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So I took my GLE in today because last night the “Reduce engine oil level” symbol came on when I was driving on the freeway.
Told my SA about the wind noise too coming from drivers side and he said they will look over both issues tomorrow. Gave me a 2021 GLB as a loaner to go home they just got in this car a month ago. Guess what I noticed going home on freeway tonight? Same wind noise coming from around same area drivers outside mirror area. Texted my SA and told him said Mercedes redesigned those mirrors. New housing mirrors have 3 lines facing body. Which mine and loaner have. Have a feeling we’re going to have to get used to this minor issue.
Brand new 2021 GLE 450 I picked up a few days ago, dream to drive but I got on the highway first time today and at about 78MPH (speed limit 50 so I didn't overdo the test), the faint whistle began. Not as bad as I potentially thought it would be after reading the posts, but It's there no doubt. Any conversation or music even at very low levels essentially drowns it out completely, but if you are the silent type I definitely get that it could be annoying. I do hope this can be fixed, but I experienced this on another car in the past. I think it might have been a Volvo XC70 I used to have.
I had whistling wind noise since I had my 2020 GLE 350 and I do have the AMG Appearance Package. The dealership was able to correct the issue for the most part. There is still a wind noise from the drivers side mirror but it is much less than before. I believe the fix involves opening the the mirror housing and sealing it with sealant inside (possibly Velcro tape or something similar). I think there is some type of bulletin or advisory for the mechanics so in my opinion a major dealership should be aware of the issue and if not some inquiry by a concerned owner at other dealerships should yield verification of the defect. Good luck to all and Mercedes should send a recall out because it seems to effect a lot of vehicles. I think every new model has some type of gremlins and this is still a great vehicle.
So I went to my dealership today and the shop foreman explained that they have a fix and it's a known issue but II would have to leave my GLE for a day and they would give me a loaner. I do want to know what they will be doing beforehand.
I highly doubt they will fix it. I took my GLS to 2 different dealerships a total of 5 times for this problem. They put 3m protective film under the black plastic trim piece that sits on the lip of the mirror housing. They do this to “seal” the gap with the belief that there is a hole where the wind goes into. When this didn’t work they did it again with a second piece of clear trim tape on top of the first. This is the bulletin for this says (based on GLE) which is same mirror design.
The 2nd dealership replaced the top (body colored housing) which did nothing.
I then took matters into my own hands and opened the mirror and put the same 3M film on the inside of the housing everywhere I could - especially around the snaps where the top and bottom housing come together and reassembled the mirror, this also did nothing.
i also tried placing a cut rubber o-ring gasket in then mirror gap and it didn’t work for me but it worked for someone else on this forum.
Finally I went on eBay and Amazon and found a set of plastic caps that fit on the mirrors. I went with the black Amazon ones but carbon would also work. I stuck these on and all whistling went away instantly as well as cut down on wind noise. No more pressurized sucking sounds. It probably just redirects the wind by a few mm and it’s enough to fix. The cover also doesn’t have the 3 etched lines on the inside of the housing. Someone else also suggested this fix in the thread above.
To me, these caps are worth 10x the price for my sanity. I’ve had the car for 1 year now. It’s embarrassing for Mercedes to release the design like this and not really care enough until what I’m guessing will be 2-3 years when they do a refresh..
I highly doubt they will fix it. I took my GLS to 2 different dealerships a total of 5 times for this problem. They put 3m protective film under the black plastic trim piece that sits on the lip of the mirror housing. They do this to “seal” the gap with the belief that there is a hole where the wind goes into. When this didn’t work they did it again with a second piece of clear trim tape on top of the first. This is the bulletin for this says (based on GLE) which is same mirror design.
The 2nd dealership replaced the top (body colored housing) which did nothing.
I then took matters into my own hands and opened the mirror and put the same 3M film on the inside of the housing everywhere I could - especially around the snaps where the top and bottom housing come together and reassembled the mirror, this also did nothing.
i also tried placing a cut rubber o-ring gasket in then mirror gap and it didn’t work for me but it worked for someone else on this forum.
Finally I went on eBay and Amazon and found a set of plastic caps that fit on the mirrors. I went with the black Amazon ones but carbon would also work. I stuck these on and all whistling went away instantly as well as cut down on wind noise. No more pressurized sucking sounds. It probably just redirects the wind by a few mm and it’s enough to fix. The cover also doesn’t have the 3 etched lines on the inside of the housing. Someone else also suggested this fix in the thread above.
To me, these caps are worth 10x the price for my sanity. I’ve had the car for 1 year now. It’s embarrassing for Mercedes to release the design like this and not really care enough until what I’m guessing will be 2-3 years when they do a refresh..
thanks, I’m going to see what they say they will do first and definitely look into the covers you used. Kind of a bummer to lose the color matched mirrors if I use these but let’s see.
thanks, I’m going to see what they say they will do first and definitely look into the covers you used. Kind of a bummer to lose the color matched mirrors if I use these but let’s see.
You could buy the mirror caps, and take them to a body shop and have them paint them your paint color. I’d ask the dealership to paint them, since they are unable to fix the issue.
You could buy the mirror caps, and take them to a body shop and have them paint them your paint color. I’d ask the dealership to paint them, since they are unable to fix the issue.
Your right. Definitely worth a try to get them to paint them of pay for it or at least a service credit or something.
oh wow! Just did the buy back on my gls450! Same thing, mirrors, check engine light 3 times, then entire car shut down twice. An hour and 10 min and an hour and 20 on two separate occasions. 28 days in the shop in 4 months. They took the car back and replaced it. New car still has the whistle.
Originally Posted by Roadhog56
On by GLE450, it started with a check engine light, that gave several defect codes. I took it back to the dealer on Aug 30, and kept it until Dec 5 stating the issued could not be resolved. Bottom line they change many parts searching for a solution. Did not want the car back due to the issues discovered. I purchased the car in August 2019 and three weeks later the issue started with the check engine light. Take a look at the thread and it will give you the entire issues others had also.
Just wondering, do you have the larger moonroof on your vehicles? In y prior car that was the culprit.
few months back I got the gle350 with panoramic roof,same wind noise even after 3 visits and then last week I traded it for a 21’ gle53 amg with a sunroof and it’s making the same noise. I’m almost convinced now there’s a leak coming through the door panel. Dealer on 1st visit with my gle350,they changed a rubber liner on the windshield,didn’t do anything.Changed the driver side mirror,nothing.I’m going to tell them find a solution or positive feedback from another fix before dropping my new 53 for nothing
I highly doubt they will fix it. I took my GLS to 2 different dealerships a total of 5 times for this problem. They put 3m protective film under the black plastic trim piece that sits on the lip of the mirror housing. They do this to “seal” the gap with the belief that there is a hole where the wind goes into. When this didn’t work they did it again with a second piece of clear trim tape on top of the first. This is the bulletin for this says (based on GLE) which is same mirror design.
The 2nd dealership replaced the top (body colored housing) which did nothing.
I then took matters into my own hands and opened the mirror and put the same 3M film on the inside of the housing everywhere I could - especially around the snaps where the top and bottom housing come together and reassembled the mirror, this also did nothing.
i also tried placing a cut rubber o-ring gasket in then mirror gap and it didn’t work for me but it worked for someone else on this forum.
Finally I went on eBay and Amazon and found a set of plastic caps that fit on the mirrors. I went with the black Amazon ones but carbon would also work. I stuck these on and all whistling went away instantly as well as cut down on wind noise. No more pressurized sucking sounds. It probably just redirects the wind by a few mm and it’s enough to fix. The cover also doesn’t have the 3 etched lines on the inside of the housing. Someone else also suggested this fix in the thread above.
To me, these caps are worth 10x the price for my sanity. I’ve had the car for 1 year now. It’s embarrassing for Mercedes to release the design like this and not really care enough until what I’m guessing will be 2-3 years when they do a refresh..
I'm the original thread creator well over a year ago. Crazy how many responses this has generated. I tried taping the mirror and the o-ring gasket many months ago, which helped a little. I also bought the plastic mirror caps which have been sitting in my garage and and will try them shortly. As I was driving the truck yesterday (its my wife's car mostly), I couldn't believe how much general wind noise, in addition to the whistle, comes from the driver side. It is by far the worst out of any of the cars I have ever owned. It seems like the window is always slightly open. You mentioned that the plastic mirror cap also cuts down on wind noise. I hope so. After over a year and half of ownership, I can't wait to get rid of this truck...the ride is harsh and you feel every bump, the 350 engine anemic (450 wasn't available when I purchased) and vibrates the whole car during idle, volume on radio is either loud or off, air conditioned seats barely works, air fragrance never worked etc, hand gesture to turn on items never works.. this is just off the top of my head. I don't have the energy to try and trade it in right now or I would.
FWIW I didn't have any sound from the mirror location on my 2020 450, or the 2021 53.
Both had Night Packages, The 450 had the AMG appearance package, and the 53 is an AMG (light).
I noticed that my 2021 GLE 53 mirrors are different than those on my early build 2020 GLE450. See pic....
The 450 had the front and rear housing the same height but the front (black piece) is raised slightly higher on the 53. The top and outside of the rear piece is also rounded vs square edged now (Grey piece). I got too close so my pic is out of focus but you can still see what I’m talking about. My 450 did not have a whistle, must have been lucky.
I noticed that my 2021 GLE 53 mirrors are different than those on my early build 2020 GLE450. See pic....
The 450 had the front and rear housing the same height but the front (black piece) is raised slightly higher on the 53. The top and outside of the rear piece is also rounded vs square edged now (Grey piece). I got too close so my pic is out of focus but you can still see what I’m talking about. My 450 did not have a whistle, must have been lucky.
I just took delivery of a 3/21 build GLE 450 (panoramic roof and AMG exterior w/Night) with the driver side mirror having 3 lines on the inner side nearest to the window. At above 75 mph, the whistling sound starts and I thought its from the top of the driver side window. It on when I am driving on a straight line and goes away if I am doing a slight curve on the freeway. It also goes away at 72 mph or below 75 mph. I could not see any build defect on the driver door or window. Either its a design issue or build defect not obvious to untrained eyes. I will ask for the dealer to look at it if I see other issues. After 3 days of ownership its a great SUV. Only SW issue I see is the NAV tried to reroute me when the traffic is all green and an earlier accident on the NAV not cleared. Luckily I didn't believe the NAV.
I just took delivery of a 3/21 build GLE 450 (panoramic roof and AMG exterior w/Night) with the driver side mirror having 3 lines on the inner side nearest to the window. At above 75 mph, the whistling sound starts and I thought its from the top of the driver side window. It on when I am driving on a straight line and goes away if I am doing a slight curve on the freeway. It also goes away at 72 mph or below 75 mph. I could not see any build defect on the driver door or window. Either its a design issue or build defect not obvious to untrained eyes. I will ask for the dealer to look at it if I see other issues. After 3 days of ownership its a great SUV. Only SW issue I see is the NAV tried to reroute me when the traffic is all green and an earlier accident on the NAV not cleared. Luckily I didn't believe the NAV.
Fold in the mirrors and go for a drive (be careful) and see if noise is still there.
Had our GLE450 in yesterday for another issue, and happened to ask about the driver's side rear view mirror. The last time that the dealership tried to fix the whistling sound for us, they ended up breaking several of the little tabs that hold it on and so they had to order a new casing for us. I've got it artfully taped up with black electrical tape (and I have to be honest, if you just glance at our vehicle, you wouldn't really notice that it's taped on, but still... ugh) at the moment, and so I'm checking with them regularly to see if the part came in. Well, yesterday the service agent said that the part has disappeared from the order catalog and that the order for our part is in a suspended status right now. He went on to explain that they've had a LOT of complaints, and know that most dealerships are getting complaints about the whistling, and he said that when a part disappears from the catalog like this, it usually means that they're redesigning it/making it better/etc. So, fingers crossed that this is what's happening, and we can all get a proper fix for this problem.
Had our GLE450 in yesterday for another issue, and happened to ask about the driver's side rear view mirror. The last time that the dealership tried to fix the whistling sound for us, they ended up breaking several of the little tabs that hold it on and so they had to order a new casing for us. I've got it artfully taped up with black electrical tape (and I have to be honest, if you just glance at our vehicle, you wouldn't really notice that it's taped on, but still... ugh) at the moment, and so I'm checking with them regularly to see if the part came in. Well, yesterday the service agent said that the part has disappeared from the order catalog and that the order for our part is in a suspended status right now. He went on to explain that they've had a LOT of complaints, and know that most dealerships are getting complaints about the whistling, and he said that when a part disappears from the catalog like this, it usually means that they're redesigning it/making it better/etc. So, fingers crossed that this is what's happening, and we can all get a proper fix for this problem.
I think it’s already been done. Here’s a closeup of mine on a GLE 53 built in early Nov. 2020. They have tapered the rear half of the mirror bezel and I have no noise. On my 2020 450 the Bezel was flat.
I sure hope someone comes up with a service bulletin number as my dealer claims to never have heard of this. Then again they usually always claim they don't know.
My March 21 built 450 mirrors come with the bevel like Ron and 3 raised lines on the side nearest to window still whistles. I will checked with my dealer service director if I should bring it to add another case for MB. He told me about a month ago MB is working on the fix.
My March 21 built 450 mirrors come with the bevel like Ron and 3 raised lines on the side nearest to window still whistles. I will checked with my dealer service director if I should bring it to add another case for MB. He told me about a month ago MB is working on the fix.
My 2021 GLE450 has the same and had the whistle and I already did the first taping fix at MB. They are going to replace the mirror next I guess but what’s the use if it’s the same mirror?
I have a 2022 GLE450 4 MATIC waiting to be put on the allocation list and I am concerned about the whistling stories stated in this forum. Thank you all for sharing. I may start looking at another model. Hopefully, MB will find a permanent fix.
03-25-2021, 09:31 PM
