Solved: Road Noise & Front Wind Noise

Through the last few months, I have been watching and reading up the various posts regarding the many ways many of you all have attempted, as well as the various kits available online, to reduce if not eliminate road noise and wind noise from the Model3. After reviewing all those posts and review of the kits, I figured that since none of you have been able to achieve that elusive goal, let alone even come close to reducing the noise, made me ask the question: What are we missing?

So as I kept driving my M3, I attempted to focus on finding those missing sources ie where is the noise emanating into the cabin from. Turns out they are the 4 corners of the cabin ie the A-Pillars and C-pillars. More specifically, the A-Pillars for wind noise and C-Pillars for road noise.

#1 - The solution for wind noise is the following - Z Weatherstrip down inside the leading edge of the front door, and foam block at the top triangle where the front fender, windshield and door meet.

Z-Weatherstrip

Foam at the junction

#2 - The solution for road noise is the following - 2" Fiber insulation behind the rear seat side panels that cover the rear wheel wells.

I hope this helps everyone who have been pursuing this goal. Thanks for all the contributions and many thanks to @XPsionic for his constant engagement and interest.

 

[mtndrew1]

Where did you tape? Can you post some pictures?

 

[enemji]

View attachment 918245

If you also put it down the door fender join, it will eliminate wind buffering at high speeds in windy conditions which is what the Z weather strip takes care of.

 

[enemji]

Yes we cannot wait

So I went ahead and ordered a decibel meter for this purpose. It is the Protmex 1-HT602A Sound Meter from amazon.

Initial results are in. Tires are Kinergy GT 18" at 41psi

City roads at 30mph - 62db

City roads at 45mph - 65db

Smooth new concrete highway - 66db

Rough worn concrete highway - 69db

As a reference, why don't you guys go ahead and measure your unmodified vehicles to compare?

 

[enemji]

Smooth new concrete highway - 66db

Rough worn concrete highway - 69db

As a reference, why don't you guys go ahead and measure your unmodified vehicles to compare?

View attachment 918262

Oops. I forgot to mention the highway speed

Smooth new concrete highway 80 mph - 66db

Rough worn concrete highway 80mph - 69db

 

[zoppp]

Impressive improvement. Single piece for the win!

Took some trial and error but followed your method and it worked.

I took a scan with polycam of the foam insert that I made, have it in stl, obj and fbx formats here for anyone that wants to make a template:

Fender Foam - Google Drive

drive.google.com

 

[XPsionic]

So I went ahead and ordered a decibel meter for this purpose. It is the Protmex 1-HT602A Sound Meter from amazon.

Initial results are in. Tires are Kinergy GT 18" at 41psi

City roads at 30mph - 62db

City roads at 45mph - 65db

Smooth new concrete highway - 66db

Rough worn concrete highway - 69db

As a reference, why don't you guys go ahead and measure your unmodified vehicles to compare?

View attachment 918262

You really need to remove all your foam and insulation and measure again, for science!

 

[ICE5891]

Next week I will record sound of my commute to have a data point when I pull the trigger on this ceramic fiber. I have a calibrated microphone UMIK-1 that I have used for my home sound system and is sitting on the shelves for a while, will be a good use for it.

 

[enemji]

Next week I will record sound of my commute to have a data point when I pull the trigger on this ceramic fiber. I have a calibrated microphone UMIK-1 that I have used for my home sound system and is sitting on the shelves for a while, will be a good use for it.

Perfect!

 

[enemji]

Yes we cannot wait

Smooth new concrete highway 80 mph - 66db

Rough worn concrete highway 80mph - 69db

 

[RedModel3]

Wow. Can't wait to see a video of someone doing this.

 

[zoppp]

Oops. I forgot to mention the highway speed

Smooth new concrete highway 80 mph - 66db

Rough worn concrete highway 80mph - 69db

It's likely most of us won't have access to high quality calibrated equipment like this. It might actually be better to use our own smart phones to measure noise and just state what phone was used and to pick some app that's available on both iOS and Android. That way we can get an idea of relatively how much better the noise suppression is. A calibrated db meter will give us an absolute picture but most of us lack the equipment.

 

[Joejoe247]

A DIY video on YouTube would be absolutely amazing. Really hoping someone can come up with one. Nothing fancy just a quick walk through.

 

[enemji]

It's likely most of us won't have access to high quality calibrated equipment like this. It might actually be better to use our own smart phones to measure noise and just state what phone was used and to pick some app that's available on both iOS and Android. That way we can get an idea of relatively how much better the noise suppression is. A calibrated db meter will give us an absolute picture but most of us lack the equipment.

My fear is that the built in phone microphone is probably designed to capture human voice…. I maybe wrong.

 

[citivolus]

I can’t wait to try this fix this weekend! Wonder if there’s a similar fix for the wind noise coming from my drivers window seal…

 

[zoppp]

My fear is that the built in phone microphone is probably designed to capture human voice…. I maybe wrong.

It might be better suited for voice but atleast we can rely on everyone having similar hardware for their measurements so we can get a relative picture between cars that have modifications and don't. You are correct that a calibrated dB meter will give a better picture on the absolute noise levels.

 

[Off Shore]

Thanks for this!

 

[enemji]

It might be better suited for voice but atleast we can rely on everyone having similar hardware for their measurements so we can get a relative picture between cars that have modifications and don't. You are correct that a calibrated dB meter will give a better picture on the absolute noise levels.

How Accurate Are These Smartphone Sound Measurement Apps? | Canadian Audiologist

The Official Publication of the Canadian Academy of Audiology

canadianaudiologist.ca

 

[Dkane]

Glad you made a thread with the solution, hopefully people searching with the right keywords will come across this and find it useful! Much easier than digging through 10 pages of discussions.

I just want to add that the foam used in #1 is Siless liner 157 4mm thickness dense closed cell PE foam, 18 sq ft should be enough. And for #2 the material used is Kaowool ceramic fiber fire insulation 1"x16"x48", cut to required size.

Thank you very much for this information

 

[Adam3]

I ordered everything

Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B75PD8B?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Amazon.com

 

[CMPT PAD]

Through the last few months, I have been watching and reading up the various posts regarding the many ways many of you all have attempted, as well as the various kits available online, to reduce if not eliminate road noise and wind noise from the Model3. After reviewing all those posts and review of the kits, I figured that since none of you have been able to achieve that elusive goal, let alone even come close to reducing the noise, made me ask the question: What are we missing?

So as I kept driving my M3, I attempted to focus on finding those missing sources ie where is the noise emanating into the cabin from. Turns out they are the 4 corners of the cabin ie the A-Pillars and C-pillars. More specifically, the A-Pillars for wind noise and C-Pillars for road noise.

#1 - The solution for wind noise is the following - Z Weatherstrip down inside the leading edge of the front door, and foam block at the top triangle where the front fender, windshield and door meet.

Z-Weatherstrip
View attachment 917275

Foam at the junction
View attachment 917276



#2 - The solution for road noise is the following - 2" Fiber insulation behind the rear seat side panels that cover the rear wheel wells.
View attachment 917277

View attachment 917284

I hope this helps everyone who have been pursuing this goal. Thanks for all the contributions and many thanks to @XPsionic for his constant engagement and interest.

Thanks for info. Greatly appreciated
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