New BMW M5 fakes its engine noise for your pleasure

Yup, that's what happens when you let the government decide what's good for you.

Kai

 

Didn't the Z4 do something similar? I thought the piped the engine through the cabin through some sort of sub-woofer.

 

"Fake, Fake, Fake, Fake!" Elaine's reply to Seinfeld's question on whether or not she faked orgasims.

 

Weak... I guess that's what we get after decades of asking for "more quiet" and more luxury. Beware of what you wish for.

 

Isn't this what Aston Martins have been doing for years...?

Hmm, I don't know if I like it or not, M5 is one of my most favorite cars... Don't like the direction M-cars are taking

 

A lot of car companis do this, i know 100% Land Rover does it on the RR Sports...

 

Jumped the Shark. *ahem*

 

Don't most new sports cars have "tuned" exhausts? I think noises that come out the back of my California and 8C are fake.

 

It's one thing to tune the exhaust and induction noise, but it seems God awful to pump the sound through your speakers. That has to be the most useless bit of engineering ever.

 

What do you mean by "fake"?

Who wants to hear a car straight from the headers???

BMW is "running a tape" to simulate the sound.


Kai

 

Fake? No.
Engineered? Yes.

The sounds coming from your Cali or 8C are very much "real." They are coming directly from the exhaust pipes...not the loudspeakers.

It's quite sad that M is taking this direction.

 

Okay they are engineered to sound nice and yes it is sad that BMW needs to pump sound in through the speakers. I wonder if you can turn it off.

I had a 1991 M5 years ago and I loved the unique sound of the inline six. It wasn't loud nor throaty but it sounded authentic.

 

Yea, it did. I think they used tubes to run the engine sound into the cabin. Look for this kind of thing to continue with hybrid cars etc. Who will want to hear the whine of an electric motor?

 

The Mustang GT has the same thing - a "sound tube" that runs from a point on the intake to the interior.

This is different - it's a digital representation of engine noise pumped through the audio system.

 

Both are mildly embarrassing.

 

Agreed, a sound tube, ala Jaguar, is a little chickensh!t but passable; an elecrtonic synthesis is puke-o-genic.

 

But, sadly, in this New Age Digital environment, entirely acceptable to the new class of buyers who seem to be endlessly fascinated with technology.

However, I am admittedly Old School and still bristle at the idea of things as benign as power-adders...