[RugbyBro]

I don't care/like/dislike/etc. for this specific company or product but here's what an EL exhaust is supposed to sound like:

Wayyyy better than stock. Hopefully more vendors come out with midpipe solutions

Yes, I am a S55 EL evangelist looking to convert you S58 folk for the cause hehe

[jonahk]

Originally Posted by RugbyBro

I don't care for this specific company or product but here's what an EL exhaust is supposed to sound like:

Liking the sound and wondering when I can order one...

What's your issue with the company or product?

[RugbyBro]

Originally Posted by jonahk

Liking the sound and wondering when I can order one...

What's your issue with the company or product?

No issue, more that I am making clear that I am not pushing any specific product or affiliation. If you were interested, you could read/search the F8X EL thread if you want feedback on Valvetronic specifically

[Andrae26]

Will sound even better with an axle back

[RugbyBro]

Originally Posted by Andrae26

Will sound even better with an axle back

There's gonna be some great combinations yet to be discovered!

[ntg44]

Originally Posted by jonahk

Liking the sound and wondering when I can order one...

What's your issue with the company or product?

Valvetronic is a legit company, but they just botched the F80 product launch terribly. I know because I sent them my custom EL exhaust to help develop theirs. Not going to get into details because we had an agreement and both sides fulfilled their end, so I'll leave it at that.

People waited a long long time to get their F80 systems, including me. And the fitment was not good. Like exhaust tips sticking out 4 inches past the bumper not good. I never installed it on my car personally, but the person I sold it to did, and he needed to get the rear section fixed by a fabricator (Top Gear Motorworks, who actually made the first production F80 EL exhaust), and it turned out pretty good. And he is happy with the tone at least.

My advice is to not be a guinea pig and wait until you can see someone in person who has one installed, and make your purchase decision from there. It's not always easy to do that, but at least you won't be frustrated waiting for months to get it in your hands, or be disappointed if it doesn't fit right.

EL causes many packaging issues in general, so it's not necessarily unique to Valvetronic, but at the end of the day it becomes your problem if something doesn't fit regardless of brand, so just do your due diligence before pulling the trigger.


With all that said, this sounds pretty good, but geez, crazy how quiet this EL system is compared to the previous gen. BMW must have really added a lot of hardware to make getting more volume a challenge.

[kyleb350]

Originally Posted by ntg44

With all that said, this sounds pretty good, but geez, crazy how quiet this EL system is compared to the previous gen. BMW must have really added a lot of hardware to make getting more volume a challenge.

I was going to say the tone sounds awesome, but it's quite muted.

[Bruins97]

I believe it's overly quiet because this is stock cats, their midpipe and the stock muffler. Plenty of room for volume increase.

[cwhands]

Is the G80 exhaust design not equal length to begin with? The pipe routing is pretty interesting to say the least. Also stock is super quiet cause what, 4 cats, 2 resonators, and the muffler?

[RugbyBro]

Originally Posted by cwhands

Is the G80 exhaust design not equal length to begin with? The pipe routing is pretty interesting to say the least. Also stock is super quiet cause what, 4 cats, 2 resonators, and the muffler?

We'll know once people start chopping up their exhausts or the G8X part codes & diagrams are released. I know they made an attempt to further equalize the exhaust from factory, however, in stock form it doesn't sound like it is actually equal length - it's still a bit hollow/monotoned in a similar vein stock S55 which seems like the pipes aren't quite equal.

Yes the volume will be directly impacted by the cats & resonators. In my experience, the cats will impact sound more than the resonators. Resonators really shape sound/frequencies and usually have minimal volume reduction relative to the cats.