Tell me im not crazy?!
 

Does anyone know what year and model bmw introduced its now infamous "bmw gong/chime"?

To the best of my memory its a sound that was never present in my 2006 e53 and im sure it wasnt introduced until 2008..however when I just got in it just now it made it a second or 2 after starting the engine....no warnings or anything....My best guess would be that ibus got an update and its playing when thats loading? but I cant find anything in the ibus options relating to the gong.

Sounds like it's the hourly chime to me. Check to see if it is enabled on the clock/radio.

Its definitely not hourly chime. I tried starting the car 6 times..happened 6 times..then I checked hourly chime was disabled in ibus and it was.

Is it cold where you are? Under 37F?

its cold here but not that cold...11c/52f

I should iterate that its not like the normal e53 warning chime...it sounds exactly like the e90 door open/anything at all has happened gong.

Thats why i was thinking it must have come on an ibus auto update or something.

After 18 years at the wheel of a number of E53's, my bet is that you're over thinking it. Occam's Razor will win this day.

A video of the sound may be helpful in determining a normal or aftermarket sound. :thumbup:

Ofcourse.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSWoOfQY0tM

The first gong obviously. The second noise is just my dashcam starting up.

Wow, wow ... definitely a cool sound for an E53/E39. How did this happen? I should check for an Ibus update as clearly that can be the only source. Hopefully it replaces the dated ding sound. My 2007 E92 has that sound so I'd imagine the E70 has it.

..

Just did an Ibus app update and the sounds remained the usual. Did you say the new sound is only upon engine start?

Yeah its on engine start, or when I switch the ignition on. I havnt tested if its the same on doors open or other events though.

Its blown me away as I have absolutely no idea where it came from. I've had the car for years and its never happened....Then suddenly out of nowhere I start the car one evening and its got the "new" bmw gong on start up lol. I spent a little while trying to figure out where its coming from looking through ibus settings and the settings for my xtrons (thinking it may have got an update) but I cant find anything obvious at all.