This is a pretty straight forwad task but i'll type it out to entertain.
Nice thing about our e30's is that most mufflers made for the car are bolt on. Easy stuff? Not entirely but its not so bad either.
Not only do you need the muffler, but its highly suggested that you find the mounting parts or buy the kit from Bavauto.com since our newest model e30 is 12 years old - theres gonna be some rust.
I took off the whole exhaust. Well, i was doing a transmission swap so I killed two yadda yadda stone. It was easy to put the new muffler on but i had to loosen it and re-tighten it while under the car because im a noob.
Here's why. Most important part of the positioning of these two brackets. They must be in this position. First of all, they dont really fit too well any other way. The other being, as you will figure out when taking the muffler loose, is thats the only position that you will get a ratchet with UJ in there to the top bolts.
In this area where the muffler meets the cat-back part of the system, there are two rings, different sizes, but one compresses to universally fit a muffler to the car. Areas should be cleaned off and smooth'd out from, mostlikely, prying out the old rings. When tightenting the bolts and you find that the top one spins because you cant get a wrench in there to hold it, you must loosten the bottom bolt of the bracket, tighten the top one, then tighten the bottom one. (doing the top first with bottom loose eliminates the need to go back to the top to finally tighten down to avoid unwanted bolt rotation.)
Whoop, guess i should have mentioned, that before bolting the muffler up to the exhaust, it might be easier to mount the new top muffler holding straps to the rubber rings first (considering that you bought replacements). I bolted the straps to the muffler first and had a heck of a time getting the rubber rings mounted with the muffler in the way. The other thing about mounting the straps to the muffler, is you need to mount them ~1/2 inch to the front of the car. This, if you cant figure out, is because when metal gets hot, it expands and this position is best for relief of the rubber hangers.
I purchased the Ansa muffler and this one required the extra pipe... for $200, what do you expect.... cheap stuff. You can tell by the missalignment of the mounting bracket.
Lastly, positioning of the muffler in respects to car looks. Some will stick out more than others and something you might consider before buying IF you are that picky. The other thing is that it can end up crooked. If so, loosten the muffler strap bolts and get a hold of the muffler to twist it in the necessary direction (easily done with crobar at input or output pipes) and hit the holding bracket into the opposite direction with a hammer. Then tighten down.
Good luck and cheers!!
Nice thing about our e30's is that most mufflers made for the car are bolt on. Easy stuff? Not entirely but its not so bad either.
Not only do you need the muffler, but its highly suggested that you find the mounting parts or buy the kit from Bavauto.com since our newest model e30 is 12 years old - theres gonna be some rust.
I took off the whole exhaust. Well, i was doing a transmission swap so I killed two yadda yadda stone. It was easy to put the new muffler on but i had to loosen it and re-tighten it while under the car because im a noob.
Here's why. Most important part of the positioning of these two brackets. They must be in this position. First of all, they dont really fit too well any other way. The other being, as you will figure out when taking the muffler loose, is thats the only position that you will get a ratchet with UJ in there to the top bolts.
In this area where the muffler meets the cat-back part of the system, there are two rings, different sizes, but one compresses to universally fit a muffler to the car. Areas should be cleaned off and smooth'd out from, mostlikely, prying out the old rings. When tightenting the bolts and you find that the top one spins because you cant get a wrench in there to hold it, you must loosten the bottom bolt of the bracket, tighten the top one, then tighten the bottom one. (doing the top first with bottom loose eliminates the need to go back to the top to finally tighten down to avoid unwanted bolt rotation.)
Whoop, guess i should have mentioned, that before bolting the muffler up to the exhaust, it might be easier to mount the new top muffler holding straps to the rubber rings first (considering that you bought replacements). I bolted the straps to the muffler first and had a heck of a time getting the rubber rings mounted with the muffler in the way. The other thing about mounting the straps to the muffler, is you need to mount them ~1/2 inch to the front of the car. This, if you cant figure out, is because when metal gets hot, it expands and this position is best for relief of the rubber hangers.
I purchased the Ansa muffler and this one required the extra pipe... for $200, what do you expect.... cheap stuff. You can tell by the missalignment of the mounting bracket.
Lastly, positioning of the muffler in respects to car looks. Some will stick out more than others and something you might consider before buying IF you are that picky. The other thing is that it can end up crooked. If so, loosten the muffler strap bolts and get a hold of the muffler to twist it in the necessary direction (easily done with crobar at input or output pipes) and hit the holding bracket into the opposite direction with a hammer. Then tighten down.
Good luck and cheers!!
![[:)]](/images/smilies/smile.png "Smile [:)]")
I took my exhaust twice in the last few months.