I got my car back and installed the CBE yesterday. :happydance:

This set up sounds SWEET!! It is deep and smooth while very quiet at highway speeds. I was not expecting it to be so deep. The videos do it no justice!! :driving:

I even drove it to work this morning (something I NEVER do) just to hear it some more. My neighbors probably weren't happy at 4am but oh well.

Only one small problem. The left tip is ever so slightly lower than the right. I am assuming that is my fault. I was rushing just a bit during the install and couldn't seem to stay focused on my task because my girlfriends five year old son was underfoot the whole time. I just got home and I am going to try to make some adjustments when it cools off.

Here is my pic...
http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...26-finally.jpg

Looks great!

You can just tweak the hanger to get the tips to line up. Good luck!

Congrats on the install....Does look blingin.....the misalignment does not look obvious on you pic...but only you would know....From what I read in past threads, adding some washers will do the trick of getting them aligned...

I crawled under the car and found that the left resonator pipe's hanger was not in the rubber mount. I figured that I must have knocked it out while doing the install. So loosened the bolts and realigned the pipes making sure that the hangers were all in place. Everything looked good except...
What I noticed is that the hangers don't seem long enough. They are barely in the mount on the left side and the right side doesn't look right either.
Long story short, I just looked at the tips after running some errands and sure enough the left one is down again.
I looked under the car and the hanger is out of the mount again.
I might have to modify the mount.

Hey,

We are getting a couple reports of this - in fact we just had a customer bring up their car for us to take a look. Our first recommendation is loosening the bolts and twisting the pipes to get it all lined up. If that doesn't work, you can do a washer or two on the hanger mount.

We're not sure why this issue is coming up with only certain 370Zs and not others, but we're taking a look on other cars to figure out what we need to tweak. But please let us know if you can't get it right and we'll figure out a solution for you.

I did loosen the pipes and I tried to realign everything. When I tightened it back up it still wasn't right.

The metal rods on the resonator pipes aren't long enough to extend through the rubber mounts.

I will put it on ramps and take some pics tomorrow when I get home.

so, my cbe is installed, and i gotta say, soooo worth the wait. sounds great, looks fantastic.

alright, so after 4 hours of driving around in the car after the install. i know have more time to write a better review. So, thanks to VinnyTen Racing to the install, quick and perfect alignment. The startup sound was, phenomenal. Even some of the guys in the shop, and for those of you that know have heard a lot, came to the bay door to listen to me start it up and drive away. That alone says something about the sound of this exhaust. I had made the decision to wait for the Berk cbe after listening to g35guys FI setup, and 370zsteve's Berk setup. The FI setup is great sounding, and looks great as well, but I was looking more for the stock look.

What I was surprised about though is, Steve did not have the HFC on his car, the sound difference with it on my car. It sounds AMAZING. The sound is deep, grumbling, and slightly exotic all at the same time. I'm thoroughly pleased with the setup. I'll try to get pics up tomorrow and possibly a video.

One thing that I haven't mentioned is the very noticeable increase in power that I have felt since the CBE was installed.
I installed the Cobb MAF tubes at the same time and the throttle response is awesome.
With VDC off this thing is a tire roaster now. :eekdance:

The butt dyno approves. :happydance:

after driving around some while tonight. i noticed that there is a rattling noise coming from the exhaust. I cant pinpoint where its coming from, but while sitting at a light, or even just idling, it almost sounds like a rotational rattling, if that makes any sense. its quite annoying.

I was the one up there today, all i have to say was it was a great experience. I showed up a bit earlier then expected but never the less my GF and I were welcomed like family, At the end of the day we got the issue handled (tip alignment), i also had the hanger issue but I went about it in a way im not comfortable with posting, Rob and/or BERK can post that information if need be.

I will say BERK Tech. is a company that you cannot compare to HKS or Magnaflow... etc they have more of a focus on quality then quantity, and as most of you know if you have questions they are more then happy to trouble shoot it out just give them a call, or send Rob a PM or leave it here, but they are here for the customer and they will help you work the issues out.

I am extremely happy with my experience thus far with all of their communication and product(s)(future and current). I guess i just want to say thanks, and everyone please use your patience.

I have forced myself off the forums to and extent in terms of posting because I didn't want to sent any bad vibes through the forums before i was able to get up there and figure it out with them.

I hope this helps, and if not, it is meant with good intentions.

if you are facing the back of the car look to the right exhaust tip and follow the piping there is a tin yes tin or very thin metallic tray, and it you can literally take a finger and bend back the tray edge to get it out of the way from rubbing on the pipes.

you dont need a lift to do this just look under there you should see what im talking about.

im hoping that is the sound you are hearing.

Great info! Good lookin out! :tiphat:

+1 rep from me!

What are we seeing as far as power gains with the BERK cat back ? Im in the market for an exhaust and ever since seeing the video with the Grey 370Z + BERK CBE, i fell in love with the sound !

Ive done some research and decided that its either the BERK or the Invidia exhaust. How does this compare, power gains wise to the Invidia exhaust ?

Are most of you guys letting shops do the install for you and you're not installing it yourselves?

The same thing has happened with my FI CBE. one hanger doesn't fit on the mount properly but thank god that it hasn't fallen off :roflpuke2:

So here are my pics.
Left tip is slightly lower
http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...-bit-lower.jpg

Here is part of the reason.
http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...e-fell-out.jpg

The right side looks ok, but it could be in there a bit more in my opinion.
http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...oks-better.jpg

Here is the left side in the rubber mount.
http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...stay-mount.jpg

The bracket could be more level.
http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...looks-bent.jpg

I modified the bracket and moved it about an inch to the right. I also bent the resonator hanger up a bit.
http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...inch-right.jpg

Much better.
http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...oks-better.jpg

But there is still a problem. I then removed the muffler and bent the left bracket down as far as I dared. That helped but not perfect.
http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...thing-else.jpg

Left side.
http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...-left-side.jpg

Right side.
http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...right-side.jpg

This may seem nit-picky to some but 3/16 of an inch is noticeable.

So I made some shims for the right side out of an old car stereo install kit.
http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...match-left.jpg

I put them under this bracket.
http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...acket-down.jpg

Here is the left side again.
http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...ure20086-a.jpg

And the right side after the shim is installed. Perfect!
http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...ure20085-a.jpg

Now that looks better!
http://www.the370z.com/members/dembf...-nice-even.jpg

So there you have it. This took me less than an hour to get this worked out.

I am even more happy with this exhaust now.

I am glad that I gave Berk the chance to make things right to those of us who waited. Rob contacted me about these issues before I even had a chance to contact him. I think that shows that Berk has turned a corner as far as their customer service is concerned.

From what I have read they are both around +13 whp. Here are some resorses below: Good luck with your choice:tup:

Berk Technology 370Z Cat-Back Exhaust Dyno and In-Car! on Vimeo
370Z Exhaust.com - Sound clips, photos + places to buy

I will be doing mine myself. It is pretty simple. If you have any experience with wrenchin on cars you will be fine. Just make sure you use a jack and common sense. Stay safe and good luck :tup:

Hey guys -

I first wanna give a thanks to everyone that has been patient that have crawled up with the odd hanger/fitment issue. We're on it and trying to figure out why it's off on some cars and fine for others. But want to give a huge thanks to both memorylasts and dembflyr for helping us out.

Obviously the last thing we wanna do is send out a product where someone has to go and spend more time to get it perfect. What has just been annoying us is that the pieces that left here were perfect on Zee's car and apparently good for a huge % of the ones that ship out, but then there are the odd ones where they're running into this issue.

So we're trying to determine it and fixing it from here on out. Our gut instinct is to extend the hanger but we wanna make sure what's causing it exactly.

Thanks again to everyone for being so patient and we're always here to help you guys out and for those that took the time to resolve it themselves and send us photos to help us troubleshoot!

The thing i was uncomfortable in posting was this! About the resonator hanger, and sliding it over that inch. Since you did post it and come to your own on it i guess i can comfortably say it. haha. I just dont want the finger pointer at me for it.

Glad to see you got it all worked out! I still have a little fiddling to do, but i am not sure if i am going to use the shim idea or got with some hose clamps around the bushings. i will probably do the second idea, and i plan on lowering the car a little, and the roads here are not the most friendly even at stock height.

Finally getting a chance to post a review..my exhaust and HFC's were installed yesterday so i've been driving the car for a day and a half with it.


Packaging: Excellent..tons of paper..each piece wrapped in bubble wrap and styrofoam or some kind of soft material around the muffler and midpipes. All the hardware was bagged in a ziploc bag. Box made it with no holes or any damage. Thumbs way up for Berk and even UPS lol.

Quality: Looks really good, all welds minus one or two seem to be very nice. Weld on the right tip seems a little weird but its not even something noticeable so I don't car. Exhaust tips are centered pretty much perfect I havent measured but I don't feel the need to since they look spot on. Overall quality off and on the car is excellent..even my mechanic thinks everything fit nicely.

Looks: Love the close to stock look. The tips do not stick out at all past the bumper which I really like. I always thought the stillen stuck out too much but the berk looks nice and tucked in the cutouts.

Sound: Where to start..sounds amazing so far. On the inital startup I was grinnign ear to ear. The whole way home from the mechanic was sick. Every downshift felt so alive and much more exciting. It's crazy deep down low but really comes alive up high. I havent even been past 5k becuase i just figured i should take it easy and let it adjust and break in. I can't even explain what it sounds like but it sounds like a super enhanced version of stock. When you get on the gas it comes alive and starts to purr almost like an exotic but still has that VQ tone to it. With HFC's I kind of thought it would be louder..not that it isn't but on cruise and easy driving its very mellow and reasonable for anyone concerned with noise. It could be a tad louder for me personally..even my 50 yr old father thinks it's nice..and not annoying at all.

I also have the midpipe hanger prob..but its very minor the hanger should be longer on the left side because its only halfway in. My mechanic said its not going anywhere and my tips are straight so im not worried.

Heres a few pics and a quick vid..I hope to get a few more up in a few days.

It's my dad driving so excuse the poor shift at the end lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ooj2a1AEXAI

All in all I love it and it more than makes up for the wait.

:happydance:Reading all this makes me even more excited for tomorrow when it arrives.. seems like this exhaust really meets all expectations!! :happydance:

+1 to memorylasts, Dembflyr, and 370degreesNY...Great shares, vid, and DIY's...

I really wonder why the hangers are an issue with some and not with others...Rob do you happen to know how many cars/customers have had the hanger issues in this batch?

A tone is exactly what I said about my Berk CBE when I installed it in April. The sound is stunning.

I don't hear any rasp either with the HFC's.

Although there is the hiss..sounds like a pissed off rattlesnake on decel mostly between 2500-3000

I guess there are some fitment issus with this batch...

We are trying to figure it out right now. All the production pieces were built off of a jig and tested fitted on Zee's car prior to shipping, so each one is identical. Why there are variances when it got to a couple of the customers is beyond us at the moment, but we have memorylasts' exhaust sitting here with notes on seeing what's going on.

The oddest thing is that of the 20 or so exhausts we have shipped out, we have only had the complaints from what you have seen here. But we'll keep you guys updated with what's going on. Please feel free to let me know if something else comes up and we'll be more than glad to provide you a solution.

First words that came out of my mouth when I drove with the new Berk Cat-back (only, no HFC's yet): HOLY CRAP. And I couldn't stop saying it until about a block down the road when I stoppped at a light. I just have to say WOW!!

Review first, pics last.

Installation - Went extremely smooth. Breaker bar was necessary to loosen the bolts all throughout the stock exhaust. It wasn't difficult to remove and went by pretty quick. The hardest part is the stupid hangers but again it goes by quick. Installing the berk also went very smooth and no hiccups along the way. Fitment was great and did not require any tweaking of anything... the tips are aligned 99.99% perfect. I've never seen such amazing alignment....

Sound - I can honestly say without a doubt that the car no longer makes a sound but a tone. Under 3k rpms it's similar stock but louder, deeper, and smoother. Once you hit 3.5k+ rpms you better hang on because your ears are going to explode from the pure awesomeness that will be emitting from your car. It is a killer sound that I've never heard replicated in my area... there's a lot of "muscle cars" as well as ricers but the Z is now the best sounding thing on the block for sure. :happydance: I am beyond happy with it!

Fitment - Like I said the tips are aligned perfectly and required no tweaking. There's zero rubbing, doesn't knock, no taps, no hissing, NOTHING WRONG. It really is perfect I'm very impressed. :tup:

Looks - Simply put the exhaust looks great. There may have been a few marks on the y-pipe, piping before and after resonators, but the tips and mufflers that you actually see are flawless. The tips look great and once again the alignment is fantastic. :bowrofl:

Now the most impressive thing with this exhaust is the absolute fact there is NO DRONE. No, literally guys, NO DRONE. AT ALL. Some people try and boast their exhaust doesn't drone but Berk can say for a fact that it doesn't drone. Once again, very impressed.

All in all this exhaust is one of the best if not the best on the market for someone who wants an outstanding cat-back. I recommend this exhaust to anyone and everyone!!! Great job Berk!!

Now here's the pics. There's really not much to look at because others already posted some good ones.

http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...z/DSC04881.jpg

So much paper.... :bowrofl::bowrofl:

http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...z/DSC04880.jpg

Last but not least the star tool of the whole operation!:

http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...z/DSC04883.jpg

Here's a bit of the stock exhaust. Y-pipe:

http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...z/DSC04876.jpg

http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/a...z/DSC04877.jpg

Sorry for the crap pics but there's really nothing iimportant, we all know the exhaust looks great!

Don't really have much final looks pictures because 1) it didn't stay on the lift too long :stirthepot: and 2) mainly because other people already posted what it looks like.

Buy this exhaust. You will be satisified.

Another great review and satisfied customer on the thread:tup:

someone please post a Berk sound clip with stock cats driving by under load :D

i have never done exhaust before but i did it myself and it was super easy...so i say go for it and do it yourself

HAHA funny story on the box one of my friends was using it to stay warm while i put in my flywheel back in march (it was still cold as a mofo up here) and we tapped him in it, strapped it to the roof of my beater, poked some holes to let the cool breeze in and drove around for a half hour. good times, good times, then the box got thrown out.

Great review Wolf370....

:excited:Come on guys were are the vids? The Berks CBE is one of the exhausts that have the least amount of vids....:excited:

Sorry for my excitement...but my exhaust won't be here for another couple of days and won't be installed until after September 4th....After reading all the great reviews I am super stoked...:tup:

I suppose I could make a video even though my camera is pretty poor. I'll try and see how it goes! Don't hold your breath though :ughdance:

:icon14: (holding breath)

:icon18: Me Too!!!!

Sorry guys...you have to excuse us...Holliday and I were one of the first ones to get our exhausts out the door, and as you can tell...we are probably going to be the lasts ones to get it and have it installed since we are the furthest away...

Mine should be here in about two to three more days...then I won't be able to do the install until after September 4th....:ughdance: Not too sure when Holliday is going to get his...but its a race between him and I :driving:

Looks like you may win:mad:

My freind has not been able to even ship mine yet! Then I am looking at atleast three weeks for it to get to me!

but for now :driving:

we are all too happy driving the car with the exhaust, we dont wanna stop to take a video

Word!

I posted a few vids of my dyno runs with my Berk exhaust installed on youtube. I'm making a new thread with details of my dyno day and will link to it when done :)