Berk CBE VS FI CBE

kpyo2000

I am thinking between these two brands. I know that FI is well known for customer service, product and all. I just don't have any patient to wait for it. The Berk is on sale for $995. Would FI worth the wait or should I go for Berk? I need some advice FI and Berk owners!

Matt

You're worried about the F.I. wait, and you're still thinking about choosing Berk?

Berk has people waiting several months currently, and possibly even longer, to get their exhausts. They don't even have a proper ETA when it's being produced, let alone shipped or delivered. Berk is absolutely silent about the whole ordeal, unless they've come out recently and tried to fix the situation.

F.I. has a wait, but nowhere near several months and Tony comes out every week and updates which exhausts are being produced, shipped, and even installed in most cases.

All that being said, Berk and F.I. both produce incredibly sexy sounds. We had a dyno day at Z1 this weekend, and both companies were represented. I had the Berk and NewlyImported had the F.I.. Both sounded amazing, not gonna lie, and there was little difference at 7k RPMs.

Styling is completely different. F.I. has a unmistakenly tuner look, while Berk looks more stock than stock, haha.

If you can't bear to wait, F.I. and Berk may both be bad choices. Stillen, HKS, Invidia, etc. all may be better options.

If you can stand the wait, personally, I think Berk is the best CBE out there. Of course, customer service is dreadful currently.

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Zsteve

Fi fi fi fi fi fi fi fi fi fi fi

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Matt

Is that the noise an oscillating fan makes?

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m4a1mustang

Yeah dude, save yourself the headache and stay away from Berk. They've disappeared from the forums and people with outstanding orders have no idea when they are supposed to receive their exhausts.

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EVL370

I was thinking about ordering the Berk system back in April. I was after a more stock looking system. Also the video on you tube of the Berk system sounds great!

However fitment issues, postal issues and a lack of communication reported by other forum members turned me right off. Don't mean to Berk bash, just calling it as reported by all.

There is a reason why everyone picks F.I ( including myself #167).

I'm sure others will post about the premium customer service and the excellent product F.I is known for.

spearfish25

Stillen...

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kpyo2000

thank you gentlemen! I really appreciate all your advice! I'm just gonna wait for Tony. I guess it's worth waiting. Drive safe guys!

Matt

In Berk's defense (why am I still defending them????):

Fitment issues: 1 member got shipped 2 of the same side midpipes and another member had some bent hangers. That's it for fitment issues. A couple people reported misaligned tips, but that can be caused by many things including issues during installation and is easily fixed.

Postal issues: The first couple units that went out were shipped in a manner that can only be repeated by a blindfolded 5 year old with no hands. After that, shipping was well done and seamless.


Once they get their production issues fixed (and communication issues), Berk will still be one of the best sounding exhausts out there while retaining the stock look that so many people pursue.

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"Any man who can drive a 370z while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the Z the attention it deserves." Albert Einstein....modified.

dlmartin81

Another A vs B. Aren't there several threads like this? I'm not trying to be a negasaurus here...just sayin.

Bottom line.....as far as numbers go, BERK and F.I. (or even STILLEN) produce roughly the same performance gains. It's all personal preference from there (i.e. sound, aesthetics, customer service, and one's 'willingness to wait' threshold).

Have at it...

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Dan
F.I. SS CBE 18-R || Llumar 40% tint

m4a1mustang

Though I think the Berks are slightly heavier than stock.

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Zsteve

No the noise my HFCs make coming out my FI CBE. lol.

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Togo

Stillen is heavier than stock

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Dembflyr

I am one of those waiting for the Berk CBE. I placed my order in mid April and was told 40 days.

With little to no communication from Berk, the only way to get info was to call and bother them then post on here to let others know what you had been told. Several of us have been communicating on here through PM and post's. We have found out that the production problems have been corrected and we should start to see some systems being shipped out. One member has been told that all in the second group buy should have their systems shipped by the end of July. We will see.

With all of that said, the reason that I am being patient is because the Berk CBE has exactly the sound and look that I want. I also have to respect that once they realized there was an issue they stopped production right away. But even getting this information was like pulling teeth.

It boggles the mind as to why Berk would ruin its reputation with 370z owners by not even trying to fix their customer service issues. Actually their customer service is nonexistent.

I have no doubt that I will be happy with my purchase. However, as I have said before, I will not be purchasing any future products from Berk.

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