E-Class (W124) 1984-1995: E 260, E 300, E 320, E 420, E 500 (Includes CE, T, TD models)

Why does my Magnaflow sound absolutley horrible on my 300E?

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Old Nov 2, 2007 | 02:52 PM
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Why does my Magnaflow sound absolutley horrible on my 300E?

Well, I was looking for that nice growl on my 86 300E that the straight six's could put out but I ended up with something horrible.
I bought a brand new catalytic converter with downtubes from Catco and a Magnaflow stainless steel muffler with dual tips. When the magnaflow arrived I see right through this muffler by looking through the pipe and thought that it might be a little too free flowing...so I paid $370 to install it. Now understand that all I have is the cats, and then a pipe straight to the magnaflow muffler, no pre or center muffler. The conclusion? It sounds absolutely LOUD, its annoying on the highway and higher RPM accelerating sounds really tinny and horrible maybe worst than a ricer.

Where did I go wrong?
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Old Nov 2, 2007 | 03:32 PM
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Originally Posted by appatula
Where did I go wrong?
.
Originally Posted by appatula
Now understand that all I have is the cats, and then a pipe straight to the magnaflow muffler, no pre or center muffler.
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Old Nov 2, 2007 | 03:35 PM
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What about straight-through as opposed to a chambered muffler, and does the center muffler really make that much of a difference?
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Old Nov 2, 2007 | 03:43 PM
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i now drive a ford p71 i also own a 1988 ford f150 lariat
Originally Posted by appatula
Well, I was looking for that nice growl on my 86 300E that the straight six's could put out but I ended up with something horrible.
I bought a brand new catalytic converter with downtubes from Catco and a Magnaflow stainless steel muffler with dual tips. When the magnaflow arrived I see right through this muffler by looking through the pipe and thought that it might be a little too free flowing...so I paid $370 to install it. Now understand that all I have is the cats, and then a pipe straight to the magnaflow muffler, no pre or center muffler. The conclusion? It sounds absolutely LOUD, its annoying on the highway and higher RPM accelerating sounds really tinny and horrible maybe worst than a ricer.

Where did I go wrong?
you went with Magnaflow thats where. i dont trust there stuff my friend with his 1973 nova got the same thing when he had his 6 in his car it sounded like a fedex truck or a ww2 jeep loud and just pfffft. the problem is that it is to open for the car. and that they did not make a muffler for this car. it would be best to go with a brand not made for muscle cars ???? um if you could get a video or a sound bite of the sound that would be helpfull to tell whats wrong with the sound. to me id say it is the muffler.ther just not good for these cars try and buy a AMG one or ones made for a BENZ. sorry i cant help you out more i got problems with my own cars pipes.they leak so it kinda sucks being in trafic and smelling gas from my car V_V.
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Old Nov 2, 2007 | 03:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Rio Z Lander
you went with Magnaflow thats where. i dont trust there stuff my friend with his 1973 nova got the same thing when he had his 6 in his car it sounded like a fedex truck or a ww2 jeep loud and just pfffft. the problem is that it is to open for the car. and that they did not make a muffler for this car. it would be best to go with a brand not made for muscle cars ???? um if you could get a video or a sound bite of the sound that would be helpfull to tell whats wrong with the sound. to me id say it is the muffler.ther just not good for these cars try and buy a AMG one or ones made for a BENZ. sorry i cant help you out more i got problems with my own cars pipes.they leak so it kinda sucks being in trafic and smelling gas from my car V_V.

Just because your friends car sounded like **** with a Magnaflow Muffler doesn't mean Magnaflow is a bad company.

Also, Keep in mind that Magnaflow isn't JUST made for "muscle cars." Clown.

Anyways, A lot can factor into the sound of your exhaust. It could be the piping, the welds and etc. All I know is that I plan on going the Magnaflow route when it's time for me to get the exhaust side of my car done.
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Old Nov 2, 2007 | 04:39 PM
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some
six cyl sound like crap. thats why.

Mark
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Old Nov 2, 2007 | 04:40 PM
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Originally Posted by RedMongoosE
six cyl sound like crap. thats why.

Mark
LOL MARK.
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Old Nov 2, 2007 | 04:59 PM
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I have a magnaflow on my TE and it sounds fine, my bro just had one put on his CE too...

I wouldn't worry, looks like you total all of your mercedes, this one should be gone in a while and you can start over again
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Old Nov 2, 2007 | 05:43 PM
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88-300CE TWIN TURBO, 99-C43, 05-G55K, 71-280SL, 94-E320 CAB, 08 CLK63 BLACK SERIES
I run two 2.5" down pipes through two Magnaflow 2.5" spun metal cats, then 2 x 2.5" pipes to the rear and only silencer.
No precats or center silencer.

Not much louder then stock at idle, a little louder at higher RPM.....
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Old Nov 2, 2007 | 07:02 PM
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Originally Posted by RedMongoosE
six cyl sound like crap. thats why.

Mark

I can prove you wrong amigo. Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK50twWV_4M
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Old Nov 2, 2007 | 07:05 PM
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Originally Posted by myfirstbenz
I have a magnaflow on my TE and it sounds fine, my bro just had one put on his CE too...

I wouldn't worry, looks like you total all of your mercedes, this one should be gone in a while and you can start over again
First one was a 1980 with 280K, it had a rear engine seal that leaked about a quart and a half of oil a week. The engine finally went when I was on the highway. My second one was actually my fault but the car saved my life when it landed on the roof and a tree fell on it. Thanks for ridiculing me.

I run two 2.5" down pipes through two Magnaflow 2.5" spun metal cats, then 2 x 2.5" pipes to the rear and only silencer.
No precats or center silencer.

Not much louder then stock at idle, a little louder at higher RPM.....
So, are your Magnaflow mufflers chambered? Or are they a straight through design? Maybe my cat is damaged?? Wow that would **** me off....
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Old Nov 2, 2007 | 07:10 PM
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^^^ I rolled my 400E, so taker easy, I am not throwing fists here.
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Old Nov 2, 2007 | 07:42 PM
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alrighty, Just glad were still here to talk about it! :zoom


Any ideas guys? I've heard magnaflows sound great on 300E on youtube. I think the reason might be because mine is a straight-through flow design instead of chambered however I would hate to drop another $150 on a muffler and then pay labor to get it Migged on just to have the same crappy sound.
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Old Nov 2, 2007 | 09:47 PM
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i now drive a ford p71 i also own a 1988 ford f150 lariat
Originally Posted by RedMongoosE
six cyl sound like crap. thats why.

Mark
you can get a good sound out of them but un less you buy one meant for your car. and this car can have a sweet sound you just need to know what to buy/put on to get that sound. and to me i just dont like the stuff i have never heard a car sound good with there stuff
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Old Nov 3, 2007 | 01:39 AM
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I would have gutted the O.E muffler and put the magnaflow as the center muffler and used the O.E muffler to diffuse the sound. This way is cheaper too because they only cut out the center muffler and there isn't much bending to do. I've never really thought about getting more hp by adding a muffler because there really isn't that much a difference in hp gains anyways.
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Old Nov 3, 2007 | 01:44 AM
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Originally Posted by appatula
So, are your Magnaflow mufflers chambered? Or are they a straight through design? Maybe my cat is damaged?? Wow that would **** me off....
Only running small Magnaflow individual spun metal cats and
my rear silencer is a custom unit supplied by Turbotechnics with 2 x 2.5" in and 2 x 2.5" tips out.

My comment was for the purpose of not running the intermediate silencer and standard cat you shouldn't have that much noise.

It's probably coming from your rear Magnaflow silencer !
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Old Nov 3, 2007 | 03:12 AM
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So basically take it off, buy a regular chambered muffler, and put a tip on it.

Any recommendations? Links?

Thanks guys!
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Old Nov 3, 2007 | 09:36 AM
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OR, climb under a BMW 328/30i and see what's there, then do that. BMW engineers have tuned the sound of their cars much like a musical instrument. I watched a video of how they do this. The result is a beautiful, rich, melodious note like none other.
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Old Nov 3, 2007 | 12:58 PM
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I haven't been brave enough to explore this on my car. I thought the pre-muffler or center muffler was a resonator. Like British cars, it did some sound resonation magic to tune the exhaust stream?

The factory can mounted across the back of the car looks massive and expensive.

What do resonators do? Do E-series have 'em?
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Old Nov 3, 2007 | 02:37 PM
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I believe they do but I'm not so sure that not having one would create an overbearing drone. Does anyone run Magnaflow here??
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Old Nov 4, 2007 | 12:16 PM
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i run flowmaster. it's a beautiful sound. it is a chambered muffler with a tip though. i didn't go the magnaflow route because the one i bought couldn't be welded on due to space constraints.
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Old Nov 4, 2007 | 12:18 PM
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1991 300E
Originally Posted by Rio Z Lander
you can get a good sound out of them but un less you buy one meant for your car. and this car can have a sweet sound you just need to know what to buy/put on to get that sound. and to me i just dont like the stuff i have never heard a car sound good with there stuff
that's just ignorant. generally speaking, magnaflow mufflers are universal fit. you just have to mount them properly. magnaflow makes different models depending on your application: v6, v8, truck, etc, and depending on how loud you want your particular application to be.
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Old Nov 4, 2007 | 12:19 PM
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From: Atlanta, GA and Richmond, VA
1991 300E
Originally Posted by rooney2006
that's just ignorant. generally speaking, magnaflow mufflers are universal fit. you just have to mount them properly. magnaflow makes different models depending on your application: v6, v8, truck, etc, and depending on how loud you want your particular application to be.
oh, unless it is a cat-back system designed for a particular model car. i'm talking about their normal mufflers.
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Old Nov 4, 2007 | 12:20 PM
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From: Atlanta, GA and Richmond, VA
1991 300E
Originally Posted by White_Knuckles
I haven't been brave enough to explore this on my car. I thought the pre-muffler or center muffler was a resonator. Like British cars, it did some sound resonation magic to tune the exhaust stream?

The factory can mounted across the back of the car looks massive and expensive.

What do resonators do? Do E-series have 'em?
yeah, we have them. i took mine off. it weighs about 25 pounds, and is just overkill for sound.
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Old Nov 4, 2007 | 12:32 PM
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I have the Remus system for the W210 on my car and it sounds great....I6's sound good, V6's sound like crap.
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