Adding sound deadening back to car - what material should I get?

[SQ13]

I’m adding sound deadening back to the floor of my car after I was forced to remove it a few years ago. I looked at Dynamat’s offerings and wasn’t sure which material would be an equal replacement for the OE material. Open to using other brands as well if they’re better. Please help.

Also, are there any areas that would benefit from the addition of sound deadening?

https://www.dynamat.com/applications-industries/automotive-and-transportation/

[ra2fanatic]

When I did my carbon roof, I used a combination of damplifier pro and their mega zorbe

https://www.secondskinaudio.com/sound-deadening/

[bigjae46]

You can get the non-backed stuff which just reduces noise. The aluminum backed mats adds a thermal barrier.

Most of that stuff is the same. Its bitumen with an adhesive backing. Some brands will stick much better. For floors...doesn't matter. If you're doing doors and trunk lids, I'd stick with Dynamat or something more well known. They usually have a much better adhesive.

[usdmej]

Also, are there any areas that would benefit from the addition of sound deadening?

treating your doors with sound dampening and melamime foam will get you the most significant noise reduction.
replacing all of your factory jute insulation with melamime foam is also very beneficial as it's a superior material in every way (except cost) and you'll be putting it in a place where bmw engineers originally felt like there was a need for

imo treating your floors is one of the last things to do on a vehicle as that's not where most of the noise is getting into the car from



+1 on using SecondSkin products

[SQ13]

Cool, thanks. Will treat the doors. Should I add some behind the rear door cards as well? And why would bmw put sound deadening on the floor if it’s not very beneficial?

[Mayan-Viking]

treating your doors with sound dampening and melamime foam will get you the most significant noise reduction.

Can you please elaborate? I will soon be doing something like this and I'm interested in best options/applications with foam...

[usdmej]

Cool, thanks. Will treat the doors. Should I add some behind the rear door cards as well? And why would bmw put sound deadening on the floor if it’s not very beneficial?

removing your rear door cards (and additionally that extra metal panel behind the airbag) to add deadener and sound absorption material is worth it imo if you have the spare time.

im not saying adding more sound deadening on the floor will get you no results, it will just be minimal, especially compared to treating your doors first since they are more sound transparent

[usdmej]

Can you please elaborate? I will soon be doing something like this and I'm interested in best options/applications with foam...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIzkhrkTZwk

there's a good explanation for sealing and sound deadening your doors.

melamime foam is essentially a superior alternative for the cotton jute (essentially recycled jean material) that pretty much every car company uses to absorb sound inside the vehicle. the easiest way to use it inside of a vehicle is to identify places where the factory decided to use jute (behind a-b-c pillars, under the rear seat, above the headliner etc), take it off and use it as a template to cut your melamime foam, and replace whatever panel it was on.

additionally, you can get creative and use it wherever there is air space in a cavity (like inside your door as long as it doesnt interfere with operation of your windows/regulators)


where sound deadening material uses mass to prevent transfer of sound into a vehicle, melamime foam absorbs/lowers the intensity of sound thats already made its way through. different mechanisms to achieve the same result

[bigjae46]

The padding in the carpet is pretty thick.

From my car audio days, doors and kick panels were the key areas in most cars.

Usdmej is taking me down memory lane installing raammat and then ensolite foam on top in my 330.


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[repoman89]

The roof doesn’t need anything FWIW. Skipped adding anything (besides the headliner) to my CF roof conversion and it’s not perceptibly different noise wise from before. I haven’t driven it in rain yet, just 90-100 on the highway.

[usdmej]

The roof doesn’t need anything FWIW. Skipped adding anything (besides the headliner) to my CF roof conversion and it’s not perceptibly different noise wise from before. I haven’t driven it in rain yet, just 90-100 on the highway.

i think you might have other factors contributing to your road noise that makes the roof noise negligible. noisy tires or racy suspension components maybe?

a fair bit of windnoise gets through the roof, you can hear the difference when you open/close the interior panel of the sunroof, or if you have a roofrack and carry items

bmw used a significant amount of insulation to tame the roof noise from the factory

[usdmej]

Usdmej is taking me down memory lane installing raammat and then ensolite foam on top in my 330.

oh man i haven't heard the term ensolite in literally decades lol

[repoman89]

i think you might have other factors contributing to your road noise that makes the roof noise negligible. noisy tires or racy suspension components maybe?

a fair bit of windnoise gets through the roof, you can hear the difference when you open/close the interior panel of the sunroof, or if you have a roofrack and carry items

bmw used a significant amount of insulation to tame the roof noise from the factory

Meh, my M3 is a street/track car with noise levels on the street car side. It’s not too much louder than my E39 M5 and is far quieter than my ND Miata (obviously). I am aware that when opening the sunroof interior cover there is a lot of noise — car used to have a sunroof. I’ve had a roof rack on regular E46s before and it’s indeed loud.

This isn’t. The slick top headliner absorbs all that wind noise the same as the closed sunroof cover does. BMW didn’t add any extra sound material beyond the headliner to the CSL by the way.

[usdmej]

BMW didn’t add any extra sound material beyond the headliner to the CSL by the way.

realoem has the CSL spec'd with the same insulation as non-sunroof'd E46 coupes

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-bmw-parts/roof-sound-insulation-front/51488229733/

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-bmw-parts/insulation/51488229734/

they could be wrong though (wouldn't be the first time), BMW did omit a lot of stock insulation from the CSL

[EthanolTurbo]

realoem has the CSL spec'd with the same insulation as non-sunroof'd E46 coupes


https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...t/51488229733/
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...n/51488229734/


they could be wrong though (wouldn't be the first time), BMW did omit a lot of stock insulation from the CSL

By not installing this you can save money AND be true to the CSL. 😇

Also, if you're adding sound deadening back I would highly recommend putting some in the trunk area, especially if your trunk is gutted. Tons of road noise/diff noise comes from this area, plus the sound deadening weight goes to the correct part of the car.