I have had my ML63 (6.3L V8) for a year now but just recently joined now that I have started modding it. I went ahead and did resonator bypass on the ML63 and it has make the car sound so much better. On the ML63s there is no 2nd cats, only a large primary cat, so the two big canisters underneath the car that look like cats are actually just resonators w/ an expansion chamber to cancel out backfires ...

now that I have removed it, the car sounds MUCH more like the CLK63 black series (just alittle bit less loud and more refined with stock rear mufflers in place.

The modification cost me $250 total including parts & labor and was worth every penny, the car sounds perfect now. I highly recommend it


EDIT: Picture added

 

Anyway you could post a sound clip? I've been thinking about doing this too.

 

Sure, I will try to get a sound clip soon.

The stock piping is 2.75" diameter, bit that's not a standard size so I had the shop use a 3.0" stainless steel pipe section, MIG welded is fine. You will need roughly 18-24" of pipe, they can then cut it down to size as necessary.

You get about 10% more noise, but the beauty is you finally get to hear all the backfires as it crackles & pops when revving it. Sound like a more refined muffled down black series. It really is the perfect amount of sound. No droning either. You hear it more, but on,y in angood way. Zero negatives in my opinion.

 

Nice!! def need a sound clip asap!! REally wanted to do this

 

Can't wait to hear sound clip! I deleted the mufflers on my S600 and love how it sounds now. Was thinking that might be too loud for the 6.3L V8, so as you said the resonator delete may just be perfect!

 

Deleting mufflers would be WAAAY too loud on a 6.3 AMG.

I will actually be doing custom bolt-on high flow cat downpipes next as well as custom Xpipe crossover. I will be keeping stock exhaust manifolds, and stock muffler in place, but upgrading everything in between basically.

I track the car alot, and I have a feeling the stock cats will melt so I want to create a high performance set to keep stock cats in good shape in case ak ever need to swap them back in.

The x-pipe will replace the standard resonator delete straight pipes to improve both highrpm airflow, in addition to skoothening out the exhaust pulses and canceling out any possible drone that may come from the cat upgrade.

Updates coming soon ...

 

Here is a sound clip of my 2012 ML63 with Resonator Delete and K&N Air Filters. The most perfect sound. No negatives IMO either.

 

Holy ***** that is badass!!!! Sounds perfect to me, and so unsuspecting from an SUV.

 

Let me know how you go with all this, Sonny at autowerks does this with his ML63's and he gets good power out of them he adds high flow resonators in there to prevent drone.

 

For sure, I will start off with X-pipe first. I will dyno before & after to see if X-pipe gains anything over the straight-pipe resonator bypass. In theory it should pick up another 8-10HP over regular straight pipes because there is NO crossover of any kind on our ML63s which means there is no balancing of the pulses from both banks of the V8.

Usually X-pipe will increase high end HP (above 6000rpm) and also smoothen out the exhaust note while eliminating possible drone as the sound pulses cancel each other out in the X-pipe itself.

By comparing the already done resonator bypass, with the X-pipe, the optimal setup will be determined so that all ML63 owners can just skip the regular resonator bypass and go straight to X-pipe (if it ends up proven to be significantly better). I will post my findings first, then after that I will do high flow primary cats (custom bolt on design).

thanks

 

That sounds great.

When I played the video, it scared my dog.

My neighbors would kill me if I made that sound everyday.

 

jesus christ that sounds fckin amazing

 

 

He did the exhaust on my car.

Its sounds awesome and has zero drone on the freeway

 

Was the power gain noticeable? Have you got any clips?

 

That is the twin turbo motor FYI, the 6.3 liter V8s sound totally different with resonator bypass of course. Both sound good in their own way. The 6.3L is a bit quieter and smoother in tone than the video above. The x/pipe will help smoothen it out even more so.

The 2012 is a torque monster no doubt.

 

We need someone to have a bypass kit. I am here in NY and need a quality kit

 

Its really not that hard, just make sure you go to a higher end exhaust shop that uses at a MINIMUM stainless steel MIG wire and has satin stainless exhaust piping (preferable 2.75" diameter, but 3.0" will work as well). They can weld custom hangers too. I will try to post pics of mine soon.

I will actually be getting it redone with a Stainless Steel X-pipe (also custom) that will cut out a slightly longer section (before & after the MIG welds and current bypass piping) and do super strong high quality TIG welding instead. I will also have before & after Dyno on a 4WD Mustang Dyno (best dynos for our ML63s, tried to dyno on Dyno Dynamics and the car didn't like it b/c the front & rear rollers were not linked in sync). TIG is not 100% mandatory, especially not for a standard resonator bypass, but for high flow X-pipes you need higher strength welds because the X-merge is combining both sides of the exhaust system into one so all the movement under high forces will place extra strain compared to the stock separate pieces. Also, TIG will never leak, MIG can develop pinhole leaks over time (not a huge issue, you can get them touched up for free, but still its annoying).

Once the shop gets the new dyno up and running I will go ahead and have them do the X-pipe along with before & after dynos do another writeup with pics & dyno charts. Once that is complete then the next step is custom TIG welded downpipes. It could be a month before that happens. I will post pics of my current setup in the mean while along with my Dyno from my most recent tune.

My suggestion is go to a high end fabrication shop in town and see if they will do something for you. They are usually better suited to doing such custom work. Any standard muffler shop will use junk mild steel piping (that rusts), with mild steel MIG wire (which will also rust & leak over time) and kink-bent piping (non-mandrel bent smooth piping).

Usually the best fabrication shops are either Local Domestics (read: muscle car shops), or Imports (read: Turbo shops that custom fab Turbo Manifolds, which require insanely strong welds & piping). They don't mind usually doing a quick side project for a german car here & there, for a small fee of course.

Just my 2 cents

 

I would really recommend against xpipe, they totally destroy the AMG'ness of the exhaust note. Straight pipes is all u need and the butt dyno will never feel those extra 8hp anyway.

 

That's where we disagree ... the old 5.5L NA AMGs w/ X-pipes were some of the best sounding engines AMG made.

German engines should have a smoother more refined exhaust note IMO ... if you want a Chevelle SS ... go buy a Chevelle SS ... but don't try and turn a benz into an old 60s muscle car, that defeats the whole purpose (which is why I refuse to get long tube headers). It absolute ruins the way the car sounds IMO. I see so many 6.3L owners on this forum do long tube headers (remove cats) w/ resonator bypass and high flow exhausts and they turn a great sounding car into a flatulence machine that can be heard from 3 blocks away ... it literally sounds like ***.

8-10whp can be felt on the track when you are constantly near redline in every gear, it will help the exhaust gases scavenge better at high rpms. Furthermore, it is a complementary mod to the high flow primary cats which should add another 25-30HP. The two must work together as one cohesive system, not just two separate mods. The entire system must be looked at as a whole and planned ahead according based on the desired outcome/goal intended upon.

Another reason for getting the X-pipe, is it will be necessary to eliminate unwanted rasp & drone that could potentially arise from high flow primary cats (which are a must because I will melt my primary/secondary hybrid cats in the ML63 under extreme track use). I track the car so these mods have to be both functional and reliabile, while still maintaining the refined AMG character that an AMG should maintain as a street car (especially an SUV).

I do appreciate your input and opinion, but at the end of the day, that's exactly what it is.

 

Hey guys,

added picture of the bypass in the initial post for those that were curious.

 

I've just done this on my 07 ML63... The design of the exhaust doesn't need the X pipe as they are twin pipes through out... I simply replaced the boxes with straight pipe and had new hangers fitted too... Sounds like it should of from the factory.....

 

Thanks for the pic.. Anyone have an video of this?

 

Actually that's exactly why you DO NEED an x-pipe since there is no crossover of any kind. In order to maximize airflow and cancel out pulses you need a crossover pipe of some kind, x-pipe being the best. You will pick up more power on the top and and smoothen out the sound a bit as well

 

Will you have sound or video clips of the car with straight pipes and with an x-pipe?

I plan to do this mod but want to do it all at once with a full 3" system.