I have f55 cooper base with kn air intake and i want a downpipe to have deeper sound. I found milltek downpipe for my car around 450~$ but it requires stage 2 ecu. I dont want to push the 3 cyl that hard nor i couldnt find stage 2 around my area for my car. Can i use the downpipe without stage 2 or if i have to which brand do you guys recommend. I live in Houston. Thanks

 

If I'm not mistaken, the reason that downpipe requires an aftermarket ECU tune is because it removes the catalytic converter. I have the Remus exhaust on my F57 Justa and I love it, but it's only the axle-back version. Might upgrade the mid-pipe at some point to the Remus version, not sure.

 

Where are you located? You can absolutely use a downpipe without a stage 2 tune, but at that point is purely for sound. A tune will actually take full advantage of the modifications you have. Not to mention the pesky CEL.

As far as brands are concerned, I wouldnt get terribly caught up in that. At the end of the day what youre looking for is good build quality. Millitek, Mqbed, Armytrix to name a few. Millitek seems to be a popular go-to option.