alenpepic

What is the rundown for dropping money on DTK, Becker, OBX, or anything besides ARH MHP? I was planning to ceramic coat the LTH too if i bought those knockoffs so would that solve all the potential problems? I also do not want mid length headers, I feel like longtube headers sound way better. And before the haters come on, I'm buying another AMG so i really don't wanna drop crazy money on headers, my E55 is to be used strictly for car shows and for some drifting vids.

carguyshu

the rundown is you usually get what you pay for. On my SL (which has way more limited options vs the E) I went with MBH as I didn't want to deal with cracked welds and have to buy another 2nd set and go through another reinstall. Sometimes the cheap option costs more in the long run.

With any install it is important to make sure the factory exhaust brackets that attach to the tranny are reinstalled. Often these are ditched and this causes a lot of additional stress on the headers and exhaust system and greatly increases the chances of cracked welds on the cheaper option headers.

alenpepic

You think ill get away with a lot of headaches with the ceramic coat, i hear it proves wonders especially with the heat cycles, how was the install?

carguyshu

the ceramic coat will help keep down heat in the engine compartment, but won't really help with the problem of welds breaking. The welds have lots of stress put on them by the exhaust system when the motor moves and torques. That is why it is important to put that mount that is on the tranny back onto the exhaust as it helps relieves some of that stress by making the exhaust move as the motor moves instead of putting all of the stress 100% on the headers. The SL does NOT have this bracket (some such as latemodel21 have retrofitted one to fit on the SL) like the E does, which is another reason I went with the higher quality MBH headers.

Install requires removing all the spark plug wires as you have to access some bolts from above and some from below. You may as well replace the spark plugs at the same time as well as the valve cover gaskets while you have the wires and coils off. Also buy new nuts for the exhaust studs as the factory ones are copper, not very much, and are designed for one time use.

The other thing is if you pick a header that uses a slip connector there is a high likelihood it will leak, which will make annoying sounds as well as could possibly keep on tripping a check engine light. Eurocharged use to sell a longtube that had a slip connector and I think they stopped selling them for this very reason.

oneslow55

As far as that bracket goes that's actually incorrect !!i would leave the bracket off and if you got slip fit with clamps the system wil have some flex in the system vs having it stiff and no movement with that bracket attached .If it's all welded then I would use the bracket maybe and along with flex springs on the back area.

alenpepic

Your the best man thanks I have a real good idea now didn't know about any of this stuff thank you so much

carguyshu

I could not disagree more. The bracket causes the exhaust to move when the motor/tranny moves since the bracket is attached to the tranny and thus the headers have LESS stress on them. If you don't have the bracket then the exhaust does not move, but the headers do move as they are bolted to the heads. This then causes tremendous stress on the headers and causes the welds to crack on them as the headers are moving with the engine, but the rest of the exhaust isn't. You could use flex pipe to connect the headers to the exhaust system to relieve stress, but flex pipe is notorious for collapsing.

oneslow55

Bracket don't move much i had tested it it's more for vibrations effects on the stock system