Check out this quote from the Motoring File:

Does this mean that someone can reprogram the ECU to get the burble back?

 

There was a thread on this previously. It may have been eliminated when gas mileage imporved. The burble is caused by a less than perfect air/fuel mixture.

 

The exhaust burble is not just a "feature" of 05-06 cars. JCW ECU and exhasut creates a great burble on the earlier cars also. Drop the front resonator from the JCW exhaust and you've got yourself some uber-burble.

 

It'd be great if someone could program the "improper" a/f ratio into the sport mode... giving the burble back when other percieved performance enhancements are made, and improved gas mileage when you want it.

 

For some reason, buyers want refinement. Once they turned the 911 into a GT, sales went through the roof...

 

As a kid with my worked over '41 Mercury with its twin 19" glass packed mufflers, I often tweaked (detuned) my carburator to keep my V8 'burble' alive and well.

Speaking of this topic, did anyone catch this Wall Street Journal blurb that voiced comparisons between last year's and this year's Mini Cooper S?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1177...googlenews_wsj

Jeff Sabatini's definition of refinement produced a bit of a chuckle, at least from the perspective of my warped sense of humor.

 

Ah you MCS owners and your noises!!! I never had a whine or a burble so life is good!! I doubt I'll miss the rattles.

I do understand, however, that it was part of the car's character. Perhaps R56 has a character all it's own...you know, a whole other set of things that will make it unique that we'll miss when the next batch of complaints hits BMW. I simply can't understand why the burble would have bothered anybody...unless BMW simply felt is was a point they could bet dinged on by folks who knew the somewhat dodgy background cause of the sound.

It'd be interesting to see a list of all the little tweeks BMW has made to the MINI based on customer complaints. Upsizing the rear-view mirror, adding a cup-holder, adding a side visor all srping to mind.

 

how about UK customers MINI Cooper S?

 

Someone needs to make a "burble chip" for the new minis.....

 

Hmmmm....If the music's too loud, you're too old?

 

from what I understand the UK retains their burble. I would think that by comparing the two ECUs that you could figure out how to bring it back? please?

 

When I talked with Mr Sonntag, he specifically said the burble was eliminated due to US customer complaints and that it had no affect on performence with or/ without. And judging that the 2004 MCS (no burble) and 2005 MCS (burble) had the exact same MPG figures, one would surmise that the burble has/had no affect on MPG. It just comes down to the un-washed masses not wanting to hear it.

 

My understanding was that this kind of sound is created by fuel igniting after entering the exhaust system or when the exhaust valves have already opened.

 

See signature...

 

Agreed. Takes raw unburned fuel coupled with an underrestricted exhaust so you can hear it. That wasted fuel may be negligible, but the unburned fuel should have consequences on emissions. Perhaps Mr. Sontag is being selective about disclosing all the reasons for ECU change. Who would blame him? I like the burble but not enough to sacrafice efficiency or emissions.

What surprises me is that folks expect the same burble from a whole new powertrain. Why expect it? Surely Direct Injection and turbo, coupled with a entirely new engine design, means that burble would have to be created intentionally. It doesn't show up in a properly tuned car accidentally. Was the 2005 addition of the burble a side effect of ECU work that was allowed to stay because someone thought it cool, or was it intentionally introduced? We may never know.

 

As Karl points out, it isn't so much saving the burble as recreating it.

 

Uhhhh MBE because in the UK the R56 still has the burble

 

I get a slight pop from the exhaust when I really get on it in first and shift to 2nd. Is this a burble or just a backfire?

 

Likewise.. Actually I get a fairly loud pop

 

Ditto.

 

my '04 (JCW MCS) also gets that burble/pop when i lift off, but mostly at idle or in low gears. i do like that sound

you know, the sound is neat but if you think about it, it's totally fake. it doesn't sound like the 'cuz it's tuned to run rich for performance reasons; it's tuned to sound like that just to sound cool. that doesn't bother anyone? back when 996's came out, porsche had to *tune* the exhaust to make the new watercooled engine sound like the old air-cooled flat 6's, and i thought that was such a poser thing to do. our motors obviously do fine w/o the burble (and the a/f ratio that causes it), and like someone else said, probaby farts cleaner. it runs rich enough to pop on supposedly "non-burble" cars and that's good enough for me

 

To me its all about consistency. Real or not the burble is fun, and so why not. The hood scoop unconnected to air intake? Its still fun to have a hood scoop on your car so why not. If both of those things bother you, great, more power to you - do away with them. What bugs me is the inconsistency of faulting the R56 for a "phony" hood scoop, and also faulting it for loosing a "phony" burble.

 

I was under the impression that the latest R56 MCS hood scoops were not completely blocked. So, there may be some purpose to them. At the very least it could let hot air out when the car is stopped, helping the turbo cool down.

How about someone make an mp3 file of the burble that can be played over the HIFI?

 

I remember reading MINI literature prior to release of the R56 MCS that stated that the hood scoop, although not acting directly as before for the superchanger, does function to help cool the turbo. Since then, on this forum, it's been stated that the hood scoop is completely blocked off. But then again, more recently, there have been comments about it indeed being open. I wonder what the reality is.

 

I will happily give up the burble if they can fix the diesel-like ticking sound at idle! :'(