MercedesDad

What year is your ML? Wondering if all of this would work on my 2010 MY.

ML63 AMG

Yes of course, all ML63 2007-2011 have the same exhaust setup

MercedesDad

Thank you!

The reason I asked is because I took my car to THE exhaust specialist in the area where I live. The saw the two canisters that sit on the center-ish of the car and they told me "those are NOT resonators" (??).

The also strongly suggested me (to the cost of loosing a sale) not to mess with anything there.They said "look, your ML63 already comes with an awesome sport tuned exhaust from the factory that took years to develop plus tons of resources invested by those crazy German AMG engineers".

They told me that the only way to actually gain anything (other than pure noise) would be to do a full system, working as a whole, such as a RENNtech or Brabus package. They said that I may end up loosing a horse or two, actually.

They do not offer any RENNtech or Brabus, so it wasn't that they were trying to sell me something else.

After that, they left me a little worried about chopping anything there, although I would LOVE for a little more growl on my car....miss the sound of my C63.

ML63 AMG

You need to take it is a legitimate performance shop, those guys are blowing smoke up your ***. The two canisters in the middle are the resonators, not cats. The fact that they did not know they were resonators shows they are not very knowledgable.

This mod will not affect resale, that's ridiculous. It's ironic they complain about lowering cars value, then try and sell you on an aftermarket non OEM exhaust which also potentially powers value lol.

Please find a legitimate tuning shop to to do the exhaust work, it's a simple $150 job and you should not be facing this much trouble

MercedesDad

As I said they did not try to sell me anything. They do not offer those aftermarket exhaust products for Mercedes Benz.

With that being said I will definitely get a second opinion.

ML63 AMG

Hey guys, sorry for the delay, will have more news on Thursday about mid pipes, looking forward to taking pics of the system to better explain the unique nature of the ML63 AMG and why it's different than any other AMG exhaust (and potentially has more room for gains than the others). I may also get a custom retune after mid pipes to extract any leftover power (if air fuel ratios dictate that necessary).

I will also hopefully do an after dyno on the wheels/tires/brake rotors to see how much the 90 lbs of unsprung rotating mass reduction has affected the drivetrain losses and power delivery on my car. Once this dyno is complete I will do the mid pipes installation and redyno afterwards to get an exact number on what the potential gains are.

Lots of exciting updates coming very soon!

ML63 AMG

Update:

Put the car on a lift to see what could be done for high flow cats, and it appears there is definitely some power to be made by the extremely restrictive stock primary/secondary combo cats. I will most likely replace with a set of 200cell primaries. There will be a before & after dyno done to confirm the gains.

The results should be very interesting as nobody has ever done just high flow cat replacement on ML63 (given the ML63s unique exhaust design in theory it has more to gain than other 63 AMGs). I have a feeling majority of the gains from shorty headers comes from the primary cat deletion/upgrade rather than from the headers themselves. So if the gains are good, then this would make the shorty headers upgrade completely unnecessary (which is a big plus given the expensive labor costs of installing headers versus just bolting on a set of downpipes).

More updates and dyno coming soon!

Rippin'AV

awesome! looking forward to this!

Cheers,
AV

MercedesDad

Alright.....seating at the shop while I see the exhaust guys chop/cutting those resonators.....bitting my nails. Hope no CELS of any kind come up.....will report shortly with results.

betrezra

Watching all of this closely. Keep the updates coming!

MercedesDad

Alright, got my car back. I will describe it in two words:


F*CK YEAH!!

Rippin'AV

Cool! Did that wake up the sleeping beast or what? We're going to need a little more info than that! Cheers, AV

ML63 AMG

Haha, I told you so!! I would never steer you wrong. Words don't describe how much better it is. Just wait 2 months, it will sound even more impressive.

MercedesDad

Thanks ML63AMG!

RIPPING, I'm sorry mate, I wrote my first impressions while driving the "new" beast

Below, please find my two cents about the resonator delete:

1. It cost me $100 after labor and materials (paid cash to get an extra cut)

2. I was in and out in 30 minutes.

3. Kept the resonators in case I ever move to a State that requires inspections. I leave in FL so who gives a sh*t.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE OWNED A C63 OR A CLKBS, THEN ITEMS BELOW WILL SOUND VERY FAMILIAR.

4. Cold start: BROAMMMRRRR!!!!

5. Cruise at 40mph: BRRRBBRRRBRRRR.....let the gas go and you hear BGRRPOP! BGRPOP!....

6. WOP from a standstill: BBBRROOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHM.....as you shift thru the gears......BBBBROOAAAAAAAAARRRGG.......third gear........BBBBROOOOOAAAAAaaarrrggHHH.....let off thr gas.....RGGGGHHPOP! POP! POP!.POP!

In short:

- Although unlikely, I am please to report no CELS.

- My butt dyno has not experienced any change (for better or worse)

- No drone whatsoever.

- A lovely purrr in general thruought the entire power range.

- Just the right amount of extra purrrr inside the cabin, letting you (or anyone riding with you) know that you are definitely in a high performance vehicle.

- Turn heads from passer bys even when cruising at very low speeds (no need to waste precious fuel)

Long story short, it sounds just like a more refined C63 or CLKBS. It lets everyone know that you drive a hight performance brute without loosing AMG's finesse (read: not like a rattling '73 Camaro).

I am certain that this is how Affalterbach engineers intended this beast to sound (any other 63 AMG sounds like that) but somehow the good PR or beancounter department decided to tone it down in fear of complaints from potential conservative costumers. NOT MY CASE.

Hope the review above helps.

ML63 AMG

The resonators are not at all required for emissions purposes, they are purely for noise. I dropped mine off at the recycling yard as soon as I took them off, never regretted it.

You will never see Check Engine Light, 100% guarentee on the ML63 AMG.

As stated, the reason it sounds so much like CLK63 black series is because the CLK63 black came from the factory with no resonators (which is why I know it's not illegal or harmful to emissions as they come from the factory OEM like that one the black). All you are doing is copying the black series. The reason it's far more refined than the black series is because the ML63 mufflers are almost 3x the size of the CLK63 mufflers, so the car should never get too loud.

Once the muffler go through full break in process you will get an additional 10-15% more sound as well through regular driving for 2-3 months. Long road trips speed up the process.

s0ph3aktra

Straight pipe or x-pipe?

betrezra

On my list. Cool!

MercedesDad

Looking forward to it! (although it might take a while in my case; I will probably put 3K miles on it per year....or at least that's the plan).

Straight pipe only.

user 823908234

Will hear it Saturday at Mimi's when I get to see the black-out. Right?
What shop?

MercedesDad

Lee County Exhaust. It is a mom's-pop's shop but it is the best one in the area, a two man show:

Man No 1. Jhon, has owned the shop for 30 something years.

Man No 2. Mark, recently quit his job at MB dealer of Fort Myers and decided to start his own thing, piggy bagging with Man No. 1.

Good people.

user 823908234

Thanks. May have to visit them.

ML63 AMG

If you want to keep AMG sound, avoid X-pipe (although it is by far the best way to pickup more power (after high flow cats of course).

I did some more research and it seems doing high flow cats will cost $1500-2000 for me to be the guinea pig. I want to decide if its really worth it. Perhaps if other show interest and we do it at same time it can lower costs (group buy type scenario).

How many are interested in doing bolt on high flow combo cats for around that price of $1500? I am guessing probably 30hp-TQ, but impossible to know for sure until I have a local exhaust shop do the work then dyno).

newguy2008

Okay, I too have finally had the resonators deleted on my ML63, which I'm pretty happy with after a few days. I went with 3" Stainless Steel Straight pipes.

My 2 cents:

Although I was disappointed when I started it up leaving the Exhaust Shop, I must say that it is growing on me.

From idle, you don't really hear much of a difference, but if you step on it on an on-ramp onto a highway/freeway, you do hear a much butter sound than stock. Just make sure that you're in the Sport mode and not Comfort.

I read here that it will sound louder after 2-3 months but I am contemplating deleting one of the rear mufflers to get it louder. Has anyone done that or should I not bother with it? I don't want it sounding like a done up Honda Civic, but I wouldn't mind a more throaty sound even at idle. The sound of the Turbo ML63 in the video is what I'm after.

I'll post pics later of my setup.
Thanks.

betrezra

I too was not impressed when drove out of the ex shop after res delete...... But it really sounds good when the motor is under a load,

I'm a few months later now and the sound has improved. It is not c63 level. But it is pretty good.


There is a guy on here who did muff delete. I would live to hear a vid.

newguy2008

Thanks for the review as well. I'm really tempted to delete the drivers side muffler to see what that will sound like. I can't remember how hard it will be for the exhaust shop to delete the muffler while keeping the AMG exhaust tips in place. I too would love to hear an ML63 without the mufflers. Whos' done this and will admit to it?

Looks like you and I have similar tastes (CLK55 and ML63).