Hi all,

It appears I have a small pinhole or weeping joint in the front of my exhaust, about level with the front wheels, as when starting from cold I know get quite a noticeable "phut-phut-phut" noise until the system is warmed up.
As its now 11 years old, would it be a good chance to replace the system piecemeal with some new bits as older bits perish? I quite fancy a slightly more rorty noise without being antisocial, especially since the whole point is to idle quietly - and I've been told that it can often be cheaper to get new custom made bits from an exhaust specialist than to buy the Land Rover parts to fix it - is this true?
I've had a bit of a search around, but of course with 4 V8 models and even then 2 of them being 4.4, I'm finding it a bit of a confusing minefield to guess if a particular off the shelf "sports" system will fit my BMW model. I notice that a lot of these so called sports systems are also designed to end in a big chavvy set of under-bumper tailpipes rather than a hidden design like the standard one.
Can anyone help point me in the right direction please?

Thanks,
Matt NW060

"Red Shed" - 1982 Series 3 88" County Station Wagon
"Spirit of Great Britain" - Rolls Royce Meteor V12 engine
ZG875 - Westland Sea King (cockpit section)
"Carly Rae Jeepsen" - 2006 Jeep Commander 5.7 Hemi
"Pride Of The Road" - 1/4-scale Marshall traction engine - sold
"Georgina" - 2000 Discovery 2 TD5 ES - sold
"Windsor" - 2005 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 - dead

you could go to an exhaust specialist, and ge it repaired. i mean, it might be just the downpipe to manifold joint leaking, or maybe even the manifold itself is cracked. you should at least know that its not repairable before getting a sports exhaust at great expense. better people can weld a stainless or mild stell exhaust -even if it means taking it off -and the 4.4 exhaust is held on with just those 4 bolts to the manifolds, and some rubber hooks! its a whole one piece assembly. -till you cut it to service/repair parts of it.
i have a bmw 4.4 and it came with a chavvy exhaust stainless backbox. which has awful twin binolulars on the exit. and they are set in like a 3 series bmw. i have some made up pipes to delete these exits, (back to normal) as they look too young for me. (one day i will do this!) but it does sound better. and not too loud. its normal at idle and tootling around, but it is rasping when floored. if i revv it hard at stanstill its so rasping it does not sound like a 4x4, more like Italian performance type car. but without mirror shades and medallion, i look daft. It's not really deep like the older p38 stainless exhausts were. I think i read that putting a sports exhaust on the l322 bmw ,will not give any extra power. -also, they are often known as 'cat back' setups. meaning you keep the original catalists, so your problem, might still be there.
you do see whole exhausts from l322's for sale on ebay. but their location is the key to whether you consider one. but i got a whole one as a spare for just £25 with the cats and sensors still on. but that was a complete flook. but £150 is easy(ish) to find. the gamble is that the cats are still good.
i would get it looked at by a guy that could weld/adjust it, not the kwikfit guys, that dont. although, they do diagnose and will show you the issue for free.

I had a similar hole in the front crease/seam of the Cat where the Catalyst front end goes into the up exhaust pipe and into the engine (Hope that makes sense )

Just got my local indie to MIG weld it and all good! (Miss the rorty soundtho! )

Cost c. £50 all in.

Had similar with mine. Fixed day.... See this thread....

http://www.rangerovers.net/forum/6-range-r...elded.html V8 or else ...

Nice pics Fisha.

That's exactly where mine went.

Recently had mine repaired as well.Lambda settings on the high side as air getting in and same put put sound when cold.There was a recall for this in the US as the seam welds on the cat go.Mine went on the drivers side along top edge.Exhaust shop welded it for me and took the liberty to remove the centre resonator and weld in a balance pipe.Nice sound now

Thanks chaps. I've not had any EML lights yet but I will have the system checked and welded whereever it is cracked - so I can keep saving for a nice custom system all in one go  NW060

"Red Shed" - 1982 Series 3 88" County Station Wagon
"Spirit of Great Britain" - Rolls Royce Meteor V12 engine
ZG875 - Westland Sea King (cockpit section)
"Carly Rae Jeepsen" - 2006 Jeep Commander 5.7 Hemi
"Pride Of The Road" - 1/4-scale Marshall traction engine - sold
"Georgina" - 2000 Discovery 2 TD5 ES - sold
"Windsor" - 2005 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 - dead

The car is booked in for an MOT early in January, the garage have said they will have a look and if they find a crack, will have a go at doing it for me. The noise is definitely getting more noticeable, but it only does it when cold so it obviously seals back up again when the exhaust is hot. NW060

"Red Shed" - 1982 Series 3 88" County Station Wagon
"Spirit of Great Britain" - Rolls Royce Meteor V12 engine
ZG875 - Westland Sea King (cockpit section)
"Carly Rae Jeepsen" - 2006 Jeep Commander 5.7 Hemi
"Pride Of The Road" - 1/4-scale Marshall traction engine - sold
"Georgina" - 2000 Discovery 2 TD5 ES - sold
"Windsor" - 2005 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 - dead

If it seals when hot I would say it's a gasket not a crack L322 2008 vogue
R53 Cooper S Works tuned beyond the works SOLD
R33 Nissan Skyline in rebuild 400bhp atw

Hmm I see. That must immediately point to the downpipe to rest of system joints then, seeing as it's one piece from there on? NW060

"Red Shed" - 1982 Series 3 88" County Station Wagon
"Spirit of Great Britain" - Rolls Royce Meteor V12 engine
ZG875 - Westland Sea King (cockpit section)
"Carly Rae Jeepsen" - 2006 Jeep Commander 5.7 Hemi
"Pride Of The Road" - 1/4-scale Marshall traction engine - sold
"Georgina" - 2000 Discovery 2 TD5 ES - sold
"Windsor" - 2005 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 - dead

your best bet if you are confident on the car is to start it raise to max height and have look listen underneath you will soon locate where it's coming from ,if it's a crack you would hear it all the time and possibly get louder when warm L322 2008 vogue
R53 Cooper S Works tuned beyond the works SOLD
R33 Nissan Skyline in rebuild 400bhp atw

A bit of an update - during the mot at my local garage they had a look at it for meand diagnosed a badly cracked cat. They offered me the choice of a new cat at 270 quid plus fitting, or welding the existing one in situ for 50 quid all in. Hmm, tough choice!
I put it in yesterday for the welding and when I got it back, it was a different car. Its now totally silent, even more so than when I bought it! Very haply bunny here

I know a new cat would last a lot longer, but the welding should hold for about 2-3 years or so I am told, by which time I'll have got around to having a full stainless sports system made if I still have the car NW060

"Red Shed" - 1982 Series 3 88" County Station Wagon
"Spirit of Great Britain" - Rolls Royce Meteor V12 engine
ZG875 - Westland Sea King (cockpit section)
"Carly Rae Jeepsen" - 2006 Jeep Commander 5.7 Hemi
"Pride Of The Road" - 1/4-scale Marshall traction engine - sold
"Georgina" - 2000 Discovery 2 TD5 ES - sold
"Windsor" - 2005 Range Rover Vogue 4.4 - dead

you did the right thing. if you had bought a £270 new cat, it would have died a few years later, and it would have needed to be welded, or bodged on. the original cats are huge money, (and are a complete exhaust.) i had newish cats (2 years) on mine when i bought it, and one was rattling, and i was getting codes... i bought a pair of original cats from a low milage, and fitted, albeit with clamps, and a sleeve, but its perfect now. for reference, i paid £250 for the pair, and they had done just 29k. ( with proof) it was a bargain to me. but you can buy whole exhausts for that secondhand, but they are too hard to transport etc.