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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum
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I polished my stock exhaust today...
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| 08-13-2011, 06:37 PM | #1 |
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I polished my stock exhaust today...
I don't want to sound like a broken record, but if you don't know by now, I come from the 03-04 cobra world. By default, if your cobra is still IRS, you polish your exhaust, or you get made fun of. It's easily the most aggressive part of that car:
1st cobra:  2nd cobra:  I've been bouncing back and forth between what mod I want to do to my 335i first. Indecisiveness compounded with boredom led me to wander into my garage. Lo and behold, I came across all my supplies from the times I polished my exhaust on the cobras! Supplies: - Multiple wet/dry grit sand paper: 120 200 320 600 800 1200 1600 - Mother's Mag & Aluminum polish - Mother's Billet Metal Polish - Drill + Polishing wheels - Steel / brass / metal brushes (for weld joints) - Terry cloths - Gloves I went at it with the 335. Nice part is I didn't have to remove any exhaust components. It didn't take anywhere near as long as I expected. Maybe 4 hours tops. Big reason is because the mufflers are a much softer metal than the exhaust pipes. They clean and polish up real quick. I realize you won't be able to see it all that much on the street, but here are some before and after photos. Nice cheap appearance upgrade.  Before:   After:     |
| 08-13-2011, 06:40 PM | #2 |
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Major General
 
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I definitely wouldn't spend the time on the mufflers myself, but for the tips this is now on the to do list
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| 08-13-2011, 07:38 PM | #4 |
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Freude am fahren
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yeah makes a big difference when those tips are clean!
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| 08-13-2011, 08:21 PM | #6 |
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Certainly makes a difference in looks, eh? My ZHP exhaust was very dirty with caked on road grime when I first got it. Mother's and some fine-grit steel wool completely polished it to brand-new. It's really shiny, and boy does it accent the car nicely.
Keep your exhausts clean, people! A clean car with a dirty exhaust still doesn't look right. |
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| 08-13-2011, 08:22 PM | #7 |
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why? does it add HP? prevent rust? what?
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| 08-13-2011, 09:15 PM | #9 |
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I'd never do that but it does look good!
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| 08-13-2011, 09:25 PM | #11 |
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Its too bad the BMW OEM tips are stainless steel and no chrome, as you can clean em up, especially the carbon build up on the inner rings, but as for the exhaust system/catalytic converters? Not worth it, but kudus to you for being so picky and taking good care of the cars appearance inside, outside and underneath....
Now, have you had wiped, cleaned, polished and coated the engine bay plastic, metal and a hoses? Just checking  |
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| 08-13-2011, 11:30 PM | #13 |
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That's clean man, keeping your pipes clean and groomed always makes them look longer
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| 08-13-2011, 11:31 PM | #14 |
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I was going to make fun of you, then i saw you had polished mufflers
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| 08-13-2011, 11:45 PM | #15 |
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Looks very nice but I'm not sure I could spend 4 hours on making my muffler look clean.
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| 08-14-2011, 06:08 AM | #17 |
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You might as well polish on the aluminum rear suspension pieces as well!
All that looked so good when our cars were new!
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| 08-14-2011, 06:41 AM | #19 | |
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Thanks for all the complements. I'm waiting to follow my wife from behind one night to see how much polishing you can actually see.
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| 08-14-2011, 07:13 AM | #20 | |
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Quote:
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| 08-14-2011, 07:32 AM | #21 |
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Unfortunately you did not polish the parts you can actually see from behind: the lower control arms and the dif. They look awfully corroded on your car. Surprisingly for an FL car.
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| 08-14-2011, 12:42 PM | #22 | |
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Very much worth the trouble, though.
