[turnsignalslol]

Originally Posted by forcefed

Email aa to let them know of the fitment issues or they'll keep making them crooked.

Just called and emailed them today letting them know about my issue. It may just be that I got unlucky with this defect since there hasn't been anyone else that's said anything about fitment issues.

Originally Posted by SLE3PER

Definitely! I would have returned them. They should still line up without an issues. If the GESI cats didn’t have fitment issues, those shouldn’t either as the only difference is the type of cats.

I just really wanted the downpipes on at the time and was on a time crunch (I'm sure we've all been here before) and by the time we found out that the vband flange was warped, we had already taken off the original downpipes (aka labor) and ended up finding a workaround that worked for my specific case. Maybe my impatience in this case will come to bite me in the ass but realistically, I don't see how you're able to "test" fitment without actually putting them on the car unless you just have a spare turbo lying around, which we didn't lol. Also, Visually, they looked normal. I spoke with AA and we've ruled out wear on the turbo/soot buildup since my car only has 7500 miles on it.

At this point, uninstalling the DPs to send them back out to Active and waiting to get them back would cost me not only more money towards what should have been a simple set and forget install but also time. I've done a downpipe install on this car before, and let me tell you: it's not fun doing it on jack stands all by yourself. Even with help I don't see how it would be easier, the lack of space in the exhaust tunnel is what makes installing them such a pain in the ass. Also unbolting the 5 million bolts that hold the skid plates on.

Mainly made this post to keep everyone informed and reached out to Active to make sure that they still guarantee their products and I won't be left with something that no one wants later down the line when it comes to resale.

Also last edit: This post wasn't made to bash Active, they're known for making great products that the BMW community loves. Even BMW themselves make manufacturing errors and that's just the nature of things, nothing is 100% perfect. That being said, Active is also known for their good customer support so if anything does happen, I'm sure they'll make it right.

[turnsignalslol]

Originally Posted by SwankPeRFection

I thought these had a lifetime warranty on them.

Selling prototypes for full price to the public. ��

Since catalytic converters are technically considered a "consumable," that's probably why it doesn't have a lifetime warranty. I've never heard of a catalytic converter with a lifetime warranty, especially a high flow sport cat. Even BMW's warranty for the cats is 80k miles/8 years (longer because of emissions regulations)

As for the fitment issue, that would 100% be a manufacturing defect and should be covered.

Currently awaiting what they say in their reply to my email.

[forcefed]

Originally Posted by turnsignalslol

I just really wanted the downpipes on at the time and was on a time crunch (I'm sure we've all been here before) and by the time we found out that the vband flange was warped, we had already taken off the original downpipes (aka labor) and ended up finding a workaround that worked for my specific case. Maybe my impatience in this case will come to bite me in the ass but realistically, I don't see how you're able to "test" fitment without actually putting them on the car unless you just have a spare turbo lying around, which we didn't lol. Also, Visually, they looked normal. I spoke with AA and we've ruled out wear on the turbo/soot buildup since my car only has 7500 miles on it.

At this point, uninstalling the DPs to send them back out to Active and waiting to get them back would cost me not only more money towards what should have been a simple set and forget install but also time. I've done a downpipe install on this car before, and let me tell you: it's not fun doing it on jack stands all by yourself. Even with help I don't see how it would be easier, the lack of space in the exhaust tunnel is what makes installing them such a pain in the ass. Also unbolting the 5 million bolts that hold the skid plates on.

Mainly made this post to keep everyone informed and reached out to Active to make sure that they still guarantee their products and I won't be left with something that no one wants later down the line when it comes to resale.

Also last edit: This post wasn't made to bash Active, they're known for making great products that the BMW community loves. Even BMW [...]

Did they admit they screwed up? At this price point they should be flawless, welds and fitment. You should get some compensation.

People keep saying don't buy stuff from alibaba, fitment might be poor, yet here you are paying top dollar from a known vendor and you get alibaba quality.

[turnsignalslol]

Originally Posted by forcefed

Did they admit they screwed up? At this price point they should be flawless, welds and fitment. You should get some compensation.

People keep saying don't buy stuff from alibaba, fitment might be poor, yet here you are paying top dollar from a known vendor and you get alibaba quality.

We'll have to see what they say in their reply to my email...

In terms of compensation, since I bought them through Mike and not Active directly, I may have to reach out to mike@x-ph.com. They should have me on their customer list though since I believe it was shipped from Miami.

[turnsignalslol]

Originally Posted by SwankPeRFection

“Made in Florida” Prototypes sent out from vendors. 🙄😆

The quality of those welds should have been enough warning for the first batch of “hey let the new guy weld the shit”. Lol

The welds on mine didn't look bad, but then again, I don't know much about welding lol. I just assumed it looked clean. I've included a photo of one of the active downpipes and a picture of my catless downpipes I had on the car a couple of months back.

I actually called Active a couple weeks before purchasing to get some info on their new cats and they told me that they had been rolling them out slowly to customers and didn't hear of any issues. Maybe I just got unlucky, it's how it always is when it comes to mods with me to be honest lol.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by SwankPeRFection

I thought these had a lifetime warranty on them.

Selling prototypes for full price to the public. 🙄

Originally Posted by SwankPeRFection

“Made in Florida” Prototypes sent out from vendors. 🙄😆

i dont get your responses on this.

1- As far as I'm aware, no cat has a lifetime warranty.

2- I dont understand what you mean by sent out from vendors. The downpipes were shipped directly from Active, where it was produced; what vendor are you referring to that sent out the cat?

turnsignalslol i see you already contact Active Autowerke which is the correct thing to do. keep us updated on what they say

[turnsignalslol]

Update:

Active responded to my email, and as I expected, are offering to make things right. They’ll send me a new pipe to replace the old one and compensate me for the labor to install said new pipe.

Customer service doesn’t get better than this!

[SwankPeRFection]

👌👍

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by turnsignalslol

Update:

Active responded to my email, and as I expected, are offering to make things right. They’ll send me a new pipe to replace the old one and compensate me for the labor to install said new pipe.

Customer service doesn’t get better than this!

And that's why i strongly recommend active autowerke

[turnsignalslol]

Received the new downpipe from Active, it appears to be a Gesi cat instead of an Active cat, so I guess I’m going to be running an Active Cat on the long downpipe and a Gesi cat on the short downpipe lol

[M4Tejas]

I have yet to install the AA GESI DP's bought months ago. I trust Mike @x-ph.com, great seller and a stand up guy as many know with extensive experience on the platform. AA customer service appears receptive to the customer base.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by turnsignalslol

Received the new downpipe from Active, it appears to be a Gesi cat instead of an Active cat, so I guess I’m going to be running an Active Cat on the long downpipe and a Gesi cat on the short downpipe lol

Originally Posted by M4Tejas

I have yet to install the AA GESI DP's bought months ago. I trust Mike @x-ph.com, great seller and a stand up guy as many know with extensive experience on the platform. AA customer service appears receptive to the customer base.

Thank you!

[turnsignalslol]

The part marked in red was slightly too big (diameter was ~85mm) off by around half a mm, but that was what caused the tightness. New one doesn’t have that issue

[DravitM4Comp25]

Originally Posted by turnsignalslol

Called them this morning, they said it’s fine to use the Gesi with the Active cat.

I would ask for GESI replacement to match, at no extra cost to you, being that you are testing their prototypes for them. If they say no, I would ship it all back for a refund and try MAD for a proper matching & fitting pair. I was going to purchase this along with an AA axle back to compliment my EL, but reconsidering it now. Disappointing response from AA.

[turnsignalslol]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

bro why are you so angry? LOL

Is there a difference between using Active and GESI cats? Not really. Active's cats are pretty much a copy of GESI's, with the same rating and characteristics.

Did Active mess up this order? Absolutely. They’ve made mistakes several times now, and their latest response to keep both is surprising to me coming from a company with solid support like active. They should simply replace the part with overnight shipping to ensure the customer is taken care of properly.

I spoke with Active earlier today and I asked them if it was okay to run 1 Gesi and 1 Active cat before taking it to the shop for install. The guy I spoke to said that they were the same thing but I have sent another email asking for clarification on whether it is safe to run both of them together. I haven't noticed any issues after around ~100 miles of driving and no codes to suggest anything weird either.

I would feel better about running 2 of the same cat, whether they are the Active or the Gesi. We'll see what Active says

Yeah, Active seems to be all over the place with this case but I think it's due to miscommunication internally, at the end of the day stuff happens and I'm willing to give people the benefit of the doubt when they offer to make things right instead of feigning ignorance, which Active has done during my warranty claim.

[turnsignalslol]

Originally Posted by DravitM4Comp25

I would ask for GESI replacement to match, at no extra cost to you, being that you are testing their prototypes for them. If they say no, I would ship it all back for a refund and try MAD for a proper matching & fitting pair. I was going to purchase this along with an AA axle back to compliment my EL, but reconsidering it now. Disappointing response from AA.

We'll see their response to my latest email, I'd be willing to try and get them to send either a new active cat short pipe or a new gesi long pipe as long as they're willing to cover the labor once again, wouldn't make sense for me to be punished for a manufacturing defect. Thinking it would be nice if they had a local branch in SoCal so that I could just go directly to them and have them deal with it instead of having to coordinate with my shop and the manufacturer at the same time

[SwankPeRFection]

Originally Posted by turnsignalslol

They have told me that their new cats have been rolled out to customers with Gesi warranty claims in the past with no issues

Hope they reimbursed those customers with the price difference. Swapping out more expensive parts for their stuff doesn’t sit well with me. Listen, if the construction/materials/configuration of the CAT itself is the same as GESI and let’s say made in the same plant the same way and the only reason GESI is more expensive is due to a name and nothing more, then I’m all for it, but without that, we don’t know. That said, if someone did have a warranty claim on the expensive GESI pipes and they replaced them with Active, that’s shit. Hope the boxes had a check for that difference in it. Lol Seems shady.. either the guy was telling you that to make you feel better about the swapparoo mishap or he slipped up and just confessed to questionable business practices. Anyway, I hope your stuff pans out. Sorry you ran into bs like this.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by turnsignalslol

We'll see their response to my latest email, I'd be willing to try and get them to send either a new active cat short pipe or a new gesi long pipe as long as they're willing to cover the labor once again, wouldn't make sense for me to be punished for a manufacturing defect. Thinking it would be nice if they had a local branch in SoCal so that I could just go directly to them and have them deal with it instead of having to coordinate with my shop and the manufacturer at the same time

keep us updated

[turnsignalslol]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

keep us updated

Well this post blew up far more than I would have expected, but to anyone on the fence about the Active Cats: I haven't changed my stance, I still recommend them to the people who want a louder car without the BS that comes with running 200 cel/catless. My defect was most likely a product of human error.

If you do have issues, Active will take care of you. I have not felt wronged or scammed during this entire process, because of Active being proactive in helping me out. I've probably said this a million times now but at the end of the day, shit happens. The difference is that Active owns up to that and will do their best to make it right.

That being said, I've been given the option to switch out the Gesi for a new Active short pipe if I want to for peace of mind. Not sure which route I'll go but both the Active and Gesi are 400 CEL cats, and I've looked at both and from what I could see, don't look any different from each other.

[turnsignalslol]

Originally Posted by M4Tejas

I have yet to install the AA GESI DP's bought months ago. I trust Mike @x-ph.com, great seller and a stand up guy as many know with extensive experience on the platform. AA customer service appears receptive to the customer base.

Very much so, if you buy an Active product, they'll stand by their product and provide you with support if something isn't how it was supposed to be.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by turnsignalslol

Very much so, if you buy an Active product, they'll stand by their product and provide you with support if something isn't how it was supposed to be.

I have working with them for the last 13 years, and I can vouch for their customer service

[MBoriPerf]

Originally Posted by azlightning213

I had this product installed yesterday, as an addition to my Active Single Midpipe and SST controller.

For folks looking for the purest, cleanest sound (and smell!) with no CEL or need for O2 spacers - this is the way to go!

I’m very satisfied with the Active Downpipe. My installer commented on how perfect the fitment of the product was - no need to nudge anything into place. Yes it’s expensive, but I was convinced into it given Active’s warranty, amazing track record for quality, and made here in FL.

I wonder how this exact setup sounds, any clips???