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      04-08-2018, 08:38 PM   #1
mainsoda
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Toning down the buzzer

If spring ever arrives I have a project that's been on my mind, and that is toning down that harsh seat belt buzzer. Is it possible to chill that thing out a little bit with some thick tape on the speaker? I don't want to get rid of it entirely, I just want it to be less like a German panzer bearing down on my ears.

Do you go guys know where that speaker is located? I suspect it is on the gauge cluster board. If so, is it obvious?

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      04-08-2018, 09:25 PM   #2
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I got mine coded out.
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      04-20-2018, 02:52 PM   #3
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I found it! A fellow named Manoweb over at Bimmerfest has a great write up. He removed his, I'm just going to quiet the damned thing up with a round piece of rubber tape.

Anyway, the annoying speaker is on the board behind the speedo/tach assembly and it is the black cylinder in the photo below. I'll get this sorted in the next few weeks and report back.

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      04-21-2018, 11:04 AM   #4
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Alright I did it and I have to say, it's spectacular. The harsh biting frequencies are all gone and it is a nice gentle buzz about 30-40% as loud as it used to be. I highly recommend this upgrade.

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      04-21-2018, 11:47 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mainsoda View Post
Alright I did it and I have to say, it's spectacular. The harsh biting frequencies are all gone and it is a nice gentle buzz about 30-40% as loud as it used to be. I highly recommend this upgrade.

Good to know. That thing is annoying as hell.
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      04-22-2018, 10:43 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Boosted 1 View Post
I got mine coded out.
I coding mine out too, much easier than removing the cluster.
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      04-22-2018, 02:57 PM   #7
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I didn't want to get rid of my buzzer, I just wanted it quiet. Plus I cleaned a little dust out of my instrument panel and it looks brand new.
The buzzer is perfect to me now, just a soft little pleasant ding.
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      04-23-2018, 05:51 PM   #8
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Nice work.
I have a coffee maker that had that exact same speaker in it.
It would beep loudly 3 times when it was done brewing.
Sounded exactly like a smoke detector going off. Drove the dogs insane.
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      04-23-2018, 09:38 PM   #9
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Nice work! I hate that beep too. How difficult is pulling the gauge cluster out?
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      04-24-2018, 12:21 AM   #10
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Nice work! I hate that beep too. How difficult is pulling the gauge cluster out?
It's amazingly easy. One screw on the top of the cluster and the whole thing comes right out. There is one weird plug in the back and two little LEDs for the clock set buttons. (which never lit up on my car) Then you need to take the back off which is 4 wonky little screws and a couple of clips, then you are to the board.
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      05-20-2018, 09:43 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mainsoda View Post
I didn't want to get rid of my buzzer, I just wanted it quiet. Plus I cleaned a little dust out of my instrument panel and it looks brand new.
The buzzer is perfect to me now, just a soft little pleasant ding.

Nice to have a nice clean cluster I bet. I hate the looking through a dusty lens.


How much did it reduce the sound level, 50%, 80% ?



The buzzer will also sound for low oil pressure, low tires pressure and or when I hot a certain speed, so I wanted to keep the buzzer loud for those circumstances in case I have the stereo cranked up. Instead, I coded it to not come on for seat belt or freeze warning.
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      05-20-2018, 10:53 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pungo View Post
Nice to have a nice clean cluster I bet. I hate the looking through a dusty lens.


How much did it reduce the sound level, 50%, 80% ?



The buzzer will also sound for low oil pressure, low tires pressure and or when I hot a certain speed, so I wanted to keep the buzzer loud for those circumstances in case I have the stereo cranked up. Instead, I coded it to not come on for seat belt or freeze warning.
A clean instrument panel is pretty nice!

I would estimate that the buzzer is about 70-80% muted from its original sound. It sounds to me now like a normal volume for a normal buzzer. Also the original sound had a distorted harsh quality to it, that is now totally gone. After my upgrade I hear only a soft pleasant tone.
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      05-21-2018, 08:06 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mainsoda View Post
I would estimate that the buzzer is about 70-80% muted from its original sound. It sounds to me now like a normal volume for a normal buzzer. Also the original sound had a distorted harsh quality to it, that is now totally gone. After my upgrade I hear only a soft pleasant tone.

Great idea. I did something similar to my UPS for my home theater PC system, the buzzer looked similar.

Yea, I think our tiny little 2 seater cabin is so small it amplifies the sound level. They probably used the same buzzer in an X5 with 20 times the space
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      06-22-2018, 02:14 PM   #14
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Another thing to do while you have it out if you have sensitive night eyes like mine - put 6-8 layers of tan painters tape over the back of the "bright light" indicator to mute it to about 1/2 brightness. My eyes are sensitive and I hated driving with my brights on because it felt like a blue flashlight was shining in my eyes. This made it MUCH better. Thinking I will do the same for the stupid fog light indicator. Seriously - who ever thought we needed an indicator to tell us our fogs were on??? lol
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