[Oksana]

Evening all

I’m shopping for a G30. The majority of my driving is on coarse/ surface dressed roads so primary aim is for a very quiet car.

Can anyone tell me if x-drive vs non xdrive makes any difference to road noise?
The reason i ask is I considered a G20 a while back and test drove an M340i xdrive back to back with a 330i non xdrive both with 19” wheels and the same tyres on the same roads. The 330i had considerably more road noise than the m340i. The only thing I could think of that was different between the two cars was the xdrive.

Today I test drove a 540i xdrive. Even with its 20” run flat tyres I found it quiet. However I wasn’t a fan of the steering and don’t need the power so thinking a 530i might be the better car for me. However I can’t find a 530i to drive locally but managed a quick test drive elsewhere but the road surfaces were billiard table smooth so couldn’t judge road noise.

I also see a lot of threads on G30 road noise. Some people say their car is really quiet with others saying their’s is unbearably noisy. I wonder if xdrive is a factor in the disparity.

[turbobeagle]

Interesting, I don’t think I’ve ever heard that xdrive causes more or less road noise. I seriously doubt it though. FWIW I have a 540i RWD and don’t consider road noise to be an issue. Wind noise is what I found surprising.

[AP]

I think the main source of noise are the tyres. You get some of that rare really smooth new tarmac and the car is incredibly quiet but the gravel type of road surface is a lot kore noisy

I've never picked up on drive being noisy at all

Non run flats may be potentially quieter? Others can comment on that

[r1cero]

If we exclude the possibility of bad wheel bearings, differential or any other moving part that may cause increased noise, I would agree that the tyres are the most probable reason for the noise difference.

With that being said, I can confirm that road noise at 100 mph is maybe even lower with my previous e60(rwd) than the g30(rwd). It's not a night and day difference but enough to notice it. I was thinking it was because of the sunroof on the g30, but then I saw here that many others had that complaint too.

[FrankW1029]

Originally Posted by AP

I think the main source of noise are the tyres. You get some of that rare really smooth new tarmac and the car is incredibly quiet but the gravel type of road surface is a lot kore noisy

I've never picked up on drive being noisy at all

Non run flats may be potentially quieter? Others can comment on that

Non run flat are significantly quieter. I just switched from the stock 19 with continental all-season run flat to 20 summer tire. The noise is also more apparent if you have performance run flat.

[AP]

I think we quickly get used to how quite these cars and that becomes our new reference point. Need to go in something less refined to perhaps appreciate it again!

[OmahaDB]

I just moved to a 540i xDrive from a Mercedes S600, which is about as close to dead quiet on the highway as you're likely to get. I don't think the AWD makes any perceptible noise, but the Goodyear run-flat tires do. The BMW is not as quiet, but quieter than most cars. I'll put up with the slight increase in road & wind noise for the increased reliability of an 11 year newer car, but I'll definitely look for quieter tires when it comes time to replace these. I never have liked Goodyears much.

[Opie55]

It's possible an xDrive car might sound quieter than an identical RWD car simply because of the mass of the extra parts up front. Mass tends to have the effect of deadening sound.

[KoenG]

It's all about the tires and wheel size. When you want a quieter car, get non RFT and opt for 18inch wheels. Certainly avoid RFT on 20inch (or bigger).