I'm already thinking of trading my EQE 500 SUV in on a Lotus Eletre when they become available and I haven't even gotten my plates in the mail yet. I hear Lotus build quality is excellent. The rattles in my Mercedes are just completely unacceptable to me, especially in a car that costs this much. Even the fans in the ventilated front seats sound cheap. The fans in my Genesis GV80 were whisper quiet. I guess this is going to be my first and last Mercedes, which is a real shame because it drives great.

 

If I were in your position, I'd ask dealer to take care of these issues to your satisfaction. I'm sure they also will. They are relatively minor when considered to the overall quality of the car and can be easily addressed. MB has a lot of experience in electric, something most other manufacturers don't have. MB had stake in Tesla for a long time, and co-produced the B-class with their motors in 2014. Every time I work on my old W124 that I'm restoring, I'm simply amazed at the engineering prowess and attention to detail. Makes it worth dealing with a few rattles which are fixable. Though I'm sure Lotus has great build quality due to low volume, I don't think they have much experience in the EV space, and I'd be concerned about powertrain longevity and experience. Do give them a chance to address these small issues, I promise you'll have a very satisfactory EV experience in the long run.

 

As you wish, of course, but I listened to your video twice and do not hear any rattles from your fingers tapping the seat back panels. I hear one strike from each finger tap with no follow-on sounds.

 

Do these seats "rattle" like in your video when driving? Or only when you tap on them like in the video?

 

@bytemaster0 After working with Tesla and considering the drag coefficient of this car, you'd think it'd get closer to 4 mpkWh. I'm lucky to get 3 mpkWh. Seems the only thing they got from the Tesla experience is the same build quality. Try searching YouTube for Tesla squeaks and rattles... you'll be watching videos all day. That's why I didn't buy a Model X.

@Sportstick They make less noise when up, to be fair. But also to be fair, I'm tapping carpet not plastic. You shouldn't be able to hear my fingers hitting at all. Just a little padding or adhesive is all it would have taken to eliminate the problem completely. Now I'm supposed to let the dealer rip apart more seats to add what should have been there from the start? I think not!

@ScottC2 It's not as bad as video when they're up and I'm driving on smooth pavement. But when driving over rough pavement it's noticeable and annoying.

Like I said though, the car drives great. If it was a turbo diesel I wouldn't even notice. But it's an electric car so that's all I notice. This site is chock full of similar complaints though so I know it's not just me.

 

A radio commercial I heard some 30 years ago was of a patient complaining to his Dr. that it "hurts when I do this...and when I do this and...". The Dr's advice was "then don't do that!)

Seriously, if you like most other aspects of the car and this rattling is something the dealer refuses to deal with, I would consider finding a syringe and trying to inject some super glue (or similar) under the carpet (if the carpet is not easily removable for a more proper adhesive job):

 

Some of this may just be the audio quality preventing me from hearing the rattle as compared to the single sound I do hear that you may not like from a tap. If the seats rattle at all under motion, that is a defect that needs to be corrected including replacing the responsible component up to the entire seat set. It may not be the seatback. It may be the latch. The dealer needs to investigate the root cause.

However, as one who works in this industry, I have a bit of a different take about just the sound of tapping the back panel. I start with defining "quality", which is conforming to design and functional requirements. Does it work the way it was intended to work? If yes, quality has been achieved. That does leave us with the question of what was the original objective, which may be different than you prefer. For the seat in an EV, the objectives would include comfort, mechanism operation, material durability, no buzz/squeak/rattle, weight. I don't know of an objective that I have seen for the sound of tapping the back panel when folded. I believe for an EV, the engineers would strive to reduce weight where it does not interfere with achieving the approved objectives in the program, as weight has a cascading effect, that is, the heavier the seat, the stronger (heavier) the mounting hardware, the stronger the floor pan, the vehicle weight increases and the more energy needed to accelerate, the bigger the brakes, etc. It just keeps going. So, where reasonable and feasible througout the entire vehicle, a material selection for a plastic back of back on the seat may help achieve the actual weight target for the seat set. All engineers for all vehicle systems require trade-offs. If the part is properly designed and retained and does not have BSR when underway or in use, a lack of quality or a "defect" would not be so-described for your concern. This becomes a matter of aligning your preferences with a vehicle that was designed accordingly. However, a different original design objective does not necessarily mean poor quality if it achieved that objective. You may indeed prefer the Lotus, but suggest checking the details that matter most to you to see if Lotus's design objectives are aligned with your requirements.

 

I also just remembered reading another complaint about a rear seat rattle on another post/forum somewhere. It turned out to be the head restraint posts and the dealer had a quick field fix for that issue. This is worth checking if a rattle is happening when underway.

 

I hear tapping sound....
What rattles?

 

Turns out that the main rattle I was hearing was coming from loose trim around the liftgate window. As mentioned in a previous thread about my passenger seat headrest, I had other loose liftgate pieces next to both rear taillights. So looks to me like that component in particularly was very poorly manufactured. Most of my other creaks were coming from the yacht wood dash which soaked up some mineral oil quite easily. There's still some noise from the carpet slapping against the back seat frame but it's tolerable when seats are up and really only happens going over train tracks and the like. Fake suede padding around the door windows also makes some noise but using them to rest your arm seems to have "unsqeaked" (for lack of a better word) the plastic underneath somewhat. Anywho, perhaps I've been a little too rough on Mercedes but my GV80 was just so quiet. It even had seat belt holders in the back so you wouldn't hear the buckles flopping around when not in use. I have no complaints about the Hungarian made electric motors or the software anyways and the service department was MUCH MUCH (did I say MUCH?) better than the Hyundai dealer I had to use for my Genesis. I still have stains on my garage floor from the last oil change they did.

 

Glad to hear your concerns were resolved! I'm very sensitive to extra sounds as well.

 

Thanks for updating us, glad to hear you figured it out.

 

The MB EQE SUV you bought is from Albama right? When you buy a German car that built in the U.S, you should wait until the third year to get all the bugs out.

 

Did they change anything at the factory level to accommodate EQS SUV production or the existing equipment suffice?

 

Mercedes has been making cars in Alabama for a while and I'm not so sure quality control is better in Germany. But I'm glad I waited for them to upgrade some of their EV tech like the heat pump in mine. It's just that I could have bought an EV6 GT and kept my GV80 too for the price I paid for this EQE 500 SUV in Pinnacle trim, so my expectations were rather high. I have to admit I feel a little classier driving this though.

 

Heat pump of course! Can't believe MB didn't include that to begin with

 

I bought my MY 2017 C300 and it was built in Alabama ( on the second production year, I think) I have not got any issue with built quality. I've heard there was some issue with the MY 2015 and 2016. Overall I like MB. I just got the VW ID.4 built in Chattanooga, so far so good.

 

I must say the exterior panel gaps are absolutely perfect though. They clearly took some extra time making sure those were right. And if I had bought a new C-class for under $50,000 I'd probably have been perfectly happy. I paid $100,000 though so a reasonable person would expect the build quality to be better than, not the same as, a cheap model. I'm talking about trim pieces and seats anyways, not the motors which were made in Hungary. In fact, I'm pretty sure Mercedes could "unlock" another 100 HP for me if they wanted to. (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) But then I guess my 500 might compete with the AMG models.

 

Well, your post reminds me of this video (skip to 6:10) when it comes to panel gaps and minor build quality issues:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=370&...ature=youtu.be
I mean, it is not common though at least not the subsequent model years, so that is good.

 

I agree, when you pay that much for a car/SUV, your expectation should be high. I paid $45K for my C in 2017, I also expect high quality in car assembly, because it is how automakers build their reputation. If I am happy with my C, then I think about moving up to the E or S class. Anyway, enjoy your SUV.

 

Took Tesla something like a decade to solve their panel gap problems so I was a little surprised mine were so perfect. Who knows, maybe Mercedes saw that YouTube video and did something about. Or maybe the ones made in Alabama are just built better than the ones from Europe. In any case, I wish they'd give the interior fit and finish as much attention. I shouldn't have to snap pieces together properly.

 

Hmmmmmmm, that is a first, it is usually the reverse being true.

 

Yeah, I haven't actually driven a European-made EQE but Bjorn has. I fast forwarded video to important part:

 

Respectfully disagree. There is no correlation to geography of the assembly plant. The factors that affect these outcomes are the standards of the OEM, the ability of management to implement them, the rigor of the quality validation process for the supply base, and if the vehicle program in production is new/first year or subsequent years with plant experience on that model. However, strict/robust processes can have a significant effect for "home" vs. "remote" plant locations. Honda's quality record is well established, but actual quality audit data showed the Marysville, Ohio plant outperformed Japanese-sourced cars. MB found that C Class from their South Africa plant had fewer conditions than those from Germany. Ram trucks from Mexico had fewer issues than those from the plant in St. Louis. Plant quality can and does vary based on factors that actually affect the quality of the parts sourced and the assembly. However, the ethnicity of the workers or the geography of the building have never been proven to be among them.

 

Thanks for your comment, I see.