BMW M3 M4 Active Sound: the Good and the Bad News

[Transfer]

Man what a bunch of whiners. I don't know what is worse, the direction that BMW is forced to head towards or the babies complaining about such a small feature has virtually no impact on the driving experience.

If you just can't handle this new feature that is probably very necessary to hear the engine of the new amazing F80/82 then buy an E46, E90/92, or something else entirely. Anyone who decides the M3/4 isn't worth their time due to sound enhancement of the live engine, really has their priorities a little mixed up.

BTW my e90 S65 is awesome, sounds magnificent, and there's a reason I'm probably going to keep it another 6 years or so. New is not always better.

[b33g33]

Honestly, I don't have a problem with the car having active sound.

What I do have a problem with is how BMW made it impossible to turn the damn thing off.

I mean, we give them kudos for building sports sedans and coupes incorporating the latest traction control and active this and active that while also making it relatively easy to defeat them with a button (or worst case with a few turns of the iDrive dial.)

Why on earth wouldn't you do the same with this 'feature'? Do the FI engines sound so bad?

Mine sure doesn't.

[HBspeed]

Active sound is really dumb and not allowing it to be switched off is even dumber, but I could live with it if I had to.

However, if the auto-rev matching on the 6-speed manual cannot be switched off... that is grounds to not buy the car altogether honestly.

[BMWPWR]

Listen to the M135i video, these cars are so quiet and sound deaden now that you probably need it! Otherwise it wouldn't sound like you even have an engine lol! Even my e92 is quiet compared to other cars, it only really sounds loud when you open it up and those 8 throttle bodies come into play.. I'll be keeping my e92 for a long time yet, I love the v8 in such a relatively small car.

[ozinaldo]

Originally Posted by BMW M Power Mexico

I am amazed by how this little thing has most here with your panties in a bunch.

I have owned an E46 M3, now E90 M3 & 1M.

I recently drove both the M135i and the M5 and they sound fantastic. Who gives a damn about this as long as the sound is believable and great.

Get a life people. I wish my 1M had this system. It needs it.

With due to respect to a fellow 1M owner, I disagree. In fact, I believe if you go and ask this in the 1M Forum as a poll, I bet you will be in absolute minority who thinks this is a much needed feature.

Not that the car has enough engine noise, in that sense yes it needs it.

But, it sure doesn't need to "fix" this lack of engine noise through controversial technology. And there will be lots of people like me who will think that "believable" is not good enough.

Because 1M is all about simplicity and rawness. It is a straightforward machine and doesn't need to cover its inherent weaknesses with anything, the rest of the car is good enough to make you forget about that and no need to try to make it feel like "perfect". I need some kind of intimacy with a car that I really love to drive and own, I don't need technology tries to show me that it is better than it actually is.

The fact that this technology is essentially in use just to imitate something which is not there, at least not as much as it used to be in the past, is in a way an admission of guilt and I perceive it as cheating, with good intention maybe but still it feels like cheating.

That's my 2 cents about all this.

[Pyrat 2]

Said it before and I'll say again here. Save the dollars and complexity associated with this. Just let me hear the engine directly. No Mike or speakers or amplification. Very disappointing. Have to say though that besides this the car looks pretty exciting. Will probably wait a couple years though for the m2 since I'm only nine months into my 135is.

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by Never Convicted

For God's sake dude, TMI!

LMFAO Humor of that quality deserves special recognition.

But still, he makes a great point. Unlike the M5/M6, since this is reportedly just amplifying the engine sound live from the bay of the car, there's no need to figure out how to turn it off. We can just find the bugs BMW's secret agents have planted under the hood and destroy them. Right?

Edit: Let it be known that, when I originally made this reply I did not realize the thread had been closed. Poor form on my part, and I apologize.

[PhoenixRising]

Quote from R&T:
"A dual-mode muffler augmented by a synthesized soundtrack helps the petite six wail."

Why, oh why? I loved the sound of my E93. I swapped the exhaust to make it sing even more. I wish they would have left this car pure, but it looks like it's gone the way of the M5 - adding sound through the stereo of pre-recorded engine noise to 'enhance' the driver experience.

I'm hoping there is a way for coders like BPMSport to 'kill' this feature.

I'm curious if they use this to make the car sound more aggressive inside while the car doesn't sound obnoxious on the outside?

[iPhone vs Android]

I'm surprised this hasn't been discussed yet, is there anyway to turn this off? I hope the answer is yes...

Edit:

Found answer: Here's Jason's post

http://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...t=active+sound

[Jockey]

No, this hasn't been discussed yet. Thanks for bringing it up.

[jbockrd]

It has many times. Jason has posted on this recently. It would be a mess to undo the fuses from what I remember

[Jockey]

Here's Jason's post

http://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...t=active+sound

the search function is your friend

[iPhone vs Android]

Thanks. Sorry for double post.

[seanq]

Now I only need a way to deactivate the Active Sound bullshit

[Year's_End]

Originally Posted by seanq

Now I only need a way to deactivate the Active Sound bullshit

Probably the same way as the owner did with his F10. I really doubt it's something that will bother owners in the end. If it sounds proper then it won't matter if the source is artificial or not, unless you've just got an issue based in principles. That just seems like complaining for the sake of it.

[TheBingoBalls]

Originally Posted by Year's_End

Probably the same way as the owner did with his F10. I really doubt it's something that will bother owners in the end. If it sounds proper then it won't matter if the source is artificial or not, unless you've just got an issue based in principles. That just seems like complaining for the sake of it.

Didn't that thread comparing ActiveSound on/off determine that the difference was small and it was just amplified a bit to make it a bit more audible? I think this whole ActiveSound issue was was over exaggerated. If you're able to sit in a car and not notice the difference, who cares. But that's just me.

[M4TW]

Originally Posted by seanq

Now I only need a way to deactivate the Active Sound bullshit

This is from the thread on the same subject

But, the good news is that we've confirmed with BMW Germany that it's a live amplification of the S55 engine's natural sounds. There is no artificially generated sound or pre-recorded track being played. This sound amplification takes place through the M3/M4/s stereo speakers.

This is just a way of providing feedback and listening in on what the engine is doing with the amplification adjusted according to the setting you've selected. A lot of people time their shift points by ear and this would therefore be an enthusiast's tool. The only difference here is that you have the option of turning down the engine sounds in the cabin when you're only cruising and listening to tunes or trying to carry on a conversation.

[solstice]

Originally Posted by M4TW

This is from the thread on the same subject



This is just a way of providing feedback and listening in on what the engine is doing with the amplification adjusted according to the setting you've selected. A lot of people time their shift points by ear and this would therefore be an enthusiast's tool. The only difference here is that you have the option of turning down the engine sounds in the cabin when you're only cruising and listening to tunes or trying to carry on a conversation.

Hey, you should write for BMW's marketing. You almost have me feeling good about this "enthusiast's tool"

[M4TW]

Originally Posted by solstice

Hey, you should write for BMW's marketing. You almost have me feeling good about this "enthusiast's tool"

Hey cut me some slack. This is my first ///M and I prefer to have happy thoughts about the quality of something I've committed $100K CAN of my hard-earned $$$ towards.

[solstice]

Originally Posted by M4TW

Hey cut me some slack. This is my first ///M and I prefer to have happy thoughts about the quality of something I've committed $100K CAN of my hard-earned $$$ towards.

I agree and I'm honest when I say that your description make me feel a bit better about it.

[seanq]

Originally Posted by Year's_End

Probably the same way as the owner did with his F10. I really doubt it's something that will bother owners in the end. If it sounds proper then it won't matter if the source is artificial or not, unless you've just got an issue based in principles. That just seems like complaining for the sake of it.

For a performance car to have an artificially enhanced sound is just plain silly for me. I expect to experience the actual engine sound, if BMW is worried about the sound being too quiet that can easily be solved with some modifications.
If you are OK with artificial sound then great for you, hopefully BMW releases a Ferrari/Mustang/Lambo sound app and you'll be able to choose what you want to hear, but other people have different tastes, and asking to hear the natural engine sound in a 70k+ BMW performance car is not complaining by any measure.

Cheers,

[CanAutM3]

Originally Posted by seanq

For a performance car to have an artificially enhanced sound is just plain silly for me. I expect to experience the actual engine sound, if BMW is worried about the sound being too quiet that can easily be solved with some modifications.
If you are OK with artificial sound then great for you, hopefully BMW releases a Ferrari/Mustang/Lambo sound app and you'll be able to choose what you want to hear, but other people have different tastes, and asking to hear the natural engine sound in a 70k+ BMW performance car is not complaining by any measure.

Cheers,

It is not an artificially generated/enhanced sound. It is the actual sound of the engine in the car you are driving played back through the speakers. Not pre-recorded nor synthesized.

Many cars today have mechanical devices such as sound tubes to "enhance" the sound in the cabin. It is done electronically here.

Now back on topic