Electronics are used to enhance almost everything in new cars these days. Traction control senses wheel slip under power and acts to regain forward motion. Stability control senses understeer or oversteer and brakes individual wheels to keep you off the guardrail (within the limits of physics and available traction, that is). Even the engine noise you’re hearing in cockpit may be artificially enhanced, just like the dancers at your local strip club.
Sound tubes that passively pipe engine sounds into the interior are nothing new. Ford’s Mustang uses them, as does the new 3.8-liter Hyundai Genesis Coupe. Volkswagen’s GTI used them until 2011, when they eliminated the tubes (likely as a cost-cutting measure). BMW’s redesigned M5 has the same idea, but takes it to a whole new level: instead of piping engine noise through a plastic tube, the M5 captures engine sound via a microphone (or microphones), then amplifies this and pipes it through the car’s audio system.
Purists, as you’d imagine, were horrified by this “feature.” Skeptics, like ourselves, saw it as just another system to fail down the line, with no real benefit whatsoever to performance. Now, thanks to a helpful poster on M5 Post (found via Autoblog), you can decide for yourself if ActiveSound is worthwhile by watching the video below.
Does the car sound better with ActiveSound on? Whether it does or not is somewhat irrelevant, since pulling the fuse also disables the audio system and reverse sensor warning system, two things that few drivers would willingly live without.
Kurt Ernst has been passionate about automobiles and driving nearly his entire life. His early years were shaped working in the family service station, though his real passion was auto racing. After graduating from the University of Colorado, Kurt spent a year club racing with the Sports Car Club of America, before focusing on a business career in marketing and project management. Later, his passion for writing and the automotive hobby found him freelancing for a variety of automotive news sites, including Automotive Addicts and Motor Authority, where his work was syndicated and appeared in several national publications. Recognized as an expert in the automotive field, Kurt joined Hemmings Motor News as an Associate Editor in 2013, and in the years since has progressed to Editor, Hemmings Daily; Managing Editor for Hemmings Motor News, Hemmings Classic Car, Hemmings Muscle Machines, and the Hemmings Daily; and now, Managing Editor, Hemmings Auctions. Kurt was instrumental in organizing the Hemmings Motor News Concours d’Elegance from 2013-2019, and has served as a judge at this event and The Vintage Racing Stable Concours d’Elegance. A Skip Barber Racing School graduate and prolific writer, Ernst is also skilled in copyediting, project management, brand development, and public relations.
