[bmwak]

Nearly two weeks after owning my 440i I decided to stand in front of the car whilst it was idling on cold start and wasn't impressived with how clicky it sounds from the drivers side front - I did open the bonnet and it sounds like the belt tensioners from the front of the engine.

Is this a normal trait of the x40i. I don't have another to compare it to.

[bmwak]

Looks like after watching this video (albiet its a M140i) its normal?

[stefan4]

I believe it's entirely normal,

[Lux700]

Had an E36 328i Coupe, for eleven years - it's normal. I was told by the then genius equivalent, that it was the injectors!

[225]

Yes it's normal. other end of the car has a much better sound!

[elstoof]

Try listening to the N20. It gets less noticeable after a few miles

[Alscoob]

Amazes me in these days how noisy some 'new' engines are and you would think with all the new modern technology they would be better.

A long while ago I had a 2001 Mitusbishi Galant with the 2.6V6 engine and you could stand next to it an didn't know if it was running !!

Today the father in Law still has it, now with 72K miles and if the bonnet is open and the engine running you have to listen really hard to hear it !

[Sasquartch]

Agree, BMW engines seem very noisy, mainly injector noise it seems

A friends 1.4 Hyundai i30 is almost silent at idle by comparison.

It seems there's a price to pay for power and performance with good economy (and probably emissions regs too)

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by Sasquartch

Agree, BMW engines seem very noisy, mainly injector noise it seems

A friends 1.4 Hyundai i30 is almost silent at idle by comparison.

It seems there's a price to pay for power and performance with good economy (and probably emissions regs too)

I agree, performance and economy influence the engine sounds.

We may like the idea of almost silent engines, but do we want to go back to less efficient engines, DI and the high pressures being used do come at the cost of extra noise in many engines.

The B58 does seem to have a louder idle and low rpm soundtrack than the N55, virtually no injector noise from my N55 engine.

It is not just the current BMW DI engines that can have prominent injector noise. I recall engines as early as the 1990 era, like Ford in the first Mondeo had noisy inlet manifold 'multi-point' injectors, as did the Honda TC engines of the period. My Honda 1.6 TC sounded very diesel like at idle.

It is also one reason diesels are so noisy at low rpm. Many of the older IDI diesels were quite quiet, by comparison to the more efficient DI engines that followed. BMW's 2.0d ED engines (in particular) can be a right bag of nails at low rpm due to the injector strategy and phasing.

[moff]

You're standing at the wrong end

My C63 sounded rubbish from under the bonnet too, but epic from the rear!!

[Lux700]

My brother-in-law has a Tesla, now that's quiet!