[DrewKo]

Thanks to e90post members scalbert and A418t81 (and Michael, A418t81's brother), I had UR catted DPs installed. I have stock secondary cats and exhaust, along with Procede 1.47.

First impression: Acceleration is quicker--not by very much, but still is quicker than with the stock downpipes. Spool up is a tad bit faster. I don't want to over-exaggerate here, so the words that best come to mind are "slight" and "small." However, you do notice the difference and I would rather have this slight increase.

Also, the sound of the exhaust is slightly louder. Not obtrusively loud, but a decibel or two more pronounced in the drivers seat. The tone is fairly deep and is not raspy. It is better described as a lower tone growl. The tone is a just a little bit higher in pitch than the stock downpipes, but still has good, low-toned growl. These downpipes are least five pounds per pipe lighter in weight as well.

A418t81 performed the golf-tee mod on my 335i, and that mod allows for the good growl sound to begin early in the acceleration process, which i like very much. Now, i do not have to go WOT to hear a very nice exhaust tone.

The only problem thus far is fitment. UR's manufacturing of the catted DP is not foolproof based on the product I received. I am going to have to take the car into a muffler shop to weld/adjust the fitment (close the offset of the DP to the pipe leading from the turbo--see photo attached) or ask UR to send me another set with the manufacturing bug resolved. I have not contacted UR about that issue yet. The catted pipes are basically touching each other as well. There is no room down there, but I also hear no clanking or vibration from the pipes, so that is probably no issue.

Attached is a photo of the fitment problem. Also attached are some in car videos for anyone interested in hearing what the catted DPs sound like in a coupe with otherwise stock exhaust set up.

I will dyno the car soon, but expect about a 6 or 7 whp gain based on what I am feeling in acceleration/turbo spool. I also plan on deleting the secondary cats.

Tx again to scalbert and A418t81 (and Michael, A418t81's brother). They are very knowledgeable and made the install a very good time. Even with the fitment issues, Steve got the job done in about 3 hours and it would have been even quicker had the damn things been true plug and play bolt ons.

[RokX]

Nice, I have a set of the same downpipes and UR exhaust sitting in the garage waiting to be installed. I can't wait until I have the chance to get them in there! I am running PROcede v1.47 as well, waiting for v2 like everyone else.

Hope I won't have the same fitment problems. Did you have any issues with the pipes and PROcede? Any CELs? etc?

[DrewKo]

Originally Posted by RokX

Nice, I have a set of the same downpipes and UR exhaust sitting in the garage waiting to be installed. I can't wait until I have the chance to get them in there! I am running PROcede v1.47 as well, waiting for v2 like everyone else.

Hope I won't have the same fitment problems. Did you have any issues with the pipes and PROcede? Any CELs? etc?

Nope, no CELs. They work very well so far with the Procede. And, the acceleration is there, so it is an improvement. I am looking forward to taking the car back to the track and to the dyno. I know my ET will increase by about .2 sec. I ran a 12.889 without the DPs.

[ArmyBimmerDude]

Wow, they are practically touching each other. I wonder if putting some sort of heat wrap around them will protect from any potential heat issues.

[hov333]

congrats on the install. I'd love some outside revving clips. now that you have these, based on the gains, would you say its worth the $$$ for these? I'm debating it but if every gain (sound,spool up, power) are minimal than I may just go the catless route once people figure out if the secondary cat will be enough to pass smog tests. What things did you consider when you were ordering this?

[Terry335]

I wonder if those pipes not lining up right is hurting flow? I imagine it leaks pretty bad with one bolt missing?

[forza1976]

Originally Posted by Terry335

I wonder if those pipes not lining up right is hurting flow? I imagine it leaks pretty bad with one bolt missing?

my thoughts exactly

[DrewKo]

Originally Posted by ArmyBimmerDude

Wow, they are practically touching each other. I wonder if putting some sort of heat wrap around them will protect from any potential heat issues.

Yeah, I would expect so. These things have a 5 year warranty against cracks though, so may not be too necessary. If they fail because of heat, I'll buy another set from a different mfg.

[DrewKo]

Originally Posted by Terry335

I wonder if those pipes not lining up right is hurting flow? I imagine it leaks pretty bad with one bolt missing?

So far, there is very minimal leaking. I mean, if it is leaking, you cannot hear it. We tested for that at scalbert's pad before taking the car for a test drive.

I believe the leaking (which is inevitable given that missing bolt) in the small amount now at issue probably is not noticeably hurting h/p or throttle, since those are really what are at issue. If the flow is reduced or interrupted, I believe there would be a negative effect on h/p. Currently, however, I cannot tell if the leak or the slightly interrupted flow is having any real effects. I bet over time, if I did not take care of the missing bolt, that the leak would increase.

I guess the worst case is that the missing bolt and misalignment is having some affect on h/p or throttle and that replacing the bolt and firming up the flow will result in greater gains for my car. So, i'm not worried about it.

[DrewKo]

Originally Posted by hov333

congrats on the install. I'd love some outside revving clips. now that you have these, based on the gains, would you say its worth the $$$ for these? I'm debating it but if every gain (sound,spool up, power) are minimal than I may just go the catless route once people figure out if the secondary cat will be enough to pass smog tests. What things did you consider when you were ordering this?

One thing I considered was the experience that WalkedU had trying out catless DPs. He couldn't stand the sound of it with his full cat back exhaust. I heard the vid of the sound, and it was really bad.

However, Terry has catless DPs and reinstalled his stock secondary cats and mufflers (and since his car is an e90, it also has resonators, which I'm uncertain if he reinstalled those, but I believe he did; e92s have no resonators). I have not heard how that sounds, but Terry said it is quiet compared to catless with full cat back exhaust.

I chose the catted DPs based on their ability to reduce the exhaust volume but still provide some gains. The gains are not as significant as catless, but catless are not an option for me if they sound so loud that daily driving in the car becomes unbearable. My car would fail emissions in GA, which requires yearly testing regardless of when you purchased your car, with the catless downpipes. In addition, I can remove the secondary cats, while keeping the stock mufflers, and further increase exhaust flow and increase h/p.

[epiphone3]

any idea if they've made a set of these for the 535i ?

[Terry335]

Originally Posted by DrewKo

However, Terry has catless DPs and reinstalled his stock secondary cats and mufflers (and since his car is an e90, it also has resonators, which I'm uncertain if he reinstalled those, but I believe he did; e92s have no resonators). I have not heard how that sounds, but Terry said it is quiet compared to catless with full cat back exhaust.

+1. I just bought a take off stock setup with cats, resonator, and mufflrs, and threw it on. The car sounds great, very quiet, and still hauls ass. No plans to ever put a catback on this car again.

[DrewKo]

Originally Posted by Terry335

+1. I just bought a take off stock setup with cats, resonator, and mufflrs, and threw it on. The car sounds great, very quiet, and still hauls ass. No plans to ever put a catback on this car again.

Terry, you mind taking some in car video going up the rev spectrum and then driving at about 40, 50, 70 mph?

[Terry335]

Originally Posted by DrewKo

Terry, you mind taking some in car video going up the rev spectrum and then driving at about 40, 50, 70 mph?

I wouldn't mind but video isn't really my thing... maybe next time I get together with one of the local 335i guys? They always seem to have a video camera going.

[doba_s]

hm ... nice review ... too bad it doesn't fit right ... any news from UR yet about this issue ?

[A418t81]

Andrew and Steve, very nice to meet both of you. Next time we will definitely have to do a bit more hanging out while not underneath a vehicle.

Andrew, nice to know who I've been bitching with Heh, all in good fun man...enjoy the DPs and give us a ring when you get some more spare time.

[Ultimate Racing]

My guess is that you bolted the downpipes on in the incorrect order. It looks like you completely tightened the downpipe clamps to the turbo before bolting down the rest. This is a no-no when it comes to installing exhaust components. What you need to do is loosely install the first downpipe. Install all bolts and clamp, but do not torque. You will need the first downpipe installed loosely so that you can snake in the second downpipe. Install the second the same way with all bolts and clamp loosely. Tighten everything down last. Follow those steps and they will fit as they should. When installed properly, you'll have no leaks, and no pipes touching. Hope this helps!

[scalbert]

It was fun to meet everyone and not too bad of an install. What was interesting about the alignment issue is that the pipes were about lined up lengthwise; it was only the flange that didn't line up well. In addition, the relocation of the front's turbo's O2 sensor required movement of the harness clips.

As previously stated, I did not find this to be too bad of an install. My hands and arms are relatively undamaged.

If I were to rate it compared to B5 S4 downpipes, The BMW took about 30% of the effort.

[DrewKo]

Well, I went to two professional exhaust shops today. After looking at the downpipes, the first shop said that I should return them and ask for my money back.

Fortunately, the second shop came up with a solution that scalbert (the primary installer) originated independently when we discovered the manufacturing defect. That is, to cut, twist, and reweld a portion of the stock pipe located behind the downpipe toward the rear of the car. That's what we did--a quick cut, reweld, and presto--no more fitment issue.

What was the manufacturing defect? The pipe is not flanged correctly. That means the part of the downpipe that connects to the stock pipe (where they bolt together) is not lined up correctly with the stock exhaust pipe. That is why the downpipe, while lined up well enough with the stock exhaust, still did not fit--the flange was off and thus you could not thread the bolt through it. Also, the downpipes are so close together there is no space to twist either one of them. Instead, you have to twist the exhaust pipe located after the downpipe toward the rear of the car.

Anyhow, it is fixed now and I hope any purchasers of Catted DPs from UR are aware of the situation.


Also, when I emailed UR about the issue, UR offered to review the pipes, but that would require me to remove them and reinstall the stock ones, which would cost more money and time than simply a quick cut, weld, and twist of the stock pipe connecting to the downpipe.

[scalbert]

Originally Posted by DrewKo

Fortunately, the second shop came up with a solution that scalbert (the primary installer) originated independently when we discovered the manufacturing defect. That is, to cut, twist, and reweld a portion of the stock pipe located behind the downpipe toward the rear of the car. That's what we did--a quick cut, reweld, and presto--no more fitment issue.

Glad to see it worked out in the end.

[Ultimate Racing]

While I'm glad you're now running a leak free system, I would still like to think that there is no defect in our manufacturing. I would've loved to have gotten them back in hand to see just what the problem was. Each set of downpipes, from the original prototype to the dozens we've sold have been made on the exact same jig with flange and cat positions fixed. You have been the only one to have a fitment problem. It would be odd to have the flange not mate up to the exhaust piping flange, but for the catalytic converters to be touching as well tells me that something just isn't correct about your install. Either way, I guess we'll never find out now. Just enjoy the power of your new downpipes. We stand behind our product 110% and can assure future customers that this will not be a problem.

Darryl

[scalbert]

Originally Posted by Ultimate Racing

While I'm glad you're now running a leak free system, I would still like to think that there is no defect in our manufacturing. I would've loved to have gotten them back in hand to see just what the problem was. Each set of downpipes, from the original prototype to the dozens we've sold have been made on the exact same jig with flange and cat positions fixed. You have been the only one to have a fitment problem. It would be odd to have the flange not mate up to the exhaust piping flange, but for the catalytic converters to be touching as well tells me that something just isn't correct about your install. Either way, I guess we'll never find out now. Just enjoy the power of your new downpipes. We stand behind our product 110% and can assure future customers that this will not be a problem.

Darryl

Hello Darryl,

Could there have been any early sets that were not made on the current jig? Or, are there any differences between 6MT and 6AT pipes? The reason I ask is that this was not the only fitment issue. When we put on the rear downpipe there was at least a 3/8 inch gap between the factory flange and the new pipes. The longitudinal alignment was fine; there was just the gap between them. When we let the bolts pull them together the exhaust system obviously moved a little so the tips are inbound some.

The next issue was the mid-pipe support bracket mount. The only way to get it close to mounting was to move the pipe around and then the catalytic converter was touching the body and the pipes did not line up. We were able to remedy this issue but the final one required the visit to the shop.

I am sure the majority, if not all others, fit fine. I was just trying to determine what might have been different in this case. We left everything loose until all was mounted and there was no way to move things around differently.