BMW 335d exhaust sound

[mnk303]

Just take delivery of a nearly new 335d M and very impressed I am too, from the outside the car sounds typical diesel, but once giving it some stick I and many others say it sounds rather good from within the car, does this version have the sound generator like the M3/4 or does it really sound quite good ?

[kurt535]

whats a sound generator? mechanical electrical?

tty

[kingofdbrits]

yes, the 335d has an active sound device (ASD), it's the same as in every BMW so holds all the sound files which can be coded or turned off.

[AB]

Well I didn't know that!

So my 435d is making zoom zoom noises through the speakers when I put my foot down!?

I'm told, although have no experience, that is sounds quite 'meaty' from outside when it's accelerating at a decent pace. A couple of people have said it - I've never believed it.

[mnk303]

kingofdbrits said:

yes, the 335d has an active sound device (ASD), it's the same as in every BMW so holds all the sound files which can be coded or turned off.

Omg that's terriable , how can I turn it off

[Mattt]

You can unplug it, not sure why you'd want to bother though.

[smashy]

I listened to an X3 M550d (maybe X5) take off last week ,coulldnt hear the exhaust at all ,nothing

[cerb4.5lee]

AB said:

Well I didn't know that!

So my 435d is making zoom zoom noises through the speakers when I put my foot down!?

I'm told, although have no experience, that is sounds quite 'meaty' from outside when it's accelerating at a decent pace. A couple of people have said it - I've never believed it.

It's pretty obvious in my 640d because when you listen to the engine moving off inside the car at very low revs you can hear all the diesel clatter quite clearly, yet in sport plus the engine sounds pretty good when you put your foot down and in no way does it sound like a diesel so it's obvious trickery.

It's clever to be fair but you only have to step outside and listen to the engine to realise that they had to do something because like it or not a Diesel engine is very crude and not a very nice thing to listen to sadly...hence why I appreciate petrol engines so much...but even those don't escape the trickery nowadays either.

[cerb4.5lee]

AB said:

So my 435d is making zoom zoom noises through the speakers when I put my foot down!?

I'm told, although have no experience, that is sounds quite 'meaty' from outside when it's accelerating at a decent pace. A couple of people have said it - I've never believed it.

What I will say and I would love to know why but my mate has a 435d and it sounds miles better than the 640d on start up and at idle and it just somehow sounds more meaty and less like a diesel, I don't know whether it's a different exhaust or something and I thought they had the same engine but the 435d does genuinely sound far better for sure.

[AB]

I'm under no illusions it sounds all 'diesely' - but it's definitely noticeably better than a 4-pot. I've no real experience of the 640d but can't see why it should sound any different.

[bennyboysvuk]

cerb4.5lee said:

It's pretty obvious in my 640d because when you listen to the engine moving off inside the car at very low revs you can hear all the diesel clatter quite clearly, yet in sport plus the engine sounds pretty good when you put your foot down and in no way does it sound like a diesel so it's obvious trickery.

It's clever to be fair but you only have to step outside and listen to the engine to realise that they had to do something because like it or not a Diesel engine is very crude and not a very nice thing to listen to sadly...hence why I appreciate petrol engines so much...but even those don't escape the trickery nowadays either.

I've long been a fan of 6 cylinder BMW petrol engines, but I think they've now become so smooth and the sound deadening on the cars so thick, that it's no longer possible to hear anything but a murmur from the engine itself. My wife has a Merc A180 CDI and although the diesel is clattery as hell, it's kind of fun to thrash it because there's a real noise there. It's more authentic than my M135i and for that reason it just has more character.

[cerb4.5lee]

bennyboysvuk said:

I've long been a fan of 6 cylinder BMW petrol engines, but I think they've now become so smooth and the sound deadening on the cars so thick, that it's no longer possible to hear anything but a murmur from the engine itself.

Yes and I agree with you and I think it's a shame, but I suppose BMW pride themselves on making quiet and smooth cars but it would be nice to enjoy their petrol engines a little more vocally for sure.

[AB]

bennyboysvuk said:

My wife has a Merc A180 CDI and although the diesel is clattery as hell, it's kind of fun to thrash it because there's a real noise there. It's more authentic than my M135i and for that reason it just has more character.

[cerb4.5lee]

AB said:

I'm under no illusions it sounds all 'diesely' - but it's definitely noticeably better than a 4-pot. I've no real experience of the 640d but can't see why it should sound any different.

Yes the 6 pot diesel is a marked improvement over the 4 pot for sure.

[sickspot nutter]

cerb4.5lee said:

Yes and I agree with you and I think it's a shame, but I suppose BMW pride themselves on making quiet and smooth cars but it would be nice to enjoy their petrol engines a little more vocally for sure.

Er while I agree the diesel sounds awesome in Sport mode there is no way I can agree that my 335D is quiet. Wind noise and road roar are leagues behind the competition. The new A4 shows how it can be done.

[cerb4.5lee]

sickspot nutter said:

cerb4.5lee said:

Yes and I agree with you and I think it's a shame, but I suppose BMW pride themselves on making quiet and smooth cars but it would be nice to enjoy their petrol engines a little more vocally for sure.

Er while I agree the diesel sounds awesome in Sport mode there is no way I can agree that my 335D is quiet. Wind noise and road roar are leagues behind the competition. The new A4 shows how it can be done.

I should have said relatively quiet! I am not sure I would go as far as to say that the Diesel engine sounds awesome in sport mode but it's not bad for an oil burner.

Wind noise in the 6 series isn't too bad compared to the 3 series but it does still suffer badly from road roar though, the new A4 is getting some really good rave reviews I agree.

[moffat]

Not sure why people are bothered by the sound trickery in a diesel?

I quite like the sound in my 640d especially when hooning, sounds pretty decent and no-one has ever mentioned that it sounds fake. Given I'm inside the car I couldn't really care what it sounds like outside as it is just a diesel.

Now... don't get me started on the M3 / M4... they sound dreadful both inside and out. Worse than a diesel on startup and far too quiet when booting them. Not sure how BMW managed such an epic fail with a 3 litre engine. In my opinion my old 135i Coupe with a BMW Performance Exhaust sounded better than the M3 / M4.

For proper car noise the new C63 is epic and really not a whole lot different that my favourite car ever which I had for 2 years, the mighty 6.2 V8 C63!

[JMBMWM5]

moffat said:

Not sure why people are bothered by the sound trickery in a diesel?

I quite like the sound in my 640d especially when hooning, sounds pretty decent and no-one has ever mentioned that it sounds fake. Given I'm inside the car I couldn't really care what it sounds like outside as it is just a diesel.

Now... don't get me started on the M3 / M4... they sound dreadful both inside and out. Worse than a diesel on startup and far too quiet when booting them. Not sure how BMW managed such an epic fail with a 3 litre engine. In my opinion my old 135i Coupe with a BMW Performance Exhaust sounded better than the M3 / M4.

For proper car noise the new C63 is epic and really not a whole lot different that my favourite car ever which I had for 2 years, the mighty 6.2 V8 C63!

You need to drive the LCI m3 which I have, sounds great in Sport or Sport+.