Bronxknockout

recenlty purchased some door clips for my ml320 and tried to install them to elimate my speakers rattling when i play my music loud. any guide for door assembly. I think i placed them in properly but i cant seem to get them to click into place. any suggestions?

55fanatic

did you get the clips from the dealer or a universal clip from like an autozone?

other wise just put some pressure on em and theyll pop in to place as long as they are lined up with the holes thy pop in to...

or are you looking for how to take the door apart to put them in?

Bronxknockout

dealer purchased, attempted to push them in with alot of pressure. no luck, tho they do look slightly different from the one that came out by accident. i got the dealer my vin number along with my model i dont think i have the wrong ones, just think the may have updated them slightly. any suggestions to my door problem, i dont want to take it off just wanted to know the placement of the clips so i can make sure its fully clipped and my speakers can play with out rattle. Any help is appreciated.

Just Enough

After removing my door panels I found some of the female inserts which stay in the door were broken and or pushed through when trying to re-install my panel. The new clips I purchased from MB had both the male and female side already together so they had to be seperated before installing either side. Check your new clips to be sure you are not trying to install them with the female side already on the male post, basically trying to push an extra female side into an existing one. I hope this makes some sense.

Bronxknockout

thats good advice i did not know there were female inserts that go in the sheet metal of the door. now im gonna need to pick up some of them as well i only got male inserts and was trying to have it click into the sheet metal, but as you can see no luck, ill try to get some female inserts this week and see hwo it works out. Ill keep you guys posted.

55fanatic

the clips that just enough is talking about are already attached to the clips you purchased... try pulling out the plastic clips in the physical door(sheet metal) and then put the clip you purchased on the door skin and then push in the door with the new clip and it will take

mihir_d

I have complained about the door speakers rattling to my SA several times through all the years that I have owned the ML. Mine has premium Bose and I enjoy playing it loud often...the only problem is that the rattling starts in a few months after the dealer fixes it...especially the driver side one is more prominent due to proximity to the speaker while driving and also because the driver side door gets banged open/close far more often than any of the other doors..

I would think, that they would have designed the door trim/clips right for the wattage of the sound system, or atleast reinfored it for the Bose upgrade package...but I guess, neither holds true...

This is definitely not MB/Bose quality by any means....

55fanatic

I dunno if you have ever taken the door apart but those Bose speaker housings are actually pretty solid... I would need to hear your rattles but I would bet that these are blown speakers more then they become loose. Not only did they work fine for me, but I was able to modify the housing for my aftermarket speakers that run at about 65watts RMS roughly more then 3 times that of the factory set up.

mihir_d

I haven't taken the door apart myself ever, so will believe that the housings are solid as you say, but still...it doesn't seem to be the speakers in my case..

The first time ever I had the problem was at just 15K miles....and have had this problem since...if it was a blown speaker, the SA would have had that taken care of under warranty...they have fixed the door trim/clips 3 times while under warranty, each time the problem disappers only to reappear in about a years time..if the speaker were blown, it would not be possible to make the problem disapper..

There has to be something in the design of the speaker housings...or door clips/trim that make it to go lose after some use...

55fanatic

if they replaced the speaker each time and it blew again at a later date it would go away... there might be something else going wrong in your case, If I were you and your ML is out of warranty, go purchase some strip caulk from your local parts store, and place a generous amount on the clips and push the clips back in to place. you wont have any problems

Just Enough

Bronxknockout,
While you are inside your door I would recommend installing some dynamat. My reasons are twofold, the most important is to prevent the dreaded factory MB sound felt fall off which MLs are known for and the second is for improved sound quality. When I dynamatted my doors I made sure to overlap dynamat from the top edge of the MB felt to the doors metal skin, like taping the edge of the felt to the door. If you are not aware of the felt fall off, when your vehicle becomes really hot from sitting in the summer sun the factory felt sound dampening can loose it's adhesive strength and roll off sticking to your window glass then transferring the adhesive to the glass and finally to the weatherstripping. It's common and can be prevented.

Bronxknockout

sounds cool, any direction on where and how i can do that, i jsut want the rattle gone and i know its not a blown speaker, since when i press the speaker agianst the door the rattle goes away, its these dayumn clips maybe this weekend if i get time ill post a screen shot of both the old and new clips. my new clips do not have any sign of any female insert in them either.

55fanatic

take off the door and see whats going on back there as well... its not so difficult to do

avlking

I'm going to pull the door panels off. Any idea how many clips there are? Need to buy extras because no doubt I'll bust a few.

thanks

AndrewAZ

You need 8 clips for the door. I suggest buying 9 per door. And when you do the doors replace all the clips no matter what if you try and use an old one they usually break when put back into place. But like others have said sometimes when you remove the door they break so you have to find something to pry the stuck ones out so the new ones can go in.

I also found it was best once you put the door back on to start from the top and work your way down and if possible have someone else help hold the door it makes it a lot easier.

55fanatic

they dont always break when you take off the door... mine were worn out as I took my doors off almost once a week for a month. Get yourself a panel popper from snap on or craftsmen... you will save your doors and door clips...

avlking

Excellent! thanks for the replies

nsfkid

Make sure the clips he gave you are correct, there are two different clip styles. take one of your old clips and compare. If there not, bring your old clip to the parts counter to ensure they are the same.
Mine were a light green with three prongs coming together in the center.
Mike,