[GreenThree]

Had the opportunity to drive a 2014 328i today. Everything about it felt waaaay different than my 2013 328i. I compared the specs of both cars, nearly identical. The 2014 felt faster, rides better, had more steering heft, and the engine & exhaust sounded incredible (kind of like the inline 6 of my previous e90!)

So what changes, if any, did BMW make between model year 2013 and 2014?? Literally felt like two completely different cars.

[ft1330]

Can't give you a complete list but there was a great deal of things that changed and I'm glad I waited until the 2014 MY to buy mine!!! What I know:

- New iDrive (new nav hardware inc. bigger touch idrive wheel, faster processor, etc.)
- Improved steering parts and software.
- I think I heard of this exhaust improvement for the 328 too.

[max2me]

Could it be software?

[Diesel power]

I don't think the steering hardware changed at all. I did hear that there was an update to the electric steering programming.

[KGB_123_99]

Active sound.

[simongym]

Originally Posted by ft1330

- I think I heard of this exhaust improvement for the 328 too.

The exhaust itself is the same, what changed is the addition of 'active sound'. Think auto-tune for your car exhaust, semi artificial sound pumped through your speakers. If you don't care that it's gimmicky and fake, it does sound WAY better. Some people care, some don't.

[300hp]

Having had both I can confirm that the steering improved immensely. Idrive is better, launch control on 2014s, sail mode on 2014s, touchpad on 2014s.


Iro of active sound there is none on the 335i.

[ft1330]

Originally Posted by 300hp

Iro of active sound there is none on the 335i.

That was a matter of debate, I did find an active sound module for the 335 on real OEM but I don't know if it's in use.

[300hp]

Originally Posted by ft1330

That was a matter of debate, I did find an active sound module for the 335 on real OEM but I don't know if it's in use.

Exactly, it's not in use. Listen to the car inside and outside, it's the same thing. If there is active sound it's effect is inconsequential

[Fronzdan]

I don't hear any kind of active sound in my 335. In fact, while swapping out the OEM amp, I drove without anything driving the speakers. I heard no difference. I honestly don't think this is enabled in 335's.

[Tim@codemybimmer]

Active Sound Design is enabed in the 328/428i. Definitely can tell especially when you put it into Sport/Sport+, the sound gets more pronounced. I believe its probably part of the NBT system.

[Tony M]

I find the active sound in my 428i to be quite subtle. It's there if you put the boot in and it sounds sweet enough, but it's not the sort of thing that causes any major excitement, but it's better than nothing. It seems to have a slightly "off-beat" tone to me vaguely reminiscent of old V8's and I like this aspect.

Adding an M-performance exhaust (US-spec) made a further, still subtle improvement to the sound and combines nicely with the active sound. Most of the time, I really love the sound my car makes. Just occasionally, a bit louder would be better.

Overall, I find the N20 an absolutely amazing engine and I can't understand the detractors. My last car was a 4 liter turbo Ford and I've owned and driven cars with many different types of engines over the years - high revving Italian fours to supercharged V8's. To me the N20 is a superb compromise and a very sweet and eager powerplant. In Australia, stepping up to the N55 requires a $25-30K extra investment and our silly speed limits mean that it can very rarely be appreciated.

I look forward to every drive in my car and the N20 has a fair bit to do with that. But, if you took away the active sound and M-performance exhaust, the driving experience would be lessened for me. I can't drive at more than 7/10ths on public roads and the sound at least adds a bit of sporty feel to the driving experience while I'm being responsible and trying to ensure I retain my licence.

[Falafel Combo]

Yes, they are very different. All in the software. Your 2013 car should receive the new 2014 software from the dealer and all is good again.

[steve@codemybimmer]

You probably think the ride is better because of the ASD module - it's just playing the engine noises back to you from your speakers. The only other thing I noticed was that the auto start stop is pretty much unnoticeable now. I drove an F32 438i in LA for a few days so I got to note all the difference.

Would you believe mine is a 2012? I made a few modifications to it and it's pretty much a 2014 now. I'm also looking into retrofitting an ASD module to my car to get the engine noises to the speakers.

So far, this is what I have enabled via coding and retrofitted to make mine closer to the 2014 spec

Launch Control enabled
NBT with Touchpad retrofitted
Instrument Cluster updated to 07/13 spec (Enabled Auto start stop indicator and new Eco Pro gauges)
M Sport Steering wheel with Paddles

Missing the following:

ASD Module (Active Sound Design)
TCB (Telematics communication box) - New module for BMW Assist, handles Advanced Real Time Traffic Info and BMW Online (This is probably nearly impossible to retrofit)

[adhrp]

@Aritaurus

Very nice! I guess our cars are very similar....or were very similar How much did all of that cost you and was it easy to get all this fitted?

[Pauleebe]

My 2014 428 loaner sounded way better than my 2013 328, but I just assumed it's because the 4 series sounded better, not the model year difference.

[carzaddict]

i got a 2014 328 loaner with 5k miles on it and it handled like CRAP....it was X-drive just like my car, no DHP...just like my car........so the set up was nearly identical with the exception of 17" vs 18" tires.

the car did have active sound...which did sound a lot nicer....but it didnt have NBT so I cant comment on that. steering feel didnt feel any different.

[Oofie]

Originally Posted by Aritaurus

You probably think the ride is better because of the ASD module - it's just playing the engine noises back to you from your speakers. The only other thing I noticed was that the auto start stop is pretty much unnoticeable now. I drove an F32 438i in LA for a few days so I got to note all the difference.

Would you believe mine is a 2012? I made a few modifications to it and it's pretty much a 2014 now. I'm also looking into retrofitting an ASD module to my car to get the engine noises to the speakers.

So far, this is what I have enabled via coding and retrofitted to make mine closer to the 2014 spec

Launch Control enabled
NBT with Touchpad retrofitted
Instrument Cluster updated to 07/13 spec (Enabled Auto start stop indicator and new Eco Pro gauges)
M Sport Steering wheel with Paddles

Missing the following:

ASD Module (Active Sound Design)
TCB (Telematics communication box) - New module for BMW Assist, handles Advanced Real Time Traffic Info and BMW Online (This is probably nearly impossible to retrofit)

@Aritaurus
My wife's car came with the M Sport steering wheel and I want to retrofit paddle shifters. Was it merely installing the paddle shifters and coding the car?

[steve@codemybimmer]

Originally Posted by Oofie

@Aritaurus
My wife's car came with the M Sport steering wheel and I want to retrofit paddle shifters. Was it merely installing the paddle shifters and coding the car?

My steering wheel came as a set alongside with the airbag and the paddles. I think the paddles are integrated into the steering wheel so you can't add them on. If you didn't have the paddle shifters originally, you would need one wire added to go from the steering ring over to your FEM_BODY module. The coding is very easy; just add 2TB to your vehicle order and do a tree VO code for every module.

[steve@codemybimmer]

Originally Posted by adhrp

@Aritaurus

Very nice! I guess our cars are very similar....or were very similar How much did all of that cost you and was it easy to get all this fitted?

The M sport steering wheel was US$1500 and was almost plug and play. My friend had to help me run a wire from the steering ring over to FEM_BODY to get the paddles working.

The NBT worked out to be about USD$1500 and that is my second one. The first one I had was from Europe and didn't have Satellite radio so I bought another one ans swapped it out. My first NBT kit had an extra screen and controller which I didn't need so I sold the old head unit, screen and controller to my friend. Installing NBT is actually not hard at all as most of it is just swapping out the hardware and coding it in. Since I came from CIC, I had to install a new Bluetooth Antenna and we had to tap the trigger wire from the amp over to the fuse directly to get sound.

The touch controller was about US$400 as you also need to get a touch ECU module which I got from my dealer.

[alienranch]

Originally Posted by Aritaurus

The M sport steering wheel was US$1500 and was almost plug and play. My friend had to help me run a wire from the steering ring over to FEM_BODY to get the paddles working.

The NBT worked out to be about USD$1500 and that is my second one. The first one I had was from Europe and didn't have Satellite radio so I bought another one ans swapped it out. My first NBT kit had an extra screen and controller which I didn't need so I sold the old head unit, screen and controller to my friend. Installing NBT is actually not hard at all as most of it is just swapping out the hardware and coding it in. Since I came from CIC, I had to install a new Bluetooth Antenna and we had to tap the trigger wire from the amp over to the fuse directly to get sound.

The touch controller was about US$400 as you also need to get a touch ECU module which I got from my dealer.

Wow. That's a fairly substantial mod (probably goes beyond calling it a mod). Nice job.

[Halsifer]

Originally Posted by 300hp

Exactly, it's not in use. Listen to the car inside and outside, it's the same thing. If there is active sound it's effect is inconsequential

I called BMW Genius and asked for a confirmation. They dug around and got back to me after confirming with their supervisors that all 3-series and 4-series vehicles of year model 2014 are equipped with Active Sound Design and it is active with the N55 engine as well. (Hence the 2014 335i) It is definitely installed and active.

Actually, I think we talked about this before. And I explained how your 'proof' of listening inside the cabin and outside did not make any sense. The Post Again, you cannot simply walk inside the cabin and out and say, 'It sounds the same, so it must not be there.' It makes like a small percent of additional noise. And that synthetic noise is engine noise, so of course it would sound the exact same. All it does is add additional engine noise.

Originally Posted by Fronzdan

I don't hear any kind of active sound in my 335. In fact, while swapping out the OEM amp, I drove without anything driving the speakers. I heard no difference. I honestly don't think this is enabled in 335's.

Assuming you have a 2014 335i, it's minimal, but it's there. If you were to code out ASD, quickly drive at some high revs, and then code it back it, you will hear a small difference. Not a huge difference since the N55 is already loud enough.