W203 Exhaust Upgrade

[lemyy]

Hi,

I own a 2003 W203 Mercedes Benz. It's C 270 CDI, 5 cyl, diesel engine. I was only thinking of replacing the stock muffler with an aftermarket one. Magnaflow mufflers caught my eye.

I've seen a great number of videos on YouTube of people who have done this so far. I didn't see it done on a diesel engine though.

Do you think it will be worth the upgrade, did any of you do it, and is there any other muffler brand you'd recommend?

Also, I've noticed many people delete their resonator as well. Is this something to consider?

I'm pretty new to this, so sorry if any of my questions are dumb!

Thanks!

 

[lemyy]

Hi,

I own a 2003 W203 Mercedes Benz. It's C 270 CDI, 5 cyl, diesel engine. I was only thinking of replacing the stock muffler with an aftermarket one. Magnaflow mufflers caught my eye.

I've seen a great number of videos on YouTube of people who have done this so far. I didn't see it done on a diesel engine though.

Do you think it will be worth the upgrade, did any of you do it, and is there any other muffler brand you'd recommend?

Also, I've noticed many people delete their resonator as well. Is this something to consider?

I'm pretty new to this, so sorry if any of my questions are dumb!

Thanks!

 

[bembo449]

I don't think its worth it , I mean what are you going to gain , the 5 pot derv isn't a very characterful engine anyway , I know Audi V6 derv units can be made to sound like a V8 petrol but MB dervs ? I think it would be well known if they could do the same

 

[00slk]

Exactly, Mercedes Diesels will sound like a tractor with different sports mufflers, pity though, otherwise I would be up grading my diesel

 

[V6Matty]

You’ll get a little extra noise on the 612, some like it some don’t but you will notice the extra waste gate chatter,

 

[EmilysDad]

have we all gone States side .... y'all?

I have silencers on my cars

 

[lemyy]

Thanks, everyone for commenting and leaving their input! Much appreciated!

You confirmed exactly what I was thinking and that's why I was having second thoughts on this. While it definitely sounds great on C240 V6 petrol (or even on inline 4 petrol engines), there weren't many diesel engines doing this and now I know why.

I was just thinking of this upgrade because I wanted to make it a bit louder. I don't mind louder sound and if it's deep but a bit louder, that'd be perfect. But of course, I don't want it to sound like a tractor with an upgraded muffler haha

In my opinion, the car sounds really good when I step on the throttle a bit harder when taking off. It's 170 HP so I pay a bit more for insurance and it burns a bit more fuel but other than that, I don't see any other advantage of a bigger engine here. So I thought of this as a way to make it at least sound a bit better. I hope this makes sense lol

Otherwise, I could've gone with the smaller engine as there's no much difference - or am I wrong? It was hard to find such a car in a decent shape locally so I got what I got haha and I'm pretty much learning about cars at this point so I'm happy with it as it is, just wanted to see if this upgrade would help make it sound a bit better.

Here are some videos I found:

-> This is the stock sound

-> I think the muffler is deleted here

-> Another one with no muffler

- Straight piped example

- Downpiped with no catalysts

Everyone says it sounds better in person than on the camera though. What do you guys think of this sound? Does it sound even worse than the stock?

It's so hard to know what the car will sound like haha but my expectations are low and I'm very curious.

V6Matty, is extra wastegate chatter bad for the car? Or will it make the turbo sound a bit better? I've just learned about this.

EmilysDad, haha I did all my research online so I came across the muffler term. In my native language, I think we use the term silencer too, just wasn't sure about the UK.

Thanks everyone!

 

[EmilysDad]

.....

EmilysDad, haha I did all my research online so I came across the muffler term. In my native language, I think we use the term silencer too, just wasn't sure about the UK.

Thanks everyone!

Sorry. As your English is perfect I'd not realised you were not in the UK.

 

[John Laidlaw]

I think the stock 5cyl Diesel sounds quite good actually! Resonator delete on that would be unwise in my opinion , be like a tractor on steroids and the vibrations would rattle your fillings clean out. People will also laugh at you....

 

[V6Matty]

The 5 pot is actually quite a nice sound, I had rear cats removed on my 647 and really liked the sound when on heavy throttle, so if that’s what your looking for then I’d say go ahead.
Regards the wastegate noise, no not really a bad thing but it’s something that can cause failure earlier, that said I did 100k miles with my remap and other work to the exhaust without an issue

 

[lemyy]

No problem EmilysDad. I mean, I am currently in the UK, but I am not a Brit.

John Laidlaw, I see. From what I've learned, the resonator's purpose is to create an echo from the loud noises that come from the engine and prepare it for the muffler. But I am not sure why many people decide to delete it? Is it because the resonator might slightly change the sound?

V6Matty, yes I noticed that many people really appreciate the "unique" sound. I like to hear it, especially when it's idling. Are you able to pass the emission test with removed cats? If I am correct from the engine to the back of the car - it is cats, resonator, and then the muffler? I think that's at least how it is on my W203.

I see I've read about it and that's exactly what I came across. It's because of the extra air that goes through the turbo that wears it a bit faster or something like that. If that's the sound I think it is, I'd like it. How loud does the wastegate noise get if that's possible to tell?

Thanks everyone for getting back to me! I appreciate it.

 

[V6Matty]

Yep passed the MOT’s without an issue when I had the car, unfortunately I’ve not had it for about 5 years so wouldn’t know if it still passes with the tighter restrictions, I wouldn’t do a delete these days but would look at a sport cat with less cells, give the same result but a little better on the environment.
Noise wise, it was pretty difficult to tell, I could certainly hear there was a bit of an increase but never measured it, maybe a couple of decibel increase but that’s a pure guess.

 

[Gazwould]

Muffler delete , cheap and simple .

 

[lemyy]

V6Matty, that's great to hear! Yeah, they're very strict nowadays. I think the company I'm looking into might have aftermarket resonators as well as the cats so I'll definitely consider this.

I see, thanks. Is it an attractive type of noise I was able to hear on YouTube? haha

Gazwould, thanks for the suggestion. Have you ever done it on your car?

 

[Gazwould]

On my other diesel I put a res Jetex half system but it was stock quiet so looked at the non res version and it cancelled out the 15kg double skinned center box with a S shape £40 pipe , perfect .

You can simply delete a back box with appropriate pipe and a tail trim or if you want a stock look perform surgery .

 

[lemyy]

On my other diesel I put a res Jetex half system but it was stock quiet so looked at the non res version and it cancelled out the 15kg double skinned center box with a S shape £40 pipe , perfect .

You can simply delete a back box with appropriate pipe and a tail trim or if you want a stock look perform surgery .

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That's really great, I didn't come across this yet. Thanks for sharing!

So do you prefer deleting the backbox or just replacing the stock one with an aftermarket one?

 

[bembo449]

On my other diesel I put a res Jetex half system but it was stock quiet so looked at the non res version and it cancelled out the 15kg double skinned center box with a S shape £40 pipe , perfect .

You can simply delete a back box with appropriate pipe and a tail trim or if you want a stock look perform surgery .

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A.man after my own heart , if in doubt , get the welder out

 

[Gazwould]

That's really great, I didn't come across this yet. Thanks for sharing!

So do you prefer deleting the backbox or just replacing the stock one with an aftermarket one?

Diesels are quiet compared to petrol , delete..

 

[LostKiwi]

Diesels have a built in silencer - the turbo.
Personally I think it sounds better stock.
It's a diesel Mercedes for (insert deity of choice) sake, not some peaky popping rice burner!

 

[V6Matty]

V6Matty, that's great to hear! Yeah, they're very strict nowadays. I think the company I'm looking into might have aftermarket resonators as well as the cats so I'll definitely consider this.

I see, thanks. Is it an attractive type of noise I was able to hear on YouTube? haha

Gazwould, thanks for the suggestion. Have you ever done it on your car?

I’d say not quite as loud as what you found in YouTube but certainly more than stick, the noise is subjective, I liked mine but not everyone did