Status Gruppe Tuning Exhaust Review

[phoenixcsl]

I put this up on M3 Cookies yesterday but thought i'd share this with the rabble on here too

I thought I'd post up a small review of the exhaust I've just bought, as I have just shipped the 1st Status Gruppe Tuning exhaust into the UK.

Having had my CSL for nearly 2 years I thought it was time to change the exhaust to something more fruity.

It's my 8th year now of E46 M3 ownership and having tried the following exhausts on my previous M3 I wanted something different and relatively unique, in the past I have been lucky and had: Milltek (100 Cell Cats / Centre / Rear Box), then changed the rear box to Supersprint Racing, then to a Supersprint Lightweight Racing, back to a Supersprint Street and of course the legendary Dixis Titanium Spirit which is by far the best exhaust I have heard.

I decided a while back that I was going to order a Rogue Engineering El Diablo, but I do not like the double wall tips on the latest version (it's a stainless copy of the Dixis), and to be honest the single supplier in the U.S for them could not be bothered to talk to me properly and was a bit rude when I was going to order one so I canned that idea.

I then mulled over ordering a Scorza from Canada, as there are none in the UK, but with the common fitment problems being reported and again a lack of customer care or bothering to reply to phone calls or emails I then decided against that one too.

In the end whilst looking at M3 Forum, I ended up speaking with Mike Migs of Status Gruppe Tuning, over in San Diego.

They have recently released their line of exhausts for the M3, the exhaust looks very similar to the Agency Power V2, after seeing the pictures and his YouTube vids on M3 Forum and on his website I decided to go for his exhaust.

Dealing with Mike was a pleasure and I have to say it's very refreshing to actually get mails back promptly with answers to all the questions I had, Mike was even mailing me on a sunday so that I had all the answers I needed, I have to say I was really impressed with Mike's friendliness and attitude and speed he got back to me, bearing in mind it was a order for one single exhaust so not a massive order, it's nice to actually speak / deal with someone who actually cares about their customers & products.

So, I placed the order on Monday at 1700 UK time and by 11.30 Friday I had the exhaust delivered to me, I was very impressed with the delivery time, and with UPS for not damaging it in transit! I've had to wait far longer for parts from UK based suppliers than this.

I fitted the exhaust today, no shocks or horrors when fitting, everything fitted up with no problems, new mounting hardware was included with the exhaust so I had everything I needed to get it straight on all I had to do was switch my exhaust hangers over.

The sound is nice and throaty, unfortunately I have not had a chance to take the car out yet as i'm waiting for my Nitron coilovers to come back (monday) from their rebuild, so I only had the car running on axle stands, I have it mated up to my Supersprint Non Resonated so I am sure it's going to sound fantastic when my car is back on the road! Sounds very nice indeed just sitting there, but the noise is amplified as my car lives down the side of my house and is surrounded by walls so gives a tunnel effect.

I'm not connected to Mike or Status Gruppe Tuning in any way shape or form, I am just impressed that for the money there are some good quality products out there, coupled with fast delivery and decent customer service, there isn't more I could ask and I thought i'd post up as we always seem to post negative stuff on tuning companies and overlook the positive.

I've posted up some pics of the exhaust and with it installed, excuse my car it's filthy!

I'm sure Mike would do anyone on here a good deal if you fancied something different.

Mike even chucked in a couple of free t-shirts into the box for me which was a nice touch

Here are Mike's details incase anyone else fancies one:

Website: http://www.statusgruppe.com

M3 Forum Link: http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=353420

I found the best way to contact him was to pm him directly in M3 Forum.

Here is the important bit, some pics

UPS Box (undamaged):

Exhaust coming out of the box:



Exhaust coming out of the box:






Finally, unwrapped:





Size comparison to OEM CSL box:




Fitted:





Very happy days

[CraigMillwardCroft]

Looks a nice bit of kit, what is the price.

[phoenixcsl]

Originally Posted by CraigMillwardCroft

Looks a nice bit of kit, what is the price.

It's really nice, looks well made and fits really well.

Price, not expensive, less than £800 all in, including import duty and tax

[northernjim]

That's a great looking piece of kit, how heavy is it tho?

Originally Posted by phoenixcsl

It's really nice, looks well made and fits really well.

Price, not expensive, less than £800 all in, including import duty and tax

I wasn't expecting that ! very reasonable indeed

[shane@mbtech]

Not wanting to put a downer on things, but the boxes used are just the cheap/normal boxes that most exhaust places use.

I could get one made exactly the same for around £600.

It looks an OK piece of kit, it will sound good. The most important thing is how well made it is, most places use the same materials, its how they make them thats the important bit.

I keep meaning to get my guy to make me a batch of these.

Ill get some made and get them out to test on a few CSL's at cost prices.

[phoenixcsl]

Originally Posted by northernjim

That's a great looking piece of kit, how heavy is it tho?

I wasn't expecting that ! very reasonable indeed

It is, very happy with it.

Weight wise, it's a smidge under 11kg, so not the lightest, but still a fair whack lighter than the standard box.

Originally Posted by lawsy

Not wanting to put a downer on things, but the boxes used are just the cheap/normal boxes that most exhaust places use.

I could get one made exactly the same for around £600.

It looks an OK piece of kit, it will sound good. The most important thing is how well made it is, most places use the same materials, its how they make them thats the important bit.

I keep meaning to get my guy to make me a batch of these.

Ill get some made and get them out to test on a few CSL's at cost prices.

That's cool Shane.

Yeah the design looks very similar to other exhausts out there, I am sure it could be replicated.

The box itself looks very well made, I had a good look over it before I fitted it, the hangers are strong, and the welds look tough, much better welding than on my old Supersprint Race from a few years back which broke it's hangers and better than the Milltek I originally had which split its welds.

Time will tell to see how well it lasts, I'm not expecting it to fall apart as it looks fairly tough.

[CraigMillwardCroft]

Originally Posted by lawsy

Not wanting to put a downer on things, but the boxes used are just the cheap/normal boxes that most exhaust places use.

I could get one made exactly the same for around £600.

It looks an OK piece of kit, it will sound good. The most important thing is how well made it is, most places use the same materials, its how they make them thats the important bit.

I keep meaning to get my guy to make me a batch of these.

Ill get some made and get them out to test on a few CSL's at cost prices.

I could be interested if you make some

[shane@mbtech]

Originally Posted by CraigMillwardCroft

I could be interested if you make some

Snowed under at the minute, I need to speak to him. We have 2 CSL's sat here all week, I should get an exhaust made up. Need to get arse into gear.


@Phoenix, I was'nt being funny. It looks like a great piece of kit. The welds look good, and as you say the supersprint welding is suspect on lots I've seen.

[Barry C]

lawsy, I might be interested in one if you get it made for the right price

I'd never buy supersprint again. I had a full race system on my e36 and it fell apart at the welds in a year. too much hassle to send it back to Italy so i had my mechanic repair it

proper Italian quality craftsmanship

[shane@mbtech]

Originally Posted by Barry C

lawsy, I might be interested in one if you get it made for the right price

I'd never buy supersprint again. I had a full race system on my e36 and it fell apart at the welds in a year. too much hassle to send it back to Italy so i had my mechanic repair it

proper Italian quality craftsmanship

The supersprint stuff is definitely over priced.

Northernjim can vouch for our fabricators quality, he saw my Gtr exhaust.