Sound design engineering can make small diesel motors sound like big, petrol V8s. One of the least reports on vistas of the auto industry is the way in which automakers contrive the sound of their fomites. And BMW is one of the innovators of this engineering which it addresses as Active Sound Design.

According to Albert Kaltenhauser, who is BMW’s Manager for Airborne Sound, Acoustics and Vibration: “Today’s diesel engines are capable of a lot. They’re efficient, highly effective and high-torque, but until now they were lacking the right sound.”

Currently, BMW engineers have formulated an “engine note” for the MINI which can cause its four-cylinder diesel sound like a petrol/gasoline-powered “muscle car” V8. As a matter of fact, 4 unlike engine notes have been produced and are being tried in both a MINI and BMW 635d prototype.

The engineering utilizes the car’s own sound-system to raise the driver experience so that several test drivers come to comprehend the car as doing better equated to an identically-powered unit minus the sound design technology. The engineering uses boards to dampen the sound in the engine bay while giving unreal sounds to the cabin by the car’s sound-system.