[wishbone]

Well, I finally took off my stock 328i base exhaust and installed the Active Autowerke's exhaust. If you haven't watched any videos or read the directions on their website the installation does require cutting the original exhaust at about the dimple point where BMW would cut to install an M Performance exhaust (which might be nice as it's likely that I can swap to that easy enough).

Rather than go the wimpy roller cutter tool way I bought a wireless Milwaukee Sawzall with a carbine blade. It didn't disappoint, really made quick work of the exhaust. I did this on 4 jack stands so wasn't looking up on a lift however, after several thoughts of how to cut the exhaust I ended up in a prone position (think army style) to cut down towards the ground.

After that It was pretty smooth undoing the exhaust bracket bolts to drop the OEM exhaust. Solenoid unplugged easily enough and I utilized a jack with some MDF to slowly lower it down (since this was a one man show).

Removing the exhaust hangers was pretty easy with a $15 tool and really sped up how many times I had to put them on and take them off.

Now for those who have installed this exhaust the next part is an absolute blur. The Active Autowerke directions (or lack there of) leave you totally guessing about rehanging the exhaust mounts and which way the supplied hardware goes. This forum was the only place where someone had pictures and orientation. Thank you for those that have done this before as it took my an hour or so to figure it out and find an appropriate thread.

Installing the new exhaust, hardware, and rehanging went fairly quickly once the orientation was correct.

Here are a couple photos of the correct mounting for the exhaust brackets and supplied hardware.

The sound is honestly amazing. I'm so glad I finally went this route despite the poor directions.

Passenger side, utilize the longer supplied bracket and orient it with the hanger nub pointing towards the drivers side and towards the inner portion of the car.





Driver's side, utilize the shorter supplied bracket with the bracket oriented towards the passenger side of the vehicle and towards the inner portion of the car.





Fully installed





Exhaust tips sneaking out a bit



Took me substantially longer than the 1-hour on the website. Maybe if I was a pro

[MaverickCruise]

looks nice

[space_2001]

I got mine down recently too and love the noise after it settled.

[wishbone]

Originally Posted by space_2001

I got mine down recently too and love the noise after it settled.

Yeah, it’s got a nice tone which I’m very pleased with.

Originally Posted by MaverickCruise

looks nice

Thank you!