Fallen Exhaust Muffler

[siddiqiumar]

My 300D 5 cylinder OM617 used to have two mufflers in it. One small bottle type muff near the gearbox and one large one at the tail pipe. One day upon reaching home from my sister's house I noticed that the tail pipe was missing. A closer inspection revealed that the large muffler had fallen somewhere along the road. I just got a piece of pipe welded to make the smoke reach the bumper.

I always drive with the airconditioning on and I did not notice any difference in sound the moment the large muffler fell. Could anyone guide me on the effect (apart from noise) of not having a large muffler on (1)automatic gear shifting (2)diesel consumption (3) engine wear. Should I leave it the way it is or is it advisable to instal a new muffler?

[N0RT75O]

as long as you don't notice any soot or carbom build up on rear of car,and its not noisy i think it'll make it,do a search on straight pipes, my $.02

[siddiqiumar]

Thanks for the reply. Theres no soot build-up. But yea there's slight noise with windows down. A muff shop's nearby offering an original W123 single pipe big muffler for US$65..... the guys insisting that I will have more fuel economy & better acceleration ......