Jim Spence
08-29-2008, 05:49 PM
Welcome to my completely unscientific, one man's opinion review of the Borla Catback exhaust.
I'm a 55 year old grandfather, and I've owned my car a little less than two years. I have a 1993 E36 325i with a Conforti chip and an aFe intake. Up until this afternoon I had the original muffler on the car. I'd been considering a catback for a few reasons (increase in performance, nicer sound, one less item to worry about in the future) for a few months, but about three weeks ago a hole finally rusted through my original muffler, so I sped up the process.
I planned on spending between $500 to $800 for a catback; I'm aware that for a bit more I could have had a premium set up, but this was my budget. After a considerable amount of research I decided on a Supersprint. I called TMS, only to find out that they discontinued Supersprint production earlier this year and didn't plan on starting back until late September. So after more research I decided on the Borla.
One million mile guarantee, 304 stainless, twin staggered tips (and shorter than most, which was a plus for me since my car has no M3 lip), and an exact match to my stock system (or so they said). For a few bucks more than $600, I ordered one.
It only took two days to get it.
I inspected the entire package, and while I was initially a bit disappointed in a few of the welds, upon further inspection I could see that the work was done well, and my first trepidation proved to be only oxidation during the welding process. Since I work in the welding industry, I knew that this was only cosmetic, and in a spot that could never be seen once mounted.
I had it installed today, and except for one small area, it was indeed an exact replacement for my stock muffler. The one area were a modification had to be made was at the left hand side of the muffler, when standing behind the car. The muffler wasn't rounded like my stock muffler, and it touched the plastic piece of lip that surrounds the tips; the tips themselves were fine, but the body of the muffler slightly touched the plastic. But, a hack saw blade and ten minutes solved that, and you can't see it unless you crawl up underneath (and I did a good job of smoothing it out, so it looks "stock."
I held my breath as I started it up the first time. I didn't give it any gas at all, merely starting the engine, and I heard a very nice, low growl. I gave it some gas, the growl was more pronounced, but it wasn't loud. Quieter than I thought it would be, in fact.
Driving it on city streets and it definitely sounds "mean," but not overly loud at all.
I took off down a 50 mph four lane and gave it some gas, and heard my first real growl. You can hear the "power" of the engine, more so than ever before; and it's a very nice growl, throaty not ricey at all (thank god).
Then I got on the interstate for my first real "give 'er hell" run. The sound was very, very nice. At hard acceleration the growl became more pronounced, and when I hit 3500 rpms or so it seemed to pick up. I went up to 5500 rpms between shifts, and the car both sounded and reacted like never before.
Now, I haven't really taken it out yet and seen what it's capable of, but in the limited time I've driven it so far today it's pure pleasure.
When I got off the interstate I let my foot off the gas, letting the gear slow it down, and the growl was different. You could hear it "popping" a bit as the engine held the car back. A very nice sound.
All in all, I'm incredibly happy with this system ... it was within my budget, it was (nearly) a perfect fit, and it sounds every bit as good as I could have hoped for.
Unfortunately, I can't compare it to any other system, but I'm very happy with how it sounds.
Now, if you'll excuse me, it's a lovely Friday evening, I'm off for three days, my wife is out of town, and my car and I are going to go on a nice long drive.
Happy motoring, all.
Edit: I spent two hours in the car this evening, in all types of driving, and it just reinforced what I said above. Other than the slight fitment problem, my only other issue with the system is the diameter of the tips; they're wider than the stock tips. Thicker walled too, which is a huge plus. They appear to extend the same length past the lip as the stock tips. I've looked at them a number of times and thought that perhaps I wouldn't like the larger diameter, because the last thing I want is a ricer look - especially at my age.
But, I've quickly grown accustomed to the width of the tips, and it's easy to live with them because of the wall thickness of the pipes.
I'm a 55 year old grandfather, and I've owned my car a little less than two years. I have a 1993 E36 325i with a Conforti chip and an aFe intake. Up until this afternoon I had the original muffler on the car. I'd been considering a catback for a few reasons (increase in performance, nicer sound, one less item to worry about in the future) for a few months, but about three weeks ago a hole finally rusted through my original muffler, so I sped up the process.
I planned on spending between $500 to $800 for a catback; I'm aware that for a bit more I could have had a premium set up, but this was my budget. After a considerable amount of research I decided on a Supersprint. I called TMS, only to find out that they discontinued Supersprint production earlier this year and didn't plan on starting back until late September. So after more research I decided on the Borla.
One million mile guarantee, 304 stainless, twin staggered tips (and shorter than most, which was a plus for me since my car has no M3 lip), and an exact match to my stock system (or so they said). For a few bucks more than $600, I ordered one.
It only took two days to get it.
I inspected the entire package, and while I was initially a bit disappointed in a few of the welds, upon further inspection I could see that the work was done well, and my first trepidation proved to be only oxidation during the welding process. Since I work in the welding industry, I knew that this was only cosmetic, and in a spot that could never be seen once mounted.
I had it installed today, and except for one small area, it was indeed an exact replacement for my stock muffler. The one area were a modification had to be made was at the left hand side of the muffler, when standing behind the car. The muffler wasn't rounded like my stock muffler, and it touched the plastic piece of lip that surrounds the tips; the tips themselves were fine, but the body of the muffler slightly touched the plastic. But, a hack saw blade and ten minutes solved that, and you can't see it unless you crawl up underneath (and I did a good job of smoothing it out, so it looks "stock."
I held my breath as I started it up the first time. I didn't give it any gas at all, merely starting the engine, and I heard a very nice, low growl. I gave it some gas, the growl was more pronounced, but it wasn't loud. Quieter than I thought it would be, in fact.
Driving it on city streets and it definitely sounds "mean," but not overly loud at all.
I took off down a 50 mph four lane and gave it some gas, and heard my first real growl. You can hear the "power" of the engine, more so than ever before; and it's a very nice growl, throaty not ricey at all (thank god).
Then I got on the interstate for my first real "give 'er hell" run. The sound was very, very nice. At hard acceleration the growl became more pronounced, and when I hit 3500 rpms or so it seemed to pick up. I went up to 5500 rpms between shifts, and the car both sounded and reacted like never before.
Now, I haven't really taken it out yet and seen what it's capable of, but in the limited time I've driven it so far today it's pure pleasure.
When I got off the interstate I let my foot off the gas, letting the gear slow it down, and the growl was different. You could hear it "popping" a bit as the engine held the car back. A very nice sound.
All in all, I'm incredibly happy with this system ... it was within my budget, it was (nearly) a perfect fit, and it sounds every bit as good as I could have hoped for.
Unfortunately, I can't compare it to any other system, but I'm very happy with how it sounds.
Now, if you'll excuse me, it's a lovely Friday evening, I'm off for three days, my wife is out of town, and my car and I are going to go on a nice long drive.
Happy motoring, all.
Edit: I spent two hours in the car this evening, in all types of driving, and it just reinforced what I said above. Other than the slight fitment problem, my only other issue with the system is the diameter of the tips; they're wider than the stock tips. Thicker walled too, which is a huge plus. They appear to extend the same length past the lip as the stock tips. I've looked at them a number of times and thought that perhaps I wouldn't like the larger diameter, because the last thing I want is a ricer look - especially at my age.
But, I've quickly grown accustomed to the width of the tips, and it's easy to live with them because of the wall thickness of the pipes.
