24flinchin

I’ve noticed since I first bought it which is recently but I get a lot of road noise inside the cabin. I can’t tell if it’s tire related or just the way it is or the pano roof letting in more noise or bad seals on the door. You can hear it right away at low speeds as well as 60mph. This is a 13 E550 sedan. Anyone else have this or know how I can figure out what the cause is? Thanks

maybe 4matic related?

KEY08

My ‘14 E550 is quiet, so you have something going on. Could be tires, drive train, bearings, suspension, engine mounts, etc.

24flinchin

Thanks. My initial thought was tires but they ride fine and they’re potenza S-04 which most reviews don’t say anything about road noise. Anyway, I’ll try to narrow it down somehow. Thanks for the reply.

KEY08

Ok, it’s more than likely the tires. I use the Pole position S-04 tires in the summer on 19” wheels and they are very noisy. When I switch over to my winter Continental tires all is calm again. I’m sure that’s your problem and thanks for mentioning them or you could be chasing nothing.

24flinchin

Thank you for this reply. The car drives great so I was hoping it was something simple like tires or door seals. I’ll probably start looking into a new set.

dbldpr

The only way I got rid of the road noise was to install sound deadening wherever I could. Trunk and underside of car. Still have a littel road noise but nothing like I used to have.

DFWdude

Most tires -- quiet as new -- get noisier with mileage.

SteveE400

Another place to check is the spare tire well in the trunk. The well is just a plastic "tub" with no insulation. A lot of road noise gets into the trunk, and if you have "load-thru" folding rear seatbacks, that noise enters the cabin. I literally wrapped my spare tire with fiberglass wall insulation, then put another blanket of the same insulation over the top of the tire, all under the lid/trunk floor. Cost only a few bucks, made a very noticeable difference.

And, as DFWdude notes, when your tires are new, they will be quiet. Somewhere along the line toward replacement time, they will begin to get noisier. I've had the OEM Conti ProContact, as well as the Conti DWS06 on my E400, and they become incredibly loud at about half tread. I actually pulled off my DWS06's before the tread was consumed, just because I couldn't stand the noise. I'm trying Michelin Pilot A/S4's now. Time will tell.

badbenz94

As noted by @KEY08 and I agree completely, tires are the biggest causation usually for noise. If the car was ever out of alignment and the tires got worn just a tiny bit funny, usually that noise is there till the end.

On all of my cars I’ve owned throughout the years, dealing with 14”-19” tires make ALL the difference in ride and sound and of course handling. While it’s an expensive experience buying the premium tire for your needs, the benefits pay dividends until your next set.

Do the research(Tirerack.com) and buy the best tire you can afford.

Chris

badbenz94

Oh yes, rotate every 6k miles(if you can, otherwise at least swap sides) and check your alignment and have your tires balanced annually.

Chris

BenzV12

I was hearing weird noises as well. It turned out to be Continental (stock) tires were causing that noise .Switching to Michelins solved the problem

24flinchin

Thank you all for the responses and advice. I will be looking into new tires and just turn the radio up a bit until then.

Dane500

I just put a new set of contis on. They are loud. Anything is better than what was going on before replacement. I just turn the radio up.

RosSauce

I get a decent amount of road noise in my 2012 E550 4Matic and was wondering if it was normal also. Put on fresh new tires, wheels, and got an alignment and no change. I attribute part of it to the fact that there's virtually no wind, engine, or exhaust noise so the road noise might be more pronounced than I'm used to from other vehicles.

Arrie

And if you would drive in an European market Mercedes E-Class (or especially S-Class) you would notice a huge difference in how much less road noise they have. Reason is Mercedes leaves a lot of noise insulating materials out from cars made for the U.S. market area obviously because they do not make nearly as much profit on cars sold in U.S.