2020 E450: Microphone not working
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 14
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GL450
2020 E450: Microphone not working
I recently purchased a 2020 E450 sedan with 29k miles. Unfortunately I failed to notice that the microphone(s?) is not working before I took delivery.
Any suggestions on how I might troubleshoot this on my own?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Any suggestions on how I might troubleshoot this on my own?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Out Of Control!!
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 11,400
Likes: 5,324
From: San Francisco Bay Area
2019 C63CS
Not much to really troubleshoot on your own. The mics are in the headliner, so if they are faulty, you gonna have to take down the headliner to get to it and replace them. I think you can remove the visible cover and peak inside to see if anything is blocking them. My mics stopped working after the dealership fixed a rattle in the headliner. After the repair some paper was blocking the mics. Not sure if they left this behind when they put felt in there to fix the rattle or if something shifted during reassembly.
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 14
Likes: 3
GL450
Not much to really troubleshoot on your own. The mics are in the headliner, so if they are faulty, you gonna have to take down the headliner to get to it and replace them. I think you can remove the visible cover and peak inside to see if anything is blocking them. My mics stopped working after the dealership fixed a rattle in the headliner. After the repair some paper was blocking the mics. Not sure if they left this behind when they put felt in there to fix the rattle or if something shifted during reassembly.
I'm also wondering if the connections inside the dashboard/console could have come loose, or maybe someone forgot to reconnect them during a previous service. I've seen videos of console and dash disassembly and there seems to be tons of connectors that need to be unplugged to r&r anything inside the dashboard or console.
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 14
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GL450
Problem solved. I did some googling on the paper blocking the mic and saw this solved the problem for lots of people. So I popped off the mic covers and sure enough there was a tiny piece of white plastic (not paper I think) covering the holes on the inside of the the cover, underneath a small piece of rubber. I pulled the plastic out, popped the cover back on (did the passenger side too), and called the wife to test it. She could hear me perfectly.
I can't imagine that tiny piece of plastic was intended to be in there, but many others have reported finding it. Maybe a remnant of the manufacturing process?
Also can't believe the original owner, an elderly gentleman, tolerated this issue for 5 year/25k miles. Maybe he never used hands-free.
I can't imagine that tiny piece of plastic was intended to be in there, but many others have reported finding it. Maybe a remnant of the manufacturing process?
Also can't believe the original owner, an elderly gentleman, tolerated this issue for 5 year/25k miles. Maybe he never used hands-free.
Out Of Control!!
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 11,400
Likes: 5,324
From: San Francisco Bay Area
2019 C63CS
MBWorld Fanatic!
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OK, I never thought of that because I don't make voice phone calls. I have a phone strictly for text messaging. My motto is "if it isn't in writing, it didn't happen".
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Out Of Control!!
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 11,400
Likes: 5,324
From: San Francisco Bay Area
2019 C63CS
I don't make many voice calls, either. Least used aspect of my smartphone these days. I'm not even sure why we still call them phones. But AI can automatically transcribe phone calls now. So whatever you say is gonna be in writing and there's a record of the call. Time to live in the present.
Last edited by superswiss; Mar 7, 2026 at 08:52 PM.
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