Yogibara

My rattle is coming from the back window somewhere. I believe it might be coming from the luggage rack rail caps? near the rear I can push on the cap and there's significant give that could cause a rattle at high speed. First rattle so far so I guess I should count myself as being lucky.

Gungaslow

That's what I thought too, but I found out it was actually the center brake light cover on the rear shelf

Pyuan

I sent it to the dealership (Long Beach Merces Benz) and the lead mechanics acknowledged the noise. After he removed cluster and installed insulation on A/C cents behind cluster and cluster, the noise stopped. I shall see how long this fix will last.

lbowroom

That information is very helpful, thank you.

Pyuan

The rattle came back in a couple of days after Long Beach Mercedes Benz installed the insulation around all air vents. I took it to Penske Mercedes Benz in West Covina. The technician removed the instrument cluster, removed the dashboard and found the origin of the noise to be a disconnected air vent pipe. After he reinstalled the air vent pipe, dashboard and cluster; all noise went away. Kudos to Penske Mercedes Benz's technician. Now I am a happy camper.

Newzchspy

I am so glad I waited till they get some of these issues ^ ^ ^ sorted out. Early adopters ALWAYS pay the price to be first in line and for MBs R & D.

cleankutazn

Ford has the Cobra...This is the Rattlesnake

JeremiahC

I am literally at 2000Miles, and I brought back my car 3 time (the 4th is about to happen)… First time the noise was an insulation problem coming from the Glove box, the second was the Top Gris in the middle of the Dash (where the Central speaker is), and the third was the central speaker himself that was causing vibration (they used Mastic to resolve the issue). I had a C350 before, and never had a problem like that in 4 years… I think it is probably trying to get the car lighter that this problem happened, and it seems to be a lot of C450 have

InTheBenz0

Ok, so my burmester speaker grills rattle and especially when on bluetooth call it sounds like an old mono television --the ornamental clips that someone said for the speakers are on global back order. 10-15 days. I will then bring my car back in and they will install on all 4 doors. There are 10 clips per door.

I will report back once they are installed.

Mike5215

Yeah my 16 300 had rattles too. So far I've dampened the spot where the gauge binnacle meets the upper dash, the point where the COMAND screen mounts to the dash, and the dash speaker grille.

I don't think the 450 is more prone but a lot of them ride stiffer due to the 19" run flats and that seems to shake stuff loose inside. I'm on 18" Michelin Pilot Super Sports and AirMatic. I'm guessing it would be worse if I wasn't.

slkstud83

It sounds like I had a similar rattle noise that many of you have been experiencing. The tricky thing with rattles is, they echo around the cabin and its so hard to find where they originate.
The noise I had seemed to be coming from the passenger door or right side of dash, however when I held those areas or tried to get them to move they seemed fairly tight. I then started with the A pillar and made my way to the overhead lights/sunglasses tray and the rattling stopped when I held my hand on it. I managed to pry the unit down (two compression tabs in the front on the left and right) and the whole unit drops down. I installed some felt tape that I got off of amazon, to the plastic pieces around the unit and on the hinges that it hangs from (also folded a few pieces and wedged in between the "cage" that the unit sits in that contacts the roof) and so far the noise is gone. Had the car in sport+ to make sure it would ride as rough as possible. Also found out the ash try rattles too, so I took that out, and actually have room to stick my wallet in there now Hope this maybe helps some of you get rid of the noise without a trip to the dealer, or if the dealer isn't able to solve the problem.

rleast

I've had mine now for 5 months and the rattles just keep getting worse. The entire cabin is rattling! The iPad head unit is loose so there's a big problem, and the led light strip around the center console rattles. The entire headliner rattles and countless coming from the back seating area. It helps to keep the suspension on comfort. I had an e550 for 3 years, then a cls550 for 3 years and now this. What a mistake. The other 2 had no rattles at all and it hadn't occurred to me that MB could even make a rattle trap. I personally think the problems are exacerbated by 1) The AMG suspension 2) Run flat tires. I'll be calling in and scheduling a de-rattle appointment with my dealer but it's so bad I'm not very optimistic.

sev7nflow

my c450 is rattling throughout the cabin and I can't seem to find the source of the problem it's driving me nuts. Also my speakers buzz INSANELY every time i get a call, im assuming im not the only one in this boat?

Xtrema

Hate to say it that 6 months in I joined the rattling crowd.

I got one resolved 2 months ago, it's the sunglass holder. Lucky the dealership shop guy had a ride with me and correctly diagnosed it. Replaced with another holder with tougher spring solved it.

Now it seems to come from behind the center dash or driver side door. Comes can goes and not as consistent as the sunglass holder. Plus we have had ice on ground and 20C temperature fluctuation in that last week, so noise actually went away.

sigh, I hate noises.

Mike5215

Rattles send you a constant reminder that you didn't actually buy the solid car you thought you bought, and the pretty finishes and exotic materials are just a veneer. I've owned four Mercedes previously, a 190E, an S420, an S500 and an S550. All of them were at or near 80,000 miles when I sold them. None of them had any interior noise issues. My US built W205 started creaking at 3,000 miles.

l3it3r

I've had my car in the dealer for rattles no less than 5 times.

LOGOSDJ

Congrats. Thanks for the helpful comment.

Mike5215

No problem. I'm here to help.

Jdem22

Not only has my car been in for this issue 5 times (the 5th being yesterday and today), but every loaner I've had has had the issue as well.

What annoys me, is each time I take it in, they addressed 1 speaker grill and left the others alone and told me it was fixed. On one visit, they told me they could not hear it no matter what they tried. I jumped in the loaner and drove 40 f****ing minutes back to the dealer, got the service writer and tech in the car, called my girlfriend and INSTANTLY heard the noise. No effort at all and it was glaringly obvious.

The last time (trip #4) which was last Wednesday, they actually ordered me new speakers even though I told them the speakers were completely fine and "if I touch the grill with my finger while on the phone, the noise goes away". Of course I picked up the car, after 5, and made a call right away and the damn noise is still there. So back it went yesterday morning again. I mean they had the damn door panel off to change the speaker anyway...put the damn kit on to stop the rattle.

Ok, rant over. I honestly don't mind issues in the car, it happens. But when they tell me they can't hear them or that they're normal, that's when I get annoyed. And it is compounded when clearly the issue is very widespread to the point where Mercedes created a kit, specifically to address the issue.

Mike5215

I remember the first time I saw the Burmester grilles in a Mercedes. I thought they were really stunning and I wondered why more companies don't make their speaker grilles out of metal too. Oh yeah, that's why.

rleast

Well I have had my C450 amg in for a 3 day de-rattle. It helped a lot but it's not cured. Once I got it back I started running down rattles myself.


1) Installed weather stripping around the glove box.


2) There's a big plastic floor under the carpet in the trunk that butts up to the back seats. There's 2 big bolts on each side with tie-down hooks. If you knock anywhere between the hooks (The entire width of the trunk) it rattles very badly. I removed the big bolts and applied more weather stripping between the plastic panel and the metal floor and reinstalled bolts.


3) The 3rd level brake light rattles terribly! This one was harder, I pulled the back deck out, removed the brake light. There's an LED bar inside the plastic housing that is the cause of the rattle. It's plastic on plastic. I removed the LED bar and installed a thin piece of the fuzzy side of Velcro between the hood and the light and reassembled. This completely eliminated the break light rattle and can not be seen nor interferes with light operation. (I took pictures and can post more details on request)


4) I don't have a permanent solution but the back seats fold down, and when you fold them up they lock into place but they are not held tight. This generates road noise when hitting bumps etc. I temporarily folded terry-cloth rags and used them as spacer/insulators between the seat and the back package tray in such a way they can not be seen.


All of these things helped a lot and rattles are down about 80% now. Now the little cracks in the road no longer rattle the cabin, but bigger ones like sewer caps etc still do.


I only have 1800 miles on this car so far, but like others have said, this is my 4th MB and the 1st that's ever given me grief over rattles. I never even knew I was sensitive to rattles!


From here I see 3 options, Live with it, try and give it back to the dealer (Good luck with that and I'd lose big cash) or option 3, ditch the run flat tires!

rleast

Question: Has anyone ditched their run flat tires for conventional non-run-flats? If so how did it affect your ride and the rattles in the cabin? There's another thread on this forum that does discuss run flats and the bashing they cause with the ride, but there's so far no connection between the rattles and the ride. At this point I'd bet they are directly coupled. Smoothen the ride, reduce the rattles. It still doesn't excuse the fact that this car is a rattle trap with little to no concern over quality of craftsmanship in the cabin. Thanks!

Gungaslow

I had a 2016 c450 sedan and traded it in for a 2017 c43 sedan.. what a difference!!! The build quality on the c43 is night and day!! Most of the time owning the c450 I was chasing down rattles and kept felt tape in the glove box for tracking them down every day..I have owned both cars since new and I find that MB has corrected all the issues the c450 had with the c43.. its freezing here now and still no rattles!

rleast

Had you bought or leased? Did you get MB involved in a service review and if so did they facilitate the trade out?


Thanks

Gungaslow

I purchased cash both vehicles.. the dealer gave me a good deal on trade in of the old c450 and a good price on the new car