Hey guys,



I recently bought a 2014 E63 AMG (M157 5.5L biturbo) and I’m planning to improve the car’s sound and maybe do some light tuning. My main goals are:

– deeper, more aggressive AMG V8 sound (without being obnoxious on daily drives),

– mods that can be reverted to stock if needed (for resale),

– no major issues at dealer servicing (Pappas official Mercedes service in Europe),

– reliability and long-term value.



I was thinking about:

– resonator delete / X-pipe,

– valvetronic exhaust (keeping stock system stored),

– sport downpipes vs. catless downpipes,

– ECU tune (Stage 1) to avoid CEL + maybe pops & bangs.



Questions:

1. From your experience, what exhaust setups give the best balance between “angry V8 sound” and daily usability?
2. Would you recommend high-flow sport cats or full catless downpipes? How’s the risk at inspection / CEL without a tune?
3. If I go catless + tune, will it cause any headaches at official MB servicing (OBD logs, diagnostics)?
4. Any brands/systems you had good experience with (Armytrix, IPE, Remus, custom)?

Appreciate any real-world feedback. I want to do this properly without ruining the car’s value.



Thanks in advance!

 

Congrats on your purchase! Im sure youll love this car!
Just a few weeks ago, i found my beloved E63 aswell. picked up a lovely obsidianblack ´16 Wagon with 63k miles right from a Mercedes Dealership!
As im just as obsessed with the V8 sound this thing makes and i also didnt find it loud enough stock, i didnt hesitate long before ordering a capristo valved exhaust to get more of that amg bark

Ive added some soundfiles for you, maybe the capristo is an option for you aswell
( ) ( )

The clips are all with the valves open, whilst you can hear them close after a few seconds on the coldstart.

With valves open the capristo is an absolute blast!
With valves closed the capristo is definetly way quieter than stock, perfect if you dont want to draw much attention in a crowded area or the sound annoys you on a long drive

The only 2 things i dont find too nice is
1 - the valves only close after about 8-10 seconds upon start as the engine has to be running to start the vacuum pump for the system to work.
For me this meant that i have to directly shift into 1st gear for the coldstart to settle down when leaving early into the morning because that cold start with valves open would definetly make all my neighbours scream!
2- even with valves open you kinda lose a bit of the characteristic `amg tone` if you understand what im trying to say
the car sounds monstrous and i like it way more than stock, whilst it does sound a bit different
I think it sounds way more barky and mean, you just have to listen to the soundfiles it to gather your own opinion - ill be happy to upload more if needed

regarding going catless- from what ive heard your main problem will be itll stink like hell so, as for the dealer and cops they probably wont have a hard time finding out your missing cats (whilst i dont have personal experience regarding catless)

 

tons of this discussed in the sticky - lots of links - good luck on your journey it's a great car

https://mbworld.org/forums/w212-amg/...fixes-diy.html

 

Also because you stated reliability and resale value:

regarding reliability and longgevity I would definitely step Away from tunes of any kind.

tuning your Engine WILL always cause more wear, no matter how you turn and twist it

for resale value i think it depends on the mileage youll Sell the car with:
If its high mile, Like above 100.000 -120.000 miles or beyond I dont think the typical buyer who buys an high mile amg will have too much repair anxiety. Typically they probably wont care about a tune either

If youll Sell it with lets say, reasonable miles like below 80.000 Miles i think a lot of potential buyers will have a huge issue with a tuned car

myself included, i would have Never bought a previously tuned car, and did everything to get my hands on the lowest Miles I could find

just my 0.02 $

 

Thank you very much, I appreciate it!
I can say the same,congrats to you also,great ride,and the sound is so nice, I like it alot.
Many accident-free kilometers to you with it!

I bought mine last year november with like 87k km, now it has somewhere around 92k or something,cant really use it that often at the moment, sadly.
I really like the stock sound also,but like you, I also did not find it "enough" that's why I am looking to do something with it,but I dont want to over do it,or make changes to the car so its unsellable(not planning to sell anytime).

Somewhat I also have to be "silent" sometimes because of the neighbours,so in this regard I would say I am also in the same situation like you.
About losing the characteristic, does it bother you?Or you made peace with it,mainly I would like to strengthen the M157 sound,I think is so unique,and the turbo spool is also nice, so thats why I was thinking about the catless downpipe in the first hand.

Thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts!!
Sure,if you could share some more videos,soundfiles would be nice!

 

Yes, you are right.
What I meant by tunes is,if I choose to go catless,or modify the exhaust, then I guess I should do a retune/optimize for the ECU, so the car runs properly,without issues,and with the new system,other than that I dont really want to modify anything because of said reasons.(Am I correct on the ECU "optimizing" part?)
In this regard I have an other "issue",regarding that I take the car to the retail mercedes dealer,if I do any kind of modifications to the ECU,they will surely see it,and I am not sure what will happen then with the "original" service protocols,measurements,etc.

On the selling topic, at the moment I dont plan to sell it at all,since this was a childhood dream of mine,and since now I could achieve it,obviously I am happy as I can be,but you never know what life throws at you.

About the milage,yeah sure,you are right, now I have it with ~92k kilometers or such,bought at around ~87k, I am the second owner,and the car is in pristine conditions(as it can be with this many kilometers),and I also try,and take care of it as much as I can.

 

Thanks a lot!
Regarding your neighbours a valved exhaust will surely be a good choice. But keep the first 8 seconds in mind, they wont be quiet even with the capristo! (but as i said if you shift into 1st its relatively okay)
I like the valved exhaust because sometimes i just dont want to draw too much attention, ive been to spain last week and i would have felt really uncomfortable always driving this loud.
You just cant ditch the attention it draws, especially when parking in a crowded area or similar

Regarding the characteristics i really like the capristo because i like to enjoy the sound of this beast the entire time im driving.
With the stock muffler i feel like when cruising and only giving little throttle and from 60 miles (100kmh) upwards you hardly hear anything.
Driving through the city and hammering downshifts below said speed stock sounds great, but it really isnt loud enough to enjoy it aside from that

Of course, improving the stock sound with its same characteristics could have been cool aswell, but if you want to stay legal you really dont have a choice.
And keep in mind, the capristo sounds absolutely insane and way barkier than stock! Its just a bit different.
I chose the capristo mainly because of the duality with said valve and because it has a permit for the e63 in germany.
I really didnt want to always worry about cops when driving so aside from the capristo i didnt see many other options

Regarding the catless downpipe, misha charoudin just uploaded a nürnburgring lap driving an e63 s212 with stock mufflers and catless downpipes 2 weeks ago.
There you can hear the sound of this setup perfectly, i personally think the capristo sounds way better. I feel like in misha`s video the setup sounds a bit tinny and not as balanced and deep and barky as the capristo.

Ill record a soundfile when im going home from work, the ones i have on my phone have too much windnoise

 

Keep in mind, i was talking miles, you are talking kilometers. 87/92 km are aprox 54k miles, that is as low mileage as you can get these cars in 2025. i was trying to get the lowest miles i could find and i bought it with 63k miles / 104k km.
E Classes typically werent "weekend cars" , many people drove them as a daily so finding one with below 60k miles / 100k km 9-12 years after production is very hard. That said i think you made a great purchase, especially buying from 1st hand!

Regarding the Catless ECU modification, i unfortunately dont have any experience. I`ve heard the same that this could be necessary, but i would always tend to go with 150-250 cell sportcats, solely for smell and emission tests (if i were ever to touch downpipes)
If the car isnt in any mercedes warranty anymore i don`t think they will care or protocol you going catless at all. Also why would they care? - its your car
As im still in mb80 warranty im a bit limited in said modifications, if i were to ever need the warranty they would surely try to find any reason not to cover the damage (as every insurance does)

Definitely take a look into the oil pump solenoid thread (important) and change oil every 3-5k miles / 5-8k km.
Oilchanges really arent that expensive, even if you dont diy and taking the risk of running old oil really isnt worth it

 

@Jordsen

The Capristo sounds great! But definitely need a valved exhaust to keep the neighbors happy.

FWIW my 2015 E63 is at 45k miles. It splits DD duty with my 911. Plan to keep it a while as no interest in car payments at this time.