Akrapovic Titanium Exhaust Finally Installed!!!
The weird thing is that it feels both louder and quieter at the same time.
Cold start is obnoxiously louder with downpipes, but also more refined... Sounds almost exactly like a Ferrari f430 between 3-4k rpms under load. Despite having more volume on the outside, it is actually quieter in the cabin and feels very civilized until you stomp on it. There seems to be more lingering exhaust odor whenever moving it in and out of my garage... maybe some of this is the new titanium burning in? Overall, the truck is more responsive and feels stronger than ever!
WIN!!!
The Akrapovic is a very high quality system (it damn well better be, given the cost!!!) The exhaust itself is a beautiful titanium creation that should be hanging on display in my office... Its almost a shame to hide it underneath my truck! The welded seams are perfect and all the pieces fit together with precision. The most difficult part of the process was taking down the OEM exhaust (The OEM exhaust is one piece all the way from front to back.. its huge!) Before installing the new Ackrapovic, I wiped the entire system down with a microfiber cloth and WD40. This is the absolute best way to clean titanium and super easy to do. WD40 quickly and easily removed all the greasy fingerprints from where everyone had to touch it.
The entire installation process from start to finish took about an hour.
My only complaint is that the valves stay open all the time. It was an issue prior to installing the new Akrapovic. The valves work perfectly on the new exhaust controllers, but somehow the vacuum lines aren't working and I can't find the issue. Some have suggested that the problem is in the tune, but Active Autowerke says the tune should not effect the operation... I'm like
The valves are a cool feature that I want to work properly.
Does anyone have any idea what I should do to get them operational?
Here are all the pieces laid out pre-install:
My continuing undercarriage detail...
I still have more work to do under there, but I'm pleased with the results so far!
I took it into the BMW dealership yesterday to take care of the remaining recalls (airbag and fuel pump). It immediately became the center of attention when I pulled into the service staging area. The techs started coming out front to check it out... they obviously knew that it had been tweaked, yet the service advisors were super cool and loved what I had done to it.
Everyone gave it a thumbs up except for that poor guy who was standing at the podium when I fired it up.. I was late picking it up and it had been sitting in the staging area for awhile, so he got to experience the cold start first hand in an area surrounded by tile and other hard surfaces. His face was wrenched as he immediately covered his ears!
