I had that done in the summer and it didn’t work either. Then they did tape plus new housing and didn’t work. Dealer gave up and told me there is nothing left to do

 

Do you have acoustic windows? I had my windows switched out to acoustic and that solved my noise issue.

 

That’s possible? How much did that cost to do?? Did you just do front driver and passenger?

 

Dealer got it covered under warranty. Made service appointment and did a test drive with shop manager on highway and he agreed about road, wind noise and said he would check service bulletins for my vin. Got a call a week later that my car qualifies for acoustic window replacement on front door windows. 2020 GLC SUV. I do have extended warranty and service, not sure if that made any difference. And I have been with the same service rep for 20+ years.

 

Even if it was not covered I would have paid for it. Definitely solved the problem. The fact that they offer the option for $200 on 2021 build and don’t do standard makes no sense when your paying over 50k for that car.

 

Came here to report on our 2021 GLE350 AMG w/ Night package (black mirror housing), built on 11/22/20, still has this same issue

Realized this when going on a 400 mile trip over Christmas. Sucks because overall the car is relatively quiet especially with the the PNCS tires, and the only thing you hear while driving is the whistling noise.

 

https://www.vwvortex.com/threads/sol...noise.5667896/

Found this on a VW forum, they have the same issue. Mirror design is similar. I suspect a similar fix will work in this case for folks who are experiencing this issue. Submitted as information only for consideration.

 

That was one of the reasons I traded my GLC . . shouldn't this be covered under your warranty? If all else fails, this issue will fall under Virginia's lemon law provisions

 

Thanks. I agree with this so much. The GLE is mostly my wife's car but every time I drive it, I check to see if the window is all the way up because of the noise level inside. Maybe it is because of the side mirror issue but I think it is just not well insulated. Once again, for the amount of money these cars cost, especially the GLE 580 described above, it is unreal. My 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee was quieter.

I ordered the side mirror cap cover to see if that works. The acoustic glass also seems like a decent idea. However, I can't imagine the glass would make that much of a difference...very frustrating.

 

how big are the wheels?

 

The tires are 20inch. Unfortunately, mine came with the Cooper tires as well.

 

Both of my GLE’s have been quiet inside except for tire noise on seal coated roads. The 450 didn’t have insulated windows but my 53 does. At times high cross winds produced some wind noise. There was a post last year about putting an O ring around the housing that reportedly was a fix, at least for some. By now it’s probably several pages back but might be worth a look if you didn’t read this thread.

 

I'm new here but my GLE 350 is in the shop with the whistling issue. The service manager said there's a new part/fix coming but they don't have a fix as of now.

 

I have received and installed the carbon fiber mirror housing trim and can confirmed that so far, the noise is completely gone. The trim works on the GLS as well, FYI. I have a black GLS and the carbon fiber is a very nice subtle addition to the look.

 

Has anyone tried these? It attaches after the high pressure area but still close enough where it may change the air flow. I really don’t want to put a black mirror cap cover over a black mirror cap and car has no carbon fiber so that will look out of place.

 

You can try it; however I’m concerned that might make it worse. From what I’ve read; I believe the whistle is caused by air being sucked through the small gap between the black mirror cap and the body colored front section of the mirror. I also believe that the air suction thru the gap is caused by the vacuum on the face of the mirror at speed. Since those extensions don’t cover the mirror cap gap, and they extend over the top of the mirror face—they may serve to increase the vacuum on the face of the mirror due to airflow separation occurring an inch or more aft of where it otherwise would. The result could be the suction through that gap is increased, and a louder whistling noise. Then again, the extensions could also alter boundary layer over the mirror and fix the problem. Unfortunately the only way to find out for sure is to try it and let us know.

 

Just to verify it was the mirror... a simple piece of clear scotch tape with a part of a napkin in the corner. Some of the whistle did go away...not all

 

Playing amateur aerodynamicist here, but I don't agree with that hypothesis. This is like a rear lip spoiler on a trunk which cleans up the air at the rear of the car and reduces drag (suction). This is reinforced by the stated purpose of this accessory which is to reduce rain collecting on the mirror face. Worth a try, IMO, of course I don't have the problem and it's not my $Grant.

 

The tape needs to be wrapped around the entire gap. The oring fix someone posted will fix it and not noticeable but permanent factory fix is to seal the joint in the gap. I purchased the oring but my vehicle, a 21 GLE53 AMG Coupe does not exhibit this problem. I also believe there was a TSB fix from MB on this sealing the joint between the 2 surfaces from inside the housing. You guys need to go back and read the thread from the beginning. I am finding out that Porches and Audis are better built than MB. Wished i had kept the Cayenne. Service is much better at the Porsche store. The factory also has better support. I just don't think the rednecks in Vance know how to design and build cars even though they've been there longer than I can remember. I've learned my (102K) lesson.

 

That's an offensive post, and pretty judgemental.
It's also a bit ignorant, since the cars are not designed in Alabama. That's where final assembly takes place.
Google "final assembly" if you need help.

 

I apologize for the quote as I spoke tongue-in cheek as I am from the south and have been called a redneck many times. I have owned many vehicles and have noticed a lot of quality issues with this vehicle that would absolutely be unacceptable even in the less expensive Audis. 3 yrs ago, my son (a HS senior then) decided he wanted to go into college and major in engineering. He is a car nut himself so we decided during that summer vaca to tour both the VW plant in Chattanooga,TN and the Vance plant in Alabama. I have observed how the vehicles are assembled. Bear in mind, the cost of the VW Passat is 1/3 the cost of the GLE, but it seemingly went through more inspection stations than the GLE. Also, a few of my college friends who graduated with me at UT work for MB or one of the suppliers for the Vance plant. While the vehicle is designed in Germany, most of the components not related to the engine and transmission are designed and manufactured in North America. Yes, final assembly is in Alabama and I think that is where the quality issues with this vehicle lies.

 

Interesting discussion. However being an engineer with an MBA, allow me to offer another perspective. If you have to "inspect-in" quality, your manufacturing process is inadequate. Quality, as related to manufacturing, means it is built to design spec, every single time. There is a whole field devoted to this, and the science is well understood, it is call 6-sigma manufacturing. A sigma is 1-standard deviation. The way it works is the follow -- when you design a part for manufacturing it has a tolerance (i.e., 1.5 inches, + .003 inches). So any part build to those tolerances will work fine -- if the engineers did their job correctly. So a 6-sigma manufacture process would consistently build the part whereby if you multiplied the measured part variability standard deviation by 3, and added and subtracted that resultant value to the measured mean value, it would still meet design spec. So in my example, that would mean every part built would add to a mean value of 1.5 inches, with a standard deviation (sigma) of .001 inches. If you're manufacturing process can consistently build to those specs, it is high quality (i.e., 6-Sigma) and there is no need to inspect every part. A sigma value represents probability, so if you're manufacturing process can always build the part whereby the variability can be up to 3 standard deviations (plus or minus of the mean) and still be in spec; mathematically you have eliminated manufacturing deflects (every part will always be in spec -- zero defects). Toyota is a master of this technique, and is why their manufacturing quality is so high (design flaws not included).

So point being, just because Vance doesn't have a lot of inspection stations, doesn't mean they don't have a high quality manufacturing process. The question is do they have a 6-Sigma manufacturing process, and how good are they (and their vendors) at monitoring and controlling part variability?

 

I might add to your excellent analysis...

There are Assembly problems exacerbated by taking vehicles through assembly with missing components that then sit waiting for a part/parts to be added off line.

Also Vance is mostly Assembly with most parts outsourced other than engine and drive train. Some of the out sourced parts are made at or near the factory. IMO, much of the quality problem today is the acceptance of parts that don’t meet specs. It may be a decision of closing the plant, reducing production or taking the inferior quality components. Since this has been more the norm pre-Pandemic, Mercedes quality control must be at least partly to blame.

 

I might add my son is now interning at a a plant here in Charleston,SC. This plant designs and manufacture driveshafts and drivetrain components for MB. They produce for the just about every vehicle factory in the US. Our firm did the development and engineering for the Volvo plant that makes the S60 here in SC. MB Sprinter vans are made here as well the BMW's in Greer.SC. It is amazing how many of the components that go into these vehicles are designed and made here. German (and Swedish) factories are all over the south now. Hopefully, the build quality will not suffer.

 

I appreciate your technical discussion of variability, however things like upholstery quality, which has been so much in discussion, are not as easy to quantify.