bayhas

Hello all,

I posted in SL55 / R230 AMG section without getting significant answers, so I am posting here as the platform is rather similar, and people here are night and day in their activity and helpfulness.

I installed Kleemann headers on SL55 about a month ago, and my feedback on sound is split into two separate areas:

1- Sound at the rear end out of the mufflers: MUSIC, PURE MUSIC, I particularly love the alternating pulses between left and right tail pipes, and the rumble... very good stuff.

2- Sound underneath the car, particularly front portion of the exhaust, roughly in the headers and down to the first H pipe connection. The sound is raspy; my first reaction when I first heard it is to lift the car again and look for leaks, is a hissing high frequency sound, ruining all of the music coming from the back.

No leak is to be found, all factory 8 header gaskets seal fine, all welds are clean, O2 sensors are tight, no leaks anywhere

Standing underneath the car, the hissing gassy sound is actually coming from inside the pipes!!!

Anyone has any feedback on this? Anyone can provide feedback on their installation? Is this a side effect to these headers? has anyone tried wrapping them? does it do anything in noise department?

PieRat

Yeah you have header tick. Its normal. Alot of fords and chevy/holdens down here in new New Zealand have headers that make the same sound. Its a sign that the car has got a nasty v8 thats modded under the hood.

Wrapping it would obviously help some but how would you do that installed? Also it can make it brittle stainless doesnt like heat and the v8 with forced induction generates plenty.. and youll probably still have some tick..they loud i think its coz theyre stainless, which is thin and not good sound dampening compared to mild steel..

C32owner

Also a brand new exhaust can tend to sound a little 'hollow' and raspy... Give it some time, should deepen and sound a little more 'solid' as things build up.

MACEDON

Those headers are super thin and this is normal

Don't be surprised if your oil pump chain is slapping the cover either

bayhas

See i did read about "header tick", and wanted to double check with specific M113K people, because what I gave is more like header fart, but sounds like a normal side effect from what I am gathering

And yeah, I ll probably cause more damage with wrap than good, between labor, and effect of heat... I mean the headers turned purple blue within the first 50 miles, so they are not the coolest running pipes out there, i cant see much good from making them run even hotter.

bayhas

I Honestly thought I noticed that between week1 and now, week4 after install, but I figured maybe its my ear getting used to it... However it does make sense that carbon layer on the inside of tubes will give a small buffer... hopefully that continues a bit more...

bayhas

The sound is clearly pronounced in the pipes, while standing under the car. and sound very gassy. not chain rattle at all.

I do have slight pump whine at cold start, but what I am talking about is different gassy raspy sound.

MACEDON

It's been my experience that they always sound like they're leaking and I drove myself nuts trying to figure out why, turns out they're just thin headers. Look at how thick the stock ones are and it will make sense.

bayhas

Bummer, seems to be the case with everyone. I wish i knew before hand

Wondering if long tubes are the same way

05-E55

I've asked shops to check for leaks multiple times. On occasion some bolt will require tightening, but that seems to be their normal sound.

Sulaco

Kleemann LTH owner here checking in: I have the same issue, drove me crazy for a while. Probably 20k miles after the header install the issue is the same; just something I have to live with.

new55

did you use the flexible mesh connectors or just welded pipe ?

bayhas

Weld.

After talking to Kleemann, Muffler shop, and studying it myself, turned out flex is useless in this particular install, because the force that usually breaks these headers is torsional, not lateral.

Flex pipes are not designed to twist, only to flex laterally.

Kleemann recommended retrofitting a factory tranny bracket (from early E55, SL never got those) to protect the headers against cracking, however, I quickly realize that said bracket will indeed protect the header, but shift all twisting force over to the H pipe, and crack it even faster, because the free moving portion of the system will become even shorter, so I skipped on that too.

Yuille36

So what is your next step?

bayhas

hayseed

iTrader: (2)

I wonder if it would have made a difference or worth it to have had them painted or coated with something like Jet Hot before install ?