My exhaust system fitted 2 years ago was dislodged and although it has been refitted the catalytic converter needs replacing. In France a cat is about €485 so as usual I will buy online from the UK. The prices vary from £50 to £250 and I am well aware that you only get what you pay for but was wondering whether it would be OK to buy the cheap one (it has a 2 year guarantee) bearing in mind that the speed humps around here are vicious and would damage any cat and also my car does a tiny mileage. Are the cheap cats more prone to damage than the expensive ones? Advice would be appreciated.

Sorry but I don't have any info that would help. But my thoughts would be what am I getting for my money, are the lower priced ones just lower quality regarding materials, is the gas flow detrimental to the performance of your Barchetta, and would you notice the performance differences.
Do you have just the STD exhaust, if you have a stainless aftermarket exhaust, I would consider a sports cat, only because I would expect them to have some data that supports the performance gains.
I presume that the lower priced ones are just pattern parts put together with no testing on performance.
Hope this helps, perhaps starts a debate with other better informed B owners.��

Hi Richpea, I often look at the German eBay site as the Germans have a large Barchetta following, certainly their are more items for sale on the German site than Uk. I am going to order an exhaust from the site as I have now seen that the same company places their advert on eBay Uk, postage within Europe being 19 euro to your door. They also provide a guarantee. If you are only doing low mileage, hardly ever go out in the wet, chances are it will last a comparative time to a car used in the Uk up north all year. I guess I am saying I would not buy the most expensive.
Hopefully someone will post their practical experience.
Steve

Hi all, my apologies for spelling mistake on my previous post... read there not their.
Steve

Thanks to both Dave & Steve. The exhaust is a standard fitting and I did not even think about how a cheap cat may be detrimental to the performance as I am not techinically minded hence my question. My B does less than 1,000 km a year, mainly due to lack of time so I will have a look at the German eBay and settle for a middle priced fitting.

Hi. I just purchased and fitted one myself from eBay. No thrills. Felt robust enough for me. It passed the emissions test today. It is suitable for my application. Also a low mileage user. Details attached.

Since my earlier comments, I have been reading up on Catalytic converters. The original cat's that are fitted are designed to last the lifetime of the car. The honeycomb monolith inside the casing is coated with precious metals,Platinum, Palladium and Rhodium. The coating is of a certain thickness to last the lifetime of the car.
Aftermarket cats have a thinner coating of the precious metals, hence the reason why they advertise as for lower mileage cars, they all have to be type approved.

Thanks Guys. The eBay route seems the way to go especially as my dear wife has developed a habit of crunching the exhaust on our bumpy drive. Perhaps I should get a stock of them in!