lseguy

2006 E55, 95k miles. Never tracked/street only. While accelerating, Noticed exhaust leak sound (tick tick tick) at tollbooth the other day. Local shop (friend) diagnosed as crack in drivers side front converter. Said the split was along a seam. Welding not an option to fix, per trusted mechanic. FCP not showing any part option. And what I've found thus far is Magnaflow 24334 at around $700. (ouch). Whats interesting is the passenger side is $250. (Why the big difference?)
Anyways, anyone encountered this before, and if so, what was your fix? Also, my goal: stock sound, ability to continue to pass any/all emissions testing that I may encounter in Northern Virginia/Maryland, and a fix that's under $1k.

Tavs

I think you may need to find another trusted mechanic and a better welder. If the cat is cracked along the seam there is no reason you couldn't just weld it back together.

Or, buy long tubes with no cats. I would tell my wife it is now a safety issue. You dont want exhaust I the cabin.

tw2

I would probably go for mid length headers and install a set of high quality cats.

lseguy

found a local auto restoration/welding expert type guy. Said he can weld it easily. Have an appt with him on Wednesday morning. Told him my situation is identical to whats here: https://mechanics.stackexchange.com/...onverter-crack

lseguy

Tavs

Sweet, Better welder saved the day.

I have a cat I work with that is some sort of welding guru. We had a nut on a engine hoist get some buggered threads. This feller welded a new nut on it and it looked like a machine welded it on. He was all timid talking about a bad weld. When I fire up the buzz box you would think I was using a shotgun loaded with porcupine quills.

tw2

Looks good, pretty much what Tavarish did in the video only with better welds.