Let's See How This Goes LMAO

Well guys, I pulled the trigger and bought a set of ebay hears with much contemplation and research. I would like to thank ken (kpeng) for the thread on who to not buy from and what to look for when buying these headers.

I was thinking of getting these decked to make sure the flanges are straight so I won't have issues of blown header gaskets, but I haven't heard of anyone running these having issues. Since I won't have this car for long (i am giving it to my mom upon of purchase of e46 m3 late 2011) I dont want the exhaust really loud. i will be running headers with all stock exhaust, after headers. I saw BlockedOut's video and fell in love with the sound produced with this combo. What do you guys think?

Finally i have watched many videos and read several DIY's on this (I own an auto repair shop so i have a lift) but besides that is there any secrets I should know about before diving into this?

Any feedback is much appreciated, thanks guys

A few tips that come to my head:

-Before raising the engine (after you removed the pass side engine mount) disconnect and completely remove the puller fan. Regardless if you have a manual or auto just take the fan out, as its possible to jack the engine up so much that it'll be leaning towards the rad ad you'll need some extra clearance. Ask me how I know.

-Use OEM gaskets for both connections, headers to head and headers to the exhaust down below. You can reuse the old OEM gaskets or sprint for new ones. I reused my old ones on 3 different cars (2 BMWs and 1 honda) no problems at all. Do not even try to use the gaskets that came with headers, just dont, unless you want exhaust leaks all over the place. Also make sure to remove the "heat shield" from the OEM gasket that goes between the header and head. The gasket is a 2 piece part, rip apart the top piece that acts like a heatshield. It'll make the job of bolting the headers back a whole lot easier.
-MAKE SURE you will be able to fit post cat O2 sensors before you start removing your old ones. Hold teh headers as if they were bolted to your car and check for clearance, then check again. Or you can just bolt the headers to a spare engine that you have laying around and check for clearance, like I did.

Below are a few pictures from my "EBay No Name headers" which I had on my old car, luckily I now have headers that dont need any checking. Thanks to Bimmerbrakes.







Good luck.

Thanks guys much appreciated. I'm going to order OEM's jusssttttt to be sure I won't have any future problems. I never thought of the fan too, I will also invest in those spark plug non foulers, aka o2 sims

02 sims are a good idea. NO CEL!

Originally Posted by Blocked Out

A few tips that come to my head:

-Before raising the engine (after you removed the pass side engine mount) disconnect and completely remove the puller fan. Regardless if you have a manual or auto just take the fan out, as its possible to jack the engine up so much that it'll be leaning towards the rad ad you'll need some extra clearance. Ask me how I know.

-Use OEM gaskets for both connections, headers to head and headers to the exhaust down below. You can reuse the old OEM gaskets or sprint for new ones. I reused my old ones on 3 different cars (2 BMWs and 1 honda) no problems at all. Do not even try to use the gaskets that came with headers, just dont, unless you want exhaust leaks all over the place. Also make sure to remove the "heat shield" from the OEM gasket that goes between the header and head. The gasket is a 2 piece part, rip apart the top piece that acts like a heatshield. It'll make the job of bolting the headers back a whole lot easier.
-MAKE SURE you will be able to fit post cat O2 sensors before you start removing your old ones. Hold teh headers as if they were bolted to your car and check for clearance, then check again. Or you can just bolt the headers to a spare engine that you have laying around and check for clearance, like I did.

Below are a few pictures from my "EBay No Name headers" which I had on my old car, luckily I now have headers that dont need any checking. Thanks to Bimmerbrakes.







Good luck.

so who'd you buy em from?

Originally Posted by Hellishness

Sorry, I dont see the humor in that statement

I bought them from tuningpros. I had them in 5 days, $65 for headers and I believe $40 for shipping, the build quality is excellent also

can't wait to hear these things , blockedout, can you post me a link to that video?? I can't find it

Originally Posted by jeffrey325i

Sorry, I dont see the humor in that statement

I bought them from tuningpros. I had them in 5 days, $65 for headers and I believe $40 for shipping, the build quality is excellent also

can't wait to hear these things , blockedout, can you post me a link to that video?? I can't find it

Let us know if they needed any modification to fit. Good Luck

Originally Posted by jeffrey325i

blockedout, can you post me a link to that video?? I can't find it

+1

i dont wanna go through all those pages..

okay guys no problem, i will hopefully have them on this weekend, if not then the next.

^^^All stock, intake, exhaust, only BimmerBrakes headers.

I should reality update the video since I have a "custom" Amsoil intake, but thats for later.

Blocked_out, any vids under load? sounds good. nice work.

Originally Posted by jeffrey325i

Sorry, I dont see the humor in that statement

I highlighted head...like he said a few tips that come to his head...and he was talking about headers...nevermind.

had to completely modify mine in order to get them to fit. took it to a shop, 7 hours and $500 later and they were on my car...

as a suggestion if you want to sound like an m3 if you put your foot down and sound pretty much stock while cruising and driving normally with the slightest growl to the exhaust possible. remove the 2nd resonator. only thing that sucks is my car smells like a motorcycle...

heres a video of my car with the stock muffler, no cats, and 2nd resonator removed.

Heres my car. Ebay headers and an aFe intake, but it probaby doesnt add much to the sound from the back ateast. I was gonna make a better vid today but it was snowing



My tips:

My headers are from surewinproducts and the sims are from O2simulator.com or something like that btw

Dont even bother instaling the post cat O2 sensors in the headers, just plug those bungs with the included blank plugs and some locktight if you want. The sensors will not clear your transmission tunnel and youll end up taking them out or forcing them anyway. Relocate them to your engine bay. Makes them MUCH easier to wire up with the O2 sims because you can just take them out of the car, wire them up, and throw them back in the drugbin. Here is my little guide to how I did my O2 sims. Very helpful wire guide in the description! Dont even need aftermarket resistors that will fail you.

I know I sound like a gay 12 year old, just dont worry about it.



OEM gaskets all the way.

Be prepared to loosen up the whole exhaust. If you dont loosen the muffler and everything else then the stock exhaust wont reach the headers.

My car is running rich after installing the O2 sims. Before headers it was running rather lean. My indy said it was because the electronics in the O2 sim were weak and the signal they were putting out wasnt dead on. I'm going to do a software tune (shark) and hopefully that will get my air/fuel ratios back in check. Be prepared for your car to smell like a lawn mower and get 16mpg combined.

Its going to be loud, no doubt about it. Not like insane loud, like people dont stare like in my other cars, but its going to be quite a bit louder than stock.

Thats all I got at the moment. If you have any problems then feel free to post up!

Originally Posted by Andy2108

My headers are from surewinproducts

Glad you got the right ones. That idiot sent the wrong ones (at least according to measurements) even after adding a note specifically saying to check and make sure. Can't decide if I should get it extended or just take a loss and buy a set from bimmerbrakes.

Figure out a way to return them or take a $51 loss and try again with them or a different seller. I really dont see much of an advantage to going to bimmerbrakes other than fittament. Either way, the easiest way to wire up the sensors is in the drugbin so it wouldnt even matter.

If we had M3's and we were talking about the difference between Ebay and super sprint steped headers, well thats a whole different thing.

Here are mine:

Originally Posted by Andy2108

Figure out a way to return them or take a $51 loss and try again with them or a different seller. I really dont see much of an advantage to going to bimmerbrakes other than fittament. Either way, the easiest way to wire up the sensors is in the drugbin so it wouldnt even matter.

If we had M3's and we were talking about the difference between Ebay and super sprint steped headers, well thats a whole different thing.

Here are mine:

Probably too late now...return policy looked like I had to pay return ship...so I said screw it. Im sure theres someone who can use them on here ill just sell them.

okay guys thanks. i think all the resonators are staying in, just lookin for a growl and little performance from the cat delete. I will also be doing larger rolled tips, i have an m-techII with carbon diffuser going on so i want a more agressive look, any idea where to get those besides ebay??