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Once the exhaust is mounted, the side exhausted are re-attached to the cats, and the bolts are all tightened up the next step is to put the band clamps onto
the exhaust (dont forget the V shaped shims).
This will require you to "shape" the band clamps into an oval to make closing them and tightening them work... once tightened then its time to attach the
tips.
each tip comes with its own clamp and shim, in my case 3 out of the 4 fit onto the car perfectly, but the drivers side OWM pipe on the left was either slightly
out of round, or larger than spec...
I tried every combination of tip and shim, and I even pried open the flanges on the one tip that seemed to fit the best, but in the end I had to sandpaper
the outside of the OEM pipe, *and* use WD40 and a plastic mallet to get the tip onto the outside.
As you can see, I screwed up, in order to hide those clamps I should have put them on with the bolts "in between" the tips and not to the "outside" ...
I will go back and change this.
At this point you need to get the spacing and "rake"/offset setup, then you can tighten up the various clamps (hand tight) and try a test fit of the bumper...
Once you have completed the test fit, and are satisfied with the tip positioning on either side, then tighten up all the extant clamps etc then
"simply" reverse the bumper removal instructions ... and voila you have one SwitchPath exhaust installed!
Top Tip: check that all your lights are working: indicators, brake, tail, license, parking sensors and camera before you finally re-attach the bumper and taillights etc!
crack a beer!
Last edited by Larry Cable; 12-19-2020 at 04:24 PM.
I screwed up, somehow I managed to tear the drivers side vacuum line while
doing the install, I did not find this out until I put everything back in place ...
its obvious when you start the car and operate the PSE switch, if you dont hear a noticeable change in tone from the exhaust, you dont have a vacuum,
so I recommend checking all the lines and connections *before* you replace the bumper... fortunately I cut my drivers line at 18" so I could trim 1" from
it and still attach it to the actuator valve ... I still have to crimp it - that wont be fun, as there is *not* a lot of room in there!
I was initially concerned that the SwitchPath would be too loud for the Cabriolet, but I have changed my mind.
In "normal" mode it really is not significantly louder than OEM PSE, perhaps with a more attractive "deeper" sound.
With PSE "on" or above 3200rpm (when the valves open) its an amazing sound *much* superior and aggressive than OEM PSE.
My *only* "complaint' is that the "burble" on lift off throttle overrun is noticeably louder with the SwitchPath than the OEM PSE
(this would not concern me in a coupe, but top down in either a cabriolet or targa it might be a concern)
I will try and capture that in some videos...
overall my current impression (is now) very positive, its a keeper IMO!
its the exhaust the GTS deserves ... it might even be louder than my GT3 w/Sharkwerks bypass! (note: which means it probably wont pass sound at some tracks)
Nice job... Great write up. I wish you could do same for short shift, but.... PDK!
believe me, if this had been "my" car, and not "our" car (i.e the wife cant drive a manual) then this GTS would have had a 7MT in it ... despite the PDK being
the *best* dual clutch system out there ... shame they didn't put PDK-S on the GTS!
I drove my GT3 yesterday and really enjoyed it, its so much more "raw" than the GTS w/PDK ... but lets not dig up those particular "skeletons" ...
Thanks for doing the write-up. Definitely my next mod. One of the few things I miss about my E92 M3 is the exhaust sound. PSE isn't quite doing the job but this should resolve that.
04-17-2016, 06:48 PM
SwitchPath installed...
