Winter230

For those who have Harman Kardon audio in your W204, did you get serious rattling from the bass speaker location at the rear deck when playing music with heavy bass (e.g. Beyonce - DIVA, Video phone, Ave Maria etc.)?

My bass setting is at 4 and I get serious rattles even at normal listening volume. I could stop the rattles by pressing really hard on the plastic grille with my hand. It's really annoying, do you think the dealer will be able to fix that?

white_glass_top

Check in the trunk area, underneath where the speaker is mounting, and look for loose mounting bolts. I had a similiar issue when my quick park got installed.

AMGTTV8

I wish i could do what you have in your sig...must be awesome to use the car at its potential...must be solid as a rock at that speed..

Winter230

I didn't see any mounting bolts on the under side of the rear deck in the trunk. I don't have quick park. What mounting bolts are you referring to? Thanks.

CrAZyVeGAsBoY

mine rattles a bit too, just turn down the base and u should be fine.

lug

I have the same problem, I don't think that turning down the bass is the solution I would like. After all what is the point of a sub-woofer?

My rattling varies, sometimes it starts after a particularly bassey (not sure if that word exists) song and then all other songs will rattle even if the bass on them is not particualrly high.

I'm considering taking it to the dealer to see if they can sort it out.

woedee

I have the same issue (posted about it in another thread here).

CrAZyVeGAsBoY

ok well in that case u have the remember that the good comes with the bad, if u turn up the base its gonna rattle some, u gotta remember that although the L7 system is a nice stereo system i really doubt that they built this car to handle the base as loud that u want it to, so in essence its gonna rattle some, yeah could maybe tighten the screws but either way unless u get a pro to soundpoof ur trunk its gonna rattel. I mean people r all saying the same thing meaning there probably isnt anything wrong with ur base.

München

off-topic, but 125 is all you could get that up to? You can do that in the US... get it back on the autobahn and push it farther.

lug

I would agree with you if I were to listen to music at a very high volume but I don't.

I'm not into very loud music or extremely heavy bass - I like to listen to music at above average levels and just feel the bass, I used to listen to music much louder on my Opel Zafira with Pioneer stereo and factory fitted loudspeakers and not one single rattle!!

I agree that the sub-woofer is not the problem there must be something loose in the rear deck and that is what Winter230 and myself want to find out.

The rattle I have in my car should not be there because the volume is not that high, expecially if you consider the cost of the MM package...

CrAZyVeGAsBoY

well honestly it depends on the song, some have louder bass noise compared to others, like i said before even if u tighten the screws i think ur still gonna get some noise but thats my .02 cents, when factory installs these units ur usually always gonna get some rattle, but i do agree that it shouldnt but what can we do?

Winter230

I understand that something could rattles if the volume or the bass is really loud. I also agreed that it depends on the song too. However the rattle seems to be quite excessive even at average/low volume when there is really low frequency bass (e.g. DIVA-Beyonce). It felt like a resonnance causing something to vibrate excessively. I played the same song in my E-class at a louder volume and it was completely rattle free (which also has the HK L7 system with an even bigger subwoofer). It's hard to convince myself that it's the way it's supposed to be, it's just doesn't sound right....
Just wondering if anyone had any luck getting their dealer to fix this or find a DIY solution for it.

CrAZyVeGAsBoY

well if thats the case then u should probalby just go to the dealer and have them mess with it.

benzlvr2500

DYNAMAT!!!!

woedee

anyone know how to remove rear speaker cover?

RM-6302

I am also interested in the rear deck removal. My motive is to see the sub-woofer and figure out how/what to upgrade for a bit better, read fuller, deeper bass, without any box in the trunk. I want to know how big and how deep the actual woofer is.


As far as the rattles, I am sure that the dealer can/will fix it without too much trouble.

woedee

I've looked into the rattle coming from the rear shelf area; my preliminary findings indicate that the rattle source is actually the center seat belt device caused by certain bass levels. I'm looking at ways to insulate the belt device surrounding to minimize the rattle.

fyi...If anyone here has the song Amazing - Kanye West ft. Young Jeezy; pop it in & you will hear some serious rattling - even at low volume levels (& bass @ 0).

Winter230

Thanks for sharing your findings but I think my rattle may be due to a different cause. I checked everywhere and the rattle definitely came from the rear deck directly above where the bass speaker is. And I was able to stop the rattle by pressing hard with my hand on the rear deck at the location.

RLE

You have a warranty claim. Let the dealer sort it out since it's obviously a well known problem.

Well, except for my car which doesn't have the rattles. Yet.

Winter230

Yes, I think I'm gonna bring it to the dealer to have them look at it. But I just wanna do a little troubleshooting for them first because a lot of the time the dealer is pretty useless in solving rattles or other noise problems. In my old C class, it took me 3 trips to the service department to get them to fix a speaker problem. They said nothing was wrong and blamed the problem on my audio source, my "non-commercial" CD, mp3 etc.. And on my 3rd visit I skipped the service advisor and ask for the foreman directly and he finally admitted that it was a speaker problem and got it replaced for me and the problem was resolved. Similar situation happens all the time and sometimes you really need to tell them exactly what to fix otherwise they will just tell you nothing is wrong!

FraKctured

I had a rattle issue with my HK system in my '06 C280 4Matic. It happened playing acoustic music (solo piano) and AM radio (talk stations). I tried a few things, but nothing worked. I replaced the speaker, and the rattle disappeared. I suspect there is some design flaw in the rear passenger side speaker--get them to change it under the warranty.

FraKctured

Use a small flat head screwdriver and gently pry it up out of the casing. It's not held by anything other than some clips. It pops back in, but it's a tight fit so don't force anything!

stealtheo

For those of you with the rattle. I too thought it was the sub
the I relized it was the rear sunshade
Play the music until you hear the rattle then "lift" the shade rattle stops
It only just started to do this for me. Have not looked yet to see what the problems is.

cbcharlie

I too have this sunshade rattle! Now I just keep the sunshade up all the time. I'll ask next time I bring it in for service if theres anything they can do. Maybe line where the sunshade sits with a different material

lug

I took in my car to the dealer to sort out the rattle once and for all. At first the mechanic assumed that the bass level was too high (as everybody else seems to), he then checked it out and found out that it wasn't. He then cranked up th volume far too high and we couldn't hear the rattle!! I turned the volume to the level I usually do and lo and behold there was the rattle...

I left the car with them for a few hours and when they finished with it the rattle was GONE!!!

I have tested the fix by listening to really heavy bass music quite loudly and no rattle!

Apparently the mechanic put extra padding under the speaker grille.