She went on a 50 pound diet...

LarThaL wrote

VERY NICE !!!!! I absolutely love it. CF tips not only go well with Space Gray, but they are unique in general. Akra quality and sound is already well known and is one of the top choices out there.

Unfortunately for someone like me, I can't really ever own the evo system as it will not pass emissions testing in my state, even with the CEL delete.

Thank you!! Have you considered the Akrapovic slip-on? I think it is a nice upgrade in sound and looks without having to deal with emissions testing. And with your recent mods it will look terrific!!

img wrote

Very nice !

Thanks!!

jdemetry wrote

looks great, gives me some insperations for my e90 SG M3. I think adding one or two more carbon fibre pieces would look nice to balance it out, maybe BMW mirror caps and/or spoiler!?!?

Either way, congrats!

Carbon fiber FTW!!

Mark10' wrote

Love the tips man!!!!

Thank you!!

Very nice! Enjoy!

50 pounds on this car is like popping a pimple though....

MJM wrote

Love the Akra Evo and with the CF tips on your E90 Space Gray it really looks outstanding!!! CF Tips was the right choice as they not only look great with Space Gray but they are more rarely seen.

Curious, why the added heat shields, are you planning to track your M3?

Thank you!! Yes, I plan to track my car. But even if you are not going to track your car, I would recommend the heat shields. The stock exhaust has built-in heat shield to protect the CV boots. And it is a cheap mod.

McLoven wrote

Nice write up. Enjoy the exhaust!

Thank you sir!! Already enjoying it!!

THE TECH wrote

Excellent choice.

Well, I recieved excellent advice. Thank You!!

docsdoc wrote

Looks great! I'm getting my Akra evo exhaust installed next week (I picked titanium tips, but your CF look real nice). What size heat shields did you get? How is the fitment with the Akra?

Congrats on getting the Akra Evo!! You will absolutely love it!!! The shields I got were the Thermotec Clamp-On 1 Ft. Length, 4" Clamps- Part Number 11604. However the 4" clamps are too large. I had to buy smaller ones (2 1/2 to 3 1/2" if I remember well). Other than that it fits perfectly. You can get the shields WITHOUT the clamps and buy the clamps separately. Here's the thread I got the info from: http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=340814

Jaypod wrote

Very nice! Enjoy!

50 pounds on this car is like popping a pimple though....

LOL!! Yeah I know, but better out than in I say.

nice exhaust.

suprafrank wrote

nice exhaust.

Thanks!!

Amazing choice of exhaust!

CF' tips look perfect against Space Gray!

Would love to hear some feedback from you on the ESS tune/dinan pulley/and Filter, in combination with the Akra Evo. A must?

Thanks!

50lbs!!!??? Really!!!???

Does the stock exhaust really weigh that much?
Did you get the full (cat-back) exhaust or the x-pipe back.???

Sorry I haven't looked into exhaust that much yet, but how can you shave 50lbs just by replacing the exhaust?

Man that's beautiful. I now want the carbon-fiber tips when I order the setup for my black car.

Their site says you can gain 70hp w/ the full exhaust and a tune.. is that legit? Or is that not street legal.

"If the high-flow downpipes are added and tuning, a total of 70 horsepower can be found without other modifications."

dmk08 wrote

Man that's beautiful. I now want the carbon-fiber tips when I order the setup for my black car.

Their site says you can gain 70hp w/ the full exhaust and a tune.. is that legit? Or is that not street legal.

"If the high-flow downpipes are added and tuning, a total of 70 horsepower can be found without other modifications."

You will not get 70hp from a tune and exhaust.

Superfly_M3 wrote

50lbs!!!??? Really!!!???

Does the stock exhaust really weigh that much?
Did you get the full (cat-back) exhaust or the x-pipe back.???

Sorry I haven't looked into exhaust that much yet, but how can you shave 50lbs just by replacing the exhaust?

I replaced the complete exhaust system except for headers (x-pipe + Cat-back/slip-on) with the Akrapovic EVOLUTION exhaust. The manufacturer claims ~53 pounds weight reduction when compared with the stock exhaust. While I did not measure the weight of the exhausts, I did lift/help lift both, and the difference in weight is HUGE. Remember that this exhaust is made out of titanium.

Here's the link to the manufacturer site as reference: http://www.akrapovic.com/en/Automotive/Products/Pages/Product.aspx?BrandId=4a4b6765-d6fd-4458-a6f9-c1e7c1691474&ModelId=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&ModelYearId=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&ProductId=65&ProductFilter=Active&DisplayName=BMW%20ME-BM%2fT%2f1+Evolution+Line+(Titanium)

ExclusivSTS wrote

Amazing choice of exhaust!

CF' tips look perfect against Space Gray!

Would love to hear some feedback from you on the ESS tune/dinan pulley/and Filter, in combination with the Akra Evo. A must?

Thanks!

First of all, thanks for your comments! These mods were done in steps: pulley, filter, tune and finally exhaust + Akra specific tune.

Pulley: It is supposed to "free up" approx 10 hp to the wheel. I cannot say you can feel a HUGE difference, maybe in the higher rpm's and that is possibly mental.

Filter: 3hp maybe?. You will not notice anything other than more induction sound and you know the car is breathing better.

ESS tune (stock exhaust): IIRC, approx 15-20 hp gain. The engine feels smoother. Throttle is more responsive. The car feels like it pulls harder.

Akrapovic Evolution + ESS Akrapovic tune: The car DEFINITELY pulls harder. The sound is amazing. The tune is like the icing on the cake: no codes, smoother operation, and is supposed to add power.

For me, the combination of these mods is perfect. Each add a bit in making the car even better (read: squeeze more power from an already powerful high-revving engine and better sound) than how it comes from the factory. Obviously the main mod is the exhaust, followed by or in conjunction with the tune. All solid products from reputable manufacturers. Hope, this helps.

dmk08 wrote

Man that's beautiful. I now want the carbon-fiber tips when I order the setup for my black car.

Their site says you can gain 70hp w/ the full exhaust and a tune.. is that legit? Or is that not street legal.

"If the high-flow downpipes are added and tuning, a total of 70 horsepower can be found without other modifications."

Thanks for your words! I REALLY like the CF tips A LOT.
Unfortunately you will NOT gain 70hp. Not even with all these mods combined. We are talking about possibly adding between 40-45hp combining all my mods.

The Akrapovic Evolution adds approximately 20hp and the tune between 15-20, but these numbers will not necessarily add up.

Now that I think about it, I should have dynoed the car stock and after each mod. LOL!!

Are the tips finished like a dry carbon piece, or wet? I've seen pics of the carbon tips and they don't appear to be clear coated and shiny, but they were on the F10 M5 and it may have been a more custom akra setup...

kornykidd0 wrote

Are the tips finished like a dry carbon piece, or wet? I've seen pics of the carbon tips and they don't appear to be clear coated and shiny, but they were on the F10 M5 and it may have been a more custom akra setup...

These are shiny...

^^ I have the same setup, but mine are not shiny. Luckily, I prefer them that way.

Yeah, I like the dry, matte finish over the wet finish for the exhaust tips....I assume you can specify then. I doubt the dry finish is a mistake.

kornykidd0 wrote

Yeah, I like the dry, matte finish over the wet finish for the exhaust tips....I assume you can specify then. I doubt the dry finish is a mistake.

CarbonFoot wrote

^^ I have the same setup, but mine are not shiny. Luckily, I prefer them that way.

Well, that's weird. While mine are not "ultra" shiny, they are not matte neither. In my first post in this thread there's a pic of one of the tips showing that they are not matte. Semi-gloss maybe? I did not know there were two types of finish for the CF tips.

Nice! I want it....

CCL16M3 wrote

Nice! I want it....

Thanks!