aussieintexas wrote

What are people typically doing with their stock exhaust? Keep it or just scrap it?

BSfmAZ wrote

Received exhaust last night at 8:30 from UPS. Three days from PA to AZ!, however looks like the package was hanging off the back of the truck! Good for Valvetronics and their great packaging. I was surprised to see the four "carbon" tip in the box. All four are exactly the same, with black paint inside, and a 3" inlet. Well see how I have the install done. I was resigned to keep the stock look, but now I may see if we try the tips, and remove the rear panel trim pieces. Next step, choose a shop, slim picking's here in Tucson. I narrowed it down to a couple, maybe get to it next week.

BSfmAZ wrote

Received exhaust last night at 8:30 from UPS. Three days from PA to AZ!, however looks like the package was hanging off the back of the truck! Good for Valvetronics and their great packaging. I was surprised to see the four "carbon" tip in the box. All four are exactly the same, with black paint inside, and a 3" inlet. Well see how I have the install done. I was resigned to keep the stock look, but now I may see if we try the tips, and remove the rear panel trim pieces. Next step, choose a shop, slim picking's here in Tucson. I narrowed it down to a couple, maybe get to it next week.

Csaint422 wrote

Ya my box looked like that as well. I haven't opened it up yet. I want to remove trim as well and use the tips just worried about the fitment issues. I'm getting my transfer case changed out next week (have warranty) so I'll likely have them do the exhaust as well while it's there.

K9-44 wrote

Best of luck to you. I hope you have a better experience than I did. Might I recommend using a really good exhaust/muffler shop…. That way if any mods need to be made to get it looking how you want they have ability to handle it.

I plan on taking my car to an exhaust shop that can fabricate new pipes so the tips can be properly positioned.

K9-44 wrote

Best of luck to you. I hope you have a better experience than I did. Might I recommend using a really good exhaust/muffler shop…. That way if any mods need to be made to get it looking how you want they have ability to handle it.

I plan on taking my car to an exhaust shop that can fabricate new pipes so the tips can be properly positioned.

BSfmAZ wrote

Are you thinking about using the dealership? If so, that should be interesting! Let us know how it works.

K9-44 wrote

I wanted to share an update regarding the installation of the exhaust tips. After having a detailed discussion with the installer, we identified a key issue that I believe will be helpful for anyone planning to install these tips.

It turns out that the pipes leading to the outside tips are too short. If you attempt to install the tips directly onto these pipes, the tips won't extend past the bumper, which is less than ideal. To address this, my installer decided to purchase a short extension. However, this extension turned out to be too long and interfered with the exhaust tip, resulting in seeing the extension inside of the exhaust tip and appearing silver on the outside tips. Also, because the extension must slide over the end of the Valvetronic exhaust and then be clamped down the pipe has to be larger and then necked down to the same size. Because of the larger size before it necks down the tip won’t slide back far enough. This setup prevents the exhaust tip from sliding back to the proper distance, causing it to stick out more than desired.

So, my plan is to take my car to an exhaust shop and have them make a replacement for the last piece of the Valvetronic system that is long enough to atttach the tips at the proper length.

I hope this information proves useful for those of you who are considering installing the exhaust tips. If you have any questions or need further clarification,please ask.

K9-44 wrote

I wanted to share an update regarding the installation of the exhaust tips. After having a detailed discussion with the installer, we identified a key issue that I believe will be helpful for anyone planning to install these tips.

It turns out that the pipes leading to the outside tips are too short. If you attempt to install the tips directly onto these pipes, the tips won't extend past the bumper, which is less than ideal. To address this, my installer decided to purchase a short extension. However, this extension turned out to be too long and interfered with the exhaust tip, resulting in seeing the extension inside of the exhaust tip and appearing silver on the outside tips. Also, because the extension must slide over the end of the Valvetronic exhaust and then be clamped down the pipe has to be larger and then necked down to the same size. Because of the larger size before it necks down the tip won’t slide back far enough. This setup prevents the exhaust tip from sliding back to the proper distance, causing it to stick out more than desired.

So, my plan is to take my car to an exhaust shop and have them make a replacement for the last piece of the Valvetronic system that is long enough to atttach the tips at the proper length.

I hope this information proves useful for those of you who are considering installing the exhaust tips. If you have any questions or need further clarification,please ask.

K9-44 wrote

I wanted to share an update regarding the installation of the exhaust tips. After having a detailed discussion with the installer, we identified a key issue that I believe will be helpful for anyone planning to install these tips.

It turns out that the pipes leading to the outside tips are too short. If you attempt to install the tips directly onto these pipes, the tips won't extend past the bumper, which is less than ideal. To address this, my installer decided to purchase a short extension. However, this extension turned out to be too long and interfered with the exhaust tip, resulting in seeing the extension inside of the exhaust tip and appearing silver on the outside tips. Also, because the extension must slide over the end of the Valvetronic exhaust and then be clamped down the pipe has to be larger and then necked down to the same size. Because of the larger size before it necks down the tip won’t slide back far enough. This setup prevents the exhaust tip from sliding back to the proper distance, causing it to stick out more than desired.

So, my plan is to take my car to an exhaust shop and have them make a replacement for the last piece of the Valvetronic system that is long enough to atttach the tips at the proper length.

I hope this information proves useful for those of you who are considering installing the exhaust tips. If you have any questions or need further clarification,please ask.

Csaint422 wrote

Let us know the approx. cost for getting those two pipes made. Or if it comes out good and he wants to make a bunch for us on the forum and ship them lol

K9-44 wrote

I'll do that. I will update once I get it done.

BSfmAZ wrote

I have a question on access to the trim pieces in the bumper panel. (2024+X5 m60i)Does anyone know how difficult/or not it is to remove? I looked at it but haven't had a chance to dig into it.
The reason I ask is a quote I received today from a customer exhaust shop. They had some good ideas, such as weld some of the joints vs using the clamps. they would fabricate any pieces to make the tips fit. however they were talking about having to remove the whole bumper to get to the exhaust trim pieces.
. The problem is the quote was $1500, just a tad more than I want to invest in this project.!

Unfortunately I didn't have any input on how to get to the trim, and it appears that effort was a big part of the cost. Any help out there?

K9-44 wrote

I know that my bumper was not removed. I don’t know how it was removed but I thought I saw a YouTube video where one was being removed. I just can’t remember what video it was.

BSfmAZ wrote

Thanks, I looked on Utube and could not find anything just removing the trim. I did find one removing the entire bumper and it looked like a real pain. There appears to be a panel on the lower portion of the bumper that may provide access.

K9-44 wrote

At about the 44 second mark you can see how it’s removed. Looks like the trim on the bumper comes off and allows access for removing the exhaust trim.

You could probably do it yourself to save money if they’re saying that is why the price is so high.

BSfmAZ wrote

Thanks for the help(again), at your suggestion I found one from Kies Motorsport doing a full Dahler exhaust and tune on an X7. Looks pretty simple. They removed two small heatshields, three bolts on the trim piece, snapped off the back panel, and popped out the trim. Probably less than 20-30 min. max. (

).