I recently bought an exhaust kit made by Starla from eeuroparts.com since they offer free shipping. When I got it, both mufflers had a bunch of dents in them. I was told that this is common as they come in bulk from Europe and are packed together. But I'm wondering if they are defective or were damaged during shipment. Has anyone else experienced this? Thank you.
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Patrick McHugh, Cincinnati, OH, 1993 244 Limited Ed. 'Classic' model (daily driver)

I've never seen a muffler without a couple dings in it brand new, dad's Starla kit had a few in the rear muffler. I seriously doubt it'll affet the function.
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- Sean: Black '93 244, 115k miles

They certainly don't handle these things with much care, as they are heavy, rough pieces with sharp edges. They don't come in a box, and are often tossed into the back of trucks for delivery. They come in on a pallet, all wrapped together loosely. So they do get banged up. But if they have real gouges or something is bent, especially a pipe or if it's compromised any of the welds or the like, you shouldn't accept it.

Some minor dings and dents are inevitable in anything of this nature I think. Maybe "minor" and "major" need to be left up to the customer. I bet most people never have a clue- a shop puts it on, it's under the car, the car's quiet- end of story.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: 87 244DL, 88 245DL, 90 745GL, 84 242DL project, 89 244 parts, 88 244DL to replace the 87