Exhaust resonator (middle of the car muffler)

Has anyone removed just the center muffler (resonator) of a MB system that had one stock? If so, what difference did it make:
- in terms of loudness out the tailpipe?
- in terms of tone quality out the tailpipe?
- in terms of cabin resonance at steady speeds?

If it's just there to quiet things down, I'll replace mine with a Y-pipe and single 3" pipe back to the rear muffler area, where it would feed a single inlet, dual outlet Flowmaster Series 50 Delta Flow (their quietest muffler):


If the resonator (middle muffler) cancels out some cheesy harmonics, I may reconsider and put the Y-pipe behind it.

And if anyone can explain - in terms of loudness, tone, or cabin resonance - why there may be an advantage to scaling back the single pipe from 3" to 2.5" I may consider doing that, too.

The engine is a 5.6 from a 560SEL if that matters.

Thanks for the input,

M D "Doc" Nugent
http://www.carcentric.com/Ludwigproject.htm

[md21722]

I don't know about using a flowmaster in a car, but I DID find two pinholes in the top of my muffler when I took it off to work on the subframe (124 car).... Maybe you have pinhole leaks somewhere and are treating a symptom instead of the source of the problem?? Just thinking outloud,

[Zeus]

MDNugent -

With my old 1977 280E I had the resonator damaged while on a road trip. I hit a large pothole and it tore a large hole into the resonator and almost tore it right off the pipes. It was beyond repair. I was out in the middle of nowhere (e.g. fat chance of getting a Mercedes muffler part) and so I opted to have the resonator removed and just run straight pipes to the muffler from the catalytic converter.

Bad move. The hum this generated made my back teeth rattle and my eyeballs spin. After about 1.5 hours of driving like this my girlfriend and I were ready to kill each other.

I stopped at the next town and ordered a new resonator by courier. My advice would be to keep it. Mercedes put it there for a reason.