Guest

i dont know where you guys are getting all this - i dont think it sounds anywhere near a v8 or even a straight six. it sounds diesel. a very, very quiet diesel, but a diesel nonetheless. and its true that the rattling is much much quieter above 2000 rpm - but its still there.

those who are curious and considering - take it for a spin at your dealer - but be warned, engine/exhaust sounds aside - it is an unbelievable car....

stu

Totally agree with "guest" above.
Are some of you mad?
These diesels are wonderful driving machines.
And they are a whole lot more affordable than M3's and 545's ( fuel + depreciation aspects).
BUT they don't sound nice. The sound clips kindly posted above prove my point .Yep they may be quiet in the cabin and refined ,,,, BUT you would have to be insane to actually like the sound in preference to a petrol sound.

FJPM

It is strange that this very diesel noise is only around 1500 rpm and at low load

garehaan

I love the sound of the R6 diesel, get into a four pot Benz or worse a Golf TDI after listening to the symphony of your BMW R6 and you'll know what i mean!

I love the sound and in fact I hardly use my hifi-upgrade + ipod anymore because of the lovely sound of this specific oil-vessel. I even open my roof in narrow streets to listen to the fantastic growl of the engine.

And i'm not mad you know, it's just that for the past few hundred thousends of kilometers i drove MB and VW diesels.

BMW535d

Actually the 535d sounds a bit different than the 530d does.

Besides, the sound within the cabin is what matters the most, don't you think so?

I think the sound is pretty nice. The sound of a 545i (or 530i for that matter) is nicer ofcourse, but it also drinks a lot more gas.

Merv the Derv

The bmw 6 cylinder diesel engine from the outside sounds like a diesel engine. The 6 cylinders do help to smooth things out but nontheless its a diesel through and through.
Get inside, floor the accelerator and the sound is superb with no diesel sound. Only a bit of diesel clatter enters the cabin at low revs but nothing major.
The petrol engines may be smooth but diesel power delivery is unbeatable.
Turn the stereo up

ISUK

The 535d sounds totally different to the 530d. On the demo car I had the 535d engine did sound like a petrol on idle with none of the clatter of the 530d. I'm not sure if BMW have refined the latest engines in any way but it is moticeably better. Inside the car is a different matter though and I prefer the sound of the single turbo 530d but not the performance .

For what it's worth the four cylinder 2.0d in the E90 is a revelation. This has got to be one of the smoothest diesels I've ever driven full stop. BMW must have worked very hard on the refinement on this car because at anything other than a first gear pull away from standing still you cannot tell you are in a diesel it is that quiet. It actually makes driving a bit surreal as you are quickly doing over 100mph without realising. If it wasn't from the wind noise created by the new design of drip rail channel you'd swear you were only doing 60mph it's that fuss free.

andy535d

Didn't for one minute expect the 535d to sound like a petrol straight 6.

However as this will be my first derv I am pleased to hear it does have a nice note compared with some diesels.

As Merv says, the performance will, I'm sure, be more than enough compensation for any loss of growl and I can always turn Kylie up on the stereo (only joking about Kylie!!)

skaffa

530d is sure more harsh than 535d in noise wise. I noticed that after tuning 530d voise got deeper in acceleration between 2500-4000 rpm. At that range it's most clese to the petrol, but more mufled.

At idle speed sure can here that it's oil burner.

Skaffa

Flowerfred

Not until I can play DVD's on the I-drive screen..