I'd been thinking of what I'd like to do with my exhaust as it's way too quiet stock. However, I didn't want any droning and I didn't want something too loud either. I like the shriek of some of the exhausts but they tend to drone way too much and I didn't want to sound like a Civic or Sentra with straight pipes or a cheap exhaust. Basically, I wanted a moderately deep tone throughout the range with no droning, plus a bit of a wail in the higher rev ranges.

I was on bimmerforums.com the other day and someone mentioned removal of the resonator on the exhaust. I'd never heard of this so I did a search and read pretty much every thread on the topic on s2ki.com . Took me about two hours.

Anyways, from what I gathered, it seemed that everyone that had a quality job done (ie, proper size pipe with proper welds) enjoyed the results. So, I got it done at lunch today. Cost me $25 and took about fifteen minutes from start to finish. The guy checked the welds all around the pipe with a mirror to ensure that he had full, solid, completely closed welds all around.

The result is great - it's exactly what I wanted. At startup and idle, the car is slightly louder (barely). However, as you rev, it definitely builds up and is moderately loud at WOT. The best thing, however, is that when you downshift/rev match, you can actually hear the car now. With a stock intake and stock exhaust, you really didn't hear much.

Overall, I think it's a resounding success. I won't draw too much attention in my daily driving but the car now sounds like a "real" sports car at moderate revs, not to mention on the top end. The blending of the intake and exhaust sound is great. I even saved a bit of weight.

I kept the resonator in case I ever want/need to put it back in the car.

Anyone else tried this? If not, I'd definitely recommend it. The price is right! <best Bob Barker voice>

 

Lots of views, no comments.

Just to clarify, this is the resonator that's right before the Y-pipe, not the perpendicular resonator pipe nor the mufflers themselves. Removal of all of those would be pretty buzzy/boomy/ricey.

 

Lol, reason lot of views but no comments is because they need pics and sound with it. I will guaranteeeee that you will get lot of comments then

Dominox got his resonator removed also. I always making fun and joking with him that his car sounded like a lawnmower when he not WOT I know Dominox is going to fire back at me any minutes

 

Marcucci did this on his S2000 with great results. I think a resonator removal in conjunction with a good intake (I have the K&N FIPK) makes for a perfect balance between quietness when you want it to be quiet and a nice, aggressive sound at heavier throttle inputs.

Good choice, Jon! Intake next.

 

I had the Comptech Intake/Header/HKS exhaust setup on mine. It wasn't overly loud. But When I sold the HKS and ran just the intake and header on a stock exhaust the sound was quite pleasing. Nice sound under acceleration and nearly stock cruising. I don't think you'll get nearly stock cruising sound levels w/o a resonator.

 

I'll try and get some video of it tomorrow during my lunch break. There are photos in another thread on here where a guy got the same thing done. You can only tell it's done (visually) if you get under the car. The car looks stock from the outside.

Mine doesn't sound at all like a lawnmower. It's got a nice tone from idle (still pretty quiet) to WOT (moderately loud, but not at all buzzy).

 

I really want the K&N FIPK (found a guy on here that will sell me a new one for $180 + shipping) but I might go with the AUT carbon fiber cooling plate and retain the stock system. I could actually run the AUT carbon fiber cooling plate with the FIPK, come to think of it.

I'm very surprised at how good the car sounds. It is exactly what I wanted, which is saying a lot. There are very few aftermarket exhausts that I like all the time...

 

Scott, the car really isn't loud when cruising. I haven't had it past 65 mph today but at that speed (in 6th gear), it's not at all loud or droning. I can tell the exhaust is a bit louder but it's not at all intrusive. If it was loud, I'd have gone right back after work and had them reweld the resonator back in. I hate a droning, constantly loud exhaust...

Next time I'm in DFW, I'll try and meet up with a few people (or go to the auto-x) so they can hear it and take a look.

 

maybe youll notice it more when you change the intake.

 

At night, I'm running without the cover on the airbox, so it sounds just like an intake.

There is no buzz, no drone, nothing. Just a nice deep tone that builds with the revs.

I don't see how the intake would change the sound of the exhaust. If anything, you might get a harmonic frequency from a particular intake that matches a frequency in the exhaust and get something not so good, but that's a pretty small possibility.

Have you ever run without the resonator? I'm just wondering why you think there would be a drone or something. The car is definitely a bit louder but it's not at all intrusive.

I'll try and load videos tomorrow from the front and rear of the car, and maybe a driveby at WOT and just cruising...