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View Poll Results: I am experiencing a drone noise
Yes 49 52.13%
No 45 47.87%
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      06-07-2011, 10:25 AM   #45
EmmDrei
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No aggression on my end. I just don't get why people buy a performance car and then complain about the obvious. And I especially don't get the "I have a problem, so let's start a web crusade" approach. The farthest I have driven in a day so far were approx. 600km. No problem. My wife sitting next to me. Her talking to me, me to her, her sleeping when she got tired. Btw she loves the sound inside.

Why I care? I'll tell you. The last time I saw a similar campaign start, it resulted in the DCT software of my M3 being updated (without anyone asking me) after complaints about the kick in the rear thanks to the additional momentum while upshifting. The gearbox was never as much fun afterwards as it originally was. No, I don't want my 1M pacified, thanks very much.
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      06-07-2011, 11:31 AM   #46
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Drone = subjective.
But there are more people who do exprecienes a drone in the 1M///, then the number of people who don't.
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      06-07-2011, 01:37 PM   #47
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Hi guys,

It seems that not all cars are the same, as people are reporting varying degrees of drone from none to really terrible and mine is in the really terrible slot from 2300 to 2600 rpm under very light load. Accelerating through that range, the sound is actually quieter and I don't hear the drone, but you can't be accelerating all the time.

It's a pity that those lucky ones who don't have it or it's such that they don't mind, should brand the ones who do have it as a bunch of cry-babies complaining about a bit of noise.

My car is booked in to an exhaust specialist on the 14th for them to sort it out.
I have told them I want a louder (yes, LOUDER) amd more meaningful exhaust but without this damned unpleasant drone. I want something that will have me winding the windows down just to hear it. I think the 1M is too quiet about what it can do.

Even if the dealer gets on about the warranty thing this drone will have to go and I will post the result when it's done.
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      06-07-2011, 02:12 PM   #48
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johnsfb View Post
Hi guys,

It seems that not all cars are the same, as people are reporting varying degrees of drone from none to really terrible and mine is in the really terrible slot from 2300 to 2600 rpm under very light load. Accelerating through that range, the sound is actually quieter and I don't hear the drone, but you can't be accelerating all the time.

It's a pity that those lucky ones who don't have it or it's such that they don't mind, should brand the ones who do have it as a bunch of cry-babies complaining about a bit of noise.

My car is booked in to an exhaust specialist on the 14th for them to sort it out.
I have told them I want a louder (yes, LOUDER) amd more meaningful exhaust but without this damned unpleasant drone. I want something that will have me winding the windows down just to hear it. I think the 1M is too quiet about what it can do.

Even if the dealer gets on about the warranty thing this drone will have to go and I will post the result when it's done.
I'm with you all the way - and really looking forward to your findings next week.
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      06-07-2011, 03:50 PM   #49
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johnsfb View Post
Hi guys,

It seems that not all cars are the same, as people are reporting varying degrees of drone from none to really terrible and mine is in the really terrible slot from 2300 to 2600 rpm under very light load. Accelerating through that range, the sound is actually quieter and I don't hear the drone, but you can't be accelerating all the time.

It's a pity that those lucky ones who don't have it or it's such that they don't mind, should brand the ones who do have it as a bunch of cry-babies complaining about a bit of noise.

My car is booked in to an exhaust specialist on the 14th for them to sort it out.
I have told them I want a louder (yes, LOUDER) amd more meaningful exhaust but without this damned unpleasant drone. I want something that will have me winding the windows down just to hear it. I think the 1M is too quiet about what it can do.

Even if the dealer gets on about the warranty thing this drone will have to go and I will post the result when it's done.

Totally agree John, but is there an aftermarket exhaust available? I didn't think there was anything out yet?
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      06-07-2011, 04:07 PM   #50
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This is a high performance car. It is not optimized to drive 70MPH in 6th gear. If you don't like the sound in 6th gear, downshift to 5th or even 4th. The sound will change and you will have more fun besides.

In my experience, every aftermarket exhaust will be noisier than the stock. That's what they are designed to do.

If you want to cruise in silence at 70, this is not the car for you. I love the sound and feel of this car at any speed. No complaints here.
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      06-07-2011, 04:59 PM   #51
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For those who havent experienced this drone, or can tolerate it...fine...quit knocking on the folks who does.
the problem with the drone is its very unexpected...it goes from quiet to loud drone to quiet.
I've never experienced this type of drone in my previous cars (with loud exhaust)

I'm coming from a loud racecar and many loud street cars...and i can tolerate the drone, in fact i want the car louder!

I now have about 250miles on the car, and i cannot replicate the drone anymore. Maybe i'm lucky maybe it'll come back, but its fine with me...just curious if there is a problem with the 'hardware'.
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      06-07-2011, 06:45 PM   #52
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AW 1M View Post
This is a high performance car. It is not optimized to drive 70MPH in 6th gear. If you don't like the sound in 6th gear, downshift to 5th or even 4th...... If you want to cruise in silence at 70, this is not the car for you.....
Come on now, that is just ridiculous! That is EXACTLY what 6th gear is for! It's not like you will be using 6th on the track. Many 'high performance' cars as you put it, don't have drone. Exhausts can be tuned in order to avoid drone in that cruising sweet spot and still maintain high flow and an aggressive sound. This is why Eisenmann spends months on RD to get the right sound without the dreaded drone before they release it to the public for sale, while other companies just spit something out in order to sell it first.

The M3 even has drone, but you have to really look for it(below 2.2k RPM if you short shift and light load) and is easily avoided in 6th gear. When I was shopping for an after market exhaust for my E90M3, I wanted it to be louder than the OE exhaust but no drone was a must! For now, I will reserve judgement until I get my car, but I feel like there will be after market options that will eliminate this so I am not too worried about it.
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      06-07-2011, 08:18 PM   #53
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ///Metak View Post
Come on now, that is just ridiculous! That is EXACTLY what 6th gear is for! It's not like you will be using 6th on the track. Many 'high performance' cars as you put it, don't have drone. Exhausts can be tuned in order to avoid drone in that cruising sweet spot and still maintain high flow and an aggressive sound. This is why Eisenmann spends months on RD to get the right sound without the dreaded drone before they release it to the public for sale, while other companies just spit something out in order to sell it first.

Agree. I wonder if given the choice, say if a drone was an optional extra with the car, how many would happily would take it? "Would sir like the optional drone? It is tuned to highway cruising speed." "Oh yes please."


Quote:
Originally Posted by johnsfb View Post
Hi guys,

It seems that not all cars are the same, as people are reporting varying degrees of drone from none to really terrible and mine is in the really terrible slot from 2300 to 2600 rpm under very light load. Accelerating through that range, the sound is actually quieter and I don't hear the drone, but you can't be accelerating all the time.

It's a pity that those lucky ones who don't have it or it's such that they don't mind, should brand the ones who do have it as a bunch of cry-babies complaining about a bit of noise.

My car is booked in to an exhaust specialist on the 14th for them to sort it out.
I have told them I want a louder (yes, LOUDER) amd more meaningful exhaust but without this damned unpleasant drone. I want something that will have me winding the windows down just to hear it. I think the 1M is too quiet about what it can do.

Even if the dealer gets on about the warranty thing this drone will have to go and I will post the result when it's done.
Look forward to your results. Mine seems to fall into the annoying category with a drone zone in 6th around the 2100 - 2400 rpm range most prominent.

It amazes me that those without a 1M feel qualified to comment on this issue. Some drones are tolerable whilst others are just plain irritating. I've had plenty of cars and bikes with modified exhausts; some droned some didn't. The 1M is a great car and does all I expected of it however the drone is inexcusable for the simple reasons that it is annoyingly intrusive and more importantly, this is a BMW. Not some amateur home built effort. Why the engineers, with all of the resources of BMW, couldn't refine this exhaust to eliminate a drone is a question worth an answer.
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      06-07-2011, 09:12 PM   #54
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gazz View Post
Agree. I wonder if given the choice, say if a drone was an optional extra with the car, how many would happily would take it? "Would sir like the optional drone? It is tuned to highway cruising speed." "Oh yes please."



No one would, but if you said drone adds HP, or you can opt for the quieter exhaust with less HP output because its more restrictive... now how many would opt for drone?

Every car I have owned started some sort of drone when the exhaust was opened up. Did I like it? Usually no, would I go back?? Emphatically no, not after the gains I received, plus I think my MPG increased. Oh ya add to that the drone exhaust sounds better at all the other RPMs and gears when its not droning.

Adding power has side effects.
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      06-07-2011, 09:16 PM   #55
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gazz View Post
Agree. I wonder if given the choice, say if a drone was an optional extra with the car, how many would happily would take it? "Would sir like the optional drone? It is tuned to highway cruising speed." "Oh yes please."




Look forward to your results. Mine seems to fall into the annoying category with a drone zone in 6th around the 2100 - 2400 rpm range most prominent.

It amazes me that those without a 1M feel qualified to comment on this issue. Some drones are tolerable whilst others are just plain irritating. I've had plenty of cars and bikes with modified exhausts; some droned some didn't. The 1M is a great car and does all I expected of it however the drone is inexcusable for the simple reasons that it is annoyingly intrusive and more importantly, this is a BMW. Not some amateur home built effort. Why the engineers, with all of the resources of BMW, couldn't refine this exhaust to eliminate a drone is a question worth an answer.
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      06-07-2011, 09:18 PM   #56
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ///Metak View Post
Come on now, that is just ridiculous! That is EXACTLY what 6th gear is for! It's not like you will be using 6th on the track. Many 'high performance' cars as you put it, don't have drone. Exhausts can be tuned in order to avoid drone in that cruising sweet spot and still maintain high flow and an aggressive sound. This is why Eisenmann spends months on RD to get the right sound without the dreaded drone before they release it to the public for sale, while other companies just spit something out in order to sell it first.
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      06-07-2011, 09:36 PM   #57
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Papethova View Post
No one would, but if you said drone adds HP, or you can opt for the quieter exhaust with less HP output because its more restrictive... now how many would opt for drone?

Every car I have owned started some sort of drone when the exhaust was opened up. Did I like it? Usually no, would I go back?? Emphatically no, not after the gains I received, plus I think my MPG increased. Oh ya add to that the drone exhaust sounds better at all the other RPMs and gears when its not droning.

Adding power has side effects.
I agree. If BMW said "we can eliminate the drone but you will lose power and / or the exhaust note", I would say leave it as it is. Do you have a 1M? If yes then you are qualified to comment on the particular drone this car produces as you would have experienced it. If not then you are only making a general comment about exhaust sounds not pertinent to the 1M's drone.

You seem to assume that you can only have a performance exhaust with a drone or a non performance exhaust without a drone. There are performance exhausts that produce more power and more sound without a drone. Why can't BMW do this? As I said, if there is a technical reason why they had to compromise with the exhaust then so can I.

But I doubt it.
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      06-07-2011, 09:43 PM   #58
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Excuse my ignorance but what does that symbol mean?
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      06-07-2011, 09:47 PM   #59
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ///Metak View Post
Come on now, that is just ridiculous! That is EXACTLY what 6th gear is for! It's not like you will be using 6th on the track.
I disagree. I think the engineers picked a 6th gear ratio either for cruising the German Autobahns at speeds significantly higher than 70 or for maximum speed.

I find one of the joys of driving a manual transmission is to find the right gear for each situation. I have seen some people who run through the gears as fast as possible to get to the top gear and leave it there. I would recommend those people get an automatic transmission.
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      06-07-2011, 09:48 PM   #60
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gazz View Post
Excuse my ignorance but what does that symbol mean?
"Word"

It's an American colloquialism that means "I agree."
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      06-07-2011, 10:13 PM   #61
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Originally Posted by ///1M View Post
"Word"

It's an American colloquialism that means "I agree."
I'll reciprocate with an Aussie colloquialism - Good on ya mate.
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      06-07-2011, 10:21 PM   #62
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please record the drone.
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      06-07-2011, 11:31 PM   #63
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gazz View Post
I agree. If BMW said "we can eliminate the drone but you will lose power and / or the exhaust note", I would say leave it as it is. Do you have a 1M? If yes then you are qualified to comment on the particular drone this car produces as you would have experienced it. If not then you are only making a general comment about exhaust sounds not pertinent to the 1M's drone.

You seem to assume that you can only have a performance exhaust with a drone or a non performance exhaust without a drone. There are performance exhausts that produce more power and more sound without a drone. Why can't BMW do this? As I said, if there is a technical reason why they had to compromise with the exhaust then so can I.

But I doubt it.
My 1M is not here yet... my 135 has a bad drone at a particular RPM in a particular gear. I cannot now tell you which RPM or which gear as I have forgotten since getting used to the drone over the past 3 years. Plus, I shift out of it, or punch the throttle. I guarantee you that my drone is worse than any 1Ms, its even worse than the drone in one of my Vipers.

I have yet to see or go from OEM to less restrictive exhaust and not experience some drone. Some worse than others but always some drone.

Anyone not having aftermarket exhaust before and getting into the 1M may have expected something similar to a 135 but deeper in note. They werent pleasantly surprised. Ill admit, I didnt anticipate a drone in the 1M, and would have been surprised had it not been for these threads/posts. That however is different from design flaw, or defective product.

I could be wrong and we will eventually find out, but I think one or two legitimate complaints brought the aforementioned customers out of the woodwork.
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      06-08-2011, 12:52 AM   #64
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Originally Posted by ///Metak View Post
Come on now, that is just ridiculous! That is EXACTLY what 6th gear is for! It's not like you will be using 6th on the track.
I disagree. I think the engineers picked a 6th gear ratio either for cruising the German Autobahns at speeds significantly higher than 70 or for maximum speed.

I find one of the joys of driving a manual transmission is to find the right gear for each situation. I have seen some people who run through the gears as fast as possible to get to the top gear and leave it there. I would recommend those people get an automatic transmission.
Based on what you just said, I am starting to realize there is no point in debating this further with you.

BOT, if this drone is as bad as most have asserted, I think the reason is BMW engineers might have been pressed for time and didn't have the luxury to test various exhaust designs for a few months. This car had to go to production asap!
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      06-08-2011, 01:06 AM   #65
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ///Metak View Post
This is why Eisenmann spends months on RD to get the right sound without the dreaded drone before they release it to the public for sale, while other companies just spit something out in order to sell it first.
My E46 has a terrible Drone FROM an EISENMANN exhaust!!
The metallic reverberation in the cabin is horrible.. Three layers of Dynamat extreme in the trunk and still no relief..
I am finaly switching to the OEM performance muffler as the drone is causing me headaches (I already have some hearing loss from Iraq/Afghan/Panama...) So I think it just has to do with individual CAR harmonics.. Not every Eisenmann exhaust causes Drone, so not every 1M will have it either..
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      06-08-2011, 02:59 AM   #66
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Quote:
Originally Posted by johnsfb View Post
It's a pity that those lucky ones who don't have it or it's such that they don't mind, should brand the ones who do have it as a bunch of cry-babies complaining about a bit of noise.
And that surprises you? The thread starter had how many miles on his car when he started the thread? Stick the key in and start whining. Yippieyeah! Mine doesn't just stand around, I drive it. That's why I bought it. And honestly... I think, I've been through all the rev range in all the gears often enough by now. I've driven a total of four 1Ms (including my own) and exactly NONE had a "drone problem" non less a "syndrome". They all droned in the same rev range and I am sure, that that was meant to be and is part of the sound design. Actually, I think I have even recorded the effect. See this video, go to 1:50 and you hear how the sound changes. And it could be just about the rev range in question. The cars I have driven so far, including my own, ALL sound exactly like that. If your cars are different, i.e. louder, more annoying, then where is the problem to record it? Three quarters of the 1M owners probably have Iphones or Pods. The video I have linked to was made using my Ipod Touch. So yes, you're right, I lack compasion.
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Last edited by EmmDrei; 06-08-2011 at 03:20 AM.. Reason: Corrected a typo
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