I test drive a brand new 2005 M3 yesterday and no matter what I did there was no rasp. Did BMW change the exhaust setup in the 05 M3s to eliminate the rasp?

Mine is the same way. My 2002 sounds like a wood chipper next to my 2005. I wish I knew what the difference is. I'm pretty sure the intake is different, because with the K&N on my 2002, there was little if any rasp. Without it, angry dirtbike sound.

man thast lame... i looove that sound.

i still have a slight rasp, but i dont like it!!

My new 05 M3 has zero rasp whatsoever. My previous 01 S54 M roadster had it only when the motor was cold/in process of warming up.

I do LIKE the rasp though, I want it back!

I get the rasp at about 3800 rpm. Car sounds nice and grumbly up till 3800, then the rattly rasp starts.

Mine is the same way. My 2002 sounds like a wood chipper next to my 2005. I wish I knew what the difference is. I'm pretty sure the intake is different, because with the K&N on my 2002, there was little if any rasp. Without it, angry dirtbike sound.

I agree to some extent... My friend's 03 is much louder than my car.. but I still have a rasp between 3k rpm and 5k rpm.. after that the attitude of the rasp is actually lower (or is that after the air intake :)) ..

Even when the car is ideal his is much louder and he's stock.

whats wrong with rasp? Its just from a Very good exhaust system its the exhaust note echoing off the straight pipes

No, its caused by any number of things under the hood and within the exhaust. In a proper euro exhaust with discrete headers and cats, you can't hear it because its entirely blended in with a nice low note. The US headers with integrated cats kill the low notes, making the rasp very obvious.

I was able to mask the rasp by switching to euro headers and cats, but then again, after I pulled my euro parts off and went back to US parts, my K&N Typhoon also killed the rasp.

No, its caused by any number of things under the hood and within the exhaust. In a proper euro exhaust with discrete headers and cats, you can't hear it because its entirely blended in with a nice low note. The US headers with integrated cats kill the low notes, making the rasp very obvious.

I was able to mask the rasp by switching to euro headers and cats, but then again, after I pulled my euro parts off and went back to US parts, my K&N Typhoon also killed the rasp.

I disagree :rolleyes
My car is Euro m3 and I still have the rasp... (see my prev post) ... true its not comparable to the US version, but still very evident. Now with aFe its different but still there ... and of course,, I love it :buttrock

I disagree :rolleyes
My car is Euro m3 and I still have the rasp... (see my prev post) ... true its not comparable to the US version, but still very evident. Now with aFe its different but still there ... and of course,, I love it :buttrock


But see the rasp doesn't go away no matter what people do to the car; all you can do is mask it by changing intake and/or exhaust parts. You prove this by saying your rasp isn't comparable to the US version. I put the euro parts on and the whole sound of my car changed. I could tell it was still there but it was surrounded by a lot of lower frequency notes so it actually sounded good.
The rasp is intrinsic to the engine and if you tune your intake and exhaust properly it becomes part of a whole sound that is very magical. Thats what I'm talking about.

But see the rasp doesn't go away no matter what people do to the car; all you can do is mask it by changing intake and/or exhaust parts. You prove this by saying your rasp isn't comparable to the US version. I put the euro parts on and the whole sound of my car changed. I could tell it was still there but it was surrounded by a lot of lower frequency notes so it actually sounded good.
The rasp is intrinsic to the engine and if you tune your intake and exhaust properly it becomes part of a whole sound that is very magical. Thats what I'm talking about.

hmm... you're right ... I always feel like all the sounds my car makes are coming from the engin ... (before and after the intake)

is that true... the raps is actually coming from the engine? so no matter what you do your just adding more sound to hide it?

I'm about to install a borla exhaust and i think i will be able to distingush the difference... unless the stock exhaust is actually making any sound?!

Well, on the US car, changing to euro headers doesn't "add" sound, it just gives you back the sound that the US headers rob from the car. Having cats in the header collectors dampen the natural resonance of the headers, which kills most of the low frequency noise coming out of the engine. You can put whatever muffler you want on a US car and though it may change the character of the exhaust sound somewhat, none of them eliminate the tinny part of the sound.

In other words... On a euro car, different mufflers make vastly different sounds. On a US car all a muffler does is change the rasp, to rasp + growl, or rasp +shriek. About the only muffler I liked on the US exhaust was my Remus.

I have to take the exhaust down to put my short shifter on, so maybe I'll do some experimenting tonight and see if the AA or the Remus add anything to my 2005. Bone stock it sounds better than my 2002 did with euro headers and stock muffler.