CLK550 $wagger

Whats up guys? I have been going back and forth with exhaust options for a while. I have read countless threads and got a lot of information from kev. At first kev and I thought the best option for me would be to get a magnaflow muffler and swap it out with the stock one but now I came up with the idea to just delete the OEM Muffler after reading a few exhaust build threads. My questions are

What would be the different in the sound/volume?
Does anybody have a video of either of these so I can hear the sound?



I appreciate all your help thank you!

NardoNZ

on my 55 i deleted the rear muffler and ened up with a waaay too loud exhaust and a drone at low revs. Added 2 resonators and it sounds pretty much ike a c63 on steroids now. I love it! not sure how that compares on a 550 though

CLK550 $wagger

Thanks for the reply! Where did you add the resonators? In place of the muffler basically? Was tht the only thing you dis to the exhaust? Also, do you have any sound clips of yours?

Louie D

On my 550 I deleted the resonators and changed the OEM muffler to an magnaflow muffler also with a free flowing exhaust dual in dual out on one side. Sounds great deep sounding and a nice growl no drone at all. I think the may be a sound clip in my muffler thread.

CLK550 $wagger

Hey louie! Just read the exhaust thread and I really like what you did. I'm still going to be under warranty so I don't want to tear the exhaust up to much. Which brings me to my question how much different do you think it would sound if I just swaped the muffled to mag and possibly deleted the res? Does the true dual make that much of a difference in sound? Also, I saw the sound clip but it wouldn't let me open it.


On a side note. What got me thinking about deleting the
muffler was this video I saw on YouTube. As you'll see in the video description he deleted the muffler, added a mag x pipe, and ran straight to the tips. So I think it would sound very similar if I just deleted the muffler... Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong! Hahaha

Louie D

I would start by just swapping the muffler to a magnaflow muffler and see how you like it then move on from there if you don't like the sound then remove the resonator next.

Take baby steps and go with what you like, nothing like hearing it on you own car than a Sound file on the net. They dual in out I am pretty sure made a difference I went from a stock setup right to what I have now and I am very happy.

Pufftrees

I swapped the muffler to magnaflow on my 500, and deleted the res and 2ndary cats.

It definitely drones at low RPM but it sounds like an absolute animal on WOT... it's really ridiculous how mean it sounds (true v8) but the drone is terrible. I've just been too busy to put the resonator back in.

Magnaflow with res delete is going to be mean as hell sounding, but expect some drone. Louie D's method seems to remove a lot of that drone but requires a quad setup.

CLK550 $wagger

Yeah I completely agree with you Louie. That's what Im going to do. I think I'm going to just start with deleting the Muffler because that's the easiest and then that way I dont end up with a muffler I'm not going to use. I'm going to either do it in the winter if we get a nice week or just In the spring because I'm going to garage it over winter and the mechanic I would want to do it is about. 2 hours away which is part of the reason I want to get it right the first or if need be the second time! Hahah

Pufftrees thanks for the response! Yeah one thing I don't want is drone! Lol I like being able to think straight!

How different are the exhaust on the 55 than than the 550 because NardoNZ said that he deleted the muffler and added 2 resonators so I'm wondering If I would have to add 2 resonators also.

Kevwood

With a OEM muffler, secondaries & res delete I had a horrible drone, added a Magnaflow muffler and now no problem.

NardoNZ

theresonators were placed AFTER the Y pipe, so each exit has 1 resonator. Ill try to sort some pics later, but there is the video. The initial throttle touch sounds better if it doesnt blow right into the microphone haha

betrezra

Perfect tone Nardo!

Fatz

I just finished replacing my muffler with a magnaflow. The sound was so loud in the cabin I seriously considered just putting the OEM muffler back in. Since the OEM is straight thru also with about a 2.6" inside diameter core. Three changes/corrections left me very satisfied with magnaflow;
1. Discovered a leak at the flange connecting the newly installed 3" pipe and the magnaflow Y pipe. Corrected
2. Did not have the right hangers when I had the muffler and pipe replaced. Corrected
3. The OEM muffler is quite tall. That cavern left above the magnaflow became an amplifier for the vibrations of the magnaflow. Covered the cavern with "Boom-Mat".

With the windows up, the cabin is about as it was before. I can hear more noise from my tires and the road than the exhaust. The exhaust note is great.

NardoNZ

Thanks Betrezra! I'm quite happy the wy it is now, surely made manual shift mode more fun!!



VERY interesting... I'm going to do that too

Fatz

BTW I have kleeman headers & ECU and the exhaust pipes have been changed.
- 2 2.5" pipes 34" each
- secondary cats
- magnaflow "X"
- magnaflow "Y"
- flange
- 1 3.0" pipe 36"
- magnaflow (14278) 3" core 3"in 2x2.25" out

CLK550 $wagger

Thanks for the answers! It's such a tough decision because they both seem like they will sound great... but I have to say Nardo your exhaust sounds great! That is exactly what im going for but maybe a little louder. So with that said it seems as if I should look into deleting the muffler and adding 1 res because Im not going to be converting to quads. Nardo, do you have any drone with your setup now? Also, does the stock 55 have one primary cat, one secondary cat, one res, and muffler just like the 550?


Fartz, nice setup! I'd love to do more exhaust work like changing the whole piping but since its under warranty I think I should stick to the muffler.


Pufftrees, did you get a chance to hear what just the mag and res delete sounded like or did you do it all at once because my concern with the mag is it wont be loud enough.

Fatz

Your 550 has 2 primaries, 2 secondaries,1 resonator, and 1 muffler. The muffler on the car is a pretty darn good muffler IMO. It's made by a German company called "Eberspascher" (sp). I would think there would be no incremental cost to delete the parts you plan to delete and add the muffler last.

But hey...... I'm just a guy having fun in silver years... Good point on the warranty. I'm warranty self insured......

Pufftrees

I had actually removed the resonator and secondary cats first, and drove around for a couple weeks. Sounded pretty good but I wanted more, so I went with the magnaflow. I can't exactly remember the size but I think we tried a 16" and it didn't fit so we ended up with a 14" muffler.

The drone is in the 1000-1600 rpm range, depends on the gear etc. If you are doing city driving and just casually accelerate up to 50 or so you will remain in this 'drone' region, which is annoying. I have to drive a little more aggressive or use the stickshift to keep it down (rpms over 2200). The drone slowly went away over the 1000 miles I've put on it but it's certainly still there. I was going to install a magnaflow or oem resonator in the middle perhaps... but it sounds so good in WOT I might just live with the drone. Been trying to get a sound clip since I installed but I need to find someone to record me while I drive by lol.

Good luck !

CLK550 $wagger

Pufftrees From the sound of it seems like it would sound like an animal WOT!


I did a lot of calling around locally and I didn't feel comfortable at all with any of the shops doing custom exhaust work. As soon as I mention the word mercedes I thought they were going to drop! My mechanic would be able to do the muffler swap but doesn't have the parts in order to do the muffler delete. So instead of making a headache out of it I'm just going to swap the muffler out. Since thats really my only option I did a little research more research and came up with another possible muffler... a glasspack! NewJD2 has 2 glass packs out to duals and gets no drone and it sounds beastly! So you guys with the magnaflows how do they sound compared to this video below?


You can FF to 1:35

jazzo

ive got a 03 clk55 i deleted the secondary cats first, it made hardly any difference to the sound. i then removed the oem amg backbox for a aftermarket one with dual outlet so i could run a pipe around the spare tyre well for a quad setup, and it sounded much meaner but ended up with drone at low rpm's. After speaking to kevwood i decided to add another muffler exactly the same as his in place of the y pipe. it now sounds the same as it did with the amg backbox, but when u floor it, it sounds much meaner and louder with no drone at any rpm.

NardoNZ

here are some pics you requested... not too sure if you get the best ideea but maybe it helps...




and the later added resonators x2:

Peydidy

Did you just cut the bumper on the right side?

NardoNZ

well, a bodyshop did, yes it is identical to the other side, which is quite a particular shape.

Hoserbenzo

I'm also looking at having my bumper cover cut. I wanted to do the exact set up you have. Except I wanted the magnaflow, 1 in/ 2 out. Already deleted the resonator.

CLK550 $wagger

Thanks for the pics NardoNZ! Do you have any drone with that setup? Also, its hard to tell how loud it is from the video but how much louder than stock would you say it is and does it make its presence known while not WOT? I talked more to my mechanic and he said he should be able to do the muffler delete and add 2 res's. Im still torn between the Magnaflow muffler and doing Nardo's setup. The only reason I am hesitating with getting the magnaflow is because Im not sure if it will be loud enough and have that low grumble without be WOT and from what pufftrees said it is only louder when WOT and thats with a cat delete. To me the car is loud enough stock WOT ( I wouldn't mind it being louder... it can never be to loud ) but I want to to be louder down low. What do you guys think my best bet would be for that?

Im sorry I keep going back and forth and asking 100 questions I just hate to redo stuff! haha I like to get it right the first time!

togaclk55

If you want it loud delete the muffler