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top speed headers??

5K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  reece146 
#1 ·
so i found of top speed headers on craigslist for $350. Looked up on youtube but everyone had top speed exhaust and (headers) did not specify if headers were from top speed, i currently have a racing dynamics midpipe with some ebay muffler, laugh as you may it came with the car and sounds amazing so im keeping it but my question is does anyone know how the top speed headers might sound, im really trying to avoid the notorious m3 rasp and ive heard headers amplify the rasp... worth spending $350???:hmm::hmm:
 
#3 ·
Your greater concern since you reside in California is: what brand/maker/manufacturer of catalytic converters are you installing after your headers in the Section 1 position of the exhaust in order to pass the bi-annual Smog Testing requirements. The $350 dollars you have set aside will not be enough, unless of course you have a set of cats, but by the content of your post, I'm guessing the issue of passing emissions has not been vetted by you. About cats that will straight away bolt on like the stock Section 1 allowing you to pass emissions testing are Supersprint Cats, Euro/CSL cats, and the Section 1 fabbed by Custom Performance - from CP, you can choose 200 or 400 CPI cats.

As for the matter of rasp, headers will make little difference in the exhaust sound. Eliminating the rasp is done by adding resonators in the Section 1, or buying something like a Supersprint Section 2, which will also do the job.
 
#5 · (Edited)
Emissions testing is different from region to region. California has some of the strictest emissions laws around, for good reason I might add, so what applies to California might not or will likely not be the same in Canada. I know in some Provinces and Cities in Canada, tail pipe emissions testing is not required, but in some more metropolitan areas, testing is required.

For some background info before answering the CSL header emissions question, I'm guessing Canada receive cars that are classified as ROW (Rest of World) cars that are slightly different than cars shipped to the continental United States. All US cars have cats incorporated in the M3's headers, making the Section 1 of the exhaust, the segment immediately after the header+cats, just a straight through pair of pipes, with the exception of a small resonator incorporated into only one pipe out of the pair in the Section 1. ROW cars, like the kind Canada likely receives, would be like the European cars, meaning cat-less headers that are more free flowing, and then the cats are located in the a Section 1, to clean up tail pipe emissions.

The likely answer to your question, I'm guessing Canadian M3s probably have (cat free) headers on them already. As for headers, weight is the only difference between CSL and Euro headers; the pipe diameter is the same. To confirm header type, just take a look at a M3 and the answer should be obvious.
 
#6 ·
ok cool, i had heard the ebay header thing before but im kinda weary of putting ebay stuff on my car lol and i have a racing dynamics 2nd pipe with resonators so ima give the ebay headers a shot and see how they work. and ya not worried about emissions i manage a body shop with all the right equipment so come smog time ill just put the stocks back on
 
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