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  • 1988RedT2

    Sept. 24, 2010 1:57 p.m. 1988RedT2 Reader

    Since there's so many knowledgeable BMW specialists on this forum, I thought I would post this rather specific question here. My wife's '97 328iC has the factory dual exhaust. While at the bus stop waiting for my kids to come home from school, I got under the hood and listened to the A/C compressor, which seems to make a lot of clicking type noises. Prolly on the way out. That's another story.

    Anyway, on walking to the back of the car, for some reason I put my hand down near the dual outlets from the muffler. I was surprised to find exhaust exiting from only one. I know that there is a diverter valve in the system somewhere. The engine was hot and idling. Does the diverter open after a warm-up period? Or is it RPM/vacuum dependent? Should a fully-warmed engine be using both outlets at idle?

    What is the normal sequence of operation for the exhaust diverter?

  • 1988RedT2

    Sept. 24, 2010 4:03 p.m. 1988RedT2 Reader

    Ah, I see now. Little vacuum actuator at the muffler exit.

    And I see there's something called the "golf tee" mod that circumvents it. I suppose as long as it's working right (and it appears to be, since it's open with the engine off) there's little to be gained by defeating it.

  • SupraWes

    Sept. 24, 2010 5:21 p.m. SupraWes Dork

    Yeah I think its more of a sounds better mod than a performance mod.

  • mad_machine

    Sept. 24, 2010 8:36 p.m. mad_machine SuperDork

    yes, only the m3 actually needed the dual pipes.. the rest got the system that only opened up at WOT

  • Sept. 24, 2010 8:55 p.m. dj06482 Reader

    Actually, it opens around 2500 RPM...

 
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