A lot of luxury vehicles sit well below 2,000 RPMs at 80 mph. That's pretty hard to hear, and if you do hear it, a nice engine pur in the low-mid frequency range is pretty unobjectionable. Economy cars with coarser engines at higher RPMS are of course annoying.
That's all true.
As speeds increase, so does aerodynamic drag at the exponential rate (V^2) of speed. So getting precise exterior panel alignment and gaps just right (not just aerodynamic cross-section) plays a major role in mitigating highway noises.
Some automakers do that better than others:
Since driving my Model 3 3.5 years ago I have been a lot more attuned to (and annoyed by) cabin noise. Outside of the Lexus LS I have found complaints about almost everything I have driven. I suspect the faint motor whine at highway speed causes wind noise in EVs to have a sharper edge. I have also noticed serious low frequency noise from the EV SUVs. Instant and lasting ear pressure for me. Luxury ICE SUVs have it too, but to a much lesser extent. May be due to weight.
To be fair, all car interiors get noisier and creakier with time. Interior pieces (plastic, leather, metal, etc.) deform with wear and repeated temperature expansion/contraction cycles. So comparing ANY new car to the same make and model of a sample that has been on the road for a few years, you will find the new one to be quieter.
Except for the highway wind noise. That one manifests itself instantly, and unmistakably. And it's a major handicap for Model 3's.
I recently drove a G20 3-series (the latest model), and found it to be good - but not great in the wind noise department. My X3 was better, but again it had more low frequency noise. I suspect I'll never be happy without a Lexus land yacht! If only Lexus made EVs..
What has surprised me is that my F80 ///M3, which is not a quiet car by any definition, has turned out to be a quieter highway cruiser than Model 3. From day one of TM3P ownership. All due to the excessive wind noise in the latter.
Also curious to get your thoughts on i4 NVH? I do recall hearing the motor when passing concrete barriers, but other than that it was one of the quieter EVs at both low and high speed.
i4 is an appreciably heavier and quieter car, at any speed. It does have a somewhat silly "custom car sounds" option, but I did not play with it during the test drive. The BMW EV motor makes a different sound than that in the Model 3, and my ears were attuned to picking up new sounds during the drive. It wasn't intrusive, but it was something.
The adjustable suspension helps with dialing in the handling and comfort to your liking. The overall interior BMW quality is distinctly of higher grade than in Model 3. Everything is in the right place, and all surfaces you touch are of quality leather, not slippery plastic. Instrument cluster is present, and so is heads-up display (HUD).
To me, not everything was great with i4 interior. It suffers from the same over-obsession with software controls and has done away with key physical buttons: no HVAC or audio controls. iDrive is meah, and rear passenger area is more confining than even in Model 3 (which is borderline already). The view out of the front is also a bit constrained by the huge and extraneous hood rising over the dashboard (for no good reason).
Since my kids are growing and need more and more rear seat space, I don't think i4 is for me.
The fact that it's $10+K more than Model 3 is not helpful, although that number gets reduced significantly by the $7.5K Federal tax credit that still works for BMW.
Some more data points here:
HTH,
a