difusser: mine is CF OEM replica (RW Carbon) but I haven't seen any damage.

[ESB]

@No_curebimmer so when it's warm you get this close to 100% on every rev past 2k?

After all this discussion started happening I guess I've noticed very occasional tin-can noise when warm and revving past 2k. But it's not close to 100%.

Overall I stand by my original judgment of "I love and recommend this midpipe" even after now being more acutely aware of some issues. But it does indeed sound like you have worse issues than me….sorry to hear that :/

Good luck

[StephGOD]

Originally Posted by No_curebimmer

Hey StephGOD...wanted to thank you for creating this; having visited ONLYACTIVE last month when I was in FL, this company has a solid history (>40 yrs), they really care about their products, their reputation and customers' satisfaction, so I am confident that they will research and come up with suitable resolutions.

As I reported in another AA EL thread (https://f87.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...&postcount=162), my M2C is stock DP, non-resonated AA EL, stock muffler and I have the tinny can raspy issue ~2k RPM.

The real unfortunate thing is that this issue happens on my car regardless if the engine it's cold or warm, so I am guaranteed to get this every time I drive the car. Per Mike@x-ph.com and input he received (primarily on F80/F82 platforms) it seems that, if you had a bad install, the car would drone - but mine doesn't drone at all, and drone on F87 platforms doesn't seem common at all.

At this point, I would settle for a 'cold start' problem only like most of other F87 owners reported, but since I have to rev past 2k RPM every time I drive it, and I am the lucky one to get the crappy tinny-raspy noise every time. Am I the only one that has experienced this noise on both cold and warm engine?

Relating to the other issue...melting rear difusser: mine is CF OEM replica (RW Carbon) but I haven't seen any damage.

No_curebimmer no worries at all. Hopefully we get the guys at AA to respond to this thread here shortly. Also, for the sake of clarity the same "tin can" noise is happening on my car regardless if the engine is cold or warm as I've previously mentioned so you're not the only one FWIW.

[StephGOD]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

In my personal case, I had the midpipe installed. It looked like a tight fit but fine.

once the car was on , it droned.

I double-checked the install and it turned out that it needs more clearance as it's hitting once the pipes are vibrating when the car is on. I adjusted the install and it fixed it. I encounter a lot of the same issue with these pipes, once the customer adjusts the install it's fixed.

Please note, thats on the M3/M4. Im hearing the M2C is a different story

Hey Mike - I appreciate you stepping in here and providing feedback based on your knowledge of the EL mid pipe on the M3/M4 platform. However, as the current poll on this thread clearly suggests 8 of 10 people who've voted thus far are experiencing the same, or at least similar, raspy noise issue on their M2C/CS so in my opinion it's highly unlikely we've all installed the EL mid pipe incorrectly.

[photorph]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

In my personal case, I had the midpipe installed. It looked like a tight fit but fine.

once the car was on , it droned.

I double-checked the install and it turned out that it needs more clearance as it's hitting once the pipes are vibrating when the car is on. I adjusted the install and it fixed it. I encounter a lot of the same issue with these pipes, once the customer adjusts the install it's fixed.

Please note, thats on the M3/M4. Im hearing the M2C is a different story

So what have you heard about the M2C? I have the active autowerks resonated EL and remus race at my house in the box unopened that I got from you. All this talk about droning, tin can sounds, etc is making me wonder if I should swap my EL out for the single AA midpipe along with remus sport?

[Supadice]

I appreciate you guys going through all this hopefully it will be resolved soon. I know bigger resonators are coming with new batches they are double the size of the old says AA

[Nicname]

Originally Posted by Supadice

I appreciate you guys going through all this hopefully it will be resolved soon. I know bigger resonators are coming with new batches they are double the size of the old says AA

Does this mean it'll be more quiet? That was not what I was looking for when I went with the resonated version.

[BMW DIY Guy]

Originally Posted by ESB

EL was available for M3/M4 before M2, right? Has anyone checked those sub forums yet to see if they've reported similar issues?

I havent seen any on the M2C side, and will be installing the EL on my car asap. I have the AA single channel MP now, and zero issues.

[BMW DIY Guy]

Originally Posted by photorph

So what have you heard about the M2C? I have the active autowerks resonated EL and remus race at my house in the box unopened that I got from you. All this talk about droning, tin can sounds, etc is making me wonder if I should swap my EL out for the single AA midpipe along with remus sport?

Check out my sound comparison videos for the single channel AA midpipe. Granted, its stock (non performance) exhaust but you can get a sample of all of it.

I created as detailed as I could for full sound comparisons including with and without the resonated A/B pipes.