albert101

I have a rattle coming from the center console of the dashboard. Happens mainly when I go over rough roads. I'm not sure if its coming from the Command screen or from the center speaker. Has anyone experienced the same problem? Any solutions to the fix? I took my car to the dealer but they didn't catch it and since they couldn't repeat the problem, they said they couldn't fix it.

iapboy

Yep i have this issue too.

over rougher roads it makes this sound.. i am sure its from the centre speaker.

i havent gone to the dealer about it yet.. the sound is random tho.

Egonvdv

you guys sure it's not from the hood that covers the speedometer etc?
That's where my rattle came from.

it's the bottom/inner plastic part (not the top rubbery), that makes
a noise. bit like loose change.

iapboy

I get rattles from there top. The top of the hood, if you tap it you can hear the sound it makes.

Drives me nuts... especially when i have no music on.

Egonvdv

my garage actually changed the bottom (plastic) part, but it made it worse.

It's at the garage now for the 3rd time for this...

I told them to just put some padding in, which according to one of the members here should do the trick.

I keep my fingers crossed...

albert101

Thanks for the replies guys, I was getting worried that I was the only one with this problem since my dealer said I'm the only one complaining about it.

I have the same problem Egonvdv has and the dealer was able to spot it right away since it was obvious. They put in some tape on the inside, behind the plastic and the sound isn't as bad anymore, though when on hard bumps on the road, the plastic still makes the sound. Here's a picture of what the dealer did.









The sound is still there, though I must admit, not as bad, BUT it's still there! I'm tempted to just open it up again and lay tape everywhere on the inside!

Anyone else got a better solution to get rid of the sound once and for all?

The center console part still bugs me to hell and back though! grrrr.

Distalero

In my case I think it's the ambient temp changes.

It's hitting low to mid 90s (F) here in NorCal, and this loosens up the plastic a bit. When I leave work, after the car has been in the heat for hours, I will hear a faint crack or two as the A/C cools things down. Then, the next morning when it's much cooler, I think that overnight the plastic has settled just a bit off it's usual placement, and will rattle until the car warms up again with driving to work (now that I write this I realize I don't have much of a life )

Anyhow, that's my theory, and I'm sticking to it, just like the tape I'll have the dealer install.

vic viper

If that is where the creaks are coming from I am not surprised they didnt stop using that kind of tape.

The dealer need to use some kind of felt tape instead, but I doubt that the sound is coming from there, try to remove that IC trim and drive around to see if the rattle goes away.

akbro93704

I have creaks coming from the plastic around the gauge cluster...and popping sounds from each end of the dashboard around the A pillar. I haven't taken it in because it seems more trouble than its worth.

albert101

I was thinking the exact same thing too. Cause they just used regular 3m tape. Is there a specific kind of felt tape that would work best? I'm gonna drop by the hardware store soon and see what I can grab. Don't think the dealer has the felt tape I should use. Well, I give them credit for at least trying though, they did say I was the first one who brought in a W204 complaining of this problem. At least they took an effort to try and solve the problem.

I will remove the IC cluster plastic trim and take my car out for a spin. Will see if the creaking is still there. Though I do remember, every time I would hold down the IC cluster, the sounds will go away. So it's either the IC plastic trim or the area around it that's causing the sounds.

albert101

I couldn't wait anymore to take out the IC trim so before heading home from work, I yanked it out and observe how the car was on my way from work. True enough, as what vic viper said, the sound was still there!!! It sounds like its coming from behind the instrument cluster or it could be the instrument culster itself. I'm tempted to yank out the cluster to see whats causing it and maybe laying some felt behind it but I'm a little apprehensive to be messing around back there to much as of right now. Maybe I can put a layer of sound dedening foam around the plastic cluster trim to at least try and drown out the noise. We'll see. I'll take a trip to the hardware store tomorrow and see what materials I can gather. I was hoping it was just the plastic trim since then I can pin point the problem right away but now I'm back to searching for the problem. Looks like the dealer missed it to and though it was the plastic trim.

albert101

I have the same problem too. I had foam placed inside the A pilar cover and the sound was still there. I then had the A pillar cover removed and drove around. The sound was still there. I think it's coming from where the A pilar meets the dashboard. I'm not willing to take out my dashboard just for that so right now I'm just living with it.

I_Love_MB

Hi Guys, I noticed some rattels on rougher roads after 30000 KM and even if they felt like coming from front, after 1 week of checking it was clear that the rattles are actually coming from left side of Drivers seat. Need to find the exact location (nut/screw) but I'm happy that a drop of oil can make it quiet again.

albert101

Does anyone know how to remove the center speaker properly?

vic viper

Insert a plastic butter knife or similar in front of the grille to pop it open, then the speaker is fastened with two screws.

albert101

Thanks for the ti[p! I have a PARKTRONIC display on top of my center speaker, does that also just pop off?

vic viper

Yes, its just another connector to disconnect.

We have had a couple of cars with "interior" rattles, but in both cases the sound came from the engine bay, it was the vacuum hose to the brake booster as well as a connector close to the firewall that caused rattles at a certain frequency.

Egonvdv

[QUOTE=albert101;3590118]
Anyone else got a better solution to get rid of the sound once and for all?
[QUOTE]


they put something between the top part of the dash
& the plastic lower part (the part that has been taken out on your pic)

this has done the trick. same effect as putting your finger on the plastic
when you hear the noise...

albert101

I couldn't take the rattling anymore so I decided to try a little DIY. Sorry if it looks horrible (this is my first attempt on it on my own) but believe it or not, it actually works!

The rattling isn't as bad anymore and instead of hearing an annoying "tick, tick" all the time, its more of a bearable "tok" every now and then. Not as high pitched. It also only occurs when I drive over big bumps or very rough roads. Unlike before, it would just keep rattling away. Though if I listen very carefully, the rattle is still there since I found that the rattle is coming from either the instrument cluster or behind it. But the foam does help a lot and really muffles out the sound.

For the foam, I used DynaLiner, 1/4in thick but for some parts, I had to trim it down to make it thinner. I also used orange electrical tape as a base since the Dynaliner is self adhesive and the adhevise is very strong and I was afraid that if I make any mistakes, I wouldn't be able to remove the Dynaliner anymore. With electrical tape as my base, removing the Dynaliner is easy and doesn't leave any traces.

Here are some pictures.






I know it looks horrible but I just wanted to see if it works and it seems like it does. When I have the time, I'm going to go back and clean it up nicer, but the lazy bum in me kinda doesn't feel like going it anymore since I don't see the mess anyway.

Now all I gotta figure out is how to get rid of the center speaker rattle.

vic viper

But are you sure that the IC trim is the source of the rattles?, considering all the dampening foam you slapped on it would be nearly impossible for the trim to rattle, maybe the foam just muffled a sound that is located further in?

You said that the noice was still there when driving without the trim.
I would remove the IC and check if there is something in there that rattles, but as you can see in my pic here its not much in there:

albert101

Right now, the foam really holds the trim snug and only dampens the rattle enough that I only hear it if I were to listen very closely. So, yes, the rattle is still there. But to me, it's livable already since it's already a huge improvement from before and I'm scared to open up the instrument cluster or more and poke around what's in there. I might do more harm than good.

After studying your pictures for a good few minutes, you're right, it doesn't seem like there's anything back there. The rattle must be coming from inside the instrument cluster itself then? It's surely not coming from the IC trim since when the trim was out, there was still the sound. I wanted to put the foam to try and muffle out the sound, which it work a bit.

But going back, looking at your picture, there doesn't look like there's anything back there to wiggle around. It looks like the rattle's coming from the IC itself? I've never actually seen behind my IC so I'm 100% sure. Since you've taken out your IC, did you notice anything back there that could cause a rattle or "tick, tick" sound when going over rough roads?

vic viper

Hard to say, there could be some insulation missing on the IC cable, or the IC might not be seated properly, I would remove it and check it out, its actually very easy when you already have removed the trim.´

When its loose give it a good shake to see if anything is rattling inside of it.

albert101

I noticed there are four screws holding the IC in place. Just a simple remove those screws and the IC comes off? Or is there anything else to it? You're tempting me. Maybe I might try and take out the IC over the weekend.

vic viper

If you could remove the IC trim without problems the IC is a breeze, I have it described here: https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...m-writeup.html

albert101

Wow! Nice write up! Thanks so much for the info. I'll give the IC removal a try over the weekend and see whats up back there.