Hey guys I'm wanting to do an exhaust on my car. I'm not looking for something for anything loud with bunch of drone. Been seeing some catback systems on eBay. Is there a resonator under the car I could just get rid of to gain a little tone ? Also been looking at a Megan header. Any suggestions would be great.

 

The cheapest exhaust mod for the Cooper S is to "One Ball" it. You have a muffler shop cut off the first muffler, I think it's the one on the driver's side and weld in a pipe to the one remaining. This will give a little more noise with no extra drone and shouldn't cost more than $100.

 

Gotcha. I found a stainless kit on eBay looks pretty well built for the price and comes with two mufflers. I've seen the single Alta system and a manzo system also. I'm thinking the Alta is going to be loud but I could be wrong.

 

Just pulled up some clips of the one ball. Sounds good I think I'll do that . Thanks

 

I knew a guy that had one of the china specials off ebay. He had a muffler shop weld a resonator in and it was one of the best sounding things I have come across. The guy said the welds were not the best but he didn't look under the car too often.

 

Really. I mean the kit looks nicely made from the pictures I can see. Might just try removing my resonator and see how I like that first.

 

I would recommend a one ball before I ever recommended an eBay special exhaust.

Best of the best exhausts:

Milltek

Stratmosphere

Both have resonated and non resonated options, sound the same, make the same power, just the Strat is made with better material, and the Milltek has a lifetime warranty.

As for the Megan header. No... It's loud, it's cheap, and eventually has cat problems.

 

From the stuff I've read about the ebay exhausts..........the fitup on them is horrible. Most guys end up spending a bunch of time with a chop saw and welder to make them fit, or pay a muffler shop a decent chunk of cash to make everything fit. Hangers in the wrong places, mounting flanges not fitting up right, all kinds of fitup issues......

 

Gotcha. I'll probably do the one ball then. Just looking for a little tone, I have access to a lift and welder so that's not a issue at all. I'll go that route

 

That's why i figured I'd mention it cause most eBay buys are to go to be true for the price.

Little fitting isn't a deal breaker but a total mess ends up taking forever to get right.

 

One baller, here. I have 2 '05 R53's, one one balled and one fully stock. Every time I drive the stock R53 I wish I never one balled the other. It's just a little too loud in the cabin for me, but that's just me.

 

I did the one ball mod on the last mini I built because the passenger side resonator was rusted out while the rest of the exhaust was in great shape. It gave a very little noticeable increase in noise. I would not pay someone $100 to do it but it cost me $10 in exhaust parts and 2 hours of my time.

 

I'll definitely do the work myself.

 

It added that much tone ? Does it drone at all

 

I hear it steadily while driving around town. I haven't been on the highway in a while, so I can't really remember how it sounds there. It might not be a big deal to you, but all I know is in my other R53 it's silent inside and in the one ball R53 I hear it.

 

You get what you pay for. That guy liked the sound.

I had a Borla in my C5 Vette and now have the stock muffler in my C6 LS3. I will take the stock muffler on the Vette. With 430 HP, you don't need allot of sound to know you have the horsepower. On the JCW, I wish the stock muffler had a little more sound. The latest JCWs have a great sounding exhaust.

 

I hear ya. I have a coyote mustang also and it took about 3 different exhaust systems to find the MBRP kit which I love.

 

Mine came with a one ball installed but I never liked it. Too loud and definitely droned. I was actually pretty happy when it rusted out forcing me to put new exhaust on.

I went with the ebay stainless steel exhaust. For $225 it was worth the risk. Everything lined up pretty good and I had no problems installing it on my 02. The newer Minis have different hangers so it won't be as easy to install as mine if you have a newer model.

One issue I had was the center hanger bars are just a little too long. Took about 30 seconds to shorten them. One other minor thing was the centet exhaust bracket needed a little clearance so the pipe wouldn't rattle. That just needed a couple hits with the hammer.

It's not perfect, but it's a decent sounding stainless steel exhaust for an amazing price.

Here's a link to a more detailed ebay exhaust install.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ith-video.html

 

I actually like the way that sounds. I watched the videos you posted. Kit I was lookin at was around the same price. Mine is a 2006

 

I agree as the one ball would be better than the cheap Ebay ones.
Everytime we get a car in the shop that has and ebay china one I take pictures of all the issues it has to warn others. If you check my FB page you will find some of them.

Otherwise I'd recommend our WMW Stratmosphere system as it fits right, sounds great, and actually gains torque. So even though the price is more long term it's a much better investment.

 

id stay away from the ebay ones also. go with something decent like a milltek, Dinan has one coming at the end of the month or something along those lines. my 2 cents