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I have literally the same setup. I was told that the J pipe had to go up further down the exhaust but the car does not have enough space for a J pipe to fit. But, the J pipes did reduce the drone a little bit. The drone is bearable. My wife drives it and doesn't complain as well. I do have to say that it because really annoying on the highway. What I do now is, on the high way, I don't let the trans go pass gear 6. That way the tach meter stays 2k rpms or higher. I probably burn more gas that way but the sound of the breathing v8 is SO much better. My advice, it WILL drone, but only slightly. If you're willing to deal with it then definitely go for it. If not, find another option.
Thank you for your comment! I am ok with some drone If it means I can hear the V8 sing.
I used the wavelength formula and I am going to need 30” inches of J pipe, I could just do straight pipe for now and measure the Hz and get a more accurate length but after reviewing various forms I feel confident.
I am booked in this Friday so I shall post results at some point this weekend.
Thanks again for your feedback guys, I really appreciate it.
So today was the day and I have joined the ranks of muffler deletes and I couldn’t be happier! The car now sounds orgasmic at WOT and it’s music to the ears when downshifting and driving in manual mode. Best of all, the car is quiet when idling and at cruising speeds.
However, there is slight droning around 1700 rpm which I am confident I can rectify by installing 29.5” J pipe. I figured I’ll just do straight pipes for now in order to verify the J pipe size. Having said that, you can easily get around the droning by dropping to lower gears.
All in all, I’m a very happy man right now. Videos to follow and some pics of the install below.
I only did the Mufflers (with the add of the 29" capped J pipe that is added to the straight pipe) and the Resonators are still there. Mine is NA and the the drone is very very minimal. When you are cruising, there is no drone. Only drone I get is a for a few seconds when going up a hill or above like 1.5k - 2k rpm iirc. My wife also drives it sometimes and she has never complained about it. She just gives me crap when I go into manual and like to hear those pipes breath Then it sounds like the roaring v8 it should lol.
You mention that you only get drone between 1.5k - 2k with the j-pipes, but that is the only time I get drone with my 2007 E550 without J-pipes (and mufflers deleted). Cruising at 110km/h (approx 70mph) in D the engine sits at about 1800 rpm and the drone is constant and significant. Changing down a gear is not an option because it will use way more fuel on a long trip.
Did you add the J-pipe at the same time as the muffler delete or add them subsequently? If subsequent, did you notice a significant difference to the drone just from the j-pipes? The reason I ask is that searching through these threads I find plenty of advice from people recommending what to do but there is very little evidence of people saying that they added j-pipes to a 5.5l without mufflers and it significantly reduced the drone.
You mention that you only get drone between 1.5k - 2k with the j-pipes, but that is the only time I get drone with my 2007 E550 without J-pipes (and mufflers deleted). Cruising at 110km/h (approx 70mph) in D the engine sits at about 1800 rpm and the drone is constant and significant. Changing down a gear is not an option because it will use way more fuel on a long trip.
Did you add the J-pipe at the same time as the muffler delete or add them subsequently? If subsequent, did you notice a significant difference to the drone just from the j-pipes? The reason I ask is that searching through these threads I find plenty of advice from people recommending what to do but there is very little evidence of people saying that they added j-pipes to a 5.5l without mufflers and it significantly reduced the drone.
I added them at the same time of the muffler delete so unfortunately I couldn't help you on that. Minus the bit of drone I get, definitely would do it again.
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Then it sounds like the roaring v8 it should lol.
