Back in June, I damaged my exhaust. I was driving around Montreal and trying to get to a parking lot that I remembered from last year and I bottomed out. I was driving slowly but I didn't want to try to drive back up just in case I ripped something off the front end. I bottomed out the back of the car and, while no mechanical damage was done, I hit my left exhaust tips hard. No pictures, but let's just say that the E60 M5 owners running exhaust with oval tips would've approved...
I've had the Hayward and Scott exhaust for over 3 years now and I love it. It seemed as if I would have to buy an exhaust for the left side, which was money that I didn't want to spend. Then, my DIY ideas started to flow. Can it be fixed? Not really. Stainless steel is a pain in the rear to polish back to mirror especially after a hit like that. What about new tips only? I could not only keep the exhaust and save major money, but I could make it so that I can remove the tips fully for cleaning (no more need to remove the diffuser!). Ahhh that's the ticket!
With help from Timmay, my father, a local exhaust shop (American Racing Headers), and a Saturday afternoon, all came to fruition.
Here's the exhaust with the tips cut off. We cut them offset like that because I had the tips made 2 different sizes to keep that nice offset that I had before (and that many of you know).
Because the exhaust was made in the UK, the tips were from a tube measured in millimeters. No such luck finding them here, so Tim gave me the tip of using his own tips (which are pretty much the same size). American Racing Headers flared them up a bit so that they can slide over the original tips with ease and cut the slots so that they could be tightened. I also got 3" clamps that I modified to fit the 3.25" tips. As you can see below, the fit is good!
Once done, it's time to mount! I didn't want the clamps to be visible from directly behind the car, so they're nicely tucked in at the top and out of sight. Here are some shots from below.
Finally, a shot of the tips up close from above. Yes, that's still carbon on the bumper from back in June
That's it! I know that it's off-the-wall but hey, I saved a few hundred bucks on an exhaust and now I have added convenience. And having the look of a backbox from H&S plus the tips from Tim? Yes, please! Thanks for looking!
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