I'm sure this has been covered, but I searched and couldn't find anything, so pardon the noob question: what is up with the "pseudo" exhaust tips? Why do the mufflers actually "exhaust" several inches in front of the "tips" in the rear fascia? I noticed the actual pipes from the mufflers are different: one is round, and one is more squared off. Did this somehow prevent them meeting up with the tips directly? I have the Performance Exhaust, and have heard the non-PE mufflers are actually different. Is the non-PE exhaust the same as far as the tips?

 

First World Problems

 

Have you not noticed this is becoming the norm with ALL cars these days and began a long time ago right from the most expensive vehicles ever made to the cheapest.

Personal and subjective choice aside as to whether one likes it or not, there are numerous reasons for this set up which make total economic and operability sense, best to just look it all up yourself plenty of info on the topic on the net otherwise this thread will become a debate as to whether people like/prefer them or not as per previous threads on the same subject.

 

This is what I heard from my friend who claims to be an expert in Mercedes.

He explained to me that disconnect the exhaust tip from the exhaust will protect the engine in case of a rear end collision from behind. The actual exhaust is connect to the engine, if the tips are indeed "real", when the car is hit from behind it may cause damage to the engine. However, in our case the tip is "fake exhaust tip" and they are disconnect to the engine, in case of a collision, only the rear bumper will be damaged but not the real exhaust or the engine.

I don't know if this is true or not, but sounds right to me.

 

id assume they can also have better looking exhausts this way. You can also change the tips of you so choose to do so when they are disconnected.

This forum never ceases to amaze me

 

Honestly, other than the new Audi Q5, which we have on order for my wife, I hadn't actually noticed it. So when I said I "searched", I meant this site, as I assumed it was still pretty unique to the C63. But I see now that quite a few cars are making use of them.

 

It's mostly so that car designers have more freedom designing the rear bumper and exhaust tips of the car. The exhaust tips can be fixed while the exhaust can still move freely.

 

This is the right answer. The exhaust moves quite a bit and if it's form fitted to the bumper, there is no room for it to move and it can damage the bumper and melt the plastic. That's why it's separate. Those exhausts that you see that don't have false tips, they have a large gap to accommodate the movement of the exhaust and dissipation of heat, but they aren't form fitted as tightly

 

You're right, like my W204 C63; it has connected exhaust tips, but there's 3/8" all around the surrounding fascia to allow them to "move".