karnak

Hello, my first post here. I drive a 2003 CLK 320, bought it in july 2016, and was my first Mercedes car. Currently I am experimenting with the exhaust because the sound was literally missing ( at least in my mind ) for a V6. The exhaust is a single tailpipe factory mounted. First I did a resonator delete which gave me very little noise and barely noticeable vibration/noise. A few days ago I have installed a Magnaflow #11226 muffler without putting back the resonator, SUPER good noise, very throaty. Have a sample recording here: , the noise is much higher, but the ±$20 onboard camera doesn't have a good microphone. Now, the problem is that i have a LOT of droning and it's almost unbearable in city driving. I want it to make it go away. Does anybody with such an upgrade can give me some tips on doing that,especially with M112 engine ? My thoughts is to put back the OEM resonator and go from there. Is this a good ideea or should I buy a better resonator or something special ? Any advice/experience with this would be very helpful. Thank you.

LE: the drone is present between ±1300rpm to ±3000rpm, and most disturbing at about ±1900rpm.

Fatz

Drone will generally become noticeable by ear from around 1800 through 2100 rpm and then again from 2400 through about 2800. If it loud through that entire range from 1300-3000, there may be an issue (leak, hanger, positioning) with the muffler install.

If the install is ok, reinstalling the resonator should help. At a minimum it should narrow the rpm range of the drone. If the resonator is like the one on the 550, it is a pretty good resonator. Mine was essentially a straight through with a tuning port. That tuned port however may be calibrated to the OE muffler and thus may not (probably won't) eliminate all or a majority of the drone with the magnaflow installed.

I've known the pain of drone..... Good luck.

karnak

This is the one. The code is valid only for clk 320 clk 350, but i've seen clk500 with single tip exhaust that has the same resonator ( visual appeareance ). Will post result after install, maybe someone will find this input usefull.

Fatz

One other possibility is the size of the area where the magnaflow is located. I am not familiar with the OE muffler that was on your car but the area to fit the OE muffler for the 550 is rather large..... it is like a cavern. The OE muffler is a very good muffler and seems to be straight through. That means there is a lot of acoustical material in the OE muffler. Far less in the magnaflow.

The point is that that space now vacant and over the magnaflow and be essentially amplifying the normal "rumble" and vibration of the magnaflow. A couple coats of undercoat (aerosol rubber) of the "cavern" and the underside of the trunk well will likely reduce the drone effect that is from the muffler vibration.

Kevin9664

Put the resonator back on or maybe buy a different one.

I replaced the OEM muffler with a MagnaFlow one on my CLK500 and had no drone. Left the resonator stock.

karnak

So, i have added yesterday the original resonator. What id did:
- noise level decreased a lot, to almost perfect balance between noise/comfort in my opinion
- drone is still there, but greatly reduced ( let's say 70% reduced )

Next move, will add some acoustic tape on the exterior of the car above the muffler

Kevin9664

I used Boom Mat spray to spray the aluminum lining around the muffler on my CLK. Maybe consider using that.

https://www.amazon.com/DEI-050220-Bo.../dp/B001URKV0G

BigMike62

You had a V8, he has a mom car that he wants to sound like a man's car.

All kidding aside, put it back to stock and enjoy the refinement of the car.