[BMWF87Melb]

Hi all,

I get this strange sensation with my ears like they're blocked whenever I go drive my car. I've read that this could be due to faulty or blocked cabin pressure vents.

Can anyone advise me where these are located on the M2 so I can investigate further? Believe these are usually behind the rear bumper?

Or has anyone else experience a similar sensation with their ears when they drive their car?

The only other thing I can think of is the frequency of the ASD not sitting well with my ears. I actually just got the bypass harness delivered today, so I wanted to try things out with ASD off but I embarrassingly I can't get the floor loop bolt loosened. Just won't budge so might need to wait until local covid restrictions are gone to get help on this.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by BMWF87Melb

Hi all,

I get this strange sensation with my ears like they're blocked whenever I go drive my car. I've read that this could be due to faulty or blocked cabin pressure vents.

Can anyone advise me where these are located on the M2 so I can investigate further? Believe these are usually behind the rear bumper?

Or has anyone else experience a similar sensation with their ears when they drive their car?

The only other thing I can think of is the frequency of the ASD not sitting well with my ears. I actually just got the bypass harness delivered today, so I wanted to try things out with ASD off but I embarrassingly I can't get the floor loop bolt loosened. Just won't budge so might need to wait until local covid restrictions are gone to get help on this.

One of them is in the trunk above the amp behind the carpeting on the left side cigarette adapter area. Alot of push pins hold the carpeting in so it is very easy to remove.


It really shouldn't be possible for it to be an air pressure issue especially if your vents are open. Try driving with the windows cracked open vs. them being shut.

But most likely it is the ASD in your situation.

[BMWF87Melb]

Originally Posted by F87source

One of them is in the trunk above the amp behind the carpeting on the left side cigarette adapter area. Alot of push pins hold the carpeting in so it is very easy to remove.


It really shouldn't be possible for it to be an air pressure issue especially if your vents are open. Try driving with the windows cracked open vs. them being shut.

But most likely it is the ASD in your situation.

Great thanks for that. I just noted the vents on a picture posted on the forum from the ASD bypass install.

Hopefully I'll get that damn floor loop bolt out and I can check it out along with installing the harness. The previous owners claims he hasn't had any mods to the car and there's no stereo update - so would there be any reason why the owner would have been removing the left floor loop bolt which he has managed to strip out the bolt head and tighten crazily?

I usually do drive with the window down or sunroof partially open. No difference.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by BMWF87Melb

Great thanks for that. I just noted the vents on a picture posted on the forum from the ASD bypass install.

Hopefully I'll get that damn floor loop bolt out and I can check it out along with installing the harness. The previous owners claims he hasn't had any mods to the car and there's no stereo update - so would there be any reason why the owner would have been removing the left floor loop bolt which he has managed to strip out the bolt head and tighten crazily?

I usually do drive with the window down or sunroof partially open. No difference.

yeah probably ASD then.

IMO it is probably better to code it rather than install the harness. Bimmercode + and a cheap vgate adapter is like $80 CAD, the harness is likely alot more. Plus coding is way faster to perform and remove and also non intrusive.

[BMWF87Melb]

Originally Posted by F87source

yeah probably ASD then.

IMO it is probably better to code it rather than install the harness. Bimmercode + and a cheap vgate adapter is like $80 CAD, the harness is likely alot more. Plus coding is way faster to perform and remove and also non intrusive.

Thanks - will hopefully get the harness on soon and see how things go from there.

Would rather not tinker with coding just as a personal preference so have gone down the harness route.

[BMWF87Melb]

Originally Posted by F87source

One of them is in the trunk above the amp behind the carpeting on the left side cigarette adapter area. Alot of push pins hold the carpeting in so it is very easy to remove.


It really shouldn't be possible for it to be an air pressure issue especially if your vents are open. Try driving with the windows cracked open vs. them being shut.

But most likely it is the ASD in your situation.

Managed to get the bypass harness installed today - unfortunately that blocked ears sensation is still there even with ASD off. While I was installing the harness, all looked ok with the cabin pressure vents. Running out of ideas! Must be something else unrelated to the car then.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by BMWF87Melb

Managed to get the bypass harness installed today - unfortunately that blocked ears sensation is still there even with ASD off. While I was installing the harness, all looked ok with the cabin pressure vents. Running out of ideas! Must be something else unrelated to the car then.

Hmm weird, does it occur with the car completely off (you can test this by sitting in your car until the ecu shuts off)?

If it only occurs with the car on do you have an aftermarket exhaust? It could be drone. My sti used to have terrible exhaust drone even with a stock exhaust at a particular rev range.


If it occurs either way on or off does it go away after awhile?

[BMWF87Melb]

Originally Posted by F87source

Hmm weird, does it occur with the car completely off (you can test this by sitting in your car until the ecu shuts off)?

If it only occurs with the car on do you have an aftermarket exhaust? It could be drone. My sti used to have terrible exhaust drone even with a stock exhaust at a particular rev range.


If it occurs either way on or off does it go away after awhile?

No - don't believe it happens with the car completely off. No aftermarket exhaust on the car either. Will have to keep seeing how things go with the ASD removed.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by BMWF87Melb

No - don't believe it happens with the car completely off. No aftermarket exhaust on the car either. Will have to keep seeing how things go with the ASD removed.

Yeah it must be an electronic source then. Did you get water in your subs under the seat by accident and short them out? This could be a reason but I'm not sure how valid it is because if the subs were shorted out you'd know since all base would be gone. But I've seen it happen with rubber floor mats accumulating huge puddles of water in the winter with snow.

[BMWF87Melb]

Originally Posted by F87source

Yeah it must be an electronic source then. Did you get water in your subs under the seat by accident and short them out? This could be a reason but I'm not sure how valid it is because if the subs were shorted out you'd know since all base would be gone. But I've seen it happen with rubber floor mats accumulating huge puddles of water in the winter with snow.

I bought the car used - so it's not something I'm aware of! Bass in the car seems fine to me.
I'm thinking I might bring it into the dealership - crossing fingers they have some idea.

I've tried to look at if other car owners have experienced such thing and it seems like the Tesla has this issue:

I've tried to adjust my trunk stops following the steps in the video but no difference. Maybe I need to calibrate them further.

[JBG84]

Hey bud. Very noticably happened to me yesterday. I most was aware of this when I had the windows down to help cool the cabin. Upon closing the windows, immediately I felt pressure against my ear drums, similar to an airplane cabin taking off sensation (though less intense and not increasing but kept at a static pressure level).

Did you ever solve this?

E92 M3

[BMWF87Melb]

Originally Posted by JBG84

Hey bud. Very noticably happened to me yesterday. I most was aware of this when I had the windows down to help cool the cabin. Upon closing the windows, immediately I felt pressure against my ear drums, similar to an airplane cabin taking off sensation (though less intense and not increasing but kept at a static pressure level).

Did you ever solve this?

E92 M3

Unfortunately not. Haven't been able to find any solution to this! Have just bared with it for the last 18 months.

[JBG84]

Originally Posted by BMWF87Melb

Unfortunately not. Haven't been able to find any solution to this! Have just bared with it for the last 18 months.

Bud, I did some testing myself yesterday and found a positive improvement worth trying. I'm not sure how applicable it may be to your particular car model. In my E92 Coupe there is a panel in the boot that can be removed allowing entry in to the interior cabin. It sits directly behind the rear passenger arm rest. I found simply removing this panel provided a huge improvement in normalising the cabin pressure. Of course, you leave the arm rest in closed position when driving, just have it open for photos.

You can see photos I took here that may be helpful. https://photos.app.goo.gl/gAWFw3eAq6QJwwCB7

[BMWF87Melb]

Originally Posted by JBG84

Bud, I did some testing myself yesterday and found a positive improvement worth trying. I'm not sure how applicable it may be to your particular car model. In my E92 Coupe there is a panel in the boot that can be removed allowing entry in to the interior cabin. It sits directly behind the rear passenger arm rest. I found simply removing this panel provided a huge improvement in normalising the cabin pressure. Of course, you leave the arm rest in closed position when driving, just have it open for photos.

You can see photos I took here that may be helpful. https://photos.app.goo.gl/gAWFw3eAq6QJwwCB7

Thanks for the heads up on this - unfortunately the rear opening to the boot was an option for the M2 that wasn't specified for my car. Maybe I'll try putting the whole seat down. Not practical but maybe worth trying for the sake of experimenting.

Great that you did end up finding a solution that has helped - well done!

[BMWF87Melb]

Originally Posted by JBG84

Bud, I did some testing myself yesterday and found a positive improvement worth trying. I'm not sure how applicable it may be to your particular car model. In my E92 Coupe there is a panel in the boot that can be removed allowing entry in to the interior cabin. It sits directly behind the rear passenger arm rest. I found simply removing this panel provided a huge improvement in normalising the cabin pressure. Of course, you leave the arm rest in closed position when driving, just have it open for photos.

You can see photos I took here that may be helpful. https://photos.app.goo.gl/gAWFw3eAq6QJwwCB7

Any update with your fix from a few months back? Anything else you found that worked with the cabin pressure?