# reducing E46 road noise



## dorkus (Sep 4, 2003)

ok, i know all things considered (size, performance, etc.) the E46 is already a remarkably quiet and solid car, and i'm very very satisfied with my 325i in this respect. but i was wondering... if i wanted to make it just *that* much quieter, where should i start? 

obviously a large contributor to road noise is tire noise. i have stock Continental all-seasons... they seem fairly quiet, though i'm sure i could do better. i will eventually be upgrading to sport package wheels/tires, which will probably increase the noise a bit, but let's take all that out of the equation for now and just look at cabin isolation. other than the windows, where is most of the noise coming from? doors? trunk? floor? i don't want to go nuts, but i thought some judicious Dynamat or other damping treatment here and there might give me a slightly quieter ride. i'm not looking for Lexus isolation here, and i certainly enjoy the sound of the engine, but i'd like the (weak) stock stereo to have to compete a little less with noise when i hit the highway. suggestions?

thanks,
dorkus

p.s. i have the fixed (non-folding, no ski-pass) rear seats, so that's a plus... i guess the easiest and most logical place to start with Dynamat would be on the trunk side of the rear seat?


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## dorkus (Sep 4, 2003)

rumratt said:


> I'd think one of the bigger contributors is the tires, so you'll have a setback there (but VERY worth it if you car about handling).


yeah. i'm prepared to take a bit of road noise hit when i get the 17" rims (looking at style 119's) and performance tires, but it'll totally be worth it. i like my stock non-sport 325i's cushy ride but just need a little more bite from the tires and less roll in the corners - i'm hoping new wheels/tires and stiffer sways will take care of it w/o losing too much ride quality.



> I hear quite a bit of wind noise when I'm driving really fast, but at "stay out of jail" speeds I've never even noticed the road noise, let alone thought of it as a problem. :dunno:


yeah, i guess i am mostly fighting wind noise, which i can't do much about... and i certainly don't think the road noise is a "problem" at all. i guess i am just wondering if some simple tweaks will make the cabin even quieter, but after poking around the car a bit it looks like BMW has already put in their fair share of damping materials, so i guess fooling around with Dynamat will give insignificant improvements at best? :dunno:


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## Nick325xiT 5spd (Dec 24, 2001)

Dynamat under the rear seat and under the trunk floor. There's nowhere else you can put it without major disassembly.


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## OneLuckyPuppy (Aug 7, 2004)

Noticed you have a 325i, do you use GummiPledge(not sure about the spelling) on the door seals. The seals on the 325 create alot of wind noise, this product does reduce it quite a bit.


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## dorkus (Sep 4, 2003)

ff said:


> The 330 that I had was _very_ quiet, even with perf. rubber, so I'm not sure what you're after here.


yeah, i guess what i am hearing is wind noise, which i can't really do anything about. also the blacktop is hardly that here in jersey, a lot of the major highways have terrible pavement that make a lot of noise. i agree the car is very quiet, was trying to see if i could squeeze a couple more db's of noise out when i'm cruising > 60mph.



Nick325xiT 5spd said:


> Dynamat under the rear seat and under the trunk floor. There's nowhere else you can put it without major disassembly.


cool, that's what i was looking for, thanks. :thumbup: will check it out... i could probably add the dynamat to the bulkhead behind the rear seat as well if i pull the rear seat cushions off, or maybe put it behind the carpet in the trunk.



OneLuckyPuppy said:


> Noticed you have a 325i, do you use GummiPledge(not sure about the spelling) on the door seals. The seals on the 325 create alot of wind noise, this product does reduce it quite a bit.


interesting, that might actually be what i am trying to reduce, the wind noise. i did notice while washing the car that the exterior door seals kind of stick out a little. will check it out, thanks... are the seals on the 330i different, or did you mean the 325i is different from the Ci?


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## dorkus (Sep 4, 2003)

p.s. found it, i think it's Gummi Pflege. someone mentioned it's not recommended by BMW anymore, but don't know what the alternative is.


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## Bimmer4life (Aug 14, 2004)

When it was time to replace my stock Continental Touring Tires that came with my car. I really searched the tire forums & wanted the best tire for what I was looking for. I wanted tires that would grip really well in the twisties also work well in the rain as well as dry roads. Most important to me was less road noise. 

Well I made the best decision I could have ever made when I chose the Yokahama's DB2 tires. The moment I drove it the first time after having them balanced it was like night & day I could not get over how quite they were but yet they were road hugging & it tracked excellent on roads. I really love these tires, I've had them for about a year now & I went up a width size so they look awesome, nice wide stance from the rear. I couldn't believe how noisy those stock tires were till I got rid of them.


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## OneLuckyPuppy (Aug 7, 2004)

dorkus said:


> interesting, that might actually be what i am trying to reduce, the wind noise. i did notice while washing the car that the exterior door seals kind of stick out a little. will check it out, thanks... are the seals on the 330i different, or did you mean the 325i is different from the Ci?


You will see it posted somewhere on the board with pictures but to make sure you understand the seal that is creating the wind noise is the one touching the black metal trim on the outside of the door (it's chrome on a 330i).

Gummi Pfledge is still recommended by BMW (as far as I know anyway) and I use it with great success. The difference between the 325i and 330i is the black vs. chrome trim which affects to a degree the seal of the door (as per my dealer). Actually they told me that the fix as per BMW is to replace the black trim to chrome trim. I personally don't like the chrome ones so I put on Gummi Pfledge every 3 washes. Try it, you will be amazed!

:thumbup:


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## bmw325 (Dec 19, 2001)

OneLuckyPuppy said:


> You will see it posted somewhere on the board with pictures but to make sure you understand the seal that is creating the wind noise is the one touching the black metal trim on the outside of the door (it's chrome on a 330i).
> 
> Gummi Pfledge is still recommended by BMW (as far as I know anyway) and I use it with great success. The difference between the 325i and 330i is the black vs. chrome trim which affects to a degree the seal of the door (as per my dealer). Actually they told me that the fix as per BMW is to replace the black trim to chrome trim. I personally don't like the chrome ones so I put on Gummi Pfledge every 3 washes. Try it, you will be amazed!
> 
> :thumbup:


Huh. Never heard that one before (that the chrome vs. black trim affects the seal). Interesting.


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## TGD (Aug 7, 2002)

*Wind Noise*

I feel that the most part of the wind noise comes from the side mirrors. An M-style mirror would probably lower that.


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## dorkus (Sep 4, 2003)

*gummi pfledge no more *

i confirmed that Gummi Pfledge is no longer distributed (or made?) by BMW.  not sure if there is a substitute available...



TGD said:


> I feel that the most part of the wind noise comes from the side mirrors. An M-style mirror would probably lower that.


i was listening to my car on the highway the other day while my gf drove, and i have to agree with you... the mirrors do contribute quite a bit of noise. as others have said, road noise is quite minimal, the tires are actually very quiet on decent pavement. i stuck my head in the back and it was very quiet back there too, so i guess dynamatting the trunk is probably a waste of time. i think keeping the car clean makes a bigger difference for noise at any rate.


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