Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkstarZero
Interesting that you had to remove the connecting pipes. I was able to do this without that, though it was tough, especially when you're doing it by yourself. I did raise both pipes into place at the same time, its a lot easier to get them into position that way but its really hard to get to the next step as you end up needing 3 hands.
I'd say the worst part about it were the O2s. I couldn't get them off the stock headers so I disconnected them from the wiring harness and took the headers to a shop which removed them for free. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the wiring back the way it was. So now everything's just bunched up inside the harness 
On a side note for anyone that's curious, the AA headers come with all the bungs. |
Damn,
Those AA hearders are beautiful.
I know what you mean when you say it is tough doing the install on your own. I have done all but one of the modifications to the M on my own. The good thing is that we are learning a lot more about the car than we would if we were paying for installation. We are also saving money and don’t have to worry about some hack not using the right torque specs when putting things back together.
I removed the mid pipe for two reasons:
1. I wanted to have plenty of room to work, and did not want to be pushing and prying on the mid pipe while the car was on jack stands.
2. I knew I was going to have to modify the mid pipe, so I wanted to take it in to get a quote for the work.
I am with you on the O2’s. I had to use my 24” breaker bar to remove mine.
The reason I chose OEM headers and the secondary O2 relocation was because this is the way the cars come factory Euro spec. The secondary O2’s are behind the cats in the mid pipe. I was informed that for tuning and emission purposes, it is better to have the secondary O2’s after the cats because of the way our computers react to the sensor readings. This may have been a load of bull, but I figured I would do the extra work and go with OEM design because it is already proven to work.