Yes, they are the ones listed on eBay. I had them on the car for 2 or 3 years without any issues. They are known to come out of the box with flanges that aren't flat. So they have to be sanded to get them flat enough so not to leak. I opted to have mine ceramic coated as well. When I removed them from the car the coating was flaking off in spots. That of course isn't a defect reflective directly to the quality of the headers. I sold them to a fellow forum member some months ago.

I replaced the TopSpeed headers with a set of Renntech shorty headers. They are pricey, but top quality.

 

Thanks for the info! I have a good friend who is a master machinist, flatness no biggy. The Renntech's are definitely a better design with longer runners...I read earlier they were for an R230? Did you have to change anything drastic?

 

You're welcome. Yea, they were for a R230. As expected, they bolted up to the heads perfectly. The passenger side bolted to the down pipe perfectly as well, but the driver's side down pipe had to be modified slightly to meet up with the header. It was a easy fix for my fabricator.

So I've now bolted up two sets of headers on the E55. If you are going to do the install yourself, be prepared that it can be frustrating, especially on the driver's side.

Have you, or are you planning on removing the resonator? If not, you should consider doing so.

Keep us updated on your progress!

 

Good info to know on the headers!
My car came with the resonator deleted previously, and the smallest Magnaflow dual in/out they make. It wasn't quite the tone I was looking for. It had a nice growl, but was a little farty when fully getting it and engine braking. They did the typical move of replacing the resonator with a stamped X-pipe. I suspect having an X-shape muffler very close by the X-pipe was making for some weird turbulence/flatlulence. Either way, the X-over will do better up by the transmission merge. The shop who did the work did gets a solid B+, but I'm gonna see if I can pull off at least an A- to your A+.

I found a factory original AMG muffler on ebay, and I'm going to delete the secondary cats, put an X-pipe in their place, and just run the factory muffler. I'm working my way forward to eventually replace the primary cats (the shop who replaced one gets a C- in my book), then finally the headers (driver side doesn't look terribly fun to do!). It's a family car, so quiet power is the ultimate goal, but I think I can hit the right tone and bark with this setup. It'll be easy enough to emulate your setup down the road if I'm looking for more. The factory AMG one looks very nice, and being straight through it's not killing any power.

Right now, it's just the 4 cats dumping under the car. The flanges in the middle were so rusted that the bolts welded themselves completely to the flange, so I've been driving it in the interim while waiting for new materials to show up. I figure if I'm cutting one cat off to make a flange repair, I may as well chuck em. These engines certainly have a beautiful natural growl, just needs to be tuned right and toned down so it doesn't blow your ears out and send the older generation into gas fueled acid flashbacks from the 60's. The work on your car looks positively top notch, I tip my hat to your fabricator, he has some serious skills!

 

Wow, sounds amazing. I thought I was set on my exhaust note but now I want headers. I currently have resonator and muffler delete.

 

Figured I'd share the progress I made, since the OP at least seemed interested.
https://mbworld.org/forums/w210-amg/...ml#post7171954

Needless to say, I'm going to work on adding a disconnect at the muffler to swap in a straight pipe quickly for the 'fun' days. It sounded righteous without mufflers, but too loud dumping at the transmission for daily use (plus heat under the middle of the car isn't great). I think exiting the back would make it just right, the OP's tone is PERFECTION. Even with no 2nd cats or resonators, it is so quiet now I can barely hear it.

 

Thanks, sway253. I would encourage you to get a set of headers because they will flow better than the OE manifolds. Honestly, I'm not sure exactly how much they contribute to the overall exhaust note. Probably some, but not a tremendous amount.

Yes v8, I'm interested. Thanks for the link. Your exhaust work looks great. I agree, exiting from the rear will make it more tolerable and make the rumble more melodious.

I replaced my secondary cats with 200 cell cats. According to my fabrication shop, which is a department of an independent German car service business, my secondary cats contribute to the overall quality of my exhaust note. They discouraged me from running without secondaries just because of tonal quality. Having said that, I think you will be happy with your sound once you install your disconnect.

 

Interesting point about the 2nd cats...I drove it for a couple weeks with just the cats and everything gone from the factory flange rearward...it sounded really good but was too loud to drive with my family in it. I fired it up for a minute in the shop after I took the 2nd cats off, and it was a bit louder, but MUCH crisper and raspier. Its too much resonance inside the car though, need to route the pipes out the back.

Thanks for the nice words...you can't see the welds up close though! It's still B+ work...already planning how to redo it in my head.

What state are you in? I'm not sure I want to play the CA smog roulette with headers and changing the cats.

 

I'm in NC, so no worries for me, fortunately. I understand you have to be a lot more careful about exhaust changes, etc. I think you are on the right track. A muffler delete that you can rather easily switch on and off when needed gives you a lot of versatility.

 

music to my ears who ever did that welding is a dmm master . i got electronic valve cutouts right before the muffler .

 

my advice ditch the resonators i did. you will notice a difference on the rpm band . o and your gas mileage

 

Thanks, dritanv! I will pass the compliment on to the fabricator the next time I see him.

Those electronic valve cutouts are the ultimate setup.

 

mine was to laud i reinstalled the muffler . im looking at flowmaster pro series

 

Nice sound..,,

did you delete the muffler only..?

-;ZAYED;-

 

from the o2 sensors everything just piped. this is the true sound of our engines with no filters ..

 

Great..

 

looks perfect keep it up