107 SL stainless steel exhaust system

[cowsurgeon]

Hi,
The exhaust on my (1980) w107 350SL has gone again, and a mechanic friend recommended I get a stainless sytem to replace it rather than eurocarparts or Merc's own bits.

Has anyone any experience of this? Can I get an off the shelf system or will it have to be bespoke by someone like powerflow (mentioned on a previous thread in 2005). If so what sort of costs am I looking at? Will it change the value of my SL for the worse? Will it make me sound like a hated saxo driver, and will I have to have the gleaming pipes incongruously sticking out where the ordinary nicely understated ones currently are?

Anyone know?

My thanks for your advice in advance!

Chris

 

[stats007]

An OEM exhaust will last a lot longer than a factor part. You can get a stainless system made by pretty much anyone nowadays - though it will be slightly noisier. Most let you pick the tai pipes if you want to be as inconspicuous as possible. Shouldn't affect resale - and being a V8 it's never going to sound like a Saxo .

 

[cowsurgeon]

You're right! - thanks for your reply

What does OEM stand for (if you'll excuse my ignorance...)

Chris

 

[stats007]

OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer. Bosch for example will make a component to MBs or anyone elses specifications - the part then gets a brand logo and is sold as original equipment. Euro Car Parts or GSF will also sell 'factor' parts that may well be exactly the same but without the branding - though possibly manufactured to lower tolerance or even a close but not exact match.

R107 exhausts branded MB are not the same as factor parts.

 

[shadowninja]

Powerflow did mine. Good price, got a nice subtle twin pipe ie looks standard. Nicer sound. I specified that I wanted something louder but that it didn't annoy the neighbours. They got it spot on. They were very patient with me checking that it was perfectly straight (you sometimes see aftermarket exhausts that are wonky) just like the AMG ones. If you're in Surrey or SW London, I can email you the contact details.

As an aside, it's a strange engine, the 5.5 litre V8. Without any exhaust and just little cats, on idle it sounded a little muffled compared to my old 4 litre Rover V8 on the TVR. Maybe the pipes from the engine down to the cats are quite restrictive? When revved, it had a meaty, raw, crackly V8 sound as expected. Now with just a smallish backbox and no centre section, it still sounds a tad muffled (can barely hear it idling). Sounds meatier when accelerating, though. Not sure why. Was expecting it to be a bit loud with just a single, smallish backbox. Still, seems like a quality job and looks good (in a standard sort of way).

 

[Jay Kilby]

i have a powerflow system and at £400 compared to the £1000 for the Merc bits it was a no brainer. company i used were in Leamington Spa and did a first class job it looks great and sounds great. my next project when funds permit will be new headers as the originals are not good for flow!!

 

[cowsurgeon]

Thanks for the advice, I went to TyreSpot who have the powerflow franchise up here in Newcastle, and they quoted me over £800 + labour + VAT, which I thought was pretty steep. Does this sound right? Apparently it needs two separate pipes running the whole length, a balance pipe midway along, the equivalent of two exhausts (they said).
Anyone know if it can be done for cheaper?

Also, if I were to wimp out due to the cost, what separate bits would I need to replace the whole exhaust system? Eurocarparts don't have the downpipes in stock so it may have to be Merc for those, but they do have left and right balance pipes, the centre box and the rear box, all for 152.79, what else would I need besides the down pipes?

Thanks again!

Chris

P.S. Jay, did you get the powerflow on your SL? If so, how come my quote was over double the cost? - the 500 is similar to my 350 isn't it?

 

[Jay Kilby]

Chris,

i just asked them to quote!! we also did away with the balancer pipe as with the new system the bores are slightly bigger. £800 sound steep to me my system included the labour i am sure it was £400 i will dig out the invoice tonight to confirm it may be a bit more but i know it was not £800!!

it was a good purchace in my opinion as i have a lifetime warrenty with it, so as long as i own the car it it corrodes and fails i do not have to pay again.
i will get the number in leamington for you!!

cheers