DIY RPI Exhaust Using Jack Stands

[crfine88]

DIY Intro:
50 Photos / 17steps / Post #1 Part I / Post #2 Part II / Post #3 Part III
Since I have removed and installed the axle back exhaust about a dozen times, I figured it was time to do a DIY. This is photo heavy step by step DIY including some good tips. The DIY only includes instruction for the passenger side. The steps are exactly the same for the driver’s side. You may also notice that the RPI's are already on the car while it is being jacked up. For the purpose of the
DIY, I put the passenger side OEM muffler back on after the car was off the ground.



Hand Tools Used:
01. 3/8 ratchet
02. 3/8 13mm deep
03. 3/8 12mm shallow
04. 3/8 8mm deep
05. 3/8 8mm shallow
06. 3/8 2" extension
07. 3/8 4" extension
08. 1/4 ratchet
09. 1/4 13mm shallow
10. 1/4 8mm shallow
11. 1/4 3" extension
12. 13mm ratcheting combo wrench
13. Cordless 90 degree driver with 3/8 male adaptor
14. Graduated caliper




Support Tools Used
1. 6 jack stands
2. 3 wheel chocks (4 would be better)
3. 4 wood blocks
4. Shop blanket (creature comfort )
5. Low profile 3.5 ton jack





Reference Material:
From realoem.com


From 2007 BMW TIS







Step 1
Secure front wheels








Step 2
Locate jack point #4 from the BMW TIS ( be careful around the rear diff )








Step 3
Jacking up the rear of the car. Go through the next three photos and read the tips before you do this step.

lining up the jack

jacked up with good alignment and not touching the rear diff cover

Watch the front









Step 4

Jack stand/wood block placement. (review the next two photos/tips)

Tip








Step 5
Locate the front jack point (BMW TIS #1)








Step 6
Review the next three photos related to jacking up the front of the car









Step 7
Front jack stand/wood block placement







Step 8
Remove the rear diffuser. There are 8-8mm fasteners and 2-12mm caps

[crfine88]

Step 9
Mounting Location A Remove 13mm hardware and gasket ring. Once you do this the muffler will pivot up and down; the pivot points being mounting locations B & C








Step 10
Mounting Location C Remove 13mm bolt. Once this bolt is removed, you will want to support the weight of the muffler as will only be hanging by mounting location B.







Step 11
Mounting Location B Remove 13mm bolt. Read tip in second photo. Once this bolt is removed the muffler is no longer attached to the car.










Step 12
Retain all OEM hardware for installation of the RPI exhaust except for the Mounting Location B 13mm bolt. A new shorter 13mm bolt is supplied by RPI

[crfine88]

Step 13
Attach RPI muffler @ Mounting Locations B&C hand tight.








Step 14
Attach RPI muffler @ Mounting Location A hand tight.











Step 15
Fine adjustment for gap between muffler tips and rear bumper cover. This takes place while tightening the 13mm hardware @ mounting location A. There can be a lot of back and forth here until you get your desired gap.











Step 16
Tighten 13mm bolts at Mounting Locations B&C










Step 17
Fine adjustment for exhaust tip protrusion

[r4gs]

^chris, thanks for the superb pictorial writeup! i opted to go the lift route (a lot faster and convenient) and have since re-adjusted my exhaust tips since my initial install. what really helps is ur very last tip on exhaust tip protrusion. my left tips stick out ever so slightly more than my right ones, so i'm going to readjust the 8mm nuts just immediately below the rear bumper cover to fix this. however, i do notice my tips still stick out quite a fair bit more than urs do? it's protruding about 0.5 inches now.

this whole perfect placement thing is seriously a work of extensive patience and meticulous detail. i've opted to go visually with my alignment since i don't have access to a digital micrometer, but i'd say it's about perfect for my very particular human eye now.

[tom @ eas]

Great DIY, even more awesome Z4M.

[anthony @ eas]

Wow, it looks like it took a lot of time to put this DIY together. Nice work

[mousitch]

Awesome thread right here! Could of used this the first time I did a swap. After six or seven I'm an old pro. Had no idea about the moving rear cover though. Sweet!

[tekmoe]

Very awesome of you to do this writeup. The fact that you took the time to explain how to jack the car up properly is golden. This will be very useful when I change out my diff and tranny fluids.

Thanks again!

[BlackMoupe]

[mpower03]

well written diy!

[RBull]

Great write up. Thanks for taking the time.

[esqu1re]

Didn't know about the 3/8" play in the bumper. Will need to see if I can get my exhaust protrusion to look right with your tip. Thanks!

[Eccentric]

Chris, I really appreciate you doing this for me. Thanks dude

[johanness]

Mad props for taking the time for this DIY

[Finnegan]

Originally Posted by tekmoe

Very awesome of you to do this writeup. The fact that you took the time to explain how to jack the car up properly is golden. This will be very useful when I change out my diff and tranny fluids.

Thanks again!

What a wonderful DIY with lots of great tips! I couldn't agree more on the jacking tips!

[a_riddler]

Bookmarked! Very well done, very high caliber effort!

[l4zy]

WOW awesome DIY! I didn't remove the diffuser for my install though. Probably would have been a lot easier on me if I did =P

[crfine88]

Originally Posted by r4gs

^chris, thanks for the superb pictorial writeup! i opted to go the lift route (a lot faster and convenient) and have since re-adjusted my exhaust tips since my initial install. what really helps is ur very last tip on exhaust tip protrusion. my left tips stick out ever so slightly more than my right ones, so i'm going to readjust the 8mm nuts just immediately below the rear bumper cover to fix this. however, i do notice my tips still stick out quite a fair bit more than urs do? it's protruding about 0.5 inches now.

this whole perfect placement thing is seriously a work of extensive patience and meticulous detail. i've opted to go visually with my alignment since i don't have access to a digital micrometer, but i'd say it's about perfect for my very particular human eye now.

A lift make things much too easy
Glad you found the write-up useful because that's what it's all about. Since gasket ring is round and the mufflers pivot on an axis, the lower the muffler hangs the further it protrudes from the bumber cover. If your muffler hang a little lower than mine, this may be why thye stick out further

Originally Posted by tom @ eas

Great DIY, even more awesome Z4M.

Thanks Tom

Originally Posted by anthony @ eas

Wow, it looks like it took a lot of time to put this DIY together. Nice work

Thanks Anthony. The labor was quick, but the photo editing and write-up took more than 8 hours.

Originally Posted by mousitch

Awesome thread right here! Could of used this the first time I did a swap. After six or seven I'm an old pro. Had no idea about the moving rear cover though. Sweet!

Thanks man

Originally Posted by tekmoe

Very awesome of you to do this writeup. The fact that you took the time to explain how to jack the car up properly is golden. This will be very useful when I change out my diff and tranny fluids.

Thanks again!

no problem, this is why included "using jack stands" in the title. I figure if someone is searching the DIY for how to Jack up the Z4, this thread should pop up. I'm glad you found it useful.

Originally Posted by SSKE92

Originally Posted by mpower03

well written diy!

Originally Posted by RBull

Great write up. Thanks for taking the time.

Originally Posted by esqu1re

Didn't know about the 3/8" play in the bumper. Will need to see if I can get my exhaust protrusion to look right with your tip. Thanks!

no problem, glad this tip helped out

Originally Posted by Eccentric

Chris, I really appreciate you doing this for me. Thanks dude

Originally Posted by johanness

Mad props for taking the time for this DIY

Originally Posted by Finnegan

What a wonderful DIY with lots of great tips! I couldn't agree more on the jacking tips!

Originally Posted by a_riddler

Bookmarked! Very well done, very high caliber effort!

Originally Posted by l4zy

WOW awesome DIY! I didn't remove the diffuser for my install though. Probably would have been a lot easier on me if I did =P

Thank you
Yep, it can be done without rear diffuser removal. You just get better access around the bulky stock muffler with it romoved.

[crfine88]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. It makes the efforts of doing the DIY all worth while.

[Z4Murder]

solid work. more great input into the z community on your behalf

[VinnieAces]

your workspace for ur car is godlike

[jdl1pt]

Thanks so much for the great write up, very impressive!