Hello Mercedes people. I will be getting ARH headers and the ARH catback exhaust for my 2012 soon, basically the complete system. I am trying to do prep in advance before I get it and am looking at ceramic coating the headers and exhaust. Do folks think it's worth ceramic coating these parts? Is it only necessary to coat the headers and not the exhaust or should I do both? I would love to do it in a jet black color but am scared it will chip off the exhaust at some point and look tacky. Anyone that has done this that can offer advice and insight on what it normally costs to do this work at a shop?

I did my full exhaust on my race truck, it's mostly for aesthetic purposes. Didn't notice that much difference in temps. It'll never chip off if done properly and will always look brand new.

On my E63 I didn't bother getting it ceramic coated.

If you’re talking about Cerakote, Jet Hot or Swain Tech White Lightning style ceramic coatings that are designed specifically to reduce radiated heat then yes, do it before you put on the headers because you’re not going to want to do that again. Headers only is fine. And yes, it makes an enormous difference.Done correctly (professionally), by a known producer, it won’t chip and will last forever. Swain Tech is like $500.

Did Swain Tech a few year ago, happy with it. I was already in NY so may be a bit more expensive with shipping and such. Good Company to work with

This is the Swain Tech coating on ARH.

I did Dwain Tech on ARH headers as well. Their Multi-Layer Ceramic Coating we've been using for years. It doesn't age as well as the Cerakote based products, but from a thermal standpoint, it's absolutely superior.

Glad we did, the motor mounts are SUPER close, and they already are known to deteriorate with heat.

I Swain Tech'd my set and couldnt be happier. Benn holding up strong for 10 years now.

Thanks for the replies guys, I am now convinced that I will ceramic coat it. I don't think i'll be sending it to Jet Hot or Swain as those places are too far away from me and I'm not exactly keen on shipping the headers. There's a place that's local to me that has been making headers for years and ceramic coating them too. I am not sure what coating they use but they said they coat inside and outside the header and they quoted me $350 for just the ARH headers. They said it's $40 per foot for the exhaust. System is still being shipped to me so i don't know how many feet the ARH exhaust, x pipe etc is (everything minus the actual headers) I suppose I will measure it when it arrives. I'm still not sure if it's even needed to coat the complete exhaust I am thinking i might pass and do just the headers but am wondering if there are any other parts of the exhaust south of the headers worth doing.

No. Just the headers.

Don’t even unbox them and ship them to someone who knows what they’re doing. There’s a difference between ceramic coating for heat vs appearance, and there are plenty of horror stories out there about local shops not knowing what the f they’re doing. Do it once and do it right. You’ll be super pissed if you have to take the headers off in the future because you saved 50 bucks on shipping.

Alright I think you're right since I don't really want to worry about quality years down the line. I am going to just coat the headers and find out about shipping them to Jet Hot or Swain Tech. Does it much matter if I pick Jet hot or Swain tech or should I just go with Swain tech as everyone who has posted seems to be raving about their quality. Question though - wouldn't it be worth it to open the box and remove the cats and x pipe and just ship the headers to be coated since I don't think I need to coat those too? Plus I can save on the shipping weight cost too then.

If you prefer aesthetics go with Jet Hot (Ceramic Coating), if you prefer function go with Swain Tech.

My jet hot (ceramic coated) system still looks brand new as the day I got it done. They'll never loose the high gloss coating if done properly.

I will add one thing. Make sure the headers you receive are correct for your car BEFORE any coatings.

I had mine direct shipped to Jet-hot then to my mechanic. During installation we realized they were E63 not C63 headers. Once we looked closer at the paperwork we realized the header part number on the packing slip was wrong. ARH helped me take care of the problem BUT, not without some cost out of my pocket. These are custom parts. Once you coat them, they are "technically yours". My saving grace was the fact that I was very clear that I was having them shipped directly to Jet-Hot and they made the mistake entering my order. They worked with me and I credit them for taking care of their mistake. I really appreciate that level of customer service.

I am not saying other manufactures would not do the same. Just take care when sending any custom parts off to coating.

Also, my ARH LTH are Jet-Hot coated through the X pipe. Holding up great!

This is what happens when you get some local shmuck to “ceramic coat” your headers. Do it right or don’t do it.

The inspection after removing the headers

Well I have been convinced :o I called up both Swain tech and Jet Hot today. Swain tech said they would coat my headers for $450 and the turnaround time is 6 weeks +/-. Jet hot said they would coat my headers for $430 turnaround time 3 weeks and that would be for their 1300 coat, I asked for quotes on the 2000 and 2500 protection coats and was told around $750 for the 2000 coat and was not quoted for the 2500 coat. The sales rep also told me to not waste my money as he said the 1300 coat is all that is needed for our cars. He said the 2000 and 2500 coat are not smooth and shinny but rougher looking and are only needed for off road, serious turbo setups etc...
I am expecting to receive my headers and exhaust setup today, so I need to decide what to do. I am thinking that Swain tech may be the way to go since it's the same price and even though they don't look as good they provide more thermal protection. I also might slap a supercharger on the car years down the line and am guessing Swain would be better for that too. Thoughts?

ARH headers and catback have arrived! Took the cats and xpipe out, wrapping in bubble wrap and putting in a smaller box to save on the shipping. Might ship them out today to Swain Tech and be done with it.

Swain Tech FTW

Finally got my ARH headers back from Swain tech and they look great! If anyone wants to know turn-around time - I mailed them on March 7th and received them today May 19th so roughly 8 weeks with 2 weeks added for shipping there and back to make it 10. Very excited to hear these!

I’m so jealous. They look great, enjoy. 👍🏻

Thank you to you and some of the others for pushing me to actually get it done at Swain tech otherwise I would have gone local and might have regretted it down the line.

Thats the way to do it!

Very nice! Glad you went with Swaintech. Ceramic coating is only really worth it when it's a true ceramic coating such as Swaintech or Jet Hot. I can touch my headers within a couple minutes of turning the vehicle off, it's truly an amazing product. The white looks good too imo.