Exhaust deliberations

[Ohmess]

So, my lovely new e9 has a rusted noisy exhaust that is held on by some bailing wire. Not only is this unsightly, the sound emanating from my car is not in keeping with the character of this fine piece of German engineering.

Peter was kind enough to give me a used muffler and center section he had laying around, which I had considered installing as a stopgap while dealing with more pressing matters.

On the other hand, since I plan to keep the car it may be preferable to do the exhaust once and be done with it. If I go this route, do folks recommend merely installing the stock BMW exhaust? Is there an aftermarket alternative that people like?

 

[Tierfreund]

(real old) stock has the nicest sound. Aftermarket is either cheap or stainless. Stainless of course will look great and last very long (if manufactured properly) but stainless has different acoustic properties which usually are "tinnier" than the mild steel of the sock system. So that´s often overcompensated with less muffling and more drone.
I´ve been down the stainless route and am now back on stock.
A matter of taste of course...

 

[deQuincey]

(real old) stock has the nicest sound. Aftermarket is either cheap or stainless. Stainless of course will look great and last very long (if manufactured properly) but stainless has different acoustic properties which usually are "tinnier" than the mild steel of the sock system. So that´s often overcompensated with less muffling and more drone.
I´ve been down the stainless route and am now back on stock.
A matter of taste of course...

+1 on stock
despite probably not being the smater way in terms of durability i bought a complete NOS exhaust and i am planning to install it soon