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Hey All, Just got my 2013 ML550 last Sunday...after a week I find that its a little on the quiet side for me...I've been doing searches online and haven't seen too many people doing exhaust modifications.... I was thinking of modding like I've done with my Audi A6 and replace the resonator with a Magnaflow dual in/dual out muffler (like the 11386) and replacing the rear mufflers with a straight-thru magnaflow round muffler (like the 10416).... these are 2.5" setups but may do the 2.25" if these are too open. I've heard a couple straight pipe setups online and they do sound quieter than I have envisioned. I may do just the resonator portion and straight pipe the rest of the way or do without the resonator and do an "H" pipe in its place and do the round mufflers at the end. If anyone has modded their exhaust, can you share what you did and are you happy with what you did? Thanks all in advance...
Thanks for posting. Ive thought about a noisier muffler setup for years, but had no idea it was so quiet without a muffler!
Its still very quiet in the cab...just a tint of the muscular tone until you get on it. I love it as this is the "family" car. I may eventually add a straight thru short mufflers or glasspacks to maintain a stealthy tone outside. I just added a couple turn downs for now at the end of the cuts and that actually toned down and refined the sound as well. I'm not after a loud sound but a more muscular tone to it when I rev and get on it.
It's the turbos - they muffle the sound a lot. If you want a rip-roaring exhaust you want a M273 or M156 in the engine bay.
That makes perfect sense because I feared that it would have that loud open pipe sound which is not what im after and I'm not a fan of the cold start... Im looking for a muscular tone which you can hear when you get on it but nothing obnoxious.. I'm going to my muffler shop today to talk to my guy about potential setups i want to do..and to tack my turn downs. I am thinking about 3 options initially... may replace the big resonator with a magnaflow #12469 (3" dualin/out 5x8 body) and pipe it out like the pic(s) below with turn downs, no tips out the back.... OR add 2 small body straight thru mufflers/glasspacks to the piping you see in pic just before the turn downs an keep the stock resonator or magnaflow it....OR do an H or X pipe where the resonator is now and doing the 2 small body mufflers/glasspacks with turn downs...we'll see...
Nice - I've been thinking about removing the crossover/resonator on the SL550 and going to "old school" true duals. I know I'll lose some HP but there is something we lost in the modern era without two separate pipes for each bank of cylinders. It's kinda like a mono/stereo thing in the audio world if that makes sense. Nothing sounds like true duals as you get some really cool phasing effects at certain points in the rev range (sounds like two motors going in and out of sync with each other).
Nice - I've been thinking about removing the crossover/resonator on the SL550 and going to "old school" true duals. I know I'll lose some HP but there is something we lost in the modern era without two separate pipes for each bank of cylinders. It's kinda like a mono/stereo thing in the audio world if that makes sense. Nothing sounds like true duals as you get some really cool phasing effects at certain points in the rev range (sounds like two motors going in and out of sync with each other).
I hearya and your right! I'm an old fart and like the "old" sound of true duals...
ok...after the morning drive to take kiddies to school...i'm going the most stealthiest route..lol... Gonna replace the stock resonator with a Magnaflow #12469 (has internal X pipe), and do Magnaflow #14419s at the rear dumped right after the muffler (in the original stock position)...
Sounds great but I might put the muffler back as it is my temporary daily driver again, and my passengers cannot stand it.
Tesla drivers don't seem to enjoy it, hehe
yea I thought about the resonator delete as well and was gonnan do the step by step thing and glad I did...the sound is just about what I want now with just the muffler delete and a resonator delete would probably be too much for the interior resonance... I want to it to sound a little bit more refined and muscular which is why I'm going the route I decided on...
Just got back from my muffler shop...mufflers ordered. In the interim, here are pics of after I cut the muffler off, ran it like that for a day or so and then added the turn downs.... to make it look more inconspictuous..
Last edited by chefred112; Nov 4, 2024 at 03:06 PM.
X pipe on turbocharged vehicle actually decreases performance. It would be for sound only. There is no exhaust scavenging with a turbocharged engine so the faster the air out and the least resistance along the way makes the most power.
X pipe on turbocharged vehicle actually decreases performance. It would be for sound only. There is no exhaust scavenging with a turbocharged engine so the faster the air out and the least resistance along the way makes the most power.
Thanks for that, very good info as I didn't know that! Appreciate it!
So I had my exhaust work done this week....It sounds amazing. It has the exact sound I'm looking for...muscular and not obnoxiously loud...the prevoius dumps sounded good but I wanted a more refined sound. Anyone who's done a resonator AND muffler delete...thats got to be way too loud inside the cab and I could only imagine a cold start...not good. It's raining out so a sound vid will come in the near future. He are some pics during the build process.
Do you have a new video with the magnaflow setup?
Did your OEM exhaust have a rear muffler that was clamped like the diagram below or did you have to cut it off? I purchased an OEM exhaust but it came as one piece from the rear muffler to the resonator.
Previous owner did a resonator + muffler delete on my ml550. It’s way too loud and does not sound good. There is also some vibration that comes through the floor.
Thanks.
My stock muffler was not clamped so I had to cut them off. Here is the 1st vid I took after I had the exhaust work done....at cold start is a little loud but its a muscular tone. Afterwhich it quiets down to almost stock level. This is my wifes ride and she loves how it sounds. I love how it sounds when she rolls up down the street...not an obnoxious sound but a very muscular tone. My neighbors love the tone...my coworkers love the tone when I just idle up into parking lot... I'll do a future vid showing a driveby.
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