Oh yes..those pictures were just that night. We'd already taped those areas in previous "tests"..and went through a process of elimination to try and figure out where. It's been endless. We've decided to just let them figure it out. Now we just need to find a time when my husband can be with me to go to the dealer. As much as I hate to say it, I feel that they are more willing to listen to HIM talk about the wind noise than me (a woman, who is just "complaining because her car isn't uber quiet...sigh..)

It's a bit windy again today and boy, it's sure noisy. I'm trying to just turn the radio up and forget about it until we can get it in to the MB dealership.

Tam

 

There is always the option of noise canceling headphones! (sorry, I just couldn't stop my self) On second thought, maybe you should suggest to Mercedes that they offer such headphones as a part of the P1 package!!

 

dang..I knew I should have gotten that P2 package, they probably came with noise free windshields (no need for the noise canceling headphones then?)

I can also find some humor in this, which tells me I still love my car, despite the issues I've had so far. I really do love the GL....

On a totally different note, but still related to noise: Does anyone hear a weird motor sounding thing nearly every time they come to a stop? I hear it over on the passenger side, in front, sounds like from that area. Doesn't happen at EVERY stop..but every couple stop signs, as I roll to a stop, I hear that "motor" come on...for about 4-5 seconds and then it stops. A bit odd..but wondering if that is just "how the car works." Is that for the auto leveling/shocks thing? I'll go search the forum to see if anyone else asked but thought I'd post my question here also in my ongoing thread.

Thanks!
Tam

 

I don't hear what you are describing but if you are having a gasket issue, you probably are hearing something (compressor, etc) that otherwise you wouldn't be hearing.

 

true. It's definitely from the passenger side, in the engine compartment. almost sounds like it is near the wheels. I mentioned it to the technician who was TRYING to hear my wind noise and he shook his head, said he didn't know what it was, "maybe" it was the air ride suspension and supposed to do that? I didn't think to mention it until we were already out of the car, because when we were in the car, I was trying desperately to get to 65 so he could hear the wind noise. It does it every time I drive it, just depends on when it wants to do it. But..it is sort of annoying and can't imagine that its normal to hear a motor sound each time you come to a stop sign. But then again, I'm not sure about the type of suspension this Mercedes has. I'll definitely bring the motor/compressor noise to his attention during my next test drive when they try to assess the wind noise again.

I must say, I'm a little disappointed that the technicians I have talked to (both the SA and the actual technician) don't seem (and admit to knowing nothing?!) about these GL's. Their response, when I ask if this is normal is, "I don't know..I'm not very familiar with the GL. Sigh...

Seems MY GL has a lot of noises other peoples GL's done. Hmmph!

 

Sorry to hear about all of your issues. If you want my advice, I would ask for the regional tech, find out when he is next at your dealership, and take him for a ride. If that does not solve it, I'd get out of the car. It's not worth the frustration it is causing you.

As for the sound, this is very odd, and may point to the cause of your noise issues. I can sometimes hear the Airmatic discharging as stop signs, especially the first one or two in the morning, but I have NEVER heard the compressor whilst underway in either my, or my friend's GL. To test if it is the sound you are hearing, drive out of your garage and press the little button on the bottom of the stack that has a picture of the truck and an arrow pointing up (may be slightly different on US trucks), and listen for the sound. If it is the same, that is what you are hearing. If so, something is either missing or put on wrong on your truck. Is all the rubber stripping in place under the hood? Compare to another truck. Is it loose? does it seem to be making contact all the way around the hood? Are the rubber seals in place on both firewalls under the hood? look around the rad area for loose plastic panels, are they all there? compare to another GL. Look under the truck. Is there anything hanging down? heat shields, etc?

If you are hearing the Airmatic running, something is not right with the rubber gaskets or other soundproofing. Compare, compare, because what is wrong or missing may not be obvious.

Good luck.

 

Thank you for all the advice. I am definitely taking all of these ideas with me to the next dealer.

On a related note, my husband and his Father just took 4 of our employees to Vegas this morning for a convention. Instead of driving our GL, they drove my mother in laws '10 Acura MDX. He called me after he go there and said, " You're right. There is definitely something wrong with your car...this MDX is 100 times quieter than the GL. He said NO wind noise that he noticed and road noise was minimal. In our GL, the road noise is so loud from the front tires, it makes it almost hard to hear the wind noise at certain times. LOL. I just assume all the road noise is from the run flats. I don't think she has those on her MDX. But the wind noise is what I'm most worried about.

Perhaps there is an issue that is making both the wind noise and the road noise come into the cabin from the engine bay. I'm ready to give up LOL!

 

Do the Airamtic test if you would, and let us know?

Make sure you have the doors closed (it won't run with them open).

 

I do think that the sound of it going UP, is the sound that I'm hearing when coming to stop signs, but it is louder when I'm driving then when I'm just sitting in the driveway (with doors closed). When I push the button I can hear a "whoosh" of air and then it starts to go up...and I can visually see/feel the car going up. When it's up and I press that button again (to go down) I hear a louder "whoosh" of air..and then it starts to go down..and I can hear clicking. None of this is very loud and I don't hear the whoosing of air or clicking when I'm driving, just the "motor" noise. I raised it to the higher setting and then drove around the block (about 40 acres each side block, I should say, i live out in the country LOL) When I came to the first stop sign, the louder noise still happened. I went around the "block" twice, it only did it at two stop signs, not each one. So strange. I'm wondering if there is some type of "shield" as you mentioned somewhere in the engine compartment that is missing in mine that is letting air (and noise ie. excessive tire/road and the compressor sounds). I feel like someone is doing this to me with this car. LOL

 

If the "motor" sound is not the "compressor" sound, I have no idea what is going on.

(Edit: or is it? is the sound the same as it going up? I'm not clear on this. if it is, why would it be louder?)

Get it in front of the regional/factory tech.

 

I thought about this more this afternoon and I thought the same thing as you. Why would the noise be louder when I'm driving. When I think about it that way, it makes sense that it's NOT the Airmatic "motor" or "Compressor" I'm hearing. Because it's definitely NOT as loud when I was just sitting in the car and pushing the up/down button. I had to really listen to hear the compressor and that hiss. I had to drive to Ventura today and did a lot of stop and go. It definitely makes that noise quite often. Not at every stop. Strange.

We're making an appointment with the new dealer. It's probably the only way we'll ever get to the bottom of it. I HOPE!

Thank you!!
Tam

 

Very sad to hear what you're going thru. If new dealer can't fix, be sure to contact MB corporate asap and get a case # going for your car.
P.s. While you're there at the new dealer, try test driving the R-class...if nothing else, you will have new comparison - not to mention a vastly superior second row(and third row), IMHO.
PL

 

At this point, I'm ready to toss the car out the window. What happens when corporate states a case # on your car. Eventually they realize you got a lemon!?!?!? lol... Between the clunking/sloshing in the back where the ad-blue stuff is (I haven't even mentioned that one yet to you guys), this new compressor noise, the windnoise..seriously, I am wishing I had chosen ANY OTHER GL on that lot except for this one.

Does everyone hear that slosh/thud noise hitting something in the back when they stop? Maybe I"m just hearing everything because I've got the radio down trying to hear the compressor noise and the wind. LOL. Note to self: Leave radio cranked when driving

Normally I have such good luck. I have no idea why I'm being punished with this car. LOL

And..I'm not a complainer. Honest. Until I spend $70,000 on a car. (in hindsight, I realize how funny this sentence sounds, as all I have done is complain about this car.) I digress...
Tam

 

I have some better news to report today!

I met with a Mercedes mechanic today at the new dealership by our home. First off, what a difference than the "valet" style, rush, 40 people in line, 14 SA stall situation down in LA. Right away, my concerns were listened to, the actual mechanic guy came out and listened to what I had to say, then said, "Let's go for a test drive."...

Right away, he said he noticed that the wind noise is much more than he'd expect in the GL. I asked him if he was familiar with the GL and he said yes. (woohoo!) He said that he has ways of specifically pinpointing things like this..he said he is going to take off all the moldings, etc around the windows, he has a special stethoscope thing he uses when they are trying to figure out where the air is coming in, etc. All things that the other dealership never even mentioned they would do for me. As he was telling me all this, I stared at him and said, "Really..you'll do that? Try to figure it out?" And he looked at me as if I was crazy..."Yes of course, that's what we're here to do. We need to figure out why this car sounds like this.." I was so ecstatic--

He listened to the weird motor noise that happens when I stop. He said that isn't normal either..he's not sure what that is exactly yet, but he doesn't think it's the airmatic.. he showed us a little "waste gate" thing for the turbo that has a little motor on it. He said that could be it. But it definitely shouldn't be making that when I come to a stop like that. (Woohoo! I'm not crazy!)

The thunk in the back, ever since they changed the NOX sensor: Not normal either. He is going to look into that but I definitely should not be hearing that noise either. (Woohoo!) I'm not crazy!

The rear seats are on the fritz AGAIN..I mentioned that I am once staring at the error all day long when the 3rd row seats are down that "3rd row seats are not latched" error... He tried the buttons..put the seats down and THANKFULLY it didn't come back up the time he tried so he could SEE the seats were still broken!!! I was afraid he'd push the button and of course they would work while HE did it. It never fails..but thankfully, today EVERYTHING that we have issues with...also showed up when he was looking at it.

Because I am in school (nursing), I am unable to get the car into him until next week. I have an appointment next Thursday to bring it in. Loaner car will be waiting and he and I are going to take a LONG test drive on the highway near us so I can get the car up to 65-80 so he can see JUST how bad the wind noise really is. He can hear it when we did the drive around the long block for the dealership, but he wants to hear it on the freeway so he can better pinpoint it.

I actually left that dealership liking my car a little more, thinking that FINALLY, they are going to try and make this GL be like it should be. A quality car.!!

Can you tell I'm happy.... I finally feel like this dealership is on my side

Will report back after I find out next week..but thought I should report the GOOD news here as well (since all I do is complain

T.

 

I have to tell you, having a car with more than the average number of problems myself, having a good SA at a good dealership's mechanic will go quite a long way to making you feel like you're getting the type of service a luxury car (which is what this is) should get. Even if someone said some sound is "normal", at least if they take the time to explain why it's normal and listen to your concerns, it makes all the difference in the world.

As for test driving an R-type, go right ahead - you'll notice how many of them there are on the lot, waiting to be sold!

 

You hit the nail on the head. Here I felt like I bought a luxury car finally, and all along, I have been doing nothing but complaining about it. Top that with SA's (and a mechanic) who just say, "Well..we can't really tell if that wind noise is normal for this vehicle..." was frustrating. I wanted to kiss the mechanic when he said, "What I'm hearing is certainly more noise than I'm used for for this vehicle" and my husband was in the back seat. LOL!

They definitely made me feel like I was right to be upset/concerned about all of these noises because YES they are NOT characteristic of the Mercedes brand. It's all I wanted to hear.

As for the R-class..it was never really an option for me, it just reminds me WAY too much of a minivan or station wagon. (no offense to people who like station wagon/mini van type vehicles--my best friend drives a mini-van and she loves it!) I do think it might drive a little better and probably have less wind noise, no doubt! But the GL really IS the vehicle for me..I just need them to make it how it is supposed to be. I have never doubted I chose the right model--I just chose the wrong ONE in that model. I was going back and forth between black and palladium Silver... I should have got the Palladium Silver one..I bet it didn't come with wind noise

 

I guess neither the R-class's facelift or its " Change you Daditude " ads are working to move this ol' minivan off the lots .

 

We test-drove a gasoline R-class a couple of years ago when we were shopping for a car for my wife (she ended up opting for a Cayenne S) and I really, really liked it. It drove great, was beautiful inside, and carried a lot of people.

And at the time you could special-order an R63 AMG.

Hell, I liked it better than my wife did.

- Mark

 

best of luck! I'll bet its the windshield

 

The R63 was like a supersized E63 wagon-very cool.
OTOH, regular issue R classes look " minivan " due to 1) sloping roof line 2) lack of roof rails 3) classic minivan " one-box " styling despite the new more upright snout

 

It looks like a minivan because it IS a minivan.

It's just a really, really NICE minivan.

- Mark, not usually a fan of the genre

 

I didn't mean to start an R-bashing session By far, they are the nicest looking "mini-van" looking car I've seen.

That is what my husband doesn't like about them, the sloping roof line. I see them on the road though, and at first glance I don't mind them. It's when I start to really pay attention that they start screaming mini-van to me--and honestly, I'm almost 40. I'm still at the stage where I'm trying to not advertise the fact that I'm an aging mommy of 3. Getting the GL was a big step for me. I got rid of the ridiculous H2 and an even more ridiculous Nissan 370Z and moved into a "big girl" car..finally.

I'm excited to get this big girl car fixed, that's for sure!

 

My ridiculous car stage. And I admit, its much easier to into the GL. It was either Climb UP into the H2 or DOWN into the Z. I was ready to have practical.

But..I sure miss that Z.

 

isnt that middle car in ur pic a station wagon?

heres one of my car trio pics:

 

Isn't that middle car in YOUR pic your hairdresser's?

Kidding.

- Mark