Hello all-- knee-jerk purchased an Invidia N1 exhaust for my 06 Cooper S and am wanting to hear some opinions for how loud it is. I currently have the one-ball mod, and I'm not really looking to up the db much higher than this... I live in CA where we have a 95 db law (at idle and at 2500 rpm), and I have close neighbors and I leave for work at 6 am. So... I don't want to rumble my neighbors and position myself for a big ticket. I also don't want to waste the time mounting the exhaust if it's going to be too loud.

I tried watching youtube videos, however it's hard to tell how loud it is from those. Anybody running this setup in CA or in regions with close neighbors/early am commute?

 

I don't know how loud the one-ball mod is but I have the N1 and I can tell you it's a very reasonable volume. It wasn't any louder than my stock exhaust idling around the neighborhood.

Still get some of the pops and burbles through which is nice. It's a fairly deep tone overall. I don't think you'll be annoying the neighbors.

 

I was always under the impression the Invidia was on the louder end of the R53 exhaust spectrum. I always thought it was pretty good sounding.

 

If the car is otherwise fairly stock, the Invidia sounds wonderful and is not over bearing, you will like it.

However, once combined with a header and head/cam...it is very loud, quite obnoxious actually, sounds fine around town but as soon as you are on it...it's just asking for trouble in CA. My GP currently has an Invidia with RMW header/head/cam and its way too loud. Will be getting rid of it for a Milltek in the near future I'm thinking...

 

I'm also in CA...with neighbors in a quiet area. Invidia was the first thing I did when I got my '05 S and I still laugh with joy at all the pops and bangs once it's warmed up.
The car definitely sounds deeper but if you are smooth with the throttle and aren't engine braking hard, it's completely reasonable.

 

To me its not to loud. But ever since i paired it with an rmw shorty header, its crazy loud.

 

I agree I just purchased my 2005 S and it has the N1 exhaust. It’s not bad at all but has a nice sound. Anything louder would get annoying to me. I’m not someone who has a need for a loud exhaust but I do appreciate a nice tone when I’m accelerating hard.