F10 550i

[texasjohn]

smashy said:

texasjohn dont know how old your car is but A C Schnitzers exhaust can be fitted by BMW dealers and checking youtube that sounds wonderful and no I wouldnt crawl over it to get to my Derv ok only if I was doing my 30k a year then id have to.

Edited by smashy on Thursday 23 April 22:03

I have put an F10 M5 exhaust on the car now. Wasn't quite a bolt on fit to the downpipes and some of the hangars are different. I have had the stock 550i quad-shaped tailpipe retained.

It's a bit too much to be quite honest! I am quite surprised really as of course the same exhaust is MUCH quieter when on the M5. Of course, it is 'tuned' for that particular car and not the 550i, although they share the same basic configuration, i.e. 4.4 twin turbo V8.

See links, just a touch louder than I wanted!!!!!



https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3yZnZNoZeHoRVd4V...


Cold start (hurrying to get away from house before neighbours complain)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3yZnZNoZeHoZm1TT...


Going to see about having the backboxes packed. They are like this as standard:




Grateful for any suggestions as stock was far too quiet, so don't really want to go all the way back to that.

Edited by texasjohn on Saturday 16th May 20:29

[Jobbo]

Blimey, makes you wonder why they use generated sound on the M5!

I would very much like to try the BMW Performance exhaust on my 535i but I'm not willing to stump up all that cash without any idea how it will sound.

[texasjohn]

From what I have read, the 35i responds less extremely (in a good way) to change, and the M5 tailpipes work well on the car.

On the 550i, as I have found out, the full system from downpipes back turns a silent car into a monster.

I think where I went wrong is having the full M5 system. Had I retained the 550i centre resonator and just had the M5 backboxes, I think it would have been perfect.

Worst case, I put the 550i centre back in if the flaps dont make enough difference.

I'm ok with it being a little loud at WOT, but it is also very loud and boomy in normal 'round town' type of driving at present, and drones on the overrun.

Edited by texasjohn on Saturday 16th May 20:54

[Fox-]

[texasjohn]

It's quite a bit better with one tailpipe blocked from my ghetto experimentation with wire wool

Going to get the flaps put in and yes, it is still a little on the loud side.

More videos to come.

[texasjohn]

So, a full post on the little project...

I had the F10 M5 exhaust installed on a 550i (RWD) in the UK. The car is completely whisper silent on the stock exhaust, unlike the E60 which had a nice backtrack of V8 noise (although the E60 was still pretty quiet, you had to listen hard for it).

550i is 2010, and the M5 exhaust system came off of a 2015 car.

All in all it was about 8 hours labour. It is not really a direct bolt on, but probably overall cheaper than an aftermarket full exhaust.

The PNs you need are:

18207845461/3 x 1 of each
18207585358 x 4
18207578229/30 x 1 of each
18207832991 x 2
51618048827 x 1

Where the front of the exhaust system meets the downpipes it is not a true bolt-on. The flanges are a little different:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3yZnZNoZeHoaUpJc...

The workshop I used ran the 550i system back from the downpipes about 24" to the 'bulge' in the pipes (not sure if these contain secondary cats or an absorption muffler) and thereafter it is the M5 system.

Some hangers needed to be relocated and the cross member bracket needs to be replaced to accommodate the x pipe (which replaces the centre resonator you have on the 550i).

I had the 550i tips refitted as I wanted to retain the 550i SE looks. Thus I had custom fabrication of the tailpipes between the backbox (muffler in US) and tips, using some 57mm bosal exhaust tube. First of all I went without the exhaust flaps but it was too loud and droned, particularly under load like uphill on the motorway at 70mph.

See link for the audio of the system without flaps:

Start:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3yZnZNoZeHoZm1T...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3yZnZNoZeHoVEh6M...

I have now had the M5 flaps fitted in the outboard tailpipes and it is much more acceptable. I also had a hanger fitted on the inboard tailpipe, part of which is a large rubber damper to reduce resonance. This hanger/damper wasn't fitted last week as the shop ran out of time.



It is fairly loud on a cold start and also when you 'get on it' over 2500rpm, you can literally tell when the flaps are opening. The power also comes on a little harder as the flaps open (as you might expect).

It isn't whisper quiet below 2500rpm and is probably just about as loud as most 40 year olds would want, certainly near the limit for me. But it has a nice burble and doesn't scare small animals and children. It is louder than a stock E60 550i.

See links for video of low revs with flaps closed:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3yZnZNoZeHodk83...

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3yZnZNoZeHocEQ3...


I am not sure why (probably due to something upstream of the exhaust system, ie manifolds) but the 550i is louder and more 'bassy' with the M5 exhaust than the M5 is. AFAIK, the cc and firing order is the same.

Edited by texasjohn on Sunday 24th May 09:50

[ratty6464]

philmots said:

cerb4.5lee said:

I am a really big fan of models that hardly anyone is interested in buying nowadays so the 550i really fits the bill for me because most go diesel, I have never seen a current 550i or 650i out on the road and if I was the owner of those cars I would revel in the rareness of them.

Great choice OP.

If I could write what I thought, I'd write something like this.

Yep, me too,

It's great to see people in these rare cars with excellent engines.

And being honest, no one drives a diesel for fun. It always comes down to a cost factor. I'm sure we'd all do long journeys in petrol Range Rovers, Bentleys and M5s if money wasn't an issue!

We've got a 120d in the fleet, and I haven't got anything bad to say about it. Especially with the 8 speed auto. Great at what it was designed to do. But I'd never pretend that id rather be in that than the M3. We use it as it's cheap and the mileage doesn't matter as its a company car.

To the people on here that are looking at 550i and 650i etc, good for you, go for it if you can afford it. Just because you won't go over 80mph on a dual carriageway doesn't mean it's not a massively more rewarding drive than a diesel.

[ratty6464]

moffat said:

theboss said:

I think GC's have outsold coupes by a considerable margin, though this may not be true for the small number of petrols out there. I don't think I've ever seen an F13 650i or indeed an M6 on the roads, but loads of 640d.

Edited by theboss on Tuesday 21st April 20:48

Coupe to GranCoupe is currently 50/50 but the Coupe was out 2 years before the GC.

I've got a Coupe and really like it.

I think the 6 series coupes look stunning. Especially in the blue colour - is it San Marino?

[IgnitionMS]

Holy thread resurrection!

Thought I would add to this one instead of starting my own.

Just purchased an approved used 2014 550i from BMW.

Have probably paid over the odds but plan to keep the car for a few years and wouldn't want to own one of these without a decent warranty to see me through.

We were determined to scratch that V8 itch before they are taxed off the roads.

Are there any current F series 550i/650i owners on here still?

Be good to hear your thoughts on these cars.