[5280]

This is my first post to this forum. With that in mind, please excuse me if I missed a previous thread with regards to this topic. I did use the search button and did some digging but couldn't find anything .

A couple weeks ago I received an email from COBB Tuning announcing the release of their new catted downpipes for the N54 engine. They are priced at $850, which seems comparatively priced to others on the market (AR, Ultimate Racing, CP-E.)

[URL="http://www.cobbtuning.com/BMW-N54-Catted-Downpipes-p/5b1202.htm[/URL]





Before anyone drops the "catless is the way to go" argument, I want to be able to revert back to stock software at a moments notice; for warranty reasons of course. I love my 2009 335xi but these cars can be lemons and I am not trying to jeopardize the availability of my DD or incur unnecessary removal/re-installation fees (in the event of warranty work.) If I get catted downpipes, I can revert back to the OEM ecu software without any O2 sensor issues (according to a COBB employee.)

I called COBB last week to get some more details about their catted DP's. I asked multiple questions but some things that he claimed as a result of my questions caught my attention.

The COBB employee said the gains using their Catted DP's compared to Catless will yield the same gains. This contradicts other things that I have read on the internet with regards to catless having much better gains than catted. (Maybe he is referring to their Stage 2/2+ tunes and not others such as JB4, Procede, Vishnu?)

The COBB employee also insisted that running the stock OEM software with their catted DP's will run perfectly fine/without throwing any codes (as mentioned earlier.)

The COBB employee also claimed that their catted DP should be quite resilient and last very long. This also contradicts everything that I have read about the other catted DPs on the market. (Obviously this is going to be an ongoing discussion since they were just pushed to market a couple weeks ago.)

The last statement from the COBB employee really surprised me. I asked if I would pass emissions (Colorado) with the stock ecu flash/airbox using their catted downpipes and he told me that I may not.
(Really?... Isn't that the whole point of the cats, to be emission compliant? I mean, when you are engineering something to reduce emissions, I would assume your are aiming to meet some kind of baseline/target according to the EPA emission standards? Am I missing something here or am I just a complete idiot? He seemed to think this was completely acceptable. If this is true, at this point in my mind, you're just paying $850 for fragile downpipes that are restrictive. I do understand that you have to to give the ecu time to adapt after reverting back to the stock flash to pass emissions.)

Can anyone vouch to the accuracy of this COBB employee's statements? Has anyone bought/installed the COBB N54 Catted Downpipes yet? They look like they are very high quality. I am thinking about pulling the trigger on them but I wanted to get a consensus of a opinion first...

Any feedback/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[EyeGuy]

I don't know about these particular downpipes, but Cobb is a reputable company that makes quality parts. They are very popular among the Subaru community. I think those catted downpipes are to new for user reviews.

[hybridel]

Cobb is a reputable company, but a few things to keep in mind...

- You were talking to a Cobb sales rep, obviously he is trying to sell you on Cobb
- They won't fit an XI
- Catted or Catless, doesn't really matter since regardless of any CEL's that catless pipes will throw, your dealer will know that you have aftermarket downpipes installed.
- The cats generate alot of heat, so be prepared for even more heat soak.

I don't see how a catted pipe can produce the same power as a catless pipe, as they are more restrictive.

As far as I know, only AR and VRSF make downpipes that will fit an XI.

Personally, I went with VRSF as they were literally half the price and have good reviews. I got them ceramic coated locally and they still came in at less then half the cost of AR. I may however kick myself in the ass when it comes time to install, but only time will tell.
/
Edit- Noticed that you're in Denver, which means you're local to AR design. Why not pop over and visit them? you could probably get a great price if you picked them up locally direct from AR
Alpha Motorsports / AR Design
955 Decatur St
Denver, CO 80204

[rosica]

First, I doubt these fit an xi, if they do I am interested also.

If you just run the canned Cobb stage 2 tune on a DD I could believe no-cat vs 3" race cat's might be close on the first dyno pull, but then heat soak sets in. If you want to make max power with custom tunes, meth, etc there is no way catted matches straight pipes.

Fair warning, race cats don't last 100k+miles like OEM, you might get 20-50k at best.

And like the above post said, your dealer will see the DP's even if they're catted, so if your dealers is a hardass it won't matter if you have cats or not.

[5280]

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions thus far.

When I first posted the original thread and grabbed a screen capture of the "applications and features" it said it fit the XI (screenshot included in the original post.) I went to go purchase the DPs last night and it looks like they have a new & updated "applications and features" list . This is pretty disappointing to say the least as I was looking forward to getting DPs from COBB. I suppose the original list must have been posted by mistake/with a couple errors...

It looks like my next best option will be to stop by AR design here in Denver and see what they can do for me. I was unaware that their HQ was located right here in Denver. Although the price of the VRSF downpipes are really attractive especially considering all of the positive reviews out there.

The warranty that I purchased for my car is offered by a 3rd party. I already had my valve cover gasket replaced under this warranty ($1,600.) My mods right now are COBB AP ECU tune, FMIC, BME PE and BMS DCI. At the time of the repair/diagnoses, I removed everything except for the FMIC and BMW PE and they still replaced the valve cover gasket cover. I don't know if the BMW techs were on my side more than they would typically be due to the warranty being a 3rd party (as long as they are getting paid I would assume they are happy.)

Do you think they were aware of the FMIC and just decided not to tell the inspector/appraiser from the warranty company? Or do you think both parties were aware and decided not to make a big deal out of it? I ask this because I would consider getting catless DPs if they had the same mentality about letting some things slide under the radar. However it is my gut instinct that they would make a bigger deal out of DPs than they would an FMIC since its emissions related.

Do you guys think BMW would still work on a car that has catless downpipes or do you think they would make me remove them before they touch the car? (Because with the stock ECU tune I am sure the car would throw codes with catless/not allow them to run the proper diagnostics to make repairs; depending on the component.)

Worse than that, do you think they would tell the warranty company about the DPs or do you think the would leave it up to the inspector to find them?

Thanks again for the feedback/suggestions, I appreciate it.

[rosica]

For a 3rd party warranty I doubt the dealer would care about any mods as long as they get paid by the 3rd party. Some dealers don't care about mods even for OEM warranties, it's all about the individual person your dealing with.

[hybridel]

Originally Posted by rosica

For a 3rd party warranty I doubt the dealer would care about any mods as long as they get paid by the 3rd party. Some dealers don't care about mods even for OEM warranties, it's all about the individual person your dealing with.

This^^^^

Generally speaking a 3rd party extended warranty will still be valid unless they can prove that the part you added had a direct contribution to the failure of the part in question.

But that being said, the only way to stay 100% safe is to leave your car stock.

Seeing as you already have an aftermarket exhaust, intercooler & intake... you may as well get some downpipes to complete the package

[5280]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

I decided to pull the trigger on the VRSF DPs. I can't justify paying double the price for something of very similar quality/fitment. Plus, according the reviews that I can find on the web, they all seem very positive.

I think that my local dealer is cool enough to let the DPs slide, hopefully... Last time I was in there he said "trust me, if it is covered under your aftermarket warranty, we will do whatever we can to replace it."



Stage 2+, here I come!

[hybridel]

Good choice!

Check if there are any decent powder coating shops close to you, probably wouldn't hurt to get them ceramic coated


I got mine done locally for $80