Hey everyone,, lately i have been noticing on my 1991 300E that the muffler is louder than normal. I was wondering a few things.. Should i just replace it with the OEM?

If aftermarket what could i add to give it a throatier more respectable sound, without be obnoxious or affecting the confort of the ride in the mercedes?

Will i notice more power if i replace the muffler?

I replaced my original center and rear mufflers a year and a half ago due to rust/leak with oem eberspeacher center and rear mufflers. Ansal, bosal and eberspeacher are oem's. For a throatier sound you may want to try remus brand.

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benzino

But will replacing my muffler add more power??

You will not get a noticeable power change by simply changing the muffler.

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Ali Al-Chalabi

2001 CLK55
1999 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel
2002 Harley-Davidson Fatboy
Merlin Extralight w/ Campy Record

I didnt think i would, its just that some companies claim to have big gains of power when using their mufflers.... i also want to be careful if i go with an aftermarket muffler. I really do not want to be driving in a mercedes that sounds like one of those japenese cars with a giant aluminum wing off the back painted lime green... i want a nice smooth sounding exhaust that knows when to speak up and when to shut up...

I replaced the original one piece exhaust system on my '91 300E with a two piece OEM replacement and it's noisier than the original. The dealer checked it and said that it was just a noisier system than the original.

I'd personally want a quiet exhaust system on the 300E. It's not a big block Chevy

What is the quietest way to go in terms of using a muffler on my 1991 300E??? im looking at 4-5 different brands for the OEM configuration and cannot figure out which would be the best choice..

I bought the muffler and resonator from Caliber Mercedes and I think it was Eberspaecher. You can order it from Fastlane. Get all the extra hardware/hangers when you get the muffler and resonator.

Getting the old muffler off the tail piece of the catalytic converter can be hard to do. We resorted to using a power chisel. Don't pound on the cat or you will damage it.

I only want to replace the rear muffler,, not the center muffler.. What tools will i need,,, and what should i need to do this job i.e hardware etc..

Eberspaecher is OEM. Ansa and Bosal are strictly aftermarket and are both somewhat louder than the original. My recommendation is that you stick with Eberspaecher -- it's tough to argue with the quality and value associated with that brand.

My 300E is a '91 and the original exhaust system was one piece. The replacement is in two parts...muffler and resonator.

There are two types of hangers and two types of exhaust seal rings. There is a clamp that comes with one of the pieces and there are a couple of nuts.

If you have the one piece system then I suppose it might be possible to cut off the old muffler and weld the new one on.

If you want to do the whole system, talk to a parts guy who knows what he's doing and tell him you want everything back of the catalytic converter. You can price it by clicking on the button for Fastlane above.

It took a power chisel to get my resonator off the catalytic converter but if you weld the new muffler on the back, you won't have to deal with it.

Replace the hangers. They're cheap. Get the square kind which are better than the round donuts.

I tried an air hammer with a chisel tip and only got one of the bolts cut off; I'm cutting them off because they are frozen. This job really has beaten me up, hurting me seriously, and I only have one of the 5 bolts off. The bolts seem to be tougher than me and my air hammer chisel.
There has to be an easier way to get those nuts off the clamps... help?

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Bob Roe
Lehigh Valley PA USA
1973 Olds 88, 1972 MB 280SE, 1978 Datsun 280Z, 1971 Ford T-Bird, 1972 Olds 88, 1983 Nissan Sentra, 1985 Sentra, 1973 230.6, 1990 Acura Integra, 1991 Volvo 940GLE wagon, 1983 300SD, 1984 300SD, 1995 Subaru Legacy L wagon, 2002 Mountaineer, 1991 300TE wagon, 2008 Murano, 2007 R320CDI 4Matic 52K, some Hyundai, 2008 BMW 535xi wagon, all gone... currently
2007 Honda Odyssey Touring, 2014 E350 4matic

I have an old Sears Craftsman "nut splitter" that's worked good for stuff like this. It will literally split the frozen nut on 1 side, making it much easier to get off.

That is a cool tool. I tried 3 Sears stores until I found one ($15), but there is no room to get the top of the nut splitter (nut cracker?) over the bolt due to the clamp and muffler pipe being in the way.
A cool tool nonetheless....
It's a real bear to get those bolts off, and the pipes tend to stay stuck onto the rear muffler and front cat. I ended up cutting apart the welds on the old muffler in order to get better leverage to remove the two pipes from the back of my cat.
I used a combination of vise grips, air chisels, grinding wheels, and cut off wheels to get those 4 bolts off. I am told that a torch might help loosen up these very tough bolts. They appear to be copper plated.
All I have left to do is to get a 4" section of the center muffler off the inside of the rear muffler pipe. My air chisel/weld ripper has gotten stuck inside the pipe!@#@# I have gathered new respect for techs...
A call to Phil at Partsshop should get me the few remaining parts I need, 4 nuts and bolts, a new clamp for the rear muffler, and a cat hangar that I noticed had failed. (I want to replace as much hardware as possible.)
I'm tempted to find softer bolts at the local hardware store (easier to cut next time?) but I will stick with OEM just on principle.

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Bob Roe
Lehigh Valley PA USA
1973 Olds 88, 1972 MB 280SE, 1978 Datsun 280Z, 1971 Ford T-Bird, 1972 Olds 88, 1983 Nissan Sentra, 1985 Sentra, 1973 230.6, 1990 Acura Integra, 1991 Volvo 940GLE wagon, 1983 300SD, 1984 300SD, 1995 Subaru Legacy L wagon, 2002 Mountaineer, 1991 300TE wagon, 2008 Murano, 2007 R320CDI 4Matic 52K, some Hyundai, 2008 BMW 535xi wagon, all gone... currently
2007 Honda Odyssey Touring, 2014 E350 4matic

How do i know that the Resonator is whats causing the loud exhaust?? Is this possible?? If the exhaust is louder does this mean that my muffler is surely gone??

right now my car has a centeral muffler (resonator) and a rear muffler so its the 2 piece system...