Has anyone used Dynamat or equivalent sound deadening materials in their MINI? I have a MINI on order and I work at an electronics retialer that stocks Dynamat. Should I have some installed with the factory HK system?

 

HAHA. I am probably the best person to talk to about that. I have a crazy system installed in my mini.

MY CRAZY SOUND SYSTEM

I got dynamat on my Mini because I have a huge 5 channel amp powering 2 10 inch subs and Mb Quart speakers. The dynamat is necessary in my car or else it would rattle like crazy. But I don't think it would be necessary in a factory HK system.

 

There is some in my car - in the door panels and under the rear seat.
I have noticed no change in sound, vibration, etc. Vibration does not come from the metal panels in my car, it comes from the plastic panels where they are loose to the frame.

Someone told me you use Dynamat on large flat body panels to stop them resonating; well there aren't any large flat panels in a MINI

 

I added dynamat style stuff to my door panels, but mostly to the plastic interior side panels, in addition to quite a bit of other work I did on the panels and doors.
In my subjective view, this has improved the sound of the HK system quite a bit.

 

2cool4school


I like the Aston Martin in the backround.

Killer system...

 

The final word on Dynamat is not completely clear. If you ask enough people you will get conflicting answers. Pro audio shops that install it will rave about it. They stand to make lots of bucks off of the sale because it is very costly.
Some people say that in order to get best results, you have to dynamat everything - otherwise noise will filter in from the areas that you did not treat. Good example is the floor which is a great place to add sound deadening but unless you pull up the carpet and install it, you'd be missing out on shutting out alot of noise from under you. If you do the doors only then you might get a little benefit. Best is to listen to some systems that have it or not and let your ears decide if you can tell the difference. Buyer beware- as always.

 

There's 2 aspects to dynamat - soundproofing and sound deadening.

You're right on with the soundproofing. If you don't put it practically everywhere (especially the floor), sound is going to get through. They don't call it "road noise" for nothing.

But there is validity to sound deadening. For my install I used rolls of Peel & Seal from Home Depot to stop the metal in the doors from resonating. It's a 6 inch wide roll of adhesive backed foil faced asphalt product for roof sealing. I completely covered the inside of the outer door skin with it. For the inner skin, I just tapped the metal in various places and wherever I got the sustained ringing of the resonating metal, I put a piece of Peel & Seal there and bingo - no more resonating.

How much different would it have sounded with no deadening? Hard to say, but I know resonance isn't a "good" thing. The stuff was cheap ($11 for a 25' roll) and I already had the doors apart, so why not?

 

I put Dynomat on the metal panels inside the doors. The doors feel a lot mor solid now, like a luxury car kinda feel. And to me the road noise issue has improved significantly. I'd say do it. Not much weight, but definetly much results.

 

Quite a while back I installed 39 square feet of dynamat in an early toyota mr2. Anyone who has ever driven one of these knows how noisy they are on the highway.The dynamat made a difference, but not an enormous one.It also had a nice custom sound system with a molded in fiberglass subwoofer box behind each seat. It sounded quite good.But the amount of work involved in installing it throughout correctly just for a factory h/k stereo wouldn't be worth it in my opinion.I have an infinity basslink in my 02 mcs and it's plently loud, and nothing rattles.

 

Good point about the sound deadening vs sound proofing.
If you can get Dynamat cheap and you have things apart anyway then great. If you can get even a little improvement and you can tell, then also great.
But the places I went to wanted too much for this so I passed it up and my MINI is still doing OK.
Thanks for the comments.

 

Dynamat is quite expensive but worth it to get sound proofing and sound deadening properties that luxury cars have. For me, It was my first time having Dynamat applied to a vehicle but well worth it now that my system is complete.

The side doors, the side rear, and the rear corner panels and boot door were all fitted with Dynamat. I love the sound of the doors closing now, just solid like a Lexus or BMW "thunk" sound.

The music fills the MINI with pure sound even in rough roads. I'm very pleased with the product and highly recommend it during the installation of a major audio system.

 

It's expensive?

To have it installed? I might agree...
To Purchase... I dunno, I've seen DIY packs available and they were not expensive...

 

>>It's expensive?
>>
>>To have it installed? I might agree...
>>To Purchase... I dunno, I've seen DIY packs available and they were not expensive...
>>


Each box for 2 doors cost me $89.95 and I bought 2 boxes to use all around my MINI except the floors. I've got plenty left over if anybody wants to buy them off me. Got enough to cover at least both side door panels where it's needed the most. I'm gonna post it on Marketplace too. $40.00+shipping. Anyone?

 

How did you, or the place you had do it, put the sound deadenning material in the doors? In my '07 S, the sound shop said that the door /window/regulator was one entire module and difficult if not impossible to soundproof w/o MAJOR work. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

http://www.caraudiodeals.com/install...t-c-34_64.html
Dynamat Xtreme Bulk Pack : 9 Sheets : 36 Sq. Ft. Total : 115 bucks

36 sq.ft. is enough to cover both doors and even more.