Vihzel

Turn up your speakers! I took this video while driving on the I-5 today in Southern California. I was going 70mph with a headwind and crosswind. Basically, if it's windy at all, this is what I hear almost anytime above 50mph, but much more prominently on freeway speeds. Keep in mind that the video really doesn't do it justice as my iPhone 6 was capturing the road noise more than the wind noise. Imagine that buffeting sound, but amplify it 2-3x and right by your left ear, and then you will have the wind noise that I hear.

I hope this video helps some of you understand what many of us owners either have been or currently are going through. I hope this video serves as proof to MBUSA that many of us owners aren't just "hearing things" and that it isn't just intended as part of the design. I will be submitting a full report of the wind noise with my dealership in New Orleans and MBUSA once I arrive there. I will be driving all the way from California to Louisiana along vast stretches of open land, so I will have plenty of time to capture more of the wind noise and hopefully get some better video.

This amount if wind noise in a $50,000 Mercedes is completely unacceptable. Kia? Maybe. Mercedes? Definitely not.

ManiacGT

That's definitely louder than mine but the same sound. Here's mine at 70+ in a heavy crosswind. S205 built in Bremen on February 2015.

Vihzel

Ahh yeah definitely the same sound. I assume this type of buffeting sound is what owners are hearing. I think I remember others describing it as whooshing? I'm not quite sure if they meant the same thing as this.

ManiacGT

I get a more general whooshing that you'd expect at high speed. But crosswinds produce this buffeting/fluttering/flapping sound. Because it's right near your ear it sounds very distracting. Sadly the sound is very high frequency and so the phone doesn't pick it up well.

While I'll be asking the dealer about it, I can live with the level of noise in mine as it only occurs now and then when the weather is especially windy. What I'm more concerned about is the poor gearbox shifting, that, to me, is way more annoying.

Sol01

I am hearing more road noise than wind noise

ManiacGT

Sadly that's the phones inability to pick up the wind noise properly but you can hear the gusting.

arnold0523

If we can get someone with NO WIND NOISE to upload their video, that will tell if they really have no wind noise.

LateC300

i dunno, i think i have the same wind noise but it seems normal to me. i came from 3 years in a ford focus...this car is dead quiet in comparison, i cant see it getting quieter

Sol01

yes, it seems that different people have different perceptions of what is acceptable wind noise in a car but judging by the number of posts on these forums it seems to be the biggest criticism of the car. due to pick up a w205 loaner whilst my car is being serviced. very curious to see whether I have the same experience as most other here. is funny how your mind could play tricks with you after reading all the comments on these pages about wind noise

Vihzel

Like I said in my original post, imagine the wind noise you hear in the video and amplify it. Like ManiacGT said, my phone has a difficult time picking up the wind noise because it's a higher frequency and it likes to pick up the road noise a lot more.

I believe these are the best captures that I got today of the wind noise while driving from SoCal to Albuquerque. You can clearly hear all the gusting/flapping sound of the wind. If you guys still think these sound normal to you, it's not.

Vihzel

I think I've built enough video evidence of the excessive wind noise to present to MBUSA for them to tell me if that wind noise is "normal" or not.

I am 100% confident that it is not normal because my front passenger door does not exhibit the same type of noise. It has wind noise, but there is no buffeting or flapping going on, which is causing the excess. It's simply normal wind noise on that side of the car. It's ONLY my driver's side door that is causing the sound. I spent about 10 hours in my car today driving from SoCal to Albuquerque, so I had a lot of time to just listen to the wind noise coming from both sides. The driver's side was ALWAYS louder than the passenger side easily.

Sol01

yes is more audible in the above videos.

ManiacGT

OP, in the second set of videos, can you please confirm your speed and weather conditions (calm, a little windy, very windy, severe cross winds etc) just so we can put this into context?

Vihzel

The first two videos were in the Mojave Desert in SoCal where I was driving at the 70mph freeway speed limit. The third video was in New Mexico where I was driving at the 75mph freeway speed limit.

In regards to the wind, the excessive wind noise appears if there's any kind of headwind or crosswind. It does not seem to appear when I have a tailwind. I heard the excessive wind noise for the vast majority of my trip. It was pretty windy when I recorded those, but it does not have to be very windy for the excessive wind noise to appear.

I'm driving from Albuquerque, NM to Dallas, TX (maybe depending on storm updates), and what I'm going to try to do today is when it is particularly bad again, I'm going to attempt to record what the right passenger door sounds like and then what the left passenger door sounds like so there's a comparison.

ManiacGT

Sounds good (no pun intended). All useful stuff to compile for evidence.

Sol01

sorry is your car a estate ?

ManiacGT

Yes the picture is in my signature.

Sol01

love the colour. I would be obviously in the market for the coupe when released but am curious to know If this wind noise issue is common to both sedan and estate cars ?

ManiacGT

You did notice my post of wind noise video above?

Sol01

yes just wasn't sure if yours was also on the driver side since we drive in UK.

ManiacGT

The fluttering and buffeting noise is present on both the passenger and drivers door tops.

jumpman726

Are you guys positive it's coming from the door and not the climate control air vents? I remember reading in a different post of an owner who said the wind noise went down substantially when he pressed the air recirculation button for the climate control.

ManiacGT

Its definitely the top of the door/A pillar. BUT, it might not be that the leak or issue is there, that's just where its most audible. It could be seals elsewhere, the external mirrors, anything.

My guess on the recirc is that changes the cabin pressure and causes a difference in sound. If air is leaking in or out, a change in pressure will abate this or make it worse.

I've not had chance to try recirc when its windy yet, I will do though.

Vihzel

Oh I'm 200% positive that it's not coming from the climate control air vents. I know all about the air vent noise, and I make sure to recirc when I'm on highway/freeway speeds. It definitely cuts down on the overall noise in the cabin, but it does nothing to reduce the excessive wind noise coming from the window.

I'm quite sure that the MB dealer in New Orleans will at least attempt to fix the wind noise coming from the driver side door. MB can't say that it's normal because there is a very noticeable difference in the wind noise between the driver and front passenger's door. There were many times where I would just stick my head in the middle of the cabin where why face was lined up with the screen and just listened for a couple seconds. The passenger door had the usual whooshing sound of the wind, while the left added on a flapping/buffeting sound on top of that. That difference alone should force MB to at least try to fix what's going on with my driver's door because there's definitive proof that the doors are producing different sounds.

arnold0523

They may not fix it because it is "design characteristics". The car is designed this way.
I went to the dealership and they said all other cars have similar wind noise level. I'm wondering those said NO WIND NOISE hear similar thing but consider it normal.