GTi E30 Soundproofing

[niv_e30]

My E30 seems very sensitive to the quality of road surface, anything other than really smooth & the noise levels are very high, which is disappointing.
There seems to be very little damping material on the panels, virtually nothing in the boot and the front wings, which look bolt on have none.
So, I'm intendingto get some sort of proofing (dynamat, fatmat, secondskin.... loads out there but all pricey).

BUT, the car doesn't seem to have any screws holding the interior together, so I guess it's all snap fixings. Where can I find out how to remove the interior plastic trim, carpets etc, so I can really quieten down the car, without breaking anything, thus introducing rattles etc. (currently rattle free).

PS: having an argument with VW as bodywork is not aligned that well: Passenger sill is 7mm proud of the front edge of the door & wing, but flush at back of door, drivers side is flush all along; not good for a special limited edition model! Dealer syas they're not happy with it & have asked VW UK to look at it, but no news after a week.

[Hurdy]

Welcome niv,

Sometimes the boots you have on the alloys can be a contributary factor for road noise. What tyres have you got on?

TT may be able to help you with the interior assembly. Personally I had the audio speakers upgraded and had Dynamat fitted in all the door cards and lining the boot and I have noticed an improvement in the noise ingress.

Sorry to hear about the cars problems. Any pics? What colour is your ED30? Maybe we could get an owner with a similar coloured car to post pics for you to compare and use to help your case!

Let us know. We are here to help

[speedynz]

Hi Niv, my ED 30 is noisy too, tyre noise is high and I know that the Continental tyres are particularly noisy.

We run on very coarse volcanic chip ashphalt over here and the few places that are smoothly surfaced are noticeably quieter.

Which tyres are you running?

[niv_e30]

Tyres are Michelin Pilot Exaltos.
Would a change reduce road noise?

[niv_e30]

Who are TT then, to help with interior dis-assembly?

[08micsta]

Who are TT then, to help with interior dis-assembly?

Give him some time. He has been rather active lately on the site and be taking a break.
Have you looked in the MK5 Maintenance and info Thread?

[speedynz]

Tyres are Michelin Pilot Exaltos.
Would a change reduce road noise?

Yes, but the Michelins are not the noisiest tyres available for your car and changing them to quieter riding rubber will not solve your issue, only help it.

[Teutonic_Tamer]

Who are TT then,

I is TT !!!   

Oh, and welcome to the forum.

to help with interior dis-assembly?

As others have suggested, there is a "sticky" thread in the "child" section of this Mk5 forum, and will have workshop manuals galore to download.

Regarding your tyres, Pilot Exalto are a reasonably quite tyre, and I personally doubt you will find a boot which is noticeably quieter, and also offers the same level of grip.


Regarding the general soundproofing, I doubt the front wings would need any - it is usally diesels which have enhanced engine bay soundproofing, but on a GTI, you want to hear those donkeys under the bonnet working.

I think that an element of "costcutting" was employed by VW on the entire Golf range, and soundproofing and build quality seem to be the main areas.  Balance this with the areas where VW did spend a lot of Euros, mainly in the chassis, engine, transmissions and driving dynamics - and you will no doubt agree the Golf has had the money spent in the right places.

If you do wish to enhance the soundproofing with dynamat or similar, then that isn't my area of expertise, so I won't offer any opinion, appart from stating if you improve the sound quality in the "wrong" areas, not only will you reduce road noise, but you will also reduce the engine and exhaust noise.  A muted GTI