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Last week we had the shop put Maximizer long-tube headers on our 2003 E55 with 218k miles on it. I had looked at the various options for short and long tube headers. In the end, I went with Maximizer because their system replaced the largest portion of the exhaust and it seemed that they produce the greatest gain power wise. We drive on 2-lane roads regularly and so passing power is one of the biggest desires. Personally I also like low end torque and would like that improved, but higher end power is really the bigger request.
The car had been suffering from an exhaust leak that was getting pretty bad. I'm not sure if it was the manifold itself or one of the gaskets, but it seemed to be a leak that was centered around one cylinder. The motor and transmission mounts were also completely shot so I had it all done at once, which made sense given the amount of overlap in the work for the two jobs.
We're very happy with the headers overall. The car sounds a lot meaner, and the calibrated butt-o-meter shows a significant power improvement. Flooring it in 1st gear, it'll try to break through the traction control which it never did before. My wife reports that passing power on 2-lane roads is noticeably better. The sound is higher pitched, which is common with headers. My wife didn't like the different sound at first but said she's getting used to it, and it does drive better overall.
The fit was completely bolt-on with the exception of the rear O2 sensors, which it's been documented won't plug in with the hole location provided on the headers. You can either extend the wires or leave them unplugged and put a plug in. The shop said that they thought the included clamps weren't very good, and they recommended that I do something different or get the system welded in at some point. What I notice is that when the car is cold, it sounds as though there are some leaks, but they seal up once the system has some heat in it. Basically 2-3 minutes after starting it seems everything seals up.
I can't say for certain whether the low end torque (<2,000 RPM) seems improved, equal or worsened. I haven't driven it enough to see, but it seems like that hasn't made much of a difference there. The higher end (3,500+ RPM) are definitely significantly improved.
So far, we're very happy with it. I need to drive the car some more, but I would go this route again. Now there's a question of whether we do anything with the intercooler and supercharger pulley as well. We need to drive it some more first and make that decision.
If you hearing that sound and think it's a leak then sealing that's not the case,it's the sound of the stainless your hearing when cold then expending after with heat as it gets quiet.Look under and if you find snoot and water dripping then you got a leak.Long tubes are night and day difference as they make 55 whp easy.Your high up on miles and brave on modding a car but if the stock logs where broken I would have done the same.Get a tune as that will really help it overall.!
The car is high on miles, but it mostly has (and mostly does) see highway use, not track use. There are a few aesthetic items that are starting to show their age but for the most part the car looks a lot newer than it is. I got a ticket in the work parking lot last year and the person wrote down the year as a 2017. I don't think it looks that new, but it does get a lot of compliments. The car hasn't been abused, either, and this is the first mod it's received - it's otherwise all stock. Like I said, we have to decide whether we're going to bother with any further upgrades. My initial impression is no but I'll see what I think after driving it some more... if my wife ever lets me drive it again!
American racing headers on top Maximizer headers on the bottom
Originally Posted by iFlyE55
Last week we had the shop put Maximizer long-tube headers on our 2003 E55 with 218k miles on it. I had looked at the various options for short and long tube headers. In the end, I went with Maximizer because their system replaced the largest portion of the exhaust and it seemed that they produce the greatest gain power wise. We drive on 2-lane roads regularly and so passing power is one of the biggest desires. Personally I also like low end torque and would like that improved, but higher end power is really the bigger request.
The car had been suffering from an exhaust leak that was getting pretty bad. I'm not sure if it was the manifold itself or one of the gaskets, but it seemed to be a leak that was centered around one cylinder. The motor and transmission mounts were also completely shot so I had it all done at once, which made sense given the amount of overlap in the work for the two jobs.
We're very happy with the headers overall. The car sounds a lot meaner, and the calibrated butt-o-meter shows a significant power improvement. Flooring it in 1st gear, it'll try to break through the traction control which it never did before. My wife reports that passing power on 2-lane roads is noticeably better. The sound is higher pitched, which is common with headers. My wife didn't like the different sound at first but said she's getting used to it, and it does drive better overall.
The fit was completely bolt-on with the exception of the rear O2 sensors, which it's been documented won't plug in with the hole location provided on the headers. You can either extend the wires or leave them unplugged and put a plug in. The shop said that they thought the included clamps weren't very good, and they recommended that I do something different or get the system welded in at some point. What I notice is that when the car is cold, it sounds as though there are some leaks, but they seal up once the system has some heat in it. Basically 2-3 minutes after starting it seems everything seals up.
I can't say for certain whether the low end torque (<2,000 RPM) seems improved, equal or worsened. I haven't driven it enough to see, but it seems like that hasn't made much of a difference there. The higher end (3,500+ RPM) are definitely significantly improved.
So far, we're very happy with it. I need to drive the car some more, but I would go this route again. Now there's a question of whether we do anything with the intercooler and supercharger pulley as well. We need to drive it some more first and make that decision.
I went with the same long tubes a while back. I love these headers and highly recommend them. I got V bands welded and I use those vs using the small clamps it came with. Here’s my thread about it: https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/686066-e55-eurocharged-mids-vs-maximizer-long-tube-headers.html
Also I was able to make a comparison photo of ARH vs Maximizer (which are clones of ARH).
I have OBX long tubes on mine, which are the same as the Maximizer. They give a legitimate 50 crank hp, as I gained a consistent 4-5 mph in my 1/4-mile traps after install. Plus I think they sound fantastic on throttle blip and WOT. Great bang for the buck.
My main problem with them (and really all long tubes for any car) is the reduced ground clearance you have to deal with. I've scraped them a few times, but even just visually, the way they hang so low is very ugly on a Mercedes imo. I can see how from a good distance away and viewing from the side, it looks like something is broken on the exhaust.
I have OBX long tubes on mine, which are the same as the Maximizer. They give a legitimate 50 crank hp, as I gained a consistent 4-5 mph in my 1/4-mile traps after install. Plus I think they sound fantastic on throttle blip and WOT. Great bang for the buck.
My main problem with them (and really all long tubes for any car) is the reduced ground clearance you have to deal with. I've scraped them a few times, but even just visually, the way they hang so low is very ugly on a Mercedes imo. I can see how from a good distance away and viewing from the side, it looks like something is broken on the exhaust.
I personally haven't noticed the long tubes hanging down noticeably more. However I also had the motor and transmission mounts replaced at the same time, so that would have the exhaust sitting at the correct height as opposed to sagging due to worn mounts. I also haven't been looking too closely to observe whether the headers are hanging down.
The biggest difference (besides power) that my wife and I have noticed is the initial sound they make when you start them up from cold. It's a lot louder then and it sounds almost like there's a leak. After about 2 minutes idling it warms up enough that it gets quiet and at that point it's not a whole lot louder than stock, but it sounds a lot meaner.
Friday I got to drive it a bit more and really enjoy the improvement. The extra power is very noticeable. I'm still considering whether I want to do more changes to the car or not, but it most certainly is not slow.
We offer Maximizer headers on our website. Acctually a few people in this thread have purchased them from us. We also have XSP longtubes with built in flex section.
04-09-2018, 05:06 PM
