Toggle switch for pedestrian sound

I've never heard of white-noise back-up alarms before so I googled and found this comprehensive ad on YouTube that even shows how your brain reacts to what they also call "broadband sound." Other than being a less-annoying sound, the broadband sound is also more directional than a beeper. So people in jeopardy will hear the sound the loudest, whereas back-up beepers sound just as loud to people not in the path of the vehicle backing up.

I wonder if broadband sound will find its way into EV pedestrian warning applications? I like the continuous electronic sound of my two electrified vehicles more than I would like the on/off pulsing broadband sound, but it makes a lot of sense for back-up alerting.

 

I may be the rare SE owner that actually likes the ‘sound’ the car emits. In fact, I wish it was even louder in sport mode, and mid mode. And increased all the way to redline! The existing sound is about right for Green mode, IMO. I would love for my SE to shriek like a banshee when I floor the go pedal and shoot out of traffic!


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I can't understand 'why' they didn't just give it a normal engine sound? Something the pedestrian is familier with, and will react to. Not something that sounds like the Tardis landing, or Captain Kirk arriving on the bridge! Because the general pedestrianised public haven't been educated with all these various space age sounds, their more likely to think its just someone on the phone or what have you?
I can understand manufacturers wanting to stand out from the crowd and make their vehicles individual, different from the pack, but surely, if their that concerned about safety, surely sound familiarity is the safest way to go. About a week ago, I had to follow this old couple for about 6 or 7 yards before they moved off the road (it was in a village) and I'm sure they were totally oblivious of me being there. I could have pressed the horn, but didn't want to risk 2 cardiac arrests!
I know there's a lot of members who disagree with me ( about the sound that is, not about the horn) and thats fine. It's just my opinion. I guess in about 10 years time, there will be so many electrics on the road, everyone will be familier with R2D2 following behind!

 

That is one of the few things I miss about the Volt. The pedestrian horn. Press the end of the left stalk and the horn would make a very weak toot. Not enough to cause a heart attack, but just enough to get attention.


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Because ICE sounds are damaging and unpleasant? EVs are an opportunity to eliminate noise pollution.

 

With a fully electric car is should be relatively easy to be able to turn the ‘sound’ up, down, or off. Or to replace the ‘sound’ with another. Think cell phone ring tone. Another terrific way to customize the SE. I understand Tesla already has this feature.


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Couldn't agree more. Loud ICE sounds 'are' damaging and unpleasent. But I wasn't advocating slapping a V8 or V10 sound on the Mini, like Tesla have with their EV's.
Just a regular 4 cylinder sound at a level equal to what the EV's put out today (which would be similar to a regular engine at idle) ... just audible at slow speeds, but non polluting db wise, thats all I meant.

 

I have an electric car - I want it to sound like one. That's why I say no engine sounds.

My friend has a Tesla with horse gallops. That one cracks me up. Fake engine is like playing wannabe and I am so not there now.

 

I really love my car so much more after editing almost all of the annoying things. The only thing left is the passenger door staying locked after it's parked.

 

This has been annoying me too!

There should definitely be an option to trigger the passenger door to unlock with the drivers door... Probably possible but I'm not confident enough to dive into the advanced BimmerCode options yet

 

This option can be configured via the Central Information Display - no need for BimmerCode!

 

Nice, first thing in the am I'm taking care of that.

 

I believe these settings are just for the key/door handle button behavior (and my car is already set like this).

The problem is exiting the car without a passenger:

• All doors lock automatically above 15ish mph
• After parking, pulling the drivers interior door handle only unlocks the drivers door
• If the next trip is with a passenger, the drivers door is unlocked already so getting into the car doesn't trigger the passenger door to unlock.

While confirming that my car was already set to unlock all doors I did find a setting right below it to automatically unlock at the end of a trip. Hopefully this will automatically unlock all doors and not just the door that was used at the start of the trip.

 

For anyone else that has an issue with the passenger door staying locked, turning on automatically unlock at the end of the trip does fix it. With it turned on, pulling the drivers door handle unlocks both doors instead of just the driver's door.

 

That’s a white-noise backup alert? I hear them everywhere and think that vehicle owners are suckers for letting their piezo beepers get full of slush and sounding strangled. To me they sound like de-barked dogs (HOA-compliant dogs omfg)!

 

Just deactivated the pedestrian sound today. Works as advertised. Now, I wish I could disable the Active Sound Design but that control module doesn’t exist.

 

Does the reverse off stick?

 

No, reverse is off only during the drive that the pedestrian sound is disabled. On the next restart it'll be back on regardless of whether or not the setting is set to be remembered.

If you turn the sound on then immediately back off, the reverse sound will be off for the rest of that drive until the car is shut down.

If you really want the rear always off or just quieter, the rear noise maker is directly below the trunk and is very easy to access (just ~10 screws holding the flat diffuser panel on). Slap some foam over it to reduce the volume or something more dense like butyl sound deader for quiet

 

Assuming just cutting the wire would cause error codes, could you wire in a silent resistor (as most resistors are) to replace the rear noise maker?

 

I thought Tesla had to stop w their funny sounds bc it was considered a PA, which is illegal. Have to check on my wife's car today.