[OC_F32]

Hey guys,

So I've been experiencing what I would describe as excessive road noise from my car. The sound reminds me of my 2009 VW Jetta, tires out of balance and super worn. I've noticed it for a while now and feel like it started happening (or I started hearing it) a thousand miles before I changed my tires out. At that time, I assumed it was the tires but when I replaced them the problem persisted. The annoying droning sound starts around 25 mph and progressively gets louder until cruising speed of about 80mph. No change when coasting w/ transmission on neutral or turning left or right.

2015 F32
19" Staggered OEM 403s
Bridgestone S001 run flats
Front 32 PSI, Rear 35 PSI

Any experience with this or insight would be appreciated.

[HFW003]

These cars have always had excessive road noise.

I’m sure there would be a 100 threads in the topic.

AFAIK is comes down to lack of sound deadening etc.

[OC_F32]

Originally Posted by HFW003

These cars have always had excessive road noise.

I'm sure there would be a 100 threads in the topic.

AFAIK is comes down to lack of sound deadening etc.

The posts I was able to find were related to the F30. Couldn't find any on F32.

Looking for experience/insight into 4 series specifically.

[HFW003]

Originally Posted by OC_F32

The posts I was able to find were related to the F30. Couldn't find any on F32.

Looking for experience/insight into 4 series specifically.

For all intents and purposes it’s the same car!

[OC_F32]

Originally Posted by HFW003

For all intents and purposes it’s the same car!

Thanks. Assumed they were close just based on this combined forum. It's odd I never really seemed to notice it before. I'm really wondering if different tires will a noticeable difference.

[IK6SPEED]

Originally Posted by OC_F32

Hey guys,

So I've been experiencing what I would describe as excessive road noise from my car. The sound reminds me of my 2009 VW Jetta, tires out of balance and super worn. I've noticed it for a while now and feel like it started happening (or I started hearing it) a thousand miles before I changed my tires out. At that time, I assumed it was the tires but when I replaced them the problem persisted. The annoying droning sound starts around 25 mph and progressively gets louder until cruising speed of about 80mph. No change when coasting w/ transmission on neutral or turning left or right.

2015 F32
19" Staggered OEM 403s
Bridgestone S001 run flats
Front 32 PSI, Rear 35 PSI

Any experience with this or insight would be appreciated.

Wheel bearings?

Speed numbers are about right.

[OC_F32]

Originally Posted by IK6SPEED

Wheel bearings?

Speed numbers are about right.

Never considered that. Will do some research tonight and get it up on a jack tomorrow to check it out.

[IK6SPEED]

Originally Posted by OC_F32

Never considered that. Will do some research tonight and get it up on a jack tomorrow to check it out.

I had terrible noise in that speed range. Both rear wheel bearings were bad.

The things you eliminated (tires) and the sound with no changes coasting, turning etc makes it more likely that could be the issue.

Just repaired and major difference in the sound.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by OC_F32

Never considered that. Will do some research tonight and get it up on a jack tomorrow to check it out.

Remember that a clue to whether the source is tires or bearings, for tires, the sound will change on different road surface textures.

Does the sound level change when you drive on different road textures?

To illustrate, my typical drive includes varied road surfaces. My 5-series can vary from quite a lot of tire noise, to virtually silent on some sections of road.

Bearing noise would definitely show up on those quiet sections.

[KRS_SN]

if you have runflats change them asap. I swapped from Pirelli run flats to michelin ps4 and its night and day now.

[Billfitz]

72dBA at 75 MPH is about average. Mine measures 68dBA at 65 MPH, and it's as quiet as any car I've owned before. I can carry on conversations with passengers in the backseat without myself or them raising our voices. And I have run flats.
However, the dBA scale only measures the middle frequencies. It doesn't measure lows or highs, so you could have a car that measures 65dBA that's louder than one that measures 70dBA. Measured with the far more useful dBC scale the former might read 85dBC, the latter 80dBC. On average dBC should be about 10dB higher than dBA. If there's more of a differential that would indicated low and/or high frequency levels that are out of whack. Tire and road conditions would be examples of low frequency sources that might not register on the dBA scale, wind noise a high frequency source that might not register on the dBA scale.

[OC_F32]

Originally Posted by IK6SPEED

I had terrible noise in that speed range. Both rear wheel bearings were bad.

The things you eliminated (tires) and the sound with no changes coasting, turning etc makes it more likely that could be the issue.

Just repaired and major difference in the sound.

Appreciate the insight.

[OC_F32]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Remember that a clue to whether the source is tires or bearings, for tires, the sound will change on different road surface textures.

Does the sound level change when you drive on different road textures?

To illustrate, my typical drive includes varied road surfaces. My 5-series can vary from quite a lot of tire noise, to virtually silent on some sections of road.

Bearing noise would definitely show up on those quiet sections.

Thanks for the tips. There's a long stretch of freeway on the way to my office that's smooth asphalt. That 72db reading was taken on that section. There's definitely a difference on concrete sections, bridges and such.

From what I gather searching the wheel bearing discussions, it's not a DYI job I'm comfortable (or have the to tools) to manage myself. I'm hopeful to have answers or at least an idea of the cause this weekend.

[OC_F32]

Originally Posted by KRS_SN

if you have runflats change them asap. I swapped from Pirelli run flats to michelin ps4 and its night and day now.

The crappy part is I still have a solid 30k of wear left on these tires. Going to rule out the wheel bearing suggestions theory first. If that's not it, I suppose I could always just upgrade and sell these tires.

[OC_F32]

I had an opportunity to work on the car yesterday. After a bit of research online and YouTube (this forum wasn't working for some reason), I spent some time on the road specifically evaluating the sound at different speeds and turns.

The results were no different than what I experienced under typical driving conditions - noise increases and decreases with speed, no change while turning in either direction. I also jacked up each corner and gave the wheel a good spin. Two front wheels were uber smooth. Virtually no noise, brakes hardly sounded l Ike they're were pads on. The rears were about the same. Again a corner up at a time, car in neutral and it felt very much like I would expect. I had some resistance from the differential but nothing alarming by way of sound or feel. No "play", grinding, sloppiness from any wheel. And I thought the undercarriage, with the exception of a coupe of scrapes, looked pretty darn clean.

I'll do some more research on bearings and noise. Will also check out tire discussions. If I don't come up with anything I may take it in to get checked out.

Any other thought or suggestions are appreciated.

[KRS_SN]

another thing to consider is your own hearing. I have mild hearing loss but paradoxically it increases my sensitivity to tyre roar!
I had only done 10k miles on my pirelli rfts but swapping them to michelin pilot sport 4 has absolutely truly been great. Do it and dump your current tyres. money well spent.

[OC_F32]

Originally Posted by KRS_SN

another thing to consider is your own hearing. I have mild hearing loss but paradoxically it increases my sensitivity to tyre roar!
I had only done 10k miles on my pirelli rfts but swapping them to michelin pilot sport 4 has absolutely truly been great. Do it and dump your current tyres. money well spent.

I sort of thought that. Had the girl in the car before and had to point it out to her. Definitely may be my sensitivity.

[OC_F32]

Originally Posted by OC_F32

I sort of thought that. Had the girl in the car before and had to point it out to her. Definitely may be my sensitivity.

Had the car looked at. The issue turned out to be the rear driver side wheel bearing. It's been replaced and the dB registers at around 66 in the cabin now. Thought I'd give an update for those interested.

[agentorange]

Originally Posted by OC_F32

Had the car looked at. The issue turned out to be the rear driver side wheel bearing. It's been replaced and the dB registers at around 66 in the cabin now. Thought I'd give an update for those interested.

That's interesting. I skimmed through the thread but didn't spot where you stated the total mileage. I'll have to listen to mine again later this week.

My F30 seems very road noisy after driving my ML 350. One thing I have noticed is if the Pirelli P7 runflats go a couple of PSI under the noise is much reduced. No clue what that is about except the ride height is subtlety changed. Some folk in Europe have reported issues with the under body covers drumming due to airflow at certain speeds. Mine sounds like that. Maybe I should get my local indy guy to remove the covers for a week.

[Onizukachan]

Originally Posted by OC_F32

Had the car looked at. The issue turned out to be the rear driver side wheel bearing. It's been replaced and the dB registers at around 66 in the cabin now. Thought I'd give an update for those interested.

Thanks for returning to report the solution, will certainly help others!

[IK6SPEED]

Originally Posted by OC_F32

Had the car looked at. The issue turned out to be the rear driver side wheel bearing. It's been replaced and the dB registers at around 66 in the cabin now. Thought I'd give an update for those interested.

So I was correct, lol.

[OC_F32]

Originally Posted by agentorange

That's interesting. I skimmed through the thread but didn't spot where you stated the total mileage. I'll have to listen to mine again later this week.

My F30 seems very road noisy after driving my ML 350. One thing I have noticed is if the Pirelli P7 runflats go a couple of PSI under the noise is much reduced. No clue what that is about except the ride height is subtlety changed. Some folk in Europe have reported issues with the under body covers drumming due to airflow at certain speeds. Mine sounds like that. Maybe I should get my local indy guy to remove the covers for a week.

I had around 58k miles on it when I started hearing the noise.