hi.

ok - so i made the jump from BMW to Audi about 4 weeks ago, taking delivery of a new Audi A6 3.0 TDi Multitronic S-Line

gotta say i love the car but there seems to be a humming noise that is above & beyond what i would expect from traditional road noise ..

its irrelevant of road surface, speed but does seem to be slightly higher when the road camber dictates slightly more weight on the drivers side (i am in the UK)

The car has 7 spoke 19" running Pirelli P-Zero's

Anybody have any ideas ? defo not any kind of bearing/mechanical issue - i think its the Pirelli's

Taken the car back to Audi & they have given me a 2.0 SE whilst they drive mine for a day or so - and that is mega quiet ..

 

Humming usually indicates your Audi is happy but doesn't know the words to the song. Alternatively, it could be tires (road noise). Those 19" don't have much treadwall and ride a little harsh. My power steering tends to whine all the time and I can also hear some gear noise (MT6), but I expect some of that at 195k miles. Let us know what your dealer finds. And congratulations on your move to Audi ownership.

 

I have had my 2011 A6 with 7 spoke 19" Pirelli P-Zero's just shy of 8 months now and I can tell you I find those tires noisy. The type of noise seems to change depending on the road surface.....and yes, I would describe it as humming some times when I am on a very smooth roadway.

I come from a 2000 740iL BMW that was very sound-insulated so I have just assumed that road noise is part of the norm for this car. That is, I don't think Audi spent a lot of money on sound insulation, nor did I expect them to.....in the A8 I would expect them to though.

 

ok - got the car back today. the Audi folks local to me (Manchester) recognise that there is a 'humming' noise above what they would expect, but as they have not had any other people complain, or have received anything from Audi UK - there is not alot they can do. they are prepared to change tyres but i will have to pay for this! oh well

 

To: Manc_aamir
Which tyres did the 2.0 SE Audi lent you have? Wondering if the 18in Pirelli's have the same problem Thanks

 

To: Manc_aamir
Which tyres did the 2.0 SE Audi lent you have? Wondering if the 18in Pirelli's have the same problem Thanks

 

i think it had bridgestone tyres on. they definately were not pirelli's and did not emit any noise other than the usual road noise

an update on my car - oddly dont hear anything when it rains ... so am thinking it has something to do with tarmac and the composition of the p-zero tyre.

 

If the dealer is accomodating ask him to swap tires and wheels with the quiet one for a quick test drive and see if that makes the noise go away.

 

Hi there,

I have 4x Goodyear Eagle F1 255 40 R19 100Y on my (UK) Audi A6 3.0 TDi Bi-Turbo SE (quattro) registered May 2012, and have had horrendous droning at a frequency of 440Hz since 5,500 miles. Now at 15k miles, after pathetic support from Audi UK, two dealers have given up their time to find no mechanical fault and claim "it's just road noise".

I have lots of experience driving various cars with low profile tyres, and have never heard anything like this.

I bought this car with 3k miles and 6 months as an approved Audi, specified, build, bought, and owned by Audi as a manager's car, then sold to me by Audi. I didn't choose or specify the wheels / tyres - they did.

It isn't due to uneven tyre wear - "sawtoothing".

It's at a constant frequency - the pitch doesn't change regardless of road speed. It's present on many road surfaces.

It's so objectionable - you wouldn't sell a car that sounds like this; and too often now I hate driving this car!

Even when crawling over a gravel surface - where a piece of gravel rotates and goes "ping" - the exact same resonance is heard.

Believe it or not, feeling so failed by Audi (this is the first Audi I've owned - always BWM before), I'm about to have the tyres, tyres + wheels, tyres + wheels + hubs/suspension, hubs/suspension sound tested (frequency response) for resonances. I'm determined to find the root problem then hold Audi to account.

In the meantime, has anyone been able to identify a root cause, or find a good fix?

Many thanks indeed to you all and best wishes,
Ian