1989 328 Exhaust noise after shutdown

Yes, my Mondial 3.2 pops and clicks for quite sometime after shutdown. Normal. As you note it must be the thermal expansion, there are lots of pipes and joints to the muffler, all the sheilding, and the engine bay area does get quite hot due to the mid engine and exhaust proximity.

 

I love the way my 308 makes all those same noises as it cools.

 

There’s nothing wrong with your car. My bone-stock ‘88 328GTB makes all kinds of metallic noises after shutdown as the exhaust system cools.

 

Although such noises are normal on any car, I have to say I haven't heard them on my '89 328. Maybe it's broken!

 

Completely normal, my 1989 does it after every drive.

 

Made a spin six or seven years ago with a guy who was driving a '89 swiss model GTB, so fitted with catalysator. Our two cars were cooling down after the drive on his garage ramp; his was doing pinging and sizzling and clicking while cooling down, my own "euro" '89 GTB, no catalysator, was cooling down in complete silence...
Rgds

 

Get rid of that heavy restrictive piece of junk, buy a Tubi , and a test pipe and a K & N, that stock muffler along with that HUGE HEAVY cat is choking your motor to its death and making the motor and the motor compartment heat up like an oven...

 

Interesting as mine is a 1989 Australian delivered car (ie with a cat fitted as standard ) but I have taken the cat out.
Mine still pings and sizzles on cool down.

 

That's just all the snakes and spiders you collected on your drive getting cooked.

 

Hahaha, after I avoided all the kangaroos and koalas on the road.

 

Yes!

 

Glad you avoided the drop bears

 

Maybe the exhaust manifolds? Aside of the different routing of the tubes (on cars with cats, the rear manifold is reversed compared to cars without cats) the manifolds on cars with cats are wrapped with thermal isolation material inside a kind of metal doughnut: that device probably retains heat. Those on euro cars are not: the individual tubes for each cylinder are naked, what the brits call an "extractor manifold": the tubes probably cools down without retaining any heat...just saying...
Rgds