Can blown muffler damage engine ??

[singring]

I have a 1995 318i automatic, 124,000 kms, that needs an original stock
muffler replacement ( it's loud )....thing is, it'll be $400 CDN to replace,
and I have to wait a month so I can afford to have it done.
My question: Will driving the car for another month with the old muffler do
any damage to the engine, or catylitic-coverter ?

thanks

 

[Big Daddy]

No you should be ok! But $400.00 is a lot of money. You can order one from Pelican Parts for $317.00, or Arizona Autohaus for $279.00.

 

[Bmw 325i 7803]

Big Daddy is right... it wont harm the engine, it will only harm your neighbors and your ears. You might also be getting some fumes into the car, I'd try and replace it ASAP.

 

[grc]

or you can put a Thrush Turbo on it yourself for $20 from Meijer's. you get the idea, mufflers aren't all $400. at least then you could save up for a $400 muffler?

 

[bahnstormer]

here in the states we have local muffler shops that will weld on a generic muffler
to your exhaust...

it'll perform nearly as well for MUCH less than 400 bucks...
just disconnect the battery before they do any welding!!!

 

[nadroj]

why would you need to disconnect the battery?

 

[Big Daddy]

You should not weld on any part of the car with the battery connected, it can cause damage to the electronics.

 

[fritchy]

I believe you will actually get better gas mileage without a muffler (or a whole in it). I once drove a car for a couple of months with no muffler at all (it fell off). I was in high school and the car was a slow POS, so I thought the sound was cool back then. I was told and realized an inprovement in gas mileage. - e.g. - It is like a piece of delmonico steak. If you cut out all the fat (like a muffler would) and just eat the lean meat portion you will get less calories and be less full than if you eat the entire steak. From a caloric stand point you will need to buy/prepare more delmonico steaks to get the same caloric intake.

And oh yeah, there will be NO damage to your car.

 

[grc]

some mufflers are very resrictive, if it fell off you'd notice the difference. there are mufflers that are not as restrictive as a potato in the tailpipe though! most cars do better with just the right amount of backpressure, without any you'll use more gas and lose bottom end torque. sometimes just the rather small diameter of the pipe gives enough backpresure but not enough sound control for the guys in the cars with the lights on top.

make sure you have the radio code before you disconnect the battery! the radio will tell you the code if you know how to ask for it. there's a lot of tech stuff going on in the radio!

 

[regatta10]

The damaged muffler will not harm the engine; and $400.00 is way too much to pay. My mechanic put a "BMW" muffler on mine for $350.00 - and that was way too much...