Not joined yet? Register for free and enjoy features such as alerts, private messaging and viewing latest posts and topics.

Noise!

Discuss your latest mods or ideas, and anything to do with the BMW X5 (E70).
Post Reply
User avatar
moggyboy
Member
Member
Posts: 96
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2016 12:21 am

Noise!

Post by moggyboy » Thu Aug 25, 2016 11:58 pm

Has anyone tried adding soundproofing to their X5?
I love everything about my X5 but I do find it noisy.
I know all the theories about enjoying the sound of the grunt and BMW building in the sound of fury and all that but on a long journey it becomes very tedious.
If, and it's a big if, BMW want to give X5 drivers the trill of listening to every inch of road that their fat tyres run over or every rev that the driver creates with his throttle press then why not offer a switch or something.
Surely the starting point on a car that starts with a price range from £44k skywards is the potential of a whisper quiet driving option. ( This has turned into a rant, whoops sorry) but it is making me think of bailing out of my 12th BMW which I really don't want to do.
I'm looking at a company called "Noise Killers" in Oldham who will fit extra soundproofing but remain sceptical as to the difference it will make although they do have some encouraging testimonials.
I also understand that a lot is down to road noise and therefore tyres but when you look at the tyre specifications and that the decibel range is 68db to 73db it is hard to convince yourself to spend the best part of a grand on a new set of tyres when you still have 7mm of tread left.
So.... has anyone successfully reduced the noise in the cabin of their X5 through added soundproofing?

jmhc
Newbie
Newbie
Posts: 15
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2015 6:49 pm

Re: Noise!

Post by jmhc » Sat Aug 27, 2016 4:19 pm

Have look at http://www.nkgroup.co.uk/product-category/vehicles/, I have chatted to them in the past & they were helpful.

They may have a pattern already.

TTFN.

JMHC

User avatar
moggyboy
Member
Member
Posts: 96
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2016 12:21 am

Re: Noise!

Post by moggyboy » Sat Aug 27, 2016 9:35 pm

Hi jmhc, thanks for your reply. I had a look at your link and it is in fact the same people. NK =NoiseKill.
They only quote case studies from Land Rovers, VW T30's and a Peugeot 308 so I suspect they haven't done an X5 yet.
What has surprise me a little from my Goggle searches is the number of people across all makes of cars searching for ways to make their cars quieter!
Peugeots, Skoda's, VW's, couple of blokes in the US with petrol X5's?? There was a survey of the ten noisiest cars which didn't contain and beemers but did contain some that you might expect such as the Audi R8.
Maybe I need to turn down my hearing but it's not of course just about decibels but also frequencies.
Older blokes of which I admit to being one lose their high frequency as they get older so low frequency becomes more prevalent and which would include road noise, engine rumble and panel vibrations I guess but surely even low frequency noises can be blocked with the right insulation.
Same question to be answered, has anyone tried/managed and succeeded to soundproof their X5?

User avatar
moggyboy
Member
Member
Posts: 96
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2016 12:21 am

Re: Noise!

Post by moggyboy » Sun Sep 04, 2016 1:21 pm

Has anyone had reason to remove the carpets from their E70 and if so I would be curious to know if they found much soundproofing material?
I'm sort of assuming in a quality car there would be some if not perhaps a lot.

Any help as always is appreciated.

User avatar
X5Sport
Global Moderator
Global Moderator
Posts: 18572
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 4:09 pm
Location: Planet X6......

Re: Noise!

Post by X5Sport » Sun Sep 04, 2016 2:48 pm

From my experience with the E53 to E71 there is less used.  I can only assume it was a 'weight' decision to get the emissions down a bit.  Certainly my E71 is louder inside than my E53 ever was.  There is insulation under the E71 floor if that helps.
:ant: Never anthropomorphise computers. They hate that.

User avatar
moggyboy
Member
Member
Posts: 96
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2016 12:21 am

Re: Noise!

Post by moggyboy » Sun Sep 04, 2016 10:54 pm

Yeah I suspected that as well.
I had a look on realoem to see what soundproofing parts were listed and there are plenty where you'd expect them to be but not everywhere and of course no indication as to the material or measure of its effectiveness.
Some are even marked as discontinued, door panels in particular, strange?
Anyway, on Tuesday i'm having extra soundproofing fitted where ever it is possible to get at within reason. Don't know if it will make any difference, only time will tell.
I've got a sound measuring app so I can do a before and after measurement although I have no way of knowing how accurate the app is.

Post Reply