Hi, I've added sound deadening to my doors today to my 2004 and I would recommend it if you haven't done it, makes it feel more solid and a nice 'clunk' when you close you door instead of the tin can sound. I think face-lift cars got it as standard.
There's already loads of online guides on how to do this but here's a few thoughts from my experience:
I used Silent coat 2mm. I bought 4 sheets of 490mm x 250mm from Bass Junkie via eBay for £12.99. I've used this stuff before and it's easy to work with. 4 sheets is enough, 5 sheets would be better. You don't need to cover the all door, just large sections to stop them resonating.
I cleaned the inside of the door before applying the silentt coat to ensure good adherenece. You don't want this peeling off at a later stage and getting mashed up with your window regulator.
Removing door card is easy (very good Youtube guide from Bav Audio). I didn't use any metal removal tools, even for the tight top clips, strong plastic tools and hands was enough. The hard part is carefully removing the membrane which is stuck on with butyl. Sound people suggest adding heat but this just makes it sticky and even harder to deal with. I used a thin, narrow wallpaper scraper and worked very slowly. You DON'T remove it completely, just so you can fold it out of the way.
All the screws are Torx 25 but some are different types so I labelled them up to avoid mix up & because I'm an idiot.
You DON'T need to disconnect your air-bag!!!. It's easy enough to work around it so I left it in place. I had disconnected the battery in anticipation of removing the airbag but after I had got the membrane out of the way I realised it wasn't required.
Top Tip 1 - Have your window down when removing the door card but before you remove the card completely and before disconnecting the window switches remember to put the window back up again so you have access to the part of the door where you will be applying the sound deadening otherwise the glass is in the way.
Top Tip 2 - Buy some BMW door card clips in anticipation of one or two breaking. I only had one break.
If I can do this anyone can and it's well worth it. Took me 1.5hrs to do one door working very slowly and carefully. Most people could probably do it in half the time.
There's already loads of online guides on how to do this but here's a few thoughts from my experience:
I used Silent coat 2mm. I bought 4 sheets of 490mm x 250mm from Bass Junkie via eBay for £12.99. I've used this stuff before and it's easy to work with. 4 sheets is enough, 5 sheets would be better. You don't need to cover the all door, just large sections to stop them resonating.
I cleaned the inside of the door before applying the silentt coat to ensure good adherenece. You don't want this peeling off at a later stage and getting mashed up with your window regulator.
Removing door card is easy (very good Youtube guide from Bav Audio). I didn't use any metal removal tools, even for the tight top clips, strong plastic tools and hands was enough. The hard part is carefully removing the membrane which is stuck on with butyl. Sound people suggest adding heat but this just makes it sticky and even harder to deal with. I used a thin, narrow wallpaper scraper and worked very slowly. You DON'T remove it completely, just so you can fold it out of the way.
All the screws are Torx 25 but some are different types so I labelled them up to avoid mix up & because I'm an idiot.
You DON'T need to disconnect your air-bag!!!. It's easy enough to work around it so I left it in place. I had disconnected the battery in anticipation of removing the airbag but after I had got the membrane out of the way I realised it wasn't required.
Top Tip 1 - Have your window down when removing the door card but before you remove the card completely and before disconnecting the window switches remember to put the window back up again so you have access to the part of the door where you will be applying the sound deadening otherwise the glass is in the way.
Top Tip 2 - Buy some BMW door card clips in anticipation of one or two breaking. I only had one break.
If I can do this anyone can and it's well worth it. Took me 1.5hrs to do one door working very slowly and carefully. Most people could probably do it in half the time.
I also stuck some sound deadening scraps on the underside of that disgraceful, rattly piece of plastic that masquerades as a parcel self :x . Then covered the top side in black carpet and it is now rattle free and as it should have left the factory in the first place ! 