I picked up my new X5M a couple of weeks ago and have been loving it, but the one area that it seems wanting is interior sound. It is certainly aggressive, but doesn't seem very refined. I was actually beginning to think that there was something wrong with the ASD in my car.
So, I unplugged it this morning before going on a 20-mi drive up the highway and through some city streets. I drove with it in Efficiency and Sport+ modes (flaps closed and open). To me, the sound was the same, just less of it. The tones seemed the same, just less volume. I stopped for gas and plugged it back in to get a back-back perspective...and it validated my perspective: ASD pretty much just increases the same sounds that are already being generated. I know ASD does use artificially generated sounds, but to me it's about the same.
To me, if BMW knows that the sound needs to be improved enough to create a system such as ASD, it seems they would have found a better sound to pipe into the interior. It doesn't sound bad, but it certainly could be improved upon.
I've had a 911 with the Sound Symposer and my wife has a current Beetle Turbo with a similar solution...those are awesome. Her car sounds like an old air-cooled VW/Porsche from the interior, I love the sounds in her little car.
I'll be keeping my ASD active as I think it's better turned on as opposed to unplugged. I'd love to find a hack to insert different engine tones though
