6MT CAE + M-Perf Steering Wheel

[jpy1980]

Originally Posted by x.shell

Kudos. Good to know that your sound deadening efforts have paid off. I've actually planned a whole sound-deadening-regiment myself in case I decide to install it again.

I think the source of a lot of the whirring and humming that annoyed me was amplified by the direct mating of the shifter and chassis; metal on metal. It kind of created a weird harmonic that would get in my head. Perhaps a thin rubber lining between the shifter and chassis mounting plates along with everything you've done will deaden it enough for me to be happy.

You know the satisfying clunk everytime you shift? Would that piece of rubber take away from that? I find that clunk the most rewarding part of the shifter besides the extremely short throw.

Have you been reinstalling your shifter yourself? Or have a shop do it for you?

[EvoFire]

Originally Posted by jpy1980

Haha. I know what you mean. We purchased this car to be a great dual duty vehicle: daily and track/canyon, but the more we mod to track and canyon, it really becomes worse at the daily part.

Oh well, que sera sera...

Im still enjoying my car, but recently I've been eyeing a 4x4. =)

We bought the car exactly for that reason. We ended up buying a X3 as well so now with the pandemic the M3 gets driven to get groceries maybe twice a week.

[jpy1980]

Drove around a bit with the newly greased and soundproofed shifter and I can definitely say that the NVH is dramatically improved. You should try it.

[EvoFire]

Originally Posted by jpy1980

Drove around a bit with the newly greased and soundproofed shifter and I can definitely say that the NVH is dramatically improved. You should try it.

So the main thing would be the greasing? You didn't add any rubber to the mounting right? Just some dynamat around the area.

[jpy1980]

Originally Posted by EvoFire

So the main thing would be the greasing? You didn't add any rubber to the mounting right? Just some dynamat around the area.

Yes but and its a big but, I put some dynamat on the shifter on strategic places where it wouldn’t interfere with the shifting. Like small pieces and stuck them on. Looks ghetto fab but man o man is it better. Cool thing is that you can still take it off if you would sell the item. That with the grease and some foam sound deadening material in empty cavities of the shifter and feels somewhat like a normal car now.

[uncle ben]

Originally Posted by EvoFire

Mine is sitting in a box and I haven't installed it.

Ever since having a kid I've only been driving the M3 by myself, which is all fine and dandy. We took it out with the kid the other day and all the noise that doesn't bother me all of a sudden are really loud.

Maybe cause I've been autoxing the shit out of the car stock and the tires are very worn now, but the tire hum was excessive on the highway. Compound that with I guess roads that are just of a lower quality, NVH that seemed completely fine when we did 160km/h in Germany seem unbearable at 100km/h in Canada.

I hear you man. Flying down the autobahn at 220, car was solid and didn’t seem that loud. But back in Alberta, going 120 with the wife and baby and the tire howl is crazy loud. Maybe it’s the continental tires? Maybe throwing 18”s on would quiet it down a bit. I guess if the car is loud anyways, why not install the shifter. I think I’d give it a go, plus it’s pretty much totally reversible. Did you ever install the shifter?

[RocketBoots]

Originally Posted by jpy1980

Yes but and its a big but, I put some dynamat on the shifter on strategic places where it wouldn’t interfere with the shifting. Like small pieces and stuck them on. Looks ghetto fab but man o man is it better. Cool thing is that you can still take it off if you would sell the item. That with the grease and some foam sound deadening material in empty cavities of the shifter and feels somewhat like a normal car now.

Could you show or say where, exactly, you added the sound deadening and the dynamat?

[dc5rob]

Originally Posted by jpy1980

Yes but and its a big but, I put some dynamat on the shifter on strategic places where it wouldn’t interfere with the shifting. Like small pieces and stuck them on. Looks ghetto fab but man o man is it better. Cool thing is that you can still take it off if you would sell the item. That with the grease and some foam sound deadening material in empty cavities of the shifter and feels somewhat like a normal car now.

interested to know any tips on where to put dynamat as well

[CoffeeLife]

Originally Posted by jpy1980

Yes but and its a big but, I put some dynamat on the shifter on strategic places where it wouldn’t interfere with the shifting. Like small pieces and stuck them on. Looks ghetto fab but man o man is it better. Cool thing is that you can still take it off if you would sell the item. That with the grease and some foam sound deadening material in empty cavities of the shifter and feels somewhat like a normal car now.

Nice....! I was just thinking about this....I put some Dynamat style material in my M2C and figured putting some on the tunnel and shifter would remove a lot of the NVH.

[jpy1980]

Hey guys!

Sorry for the late reply but the pandemic and kids and work really keep you busy! Especially from driving the car!

Anyways, I added dynamat pieces to almost all parts of the shifter that is not impacted by moving parts or visibly seen. It looks super ugly, but it did help dampen the noise. Literally like 1 inch long by 1/4inch strips all over the beautiful shifter assembly. I'll try and take a picture when I have time, but who knows when my wife will let me go out and play in the garage.

Lastly, I think the most impact in noise abatement was using spray white lithium grease on the shifter joints and inside the rubber boot. A lot of my noise was rod noise and small, rattly noise when accelerating and this was just the metal on metal micromovements which greasing took away. My installer did not grease the shifter as stated in the instruction manual and that really helped in the noise. Like I said in my post above, you really have to close all the windows to hear any noise, but now it even bareable with the windows up.

Oh and I also stuffed sound foam inside the shifter tunnel which probably helped as well, but it was mainly the grease and the dynamat which reduced the overall NVH.