…One Less Scene

This ‘93 325is, a finely engineered German sports coupe, had an exhaust leak, so it sounded like a 1982 Buick LeSabre. I tried to fix it in a number of ways before finally buying an entirely new (used) full exhaust system, from an M3.  This post is to simply remind myself of how much this problem has sucked. I patched the muffler, then replaced the muffler, then replaced the exhaust gaskets at the manifold (sucked!), only to realize the mid pipe was broken.  

A couple of things that I learned while installing the new catalytic converters and mid pipes, and the muffler, that I wish I had known before I started:

Soak the bolts at the exhaust manifold to the exhaust pipes with Liquid Wrench or something, and let them sit overnight if you can. 

With the car safely raised up, get under there with your socket wrench and a fifteen mm socket, two extensions, and one of those flexing elbow things. You can easily get to all six nuts.

When it’s loose from the manifold, the front of the exhaust will rest on a sway bar; now you should get a jack under the bulky, unwieldy mid-section to get the weight off of the other exhaust mounts. The thing is about 8 feet long and weighs more than I would have thought. I had to use a jack and several other items to rest and prop up the exhaust so I could maneuver it into the mounts.

The Oxygen sensor will have to be removed, it’s a 22mm spark plug looking thing. They’re supposed to be replaced every so often, but I’m going to wait for that little light to come on in the dash.