Having driven the car for over a year, I gotta say I love the drama that comes with the sound and appearance. But the build quality really is lacking. My last car was a 2004 Lexus ES330 with over 130k miles, and it didn't come anywhere close to the amount of rattles and creaks this car has.
I have a few videos of where I've found annoying creaks and rattles. Any advice would be great!
With the door handle one, the service center says that because it's attached through rivets, there isn't any way to tighten it. Any suggestions?
With the dash rattle, the service center kept making excuses saying that because my exhaust was modified, they can't go looking for interior rattles. However, as you'll notice in the videos, the area literally rattles ALL the time. It's located slightly to the right of the center speaker. Nothing I press will make it stop, but it looks like when I turn on the wipers, it'll stop vibrating for the duration the wipers are moving. This rattle is temperature dependent. It doesn't occur when the weather gets hotter in the afternoon (I also live in Florida, so that means 80+ F). You may need to raise the volume to hear it, but it's super loud when the music isn't on.
There are annoying creaks that occur when the body is flexed (over bumps, turning, etc). They did address the door creaks, but they quickly came back in the rear doors.
I know this is a long post with quite a few vids, but these areas have been driving me nuts for the past year. Hopefully some of y'all have encountered some of these areas and have some solutions
There's play between them parts. I got some 1/2 foam tape. Then with a butter knife I carefully crammed the foam tape into crevices that were doing the most talking.
On the dash speaker grille, just pry up an edge and lift up to unclip it and remove it. Then run little pieces of foam tape around the perimeter of the underside between the clips. Pop it back on.
Stuff foam into the following seams. Stop adding foam when you can grab the part, shake it and it doesn't budge or creak:
Over the tops of both outboard ac vents.
Between the gauge binnacle and dash top arch.
Between the COMAND screen and dash where the two meet.
On the door trim, along the thin upper seam between the trim panel and the top of the door panel.
On the underside of the door trim between the LED light strips and the main panel.
It took me about 30 minutes to do all of it. It won't be "pretty" from the standpoint that the foam tape, once the adhesive is exposed, is going to want to bunch up and roll in on itself as you work it into the seams. You won't see it as it'll disappear into the seams once you've forced it in deep enough with the knife, but if you're obsessive about that kind of thing the alternative would be to disassemble the dash and doors and lay the foam in nice and neat. Me, I just wanted the f'ing creaks to stop, because each time I hear one in my new $60,000 Benz a little piece of my soul dies.
My first car I ever remember getting on every last nerve (rattles), is this one. I took it the dealer and told them to fix them all or it will be the last one I ever buy. Two days later I get a phone call saying since I have an aftermarket suspension they wouldn't fix them. As I was picking up my car there was a couple with a salesman looking at a c300, I made sure they knew what they were getting into. The couple stopped me and asked a bunch of questions and I was very happy to answer all of them right in front of the salesman.
My C450 had rattles from all four doors.
Took a few days for the dealer to find them all. They ended up replacing all of the window and door seals. The cabin is completely quiet now except for a new rattle from the glove box.
Combine that with my front driver and passenger door handle LED lights flickering and it's yet another visit to the dealer.
Lol I've gotten to drive the new E300, CLA250, C300 and GLA250 from all of my dealer visits.
Ive brought mine back twice now for rattles. They have nearly fixed them all. Only one left that bothers me is the speaker rattle on the front driver side.
All their repairs revolved around felt tape. They just keep taking stuff apart and placing felt tape between it and whatever its connected to. So far the center console, seatbelt adjustment cover, sun roof, and worst of all the glove compartment were fixed.
same here,,, plus my screen rattles a lot,,, sound everywhere. my 2008 Lexus IS have a better quality materials and doesn't rattle as much !!!
am so disappointed.
same here,,, plus my screen rattles a lot,,, sound everywhere. my 2008 Lexus IS have a better quality materials and doesn't rattle as much !!!
am so disappointed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rustycruiser
I have a really annoying one where the silver trim around the outer edge of the command screen is lose, and rattles against the glass of the screen.
Mine two. It affects my perception of the car and of Mercedes. It's very unlike for them not to be able to button down a cabin like it's a vault. It's sort of what they're known for, or were. Now it's all about eye candy and seeing how many non AMG cars they can stick AMG badges on.
If you have rattles from parts that are riveted together, the first thing to check is whether you can get at least one finger onto the joint. Next is the question of whether the rivet is visible once things are back together. If you can get to the rivet but it is not normally visible, put some RTV sealant (room temperature vulcanizing vinyl plastic sealer, like caulk) on your fingertip and smear it between the parts. This will "glue" the offending parts together, but if you ever need to remove them, a razor blade gets them apart. The RTV lasts a very long time, and even if it doesn't effectively glue parts together, it also acts like cushioning material and quiets the buzzing vibration.
Other than that, black felt and/or black sticky fuzz from vel-cro work wonders.
I've had a rattle that the dealer looked at.
They say its something internal in the comand unit. So it's getting replaced, would I then get the latest map update by default? No free map updates for Canadians.
My rattles were apparently not typical. They turned out to all be coming from the passenger's front seat. The dealer found a seat rack that was loose, as well as a fan unit for the seat ventilation that was rattling. They spent several days with the car until they were satisfied that all the rattles had been found and eliminated.
Our local roads have been battered by horrible winter weather, and there are "frost heaves" that can shake the fillings out of your teeth. Through all of this, I have not heard a single rattle or creak since getting the car back from my dealer.
Update: I figured out where the dash vibration was coming from. Turns out the right plastic cover in the hood was causing the vibration. When I removed it, the rattle was completely gone. Since it's temperature dependent though, I'll need another day to see if I can put some felt tape somewhere and will have the cover stay inside
Update 2: I fixed maybe 80% of the creaking noise coming from the arm rests by spraying silicone in every nook and crevice around the arm rests. This also included the arm rest itself where the pleather meets plastic. I couldn't eliminate it completely since the arm rests themselves are bound to the door trim with rivets so they will be looser regardless of how much silicon lubricant I put on.
I went to another dealership and they sprayed a similar compound on all the door gaskets, which definitely helped with the door creaks.
I adjusted the plastic cover inside the hood, which seemed to have made it better, but if it keeps rattling, I'll need to put some felt tape on a few areas. Unfortunately, this one is purely temperature-dependent.
I don't think I mentioned it here, but I also solved a rear seat rattle yesterday which turned out to be a piece of plastic vibrating against the metal chassis right behind the seats. I had to toy around with that and apply felt tape.
At the end of the day, if the noise is obvious and you don't want to bother doing the work yourself or you don't have the right materials, go to the dealership. Otherwise, you're better off solving these rattles yourself. I've complained to different dealerships about these problems and they either couldn't replicate them or said they wouldn't cover it due to my exhaust modifications. But with a bit of handiwork, I covered it myself with no issues.
this is an awesome thread, although i do not think i should be buying and installing felt on a luxury car, the creaks and rattles are certainly becoming a "thing" for me.
I've had a rattle that the dealer looked at.
They say its something internal in the comand unit. So it's getting replaced, would I then get the latest map update by default? No free map updates for Canadians.
no free maps? when i go to the navteq website, it says 3 years!
Just noticed some rattling sound coming from the overhead compartment or somewhere near there. Also the creaking from the rear door is more audible, it sounds like it is coming from the door seal.
I've had some very annoying rattle sounds from my footwell. Took it to my stereo installer today and they told me that some of the wires were lose and were causing the rattle
One of the issues (talking only about rattles and creaks) that started 3-4 months after I got the car was the instrument cluster rattling and squeaking.
Finally MB Canada was able to fix this issue. ( took only 4 months of complains )
Here is what they've found and how was fixed in case someone else is having the same issue.
One of the issues (talking only about rattles and creaks) that started 3-4 months after I got the car was the instrument cluster rattling and squeaking.
Finally MB Canada was able to fix this issue. ( took only 4 months of complains )
Here is what they've found and how was fixed in case someone else is having the same issue.
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
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