Exhaust too quiet!!!

[skinflint]

My 300 ce 24v is just too quiet.

Is there an after market exhaust that would make it sound a bit more fruity?

It is a manual and I think its a non cat model.

I know that part of the merc experience is the refinement. The car is excellent in all other aspects but i do like to hear what's going on.

Any ideas? (sensible ones that is)

 

[wireman]

Drill a hole in it ?

 

[television]

Drill a hole in it ?

easier to slacken of the clamps

 

[Legoman]

supersprint , sebring and a few others do back boxes , or go for a custom built system for the ultimate noise ive been told

 

[MBZ560]

Know what you mean. Merc's are just to refined. About ten years ago I had a 500 SEC and the baffles failed in the rear box. Sounded wonderful. Like a proper American V8. Everytime you touched the throttle a wonderful deep throbbing sound. Unfortunately had to get sorted for the MOT.

 

[wireman]

"Unfortunately had to get sorted for the MOT"

The vehicle must by law be up to the MOT standard at any time that it is on the road.

Just why do you want folks to look at you?

 

[MBZ560]

I was much younger then! Now I like the peace a Merc provides.

 

[Glenn Smith]

"Unfortunately had to get sorted for the MOT"

The vehicle must by law be up to the MOT standard at any time that it is on the road.

Just why do you want folks to look at you?

Not strictly true, it can be able to pass an mot and be unroadworthy, and as a lot of mot items are subject to a mechanics judgement it is difficult to say whether a component is beyond serviceable condition or not, from this perspective you would be hard pushed to fail an exhaust system that was sound on the outside.

 

[MBZ560]

Not strictly true, it can be able to pass an mot and be unroadworthy, and as a lot of mot items are subject to a mechanics judgement it is difficult to say whether a component is beyond serviceable condition or not, from this perspective you would be hard pushed to fail an exhaust system that was sound on the outside.

That's true. I took the SEC to have the back box replaced, as I felt sure it would not pass the MOT. I thought there were regulations on the amount of noise that could be produced. The mechanic said, that despite the baffles failing, the exhaust was not leaking and would therefore pass. This was ten years ago, have the rules changed.

 

[shadowninja]

Companies like Longlife and Powerflow can custom-build one. Where are you based?

 

[whitenemesis]

I thought there was a dB level below which all exhausts must fall?

 

[Legoman]

aye there is , but its pretty high , just listen to some of the 'boyracer' exhausts you get to give you some idea , also alot of mot stations dont check that or have the equipment too and most police wont bother unless its blatantly loud.

 

[joneseythedog]

That's interesting - you're complaining that yours is too quiet, while I am concerned that mine is too noisy. I might just have some super-noisy exhaust parts for sale in the near future....

Andrew

 

[Andy Wr]

Buy an Imprezza instead, power and noise, personally I will stick to the quite of my diesel merc.

 

[skinflint]

Thanks for the input.
To confirm, i'm not looking for something to make dogs bark/babies cry etc but the staright six when it comes onto cam sounds superb. However, my bank balance and driving licence wont allow me to do this as often as i'd like.
Must admit it would be a pain shelling out for a back box and replacing it witha standard exhaust one once a year for the mot.

I suppose i might be missing the alfa sud i had previously that sounded like it wass was doing 100 mph when it was doing 40. Trouble was, any thought of rain and it would come out in a rusty rash, a problem the merc certainly does not have.

I will look at the aftermarket suggestions given but if anyone has done this already, would be interested to hear how they got on.

How about a poll for the best sounding engines in cars you can buy for under £5k? (but not restricted to Mercs)

 

[Glenn Smith]

I thought there was a dB level below which all exhausts must fall?

There certainly is, but it is a complicated test which would be impractical to re-produce, so provided it isn't obviously ridiculously loud it will pass an mot, not sure on cars but bike exhausts had to have a BS number, basicly to say they were road legal, but what was there to stop you stamping your own number on or modifying a road legal system?

 

[Legoman]

How about a poll for the best sounding engines in cars you can buy for under £5k

the v8 in old range rovers wins this one every time , that old lump rover built was my favorite by far

 

[Legoman]

There certainly is, but it is a complicated test which would be impractical to re-produce, so provided it isn't obviously ridiculously loud it will pass an mot, not sure on cars but bike exhausts had to have a BS number, basicly to say they were road legal, but what was there to stop you stamping your own number on or modifying a road legal system?

or doing what i did to my stupidly overmodified 205 gti when i was younger . fitted a full magnex stainless steel exhaust and 4 branch manifold , then promptly removed middle box and replaced with a straight stainless section . combined with twin 40 webers , it was rally car deafening , never again lol

 

[whitenemesis]

Quite a few rally drivers have been pulled up/fined when driving on public roads between stages. The Old Bill have the equipment to use if they want to

 

[frank133]

To be honest if you have welding equipment you can fit quite a number of back boxes,I have in the past,removed the centre box replaced it with the cherry bomb,then put a 3" bore back box on.No problem with the mot the wife was not impressed so had to go back to almost standard,to get the noise you want,just change the back box,some come up on ebay now and again,this car is a 190e and with the big bore exhaust it was faster on acceleration,and not over noisy if driven steady,