Loud Cars and Hearing Protection

So I'm picking a car up tomorrow with an extremely loud exhaust. Don't worry, the exhaust isn't staying, its just unfortunate that the previous owner decided having a straight through exhaust was a good idea, and the deal is still pretty good factoring in the exhaust work...

Anyway, I need to drive this thing for an hour home. Its not terrible inside the car, but does have some nasty low frequency drone.

Being cautious of my ears I'd like to protect them while I'm in this thing until the exhaust work is done. I have the choice between 17db custom plugs, foam plugs, or a pair of peltor optime 3 ear muffs. I was just going to wear the ear muffs, but I have no idea if its actually legal to drive with muffs here in the UK.

Could I get away with just wearing the foam plugs, or am I better of sticking with the muffs?

Just as a side question, who here always drives with hearing protection? I used to always wear plugs when in my older rattly cars in the past, but eventually found it was just making my tinnitus worse. Not sure if that was just because of increased perception or over use of plugs...

 

I'm a major car guy and have a lot of experience in this area... If she's straight piped, you need double protective, period, it will be incredibly loud and the interior resonance (drone) is gonna be BAD. My track rat runs a cat, one resonator, and a chambered muffler and is still LOUD, I haven't been to a track event in a while because of the noise, however that will change after I install the Supersprint™ system I recently ordered. Keep the rpms low, accelerate slowly, and don't rev match or heel toe... You should be okay doing that with double protection. What kind of car is it?

 

Its a E46 330Ci. I had one about a year and half ago and I seriously regret selling it. This one popped up locally to me with the right spec and price, just unfortunate that its straight piped.

I've test driven it without any hearing protection and honestly its not that bad, I guess the sound deadening BMW gave it from factory is pretty good. Its not a track car or anything, so no stripped interior etc. It does drone quite bad from standstill but once cruising its pretty quiet to a point where I'd say you wouldn't need protection at all. I could comfortably talk to the seller without raising my voice.

I guess its just a case of seeing how I go, I know the route pretty well and could easily park it up half way along my journey if things get uncomfortably loud.

I'll double up protection though, foam plugs under peltor muffs. I'll have to ignore any silly looks I get...

 

Nice...E46s definitely have legitimate sound deadening, I was thinking it was something less luxurious. My E36 isn't too bad but my E30 is like driving a tin can on wheels, absolutely no consideration was made to cabin noise when they designed it, weight was all I believe BMW cared about. Find yourself a new or used ZHP exhaust, delete the second resonator, and swap the H pipe with an X pipe... It will sound as close as possible to as an M3 with that setup and won't be too loud by any means.

 

I had an E46 M3 that I also regret selling, though buying a house was a little more important at the time. It did sound amazing though. I'll be back in an M3 soon but the 330Ci will fill my weekend rear wheel drive needs for now

To be honest I was just going to have a local exhaust shop stick in 1 or 2 resonators into the current system to kill the low frequency drone. At £80 a resonator fitted it will probably be cheaper than finding a used factory system, shipping it, and then finding someone to fit it.

Now you know the car, I should be perfectly fine if I protect my ears, right? To be fair I've had an MRI scan with was much louder and came out fine, I'm probably overthinking things...

 

Hell yeah, you have good automotive tastes... I firmly believe that the E46 M3 is one of the best rear wheel drive cars ever produced, but hey the 330 is no slouch, but it's not exactly a rocket ship either, lol. You'll be okay for sure, congrats on the new toy brother.

 

@AZeurotuner I have a feeling @James Foley just wanted everyone to know what I a nice car he's buying....lol No harm in that James, I'm teasing. I drive a Lexus and it's a nice ride too....

Best of luck with the new car
Michael

 

Hah, I was genuinely interested on the view of hearing protection and loud cars, as I'm sure plenty of people drive about with horrendously loud exhausts. I was also curious if anyone wore plugs / muffs during their daily commute regardless of their car being loud.

Appreciate the reassurance though @AZeurotuner

 

@James Foley If you want to go down the road of wearing hearing protection when you drive that's up to you. I personally feel it's a recipe for causing more problems.

All the best
Michael

 

Lexus makes a good car, very reliable because they're produced by Toyota... I'm a sucker for Euro's though, I do all my own work so the upkeep isn't too bad on the wallet.

@James Foley No problem. And it's really up to you whether or not you want to use protection while driving, weigh the pros and cons and make that decision for yourself. Happy motoring James...

-Ross

 

I have only ever driven Toyota. I had three and never had 1 day's trouble with them. A car mechanic told me he rarely sees Toyota cars in for repair and I'm not kidding. I decided to treat myself to a new 2017 Lexus 300h hybrid last year and very pleased with it. Got to get something out of life before I shuffle off this mortal coil.

It's good you can do your own repairs save a lot of money.
Take care
Michael

 

@James

Hi James. A lot of that low frequency will go through the earplugs. I'd try using just the earmuffs, which i find to work better. You could try using earplugs and muffs over them. Ideally, with noise cancelling earbuds, if you have them. Just test it out to see what works best. Forget the laws. Its just going to be an hour, anyway.

 

Me to cause I was on way to restoring a classic muscle car and building a motor for it before my onset.

 

Got the car back just using my ACS 17db plugs in the end, turns out they cut the drone completely.

Only downside is that wearing those increases my perception of Tinnitus for a day or so. Hopefully my ears calm down once I calm down...