BMW Active Sound: Give us the best sound system?

[TN_3]

I never tried to fit my misinformation into this thread after reading your response, those all came before I realized you had posted in the thread before me, once the threads were merged. As soon as you linked the information, I agreed, "But this seems to bypass the issue of a disabled audio system as mentioned in Jason's post", giving you the credit for bringing updated info to the thread. Not sure how that's misinformation. I agreed I was wrong about the single speaker, agreed that what I had posted about disabling the AS had since been proven incorrect (as indicated by your post that I was not aware of), and simply stated you could have gone about it in a different way. Moving on indeed.

[Andrew115]

Technic & TN_3 - next up in the bmw octagon.....

[GregoryK]

Originally Posted by Technic

Active Sound Design (ASD) = synthesized sound = pre-recorded engine sound + OEM audio

There is a small OEM module/amp that generates, controls and outputs this pre-recorded engine sound, and depending on your OEM system (Stereo, HiFi, Harman Kardon/B&O) it will mix the engine sound with the iDrive audio either at the ASD module (Stereo system and HiFi) itself or the ASD module sends the engine sound to the OEM amp (Harman Kardon/B&O) and it is mixed in there.

There are 2 ways to disable the mixing without affecting the car diagnostics: coding and hardware bypassing. Coding simply disables the internal mixing function of the ASD without actually disabling the module -car can still be dealer-diagnosed without errors of missing module. Hardware bypass simply reroutes the analog inputs/outputs of the ASD so no engine sound reaches the OEM speakers/OEM amp. The ASD still is connected, still function, still can be diagnosed but it simply outputs nothing.

Example of hardware bypass (100% PnP) in a MY2014 528i ASD:

Hey Technic,

Where did you buy the connectors and do you have the part numbers?

[Technic]

Originally Posted by GregoryK

Hey Technic,

Where did you buy the connectors and do you have the part numbers?

I sell that harness...

[GregoryK]

How do I order one and how much do you charge?

[GregoryK]

Originally Posted by Technic

I sell that harness...

Please answer the PM I sent you about the harness. Thanks!

[67abarth]

Please answer my pm about your harness.
Thanks

[Technic]

I am in Germany right now... PM will be answered by next week.

[nullrouted]

Originally Posted by Technic

I am in Germany right now... PM will be answered by next week.

Hey Technic -- is that the only M4 compatible harness you've got so far?

I've been absent from the forums for a while, still loving my Technic+MusicarNW setup in the E92 but I'm going to be ordering an M4 in the coming months and I hope to have all the pieces ready to migrate some of my existing equipment and maybe add some new things as well. Doesn't look like MusicarNW is doing much with the F8x yet, but I did all the E92 work myself anyway so all I'll need is a harness from you. Enjoy your time in Germany, I can't wait to go back for the M4!

[Technic]

E9x and F8x available harnesses are identical respectively as their HiFi OEM sound system are identical.

The HK system does not need a harness as the ASD can be unplugged without affecting the OEM sound system. Unplugging the ASD in an HK system do deactivates the ASD, though.

[Mandi90TT]

Interesting

[gojumatt]

Best and cheapest mod. Makes car much more enjoyable. It was way too loud and distracting especially under heavy acceleration. Still plenty aggressive when stepping on it.

[AM4ZING]

Originally Posted by gojumatt

Best and cheapest mod. Makes car much more enjoyable. It was way too loud and distracting especially under heavy acceleration. Still plenty aggressive when stepping on it.

I picked up my car last week and have driven ~300 miles so far with radio on and off.....

I have never heard the "Active Sound" through my speakers.... some owners complain about the noise but could it be that mine is turned off?

I definitely do not hear a "fake sound of an engine"

Whats the deal

[Racer20]

Originally Posted by AM4ZING

I picked up my car last week and have driven ~300 miles so far with radio on and off.....

I have never heard the "Active Sound" through my speakers.... some owners complain about the noise but could it be that mine is turned off?

I definitely do not hear a "fake sound of an engine"

Whats the deal

It is not turned off. However, it's not really obvious that the sound is coming from the speakers. If BMW didn't publicize it, nobody would suspect it. If you like the sound of the car, don't worry about it.

[dmnc02]

Originally Posted by AM4ZING

I picked up my car last week and have driven ~300 miles so far with radio on and off.....

I have never heard the "Active Sound" through my speakers.... some owners complain about the noise but could it be that mine is turned off?

I definitely do not hear a "fake sound of an engine"

Whats the deal

As I posted in another thread a few days ago, the only problem I have with it is that occasionally it seems to overpower the amp or the speakers (I have the HK sound) creating distortion, which then makes the engine sound enhancement quite obvious.

[RocketBoots]

Originally Posted by Racer20

It is not turned off. However, it's not really obvious that the sound is coming from the speakers. If BMW didn't publicize it, nobody would suspect it. If you like the sound of the car, don't worry about it.

With the crappy factory audio system (HiFi or HK), the active sound integrates well. The best way to tell the difference is to disable it (coding, unplug it, BMS module, etc). Then you will definitely know. From what I can gather, the active sound comes mostly in the midbass region (~75-200Hz). If you upgrade your audio system, and specifically the underseat woofers and an amp, the active sound can be intolerable if the system is not tuned correctly. I did some testing driving around without the underseats plugged in, and it was like disabling the active sound.

Originally Posted by dmnc02

As I posted in another thread a few days ago, the only problem I have with it is that occasionally it seems to overpower the amp or the speakers (I have the HK sound) creating distortion, which then makes the engine sound enhancement quite obvious.

Not surprising; HK is a more powerful amp.

[sbc55]

does anyone happen to know what is the ASD connector part number at the HK sound system end? The connector has 12pins + 2 most connection.

[motzus]

Just installed the cable today and it works as advertised. No more active sound. It took me two tries to install the cable because I'm a moron and can't follow simple directions. I did the install on an F80 with the HK stereo so it will look different on cars without the HK stereo.

So some tips...

The cable as you get it cannot be plugged into the ASD module. You need to switch the housings between the cable that you received and the cable that is already in the car. To do this

Step 1:

Pull the housing off of the cable that you received. Note how the two parts are arranged in the housing.



Step 2:

Pull the housing off of the cable in the car. Note how the two parts are arranged in the housing.



Once the housing are swapped you can plug the existing cable from the car into the new cable and then plug the new cable into the ASD module.

Looks like this


I was worried that the black portion of the new cable would rattle in my car so I used a zip tie to hold the new cable in place. There was a very convenient hole for this purpose.



I tucked the black plastic connectors under the metal bracket behind the hole. The connectors are out of the way and very secure.

[Mandi90TT]

So, let's see if I understand it correctly: you installed this on a car with the HK system (not HiFi, HK). It bypasses the ASD module, similar to if you just unplug the ASD module, but doesn't generate any errors (which will happen when the dealer diagnoses your car with the cable unplugged)

And this was on an F8x?

Did I get that right?

If so, did you get it from Technic?

[motzus]

Originally Posted by Dave 90TT

So, let's see if I understand it correctly: you installed this on a car with the HK system (not HiFi, HK). It bypasses the ASD module, similar to if you just unplug the ASD module, but doesn't generate any errors (which will happen when the dealer diagnoses your car with the cable unplugged)

And this was on an F8x?

Did I get that right?

If so, did you get it from Technic?

Yes you got it correct. My ASD is currently disabled and the dealer should not detect any errors. Though I have not had to take the car in for any service yet. I got the cable from Technic.

[morgan302]

I have the HK system and just pulled the plug from the ASD amp. Seems to be ok but it may take some time to be sure. No issues so far, but I do not have the best ear for music so I could be missing something and would not notice. Dealer said if i had any issues just plug it back in.

[rr006rbc]

Honestly I've only noticed the active sound a handful of times on my car.

I drive with the windows down 99% of the time. The only time it's up is when I turn off my engine.

I also have an MPE exhaust so the resonance from that probably drowns it out..