I just wanted to let people know about the problems I was having with my Invidia Cat-Back. I was an early adopter of the Invidia system purchasing in Jan '05. Exhaust didn't go on my car till August '05 though and has covered about 10k miles with one Montreal winter. Around March '06 I developed a slight rattle under the car. At first we thought it was the catalyic convertor but once I brought it into the dealer it was diagnosed as the resonator. I called Invidia, but due to me not having the original receipt it was becoming difficult to get it replaced under warranty. Invidia did agree to replace it but it was just taking to long (lack of communication) and the rattle was embarrassingly out of control. I took it to one of my friend's shop (Sebastien) who works on MINIs/BMWs and he decided to cut open the resonator remove whatever was rattling and patch it back up. (pics below).

All the fiberglass inside the resonator was melted and had crumbled. I do track the car so it does get up to full operating temperature but this is supposed to be a performance exhaust. Once this was done we started the car but it was still rattling a bit. Upon further inspection we noticed that some of the weld seams near the mufflers were starting to crack. I was pretty shocked, since when I bought it we were comenting on how nicely made the exhaust was. Sebastien welded all the seams and now it's back to it's old self (big thanks).

I loved the performance and sound of this system and still do but am very disappointed by the build quality. I get so many positive comments where ever I may go but it looks like this system is not perfect. I'm not trying to start anything here just wanted to give fellow NAMers a heads up. Maybe it has something to do with cars that are tracked. Some detailed pics are below for your inspection.

btw, for your reference my engine mods are the following: 15% pulley, Alta CAI, MTH, & Invidia.

Amit

 

That's a lot of shake & heat to do that kind of dammage. How many race miles are on the system? I have the same system but no track time & no problems. My guess is the weld material was too hard and it cracked ( hard rod would do exactly what I see in your pics. It is like glass, case in point, when it craks it spreads. Soft rod tares so you would not see such an even crack ). As far as the glass in the front muffler melting, this is due to too much heat for the density of the type of glass that was used. I would melt the glass in in the Super Trap on my race car all the time because I'de pack ( dense stuff ) it in there really tight for noise regs.
All of the above should be covered by warranty..... I can't see the color of the weld so I can't determine what was used, however on my system it has a high copper content ( looks like bronze ) which is 1 of the softer SS rods ( or wire, which ever you prefer ). This could be a later system & problems were addressed.......

 

I have tracked the car 5 times with this system so I'm pretty shocked to the amount of damage (lapping days, 2-3) hours of track time per day. Thanks for the lesson on welding materials. I never knew there were different types. I certainly hope they have addressed the problem on later systems. I tried to get it replaced under warranty through phone conversations and email to no avail. Great power/sound, but shoddy build quality, contrary to what I thought when I first put the system on the car

 

Your system should not have failed. Maybe if you drove on the sun, on a cobble stone street ( last time I was in Montreal the only cobble stone was in the old city & it wasen't much like the sun ) for 15 -20 hrs the system would fail.
I hope someone else with an Invidia jumps in here... with or without problems

 

lol...the streets in MTL are terrible. I think we probably have the worst in North America. I thought people would be more interested in this post since the Invidia always has the rave reviews. Goes to show you aesthetics does not mean quailty. steevecars60, how long have you had your on? Have you been under recently to check the welds?

Amit

 

Feb 06. No problems. By trade I have been a metal smith for almost 40 years ( my wife calls me an artist ), to my eye the system looks to be a quality piece, nice welds, good material, most of all nice bends. What I see in your pics is very interesting, in a bad way. For our yearly get away I wanted to go to Montreal this fall, if that happens I'll let you know ( I want to see what the welds look like on the mufflers - they should be the same material as the flanges ). If you would, take a file to ajoint on a muffler, take a pic, I'll do the same & post it. Then there would be something to compare with....
I would think others would be interested also.....

 

i have one and haven't had any problems. i live in phoenix though, and we have arguably the best roads in the united states (definitely not the most fun though).

 

Codemunkee, how many miles on it & how long have you had it?

 

I have an Invidia and higly recommend it .O problems,and it has been on and off 3 different Minis from an 03-06 over a period of 2 years and 2 winters in Wasaga beach Ontario, a high snow and salt area.No weld cracks,no corrosion to speak of.I believe your track use may be the problem.I had a Borla with rattling tips when warm, and know other members that have had rattles and resonator problems with milltek.I think alot has to do with r+d and installation of the units.The sound and fit and finish is one of the best Ive seen as well as a competitive price.

 

Someone suggested that the problems are probably caused by me tracking the car. If that's the case then what is the point of a "high-performance" system? If my stock exhaust (on the old MCS) can hold up for 10 track days & three MTL winters I don't see why a $700 system cannot do the same. Looks like I have an early system, I'd be interested to hear from other's who have tracked their cars.

cheers

Amit

 

Me too....

 

is the Invidia no full stainless?? looks like a lot of rust.

 

It is all SS.

 

Just another update....

despite the great work by Seb, the damn thing is starting to rattle again. We are going to take the entire thing off this week and recheck it. What a pain in the butt. No track days since the temporary fix, but we are going out to do some testing this week on some new goodies: re-valved stock shocks and the Poterfield 97 compound pads. I'll let you all know how it holds up...lol. We will also take the measurements to build our own system while it's off the car.

cheers

Amit

 

The cracks might be caused by stress corrosion cracking from chloride ions from road salt. Most grades of stainless steel are very suceptible to this. All it takes is some level of stress, chloride levels >50ppm, and heat > 50 C. It is not hard to imagine this combination in a wintery place like Montreal.

I am planning to get one of these exhausts, but I'll keep it out of the road salt.

 

Inimini, the key is to keep the exhaust somewhat clean. All the SS exhaust systems are "Most grades of stainless steel are very suceptible to this." So when washing the car......
The Invidia is a very nice system. I looked & listened to a bunch before I got this 1. Not loud, no drone & WOT strong. Even my wife likes it.....