The waiting is over as the Eisenmann mufflers arrived yesterday. It took nearly 8 weeks because the items are made on order. Which is understandable in the case of 18 years old car. Big stainless steel boxes are georgeous, but the eye is caught mainly by the 83 mm pipes, which are just huge.

Originally there were two sizes on offer – 76 mm and 83 mm. The original M5 pipes are 64 mm. I really wanted to get the smaller diameter however Eisenmann said they didn’t have those in long-term. Also, their website says that to install 83 mm, the rear bumper/diffusor has to be modified. Which – of course – I prefer not to. After some extensive research on the forums, I found a confirming note, that those 83 mm pipes can be fitted into the bumper without adjusting anything. So I took the risk.

About the pipes… they are really not small :). And I believe they will look great on the car. The only issue I could possibly have is the installation. There has to be at least small gap between the pipes and the bumper, mainly because of the heat generated by the exhaust towards the plastic parts. But again, all discussions stated that anything around 8+ mm should be fine to keep the bumper intact.

Of course I wanted to do the installation by myself. Without a lift, just with a help of tools and some supporting stuff. Many people tried to talk me out of it, especially due to the weight of the original mufflers (circa 40 kg). Next up, I was told that it’d be rather quite difficult doing everything in one person, there was not enough room etc. In the end, I borrowed a jack at least because the OEM exhaust can’t be removed from under the car without lifting it a bit.

Yesterday I went for it, full of energy and commitment. The OEM muffler each is held in place by 6 bolts, plus additional 3 for the rubber profiles and 2 for the clamps. After ten minutes of research and observation, my enthusiasm started to fade out. The bolts were rusty, dirty, plus the imagination of 40 kilos landing on my head. Lack of room. The pipes alignment, exact positioning of the tail pipes into the bumper.. After another 10 minutes I just gave up and agreed to bring the car to a shop tomorrow.

Let’s see then. I hope everything works out just fine without any major complication. Next time, the pictures will be different. I hope :).