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      10-17-2013, 05:25 PM   #1
chibbell
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Question Need help reducing road noise

Looking for some feedback from more knowledgeable members.

I picked up my car used and have loved it for about a year of daily driving. My only real issue is that I'm picking up 85-99 dB in cabin on the highway. I suspect that has a lot to do with two factors.

1. The previous owner removed the front wheel liners. Maybe to prevent rubbing?
2. It has 20" Vossen CV3s with 285/30 in the rear and 245/35 in the front. (Michelin PS A/S+ in case it matters)

Do you guys think replacing the wheel liners will help dramatically? I suspect it will help quite a bit but I've been wrong in the past. I don't have a direct comparison to make.

What about changing to 19" 220s with thicker rubber? Any recommendation on tire size and type?

Or should I just move out of Portland? I feel like they make the roads loud to encourage us all to bike to work. Maybe I should just give up and get a Lincoln and turn in my man card?
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      10-17-2013, 06:23 PM   #2
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Definitely replacing the fender liners will help. I have never heard of anybody removing them. Not a good idea. Fresh tires will also have an impact. Lastly ditching the 20's would be a good idea.
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      10-17-2013, 06:26 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slicer View Post
Definitely replacing the fender liners will help. I have never heard of anybody removing them. Not a good idea. Fresh tires will also have an impact. Lastly ditching the 20's would be a good idea.
every part of this is spot on
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      10-17-2013, 06:33 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by slicer View Post
Definitely replacing the fender liners will help. I have never heard of anybody removing them. Not a good idea. Fresh tires will also have an impact. Lastly ditching the 20's would be a good idea.
Pretty much the advice I suspected. Nice to see some confirmation before I spend the money though.

Anyone know what their typical road noise is? What's your loudest? Doesn't have to be scientific. I just use a cheap iPhone app to get an approximation.

Coming from a 370z I'm used to the noise. I'd just prefer to not deal with it anymore. On a glass smooth road its nearly silent.
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      10-17-2013, 06:36 PM   #5
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I don't have a decibel meter but I have noticed a big difference from tire to tire. Extreme performance category tires tend to be the loudest.
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      10-17-2013, 06:40 PM   #6
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Any judgement on which you thought was the tamest? I would have thought the Micheline Pilot Sport+ All Seasons were fairly docile and thus quieter.

I think step 1 is for me to get those wheel liners back. They seem fairly cheap as far as bimmer parts go. I do expect a headache of multiple orders when I don't get all the connectors or fasteners or something though.

Then I'm sure to have rubbing issue but will at least get to see if it's quieter or not.
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      10-17-2013, 06:48 PM   #7
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I agree that starting with liners is the best choice. You will probably have some rubbing in the front when you turn the wheel with your tire size.

Michelin PSS are my favorite street tire but honestly I don't find them to be super quiet. They are more quiet than Hankook RS3's and Yokohama AD08's. I would not ever recommend all season tires for an M3 but that's not due to noise concerns. It's a performance car that warrants performance tires. All seasons are for Toyota Camry's.
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      10-17-2013, 06:53 PM   #8
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Ah, the wonderful aggregate road surfaces around here. I know what you mean. Stock size tires on 18 or 19's are your best bet in reducing some of the noise. Michelin PS2's and PSS's have less road noise than the Conti's and Pirelli's I've had in the past. You're going to have to live with some of that road drone no matter what...unless you decide to go green.
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      10-17-2013, 07:08 PM   #9
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Thanks for the help guys. I'm probably being a knee-jerk about the All Seasons. I imagine I'll go PS2's or PSS's. I just want to smack the previous owner over the head for removing the liners.

Actually I should smack myself for not noticing. I feel like I'm riding on monster truck tires. Though they certainly attract attention from the jail bait at Dutch Bros.

Denk - I might see you around Tigard as its where I live. Driving I5 to downtown and back every day is a bit hellish.

I've considered going with 18's both for the low weight and for dealing with the noise. Though I suspect I'd also want to drop her down some.
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      10-17-2013, 07:18 PM   #10
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my car came with Pilot Sport AS installed (bought used), I swapped to PS2's, they are noticeably quieter at all speeds in regards to road noise, especially on black-top.
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      10-18-2013, 09:24 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chibbell View Post
Thanks for the help guys. I'm probably being a knee-jerk about the All Seasons. I imagine I'll go PS2's or PSS's. I just want to smack the previous owner over the head for removing the liners.

Actually I should smack myself for not noticing. I feel like I'm riding on monster truck tires. Though they certainly attract attention from the jail bait at Dutch Bros.

Denk - I might see you around Tigard as its where I live. Driving I5 to downtown and back every day is a bit hellish.

I've considered going with 18's both for the low weight and for dealing with the noise. Though I suspect I'd also want to drop her down some.
I used to work at OHSU and loved the Terwilliger curves on light days, but yeah noisy as hell. The newly paved Banfield is smooth as glass, too much traffic though. See you around!
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      11-07-2013, 12:09 AM   #12
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Had my mechanic look over it just to get his opinion on what I'm missing (it was in for battery and some other things). Way more parts than I expected. About $500 - $600 in plastic plus all the fasteners I'll need. What a PITA.
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      11-07-2013, 07:53 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chibbell View Post
Any judgement on which you thought was the tamest? I would have thought the Micheline Pilot Sport+ All Seasons were fairly docile and thus quieter.

I think step 1 is for me to get those wheel liners back. They seem fairly cheap as far as bimmer parts go. I do expect a headache of multiple orders when I don't get all the connectors or fasteners or something though.

Then I'm sure to have rubbing issue but will at least get to see if it's quieter or not.
The AS+ is a directional tire. Tires of that type are prone to getting noisier over time if they are not rotated front to rear. With the staggered sizes on the M3, that is obviously not an option, so they could easily have picked up a wear pattern that makes them loud.

When you replace the tires, choose something with an asymmetric tread. The plainer and straighter looking the pattern, the quieter it usually is.
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      11-07-2013, 03:55 PM   #14
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Thanks for the info.
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      11-09-2013, 10:49 PM   #15
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Definitely replace the wheel liner, you don't want all the road degree to shoot up in there
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      11-09-2013, 10:58 PM   #16
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Weird how he can run without the plastic liners as the TPMS receiving unit is mounted onto the liner itself
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      11-09-2013, 11:49 PM   #17
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Reinstall the liners and go for quieter tires on 19 inch wheels.
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      11-10-2013, 01:30 AM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wei718 View Post
Weird how he can run without the plastic liners as the TPMS receiving unit is mounted onto the liner itself
Interestingly they work just fine. Had a low air warning just a week or so ago and it was accurate.
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      11-10-2013, 02:43 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chibbell View Post
Looking for some feedback from more knowledgeable members.

I picked up my car used and have loved it for about a year of daily driving. My only real issue is that I'm picking up 85-99 dB in cabin on the highway. I suspect that has a lot to do with two factors.

1. The previous owner removed the front wheel liners. Maybe to prevent rubbing?
2. It has 20" Vossen CV3s with 285/30 in the rear and 245/35 in the front. (Michelin PS A/S+ in case it matters)

Do you guys think replacing the wheel liners will help dramatically? I suspect it will help quite a bit but I've been wrong in the past. I don't have a direct comparison to make.

What about changing to 19" 220s with thicker rubber? Any recommendation on tire size and type?

Or should I just move out of Portland? I feel like they make the roads loud to encourage us all to bike to work. Maybe I should just give up and get a Lincoln and turn in my man card?
I find 19" 220s with stock rubber to be far noisier than my 20" wheels. It could be the Michelins, I always found their tires to be noisy.

The problem is the tire size in the front is friggin' enormous (rear is kind of tall, too), which is why he had to remove the liners. Is the car dropped at all?

Replacing the liners and changing to a more reasonable tire size (245/30 or 255/30 up front) will help a lot. I've been very happy with a 255/30 up front and 305/25 in the rear. Hankook V12s, not an amazeballs performance tire (then again you don't buy 20s for performance), but cheap, relatively durable, and quite comfortable on the street.
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