Custom Exhaust Recomendations - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Roncallo · #1 05-14-2023, 07:50 AM

After 15 years and 30K miles my exhaust is worn out and sounding a bit loud. I'm kind of disappointed at the 30K mileage I got out of it so I may be looking for non-glass pack alternative.

The muffler and resonator in the attached picture is made by Vibrant Performance. They are both 3" SS straight through design. For the first 10 years and 25K miles this setup made the ultimate note for a luxury V12 engine. But today, I get the looks from the neighbors, especially after a cold start.

The first muffler installed on it was a Magnaflow with no resonator. I don't now which version but It sounded like highly cammed 426 hemi, which was not what I was looking for. Maybe it would have been better with a resonator.

Recomendations?

Tony H · #2 05-14-2023, 08:20 PM

By exhaust are you referring to the entire system or the mufflers? There are a lot of products on Amazon and the reviews can give some insite if you read enough of them.

Roncallo · #3 05-14-2023, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony H

By exhaust are you referring to the entire system or the mufflers? There are a lot of products on Amazon and the reviews can give some insite if you read enough of them.

Just the part shown in the picture.

I'm actually coming up with very few that that fit the envelope and don't have packing.

For mufflers I got:

Gibson® Performance 55182S Gibson® Performance Muffler 4"x9"x19", 13" case 3 in 2.5 out Chambered and louvered. 304SS

XForce Varex Mufflers VMK5-300 15" OAL length x 10 x 6 3in 3out. Chambered 304 SS, Adjustable lovers. Cool muffler that you can adjust the sound from a key fob.

For the resonator its just Vibrant and Borla glass packs. I thing all resonators have glass in them.

cth350 · #4 05-17-2023, 11:24 PM

Have you called Time Valve to get their insight? -CTH

Roncallo · #5 05-18-2023, 07:32 AM

Timevalve is not offering anything in universal parts off the shelf. I'm sure they can design and fabricate a custom one for a price but they don't put any prices in there catalog for even the stock parts, which usually means "If you have to ask, you cant afford it"

Bottom line is today this will cost about $700 to replace using off the shelf components and hiring a good welder. With resonator options appearing to be only available in glass pack configuration, the life of these components will be limited to ~25K miles. The price has tripled in the last 15 years so it really me being cheep. The options I see available in no glass packed mufflers are a compromise in appearance and a gamble as to how they will sound, so I think, I'm going to bite the bullet and go with the Vibrant solution I have. The Vibrant solution looks good and sounds perfect for 25K miles.

Tony H · #6 05-18-2023, 05:03 PM

As part of my 5.6? project I envisioned a custom system but the real estate is very limited for anything but the stock system. I did think of going with the Timevalve 300SEL 6.3 2" system and splicing it into Timevalve 4.5 down pipes. Could you use a OTS system and tie it into your downpipes?

Roncallo · #7 05-18-2023, 08:48 PM

I'm using the 129 cats forward of the parts shown in the first picture with a twin 2.5" into 3" Y pipe. If I used the stock 560SL muffler it would fit without a resonator but I would end up reducing the 2.5" outlets from the cats to 1.75". Might be a bit of a choker. The SL600 this engine came out of had a huge muffler and huge resonator. That I'm trying to package into a smaller space.

Roncallo · #8 06-01-2023, 07:20 PM

Well I bit the bullet and purchased the Vibrant system. Now just waiting for 3 mandrel bends to come in. I also got the exhaust into cad so the parts can be cut without much thinking in the future.

I guess its not really expensive, $500 for all the parts + welding. But when I purchased the original that was 15 years ago. The second time around on these parts tends to make the jaw drop. Its not likely I will be driving in 15 years anyway.

Roncallo · #9 06-07-2023, 11:08 PM

Started fabrication of exhaust. Made up a fixture that holds all the parts in the proper positions. I still need to weld the V band clamp fixture part together at the inlet. Then its cut the pipes to fit and tack weld. A major pain in the butt. Consequently that is the reason I would like to find a non-glass pack resonator and muffler solution. As you can see my work space is a bit crowded for the moment.

Roncallo · #10 06-17-2023, 12:04 AM

I got a little held up with my exhaust. I found that my band saw was really digging in to the tubes too much. The solution was to get finer tooth blades. I ordered those last week and they came in yesterday. So now all the pipes are rough cut and the V band clamp is tacked into place. Tomorrow I will remove the old exhaust and do the final fitting.

Roncallo · #11 06-17-2023, 08:57 PM

All tack welding is complete. Monday I will bring it to the welder. I was considering welding it myself but after blowing a couple of holes tack welding I decided to stick to mu original plane.

I did notice a few differences between the old and new one. Old muffler had a welded seam, new one has a folded seam. Old muffler was 3" inlet with dual 3" outlets and 3" internal perforated pipe. New muffler was 3" into 2" internal perforated pipe with outlets expanded back to 3". Hopefully that leaves more room for packing and it will last longer.