What is this thing on a 3.0 l manifold

[PerryGunn]

Well it could just be that during pre-production tests some exec said, mein got thatz a loud engine and the young bright engineer said itz zee zound generator I invented. Exec says make it quieter

excuse my German accent

I, for one, think it excellent - did you have to learn German as part of your engineering degree :wink:

Why thanks Mr Gunn, I thought I was going to be real smart and took lessons in Japanese, I thought Geisha's looked pretty but didnt understand what they did

They sing, dance, play the shamisen and write clever haiku in beautiful calligraphy don't they....

 

[Smartbear]

I, for one, think it excellent - did you have to learn German as part of your engineering degree :wink:

Why thanks Mr Gunn, I thought I was going to be real smart and took lessons in Japanese, I thought Geisha's looked pretty but didnt understand what they did

They sing, dance, play the shamisen and write clever haiku in beautiful calligraphy don't they....

That's in their spare time

 

[PerryGunn]

Why thanks Mr Gunn, I thought I was going to be real smart and took lessons in Japanese, I thought Geisha's looked pretty but didnt understand what they did

They sing, dance, play the shamisen and write clever haiku in beautiful calligraphy don't they....

That's in their spare time

Oh yes, I was forgetting... they have to make tea too!

 

[G-A-R-Y]

Well apologies for "trolling". After a bit of research I now understand why the generators are fitted and how they work. They don't have any air flow through them, I misunderstood. They have a diaphragm to stop any air ingress into the manifold. I found this picture and a link to explain further.
http://www.google.com/patents/US8322486

 

[sars]

Well apologies for "trolling". After a bit of research I now understand why the generators are fitted and how they work. They don't have any air flow through them, I misunderstood. They have a diaphragm to stop any air ingress into the manifold

Good for you and very un-troll like, you know actually do some research and admit mistakes, anyway respect from me

I think Ben g was having a bad day at the office

 

[Smartbear]

Well apologies for "trolling". After a bit of research I now understand why the generators are fitted and how they work. They don't have any air flow through them, I misunderstood. They have a diaphragm to stop any air ingress into the manifold

Good for you and very un-troll like, you know actually do some research and admit mistakes, anyway respect from me

I think Ben g was having a bad day at the office

Yep, we can all make mistakes-I've made plenty
Rob

 

[Ewazix]

So it's got no functional purpose other than the option of making the engine noise in the cabin louder if you want? Presumably like the exhaust flaps that activate on some BMW's and my Mini and make those crackles and pops. Silly if you think about it.

Only juvenile petrol heads would get it

 

[G-A-R-Y]

So it's got no functional purpose other than the option of making the engine noise in the cabin louder if you want? Presumably like the exhaust flaps that activate on some BMW's and my Mini and make those crackles and pops. Silly if you think about it.

Only juvenile petrol heads would get it

All I can imagine is that BMW spent millions designing and refining the M54 engine to be Super smooth and quiet. They added a sound generator to make it sound more sporty.

 

[ben g]

Well apologies for "trolling". After a bit of research I now understand why the generators are fitted and how they work. They don't have any air flow through them, I misunderstood. They have a diaphragm to stop any air ingress into the manifold

Good for you and very un-troll like, you know actually do some research and admit mistakes, anyway respect from me

I think Ben g was having a bad day at the office

Definitely not, I just assumed it was a troll.

Apologies Gary, at least you can admit when you're wrong. The sound generator does seem like an odd thing to have, though it's normal in many new cars. Some even go as far as playing engine noise through the speakers, which I think is ridiculous!

 

[Jollyjoiner]

I was going to get a custom exhaust on my Z to make it sound better until I was told of the these sponges last year, we took just the one out and the car now sounds like it should

 

[tykesi]

I was going to get a custom exhaust on my Z to make it sound better until I was told of the these sponges last year, we took just the one out and the car now sounds like it should

Trouble is you only get the sound on acceleration, at least an exhaust would give you a decent noise accelerating and on over run. I like the sound of the generator but for it only to do it half the time makes it ridiculous IMO. One of the big disappointments since I bought the Z.

 

[PerryGunn]

Well apologies for "trolling". After a bit of research I now understand why the generators are fitted and how they work. They don't have any air flow through them, I misunderstood. They have a diaphragm to stop any air ingress into the manifold

Good for you and very un-troll like, you know actually do some research and admit mistakes, anyway respect from me

I think Ben g was having a bad day at the office

Yep, we can all make mistakes-I've made plenty

Me too - strange thing is that I didn't realise quite how many mistakes I was making until after I was married... :wink:

 

[GreyZed]

The sound generator will have been designed into some Zed models because the clever design boffins will have observed how stupidly quiet they had manged to make the brilliant 3.0 litre M54 sound in the cabin of their then new Z4 compared to the Z3. It was a coarse attempt to recreate the sound of several hundred thoroughbred stallions singing operatically in perfect harmony. Sadly they only managed to achieve the sound of 6 donkeys with indigestion.

If anyone is wondering why they then suppressed the bizarre noise they had invented with 2nr plugs of foam then take them out for a while and experience what what it might sound like if your head was stuck under the bonnet of a Citroen Saxo travelling at 95mph in 3rd gear.