New to the Benz game, would like to inexpensivly increase the exhaust note on my car (E500) but dont want any problems. Will I run into drone issues if I just replace the mufflers? Can I use the same mufflers that I use on my American cars, like the Dynomax VT no drone? Keep or delete resonators?
If I just do mufflers I shouldnt have any check engine lights, correct?

Hate sounding like a newbie but I am one!

 

Haven't done exhaust on the E...but have on other MBs. Usually deleting the resonator gives the best sound. Keeps it close to stock with a little rumble.

 

Go into the forums and look for w211- exhaust. The block on the e55 (m113) is the same as the 500 03-07, actually its the same block in every "5" series.
You can go car-azy like I did and go full headers, cat delete, custom pipes and expensive mufflers. (see pics). With mufflers only you shouldn't trigger CEL. once you start going forward toward the engine you may run into issues.

I have a full renntech exhaust and Kleemann headers but my ecu has been tuned for the supercharger and exhaust. And yes it passes smog in Las Vegas!

Talk to your MB mechanic and ask him what he'd recommend as well.

Don't go cheap...or you'll be doing it again soon!!

 

You are going down the same path I did with my E550 just a few weeks ago! Glad to see you're looking towards customization, took me almost a year to get comfortable with the idea. Started out with a few changes and I live it. When the previous poster said don't go cheap, I guess that applies to full exhaust systems, but I had my exhaust transformed for $200 with labor and parts.

Do not do a resonator or secondary cat delete, one sounds too muscle-car like and the other way too raspy. You also get into the issue of having enough back pressure or having to do an X-pipe etc, don't feel like I lost any power with my solution. If you want to keep the Mercedes-Benz sound, have it sort of sedate at idle, deeper at cruising, and monstrous on hard acceleration or rev DO A MUFFLER DELETE!!! I did a muffler delete with my car where I had the mufflers taken out and straight-piped, never looked back and it sounds amazing.

You straight pipe the muffler, then to get ride of the droning, do what is called a Helmholtz resonator which is a 29-inch piece of pipe curled in a J with a blocked off end (hence J-pipe) that connects to the pipe where the muffler used to be. Super cheap and very very effective, almost zero drone in the cabin for me.

It isn't a muscle car sound, it's a Mercedes-Benz V8 that can breathe sound. Very AMG-Esque as Fila put it, and you get an exotic pop on downshift sometimes which sounds super cool. More German V8 than muscle car, and no sensors or anything that hook up to the muffler. Plus you get decent weight-savings.

Here is a video of my car on a colder day:


Sorry about the ticking, at the time the slight raspiness and ticking was caused by a bad coil on cylinder 2 that was replaced the following day after the video was shot. Thread where I talk about it: https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...althrough.html

 

Are you saying you got Headers, X-pipe and Mufflers for 200?
Or are you saying you have stock exhaust manifolds and custom tubes?

Cuz if its the former then I spent about 10K too much for my exhaust.
The Kleemann headers alone were 8K. but they are equal-length headers tuned to the 113 motor. I have the racing cats and RennTech pipes and mufflers and mine doesn't sound as loud as the 550 in the video..not as raspy. But then again the system was tuned to the added pressure of the blower. I dont know if I'd go with a LOUD exhaust as opposed to e TUNED exhaust.

 

No no no I am saying I had a muffler delete with Helmholtz resonator done for $200. Basically muffler delete and J-pipe the rest of the exhaust is stock. It definitely sounds more tuned and tone-corrected, not LOUD and obnoxious.

 

thanks for the info Aff, I just emailed my exhaust tech all this info to see if he can duplicate this, your car sounds awesome! p.s. what is the best way to get the chrome exhasut tips like you have

 

Sure man, you are asking a lot of the same questions I had when I started modding my W211, but luckily all in one place. So, I'm glad I can help out with only the few things I have an adept understanding of on the W211.

Yeah, not many people have done or know how to do the J-pipe setup but the results speak for themselves. My muffler guys didn't really get what I was doing lol, but fabricated it to my specs anyway. As long as its a 28-30 inch piece of pipe curled and blocked off it will pretty much work. You don't even have to have it to get that sound it just reduces the droning so you can have it easily done in two parts.

The chrome exhaust tips are part of the W211 sport package. If you don't have them you don't have the sport package, which also came with a few nuances like chrome fog light surrounds, "sport tuned suspension," and that ugly bluish tint you see in my signature. Honestly not a big fan of the non-AMG sport front bumper. You can get the exhaust tips done by a muffler shop or get some "tip extenders" from what I understand so it clears the bumper.

For an even meaner look you can put a little more money into a rear diffuser you can buy and install by cutting out a small portion of the bumper. Then do an AMG-like dual exhaust tip setup.

 

im looking at the walkthrough and it looks like what you are removing is actually the resonators at the rear, isnt the muffler the suitcase looking thing mid car??

 

No I removed the mufflers, not the resonators. These are what the mufflers look like taken out they are the last exhaust component in the chain before the tips. You are thinking of the resonators or maybe the secondary cat.

 

your car would look better if you did a cut out and sunk those tips into the bumber....

 

Cuz if its the former then I spent about 10K too much for my exhaust.

 

well unfortunately my exhaust guy is unfamiliar with how to do a J pipe and I could tell he didnt want to attempt it. Sux becase I love the way your car sounds in the clip Aff...

What are my other options, what about removing the resonator and second cat, will I get any codes or problems or what abot jst straight piping the resonator...

 

That's the way my exhaust guys were at first. They didn't even see the point but I just told them how to do it as they were fabricating all of the parts. You can get that same sound with a muffler delete you'll just get more droning. Or find another exhaust shop.

Removing the resonator and secondary cat may be a little too loud, unless you want loud. You will not get codes removing either as there no CEL sensors in either. Also important to note even without secondary cats (and in some situations without primary cats) the W211 engine will still pass emissions in most states. The main consideration you have to make is having enough backpressure, so you may need to consider an x-pipe. Google some exhaust clips, I think the secondary cat delete (if I'm thinking of the right one) was a little too raspy. Either of those have been the more popular solutions though so you'll probably be happy with one or the other.