I do like the stock sound of our cars but wanted a little bit deeper sound, sliver more volume (esp up high) and no drone.
After reading all the threads, I decided to do what chiromikey recommended.
Remove rear resonator (number II in the picture below - courtesy of RedRacer), replaced with H pipe with a 1.5" cross pipe. I know chiromikey also removed the cats but I live in Mass so that's an automatic no-no. In addition, I'm still under warranty so that's a double no-no.

Sound is perfect for me. Just a bit more rumble, a bit deeper, more volume at 3k+ rpms, and zero drone.
For those of you that are exhaust chickens like me, this is a safe one.

 

Great advice! Any chance you can post a video to hear how she sounds ?

 

Happy to try.
Sadly I did not do a "before" one using the same phone so very hard to compare since the difference is pretty subtle. Not sure it will be useful enough without a before / after videos?
Looks like you are in the Boston area - feel free to stop by (send a PM and we can set something up).

 

Did the same thing. A bit more growl at startup and WOT, but not obnoxious at all....
I have a new Pocket Osmo that I can't seem to operate, but I'll try a sound clip..

 

You should so do a video! I have been contemplating doing an H-Pipe setup, but curious to see what your sounds like. I wonder if increasing the size of the cross pipe, would make it deeper.

 

Maybe. Again I know that chiromickey tried some different sizes and 1.5" was where he ended up.

I do not weld myself so for me it would be expensive to replace the center section repeatedly. Esp since the exhaust shop I use are sticklers for making things level, straight, and nicely painted etc. Hence real $$ to remove/replace many times.

But you go for it! And let us know the result.

 

I did that to mine as well but just did a straight pipe no hpipe or xpipe were the resonator was. Zero drone a little louder then before just made it sound perfect to me.

 

Interesting - I though that made the sound "harsher", more like a US truck with straight pipes?
Cool.

 

Here is a vid of it.

 

@karpetcm sounds a ton louder tbh!
@allenjdmb @FastWgn vids pls!

 

from inside the car you would never know it, its slightly louder and most times can barely tell the difference. Outside is a bit of a different story. Here is another me driving by full throttle audio cuts out due to my phone being used to record it is trying to connect to the car. I have a few vids on my channel you'll hear me talk and there is no exhaust sound that you would be able to notice its really that quiet in the car.

 

good to see mine isnt the only one that has a slight hiss at idle. i was thinking it might be a leak or something. sounds great, Karpet. its really is the best bang for the buck that you can get on these cars. i went with straight pipes for the delete as i couldnt find concrete info as to why an X or H-pipe would be beneficial on a turbo'd engine....

 

ya love it sounds really nice, great vid.

 

Exhaust chicken here too, well, there's the wife factor too but that's another story....I went with resonator delete and straight pipe, no X or H. In comfort mode there is really no difference in sound. In S mode I get some pops and burbles, but still relatively tame. In S+ or M things get louder, downshifts are aggressive, but nothing obnoxious. Im wanting just a bit more sound, so I am considering deleting the cats next. I also have the Eurocharged Stage 1 tune, but this shouldn't change the exhaust note. I will try to post 3 different video iterations of changes I made. 1st one is an AMR Stage 1 +burble tune. I didn't like the artificial pops, so I ended up taking that tune off.

 

This video was shot at the shop with resonator delete to straight pipe. Still has the AMR burble tune. Mufflers stock on all of these

 

Cold start. Resonator delete.

 

In this shot I had the Eurocharged Stage 1 tune (which is fun BTW) and resonator delete straight pipe to stock mufflers. No burble tune. I like this sound best, there are still come mild burbles and crackles coming down through 2200 RPM, but not nearly as obnoxious as the burble tune. I know there are plenty of folks who like that sound, and good on you. Its just not my thing, though I am glad I tried it. I think the resonator delete gives it a bit deeper growl while keeping that lovely AMG sound. There is no drone. Will have to decide on the cat delete to X or H pipe. The tunes are super easy as they use the My Genius handheld which hooks up to your OBD2 port and only takes a few minutes to add or delete the tune. I have not put the car on the dyno, so I have no idea of actual numbers.

 

I built an H pipe for mine this weekend. I used a 2" crossover pipe which, after seeing the small diameter of the crossover inside the stock resonator, is probably too large. The sound is like stock with a little more volume. I just did a ~600-mile road trip in the car. No drone. If anything it's too quiet for the amount of time I spent building the damned thing.
I chose an H over straight pipes because I did not want the snap that seems to come with them on these cars. Also, I may replace the mufflers eventually, and it will be nice to have the H to cut the sound down if I go to a straight-through muffler.

 

If you do an H or X pipe, it's only about the sound on the M157. They do nothing for a turbocharged engine. Straight pipes are best for performance on a turbocharged engine. The faster you can get the air out of the way the better the engine will perform.

 

Mine is an M156 car, but I did this mod purely for the sound.

I haven't started chasing more power with this thing yet. Mine needs an LSD more than it needs extra power.

 

M156, you definitely want an x pipe or H pipe to equalize the exhaust pulses. Headers would do you some good too.

 

The pics in my post above are of my car. The H-pipe shown is what I built, installed on my car.

 

I admire your welding skills! I am going for sound only, not performance.
Put an external mic on yesterday for a little test in traffic. This is resonator replaced with straight pipe, Eurocharged Stage 1 tune. Heading to shop today for cat delete H Pipe. Will try to update.
Dropbox share

Sound is crappy on phone, use either desktop or headphones.

 

I wouldn't call it skill but thanks lol. They look OK from a few feet away, and they don't leak.

 

What size piping did you use? 2.5?