Traded in our beloved 2008 Cayenne turbo for this car yesterday. So far, impressed with the power delivery and the plethora of features. The wife really wanted a Quattroporte but of the 6 on the dealer lot only 2 would start and function. The S-class Mercs get completely redone next year and the current ones seemed somewhat boring to drive compared to the new 7's. The last BMW we owned was a trusty 1999 528 sport with manual transmission that we loved. Hopefully this one will be true to the marque.

Decided to do some early work on the F02 today and started with hardwiring the V1 detector. Things went very simply thanks to the writeup by swisstype here. Just for kicks I put the car up on my 2 post lift and checked out the underbelly.



I played around with the exhaust solenoids and they look to be vacuum operated with a spring-closed by default design.



The actuator arms move pretty smoothly so I decided to try to clamp them open:

Clamp - I used a small hose clamp the size of your pinky:



Use a prybar or something similar to wedge the exhaust flap to the "open" position. As it sits open then put the clamp around the actuator arm at the elbow, holding it open. Here are pics of the clamps applied to the arms-

Passenger side:



Driver side:



Done:




Good news - this is cheap and easy to do - maybe 10 minutes, and reversible in 5 minutes.

Bad news - the amount of sound transmission increase is minimal. There is a slightly deeper tone at idle, but really marginal. I want/need more.



The exhaust runs from the manifolds up front back to two small resonator/cats then a merged resonator before hitting the mufflers. This run from just behind the manifolds is clamped in the front and welded all the way back. There are no oxygen sensors involved or visible in the entire section so it should be able to be swapped for straight or X- style middle section and then some mufflers in back.

 

on my z4 i just chopped the rear muffler, welded straight pipe to it. left everything else stock. although leaving the actuator open is easier mod. i wonder if adding a qtp dump up the line a bit would be better.

 

Congratulations, and nice color combo. I can't wait to see more.

 

curious - why did you go for the Li, vs the i ?

 

How does it compare to the Lexus LS460?

 

I have tthat exact same car but 2011 ...(M Pkg but added 21 inch BMW wheels) ....love it but I've always have had BMW for my work cars but typically M5's &3's....got this to tie me over till the new M5 this coming spring...

 

The i model back seats seemed to have no more room than a 5 series, and since the wife wanted more room we got the Li. Honestly it does not drive like a big car. It feels like driving a 5 series-sized car and not like a big S-class Merc. I guess its the same reason I won't buy a pickup with a 5' bed.

 

We never drove the LS460. My wife hates the styling and ergonomics of Lexus cars. We drove the Qport, S65, S550, A8, Panamera. Of the cars I think the Panamera drove the best - like a big 911 - but the worst rear visibility. The 7 felt the tightest of the rest as far as handling

 

She is a beauty. That is awesome you are already doing mods to it. Seems like that runs in all of our blood, we just can't seem to leave anything stock

 

in another 40 years I'll be rigging some sort of boost for my Lark..

 

There fixed it for you Gene.

 

I drove a 550 w/ the new TT4.4 V8 and really liked it. It has that exceptional BMW balance.

Does not have the sound or low end power of my C63, but is exceptional in other aspects.

 

Always the joker Paulie

 

yeah the 4.4l tt is a nice powerplant. The Eurocharged guys at Motorwerks quoted me a 100+hp tune for less than a bill. Essentially Alpina power for the price of a regular car. Gawd I love turbos!

 

Gorgeous car, congrats.