Sal_S

You could start by looking at this link
http://www.bose.com/automotive/innovations/asm.jsp
Harman has a better system apparently but may not be widely available. They all use car audio system to cancel out waves.

robroymc

Thanks for your response. I have been driven in S400s in Taiwan and Zurich and they were quiet, hence I bought one. I have no idea what is going on but the dealer wont admit there is something wrong with the car. On a noise level app on my iphone I get more than 80dB at low speeds on normal roads and I feel the floor vibrating.
Anyway I have told the dealer that I want them to take the car back and part exchange it for anything other than a MB. I shall probably go back to an XJ which I am really really regretting I let go.

jiyang

Change to S500 or S550 or S600, much quiet than S400, I told you those have double layer glass, S400 does not have.

dje.s550

I really don't get what is going on here. The S550 I own is very quiet. I would have thought for sure your issue was the run flat tires. If that is not the case, you need to contact MB and see what is happening. It is not normal.

3.14159

You may want to verify that the AC vents for the rear seats are open and that the fans are set to Off. If the rear vents are closed and the rear fans are blowing air, it sounds like moderate to high road noise, coming from somewhere between the two front seats.

robroymc

Thanks everyone
I am at a loss. on a very smooth surface the car is very quiet but on, what I would call normal roads, the sound is very very high (over 80dB on my iphone noise level app. On the smooth road it is 58dB so I know the app is working correctly). And at the same time the floor vibrates so it is obviously coming from the road not through the windows or vents.
The dealer, Yanase, which I bought it from vigorously denies that anything is wrong with the car so we are now at loggerheads. Problem is of course that there is no published specification for cabin noise so basically MB can say whatever they want.
Anyway I have more than US$100k sunk in this lemon and I do not intend to write it of to bad luck.
My gut feeling is that there is something inherently wrong with either the steering linkage or front suspension but I will have to fight hard for MB to admit this and do something about it.
Any advice is welcome and appreciated.

MBNUT1

To me the next step is easy. Take another one from the dealer drive it on the same roads with the same app that you are using and take the data. One of two things will happen a) you will get two different readings with the second one being substantially quieter which will support your claim that something is wrong with your car in particular or b) you will get essentially the same reading which would support their claim that there is nothing uniquely wrong with your car.

If you come to the latter conclusion then go drive other cars (different models, brands, whatever) on the same roads with the same app until you find one that is substantially quieter and report back

Sal_S

Just trade it in and call it a day. Buy some other make/model.

dje.s550

I don't know why you say you have to fight hard with MB? Have you even talked with anyone other than the dealer??

Wolfman

I may have overlooked it but which country are you in? Some countries are more difficult to deal with issues/warranty claims/ consumer complaints...

dje.s550

He is in Japan.

robroymc

I seem to have no option but to either sell the car of live with this awful noise. The dealer says there is no problem and as there is no specification for cabin noise I have no way to make them check or do something about it.
Maybe I have been in Japan too long and got used to real customer satisfaction, but anyway the lack or response from MB is regrettable.
I will anyway be taking the car to a third party to have them give their opinion.

Germancar1

Sorry for asking if you've done this already, but is there a video of this noise? Something is not right here.

M

MBNUT1

I can understand your frustration with poor customer satisfaction however, still waiting for back to back data over the same roads with a different vehicle to provide a quantified assessment of the difference between your car and another including other brands say Jaguar for example. I'm sure a competing brand would be happy to support you in this endeavor. I also think if you confronted Mercedes with data from a competing brand they may take more interest.

emilner

You have been asked a dozen times without answering- have you driven another S class to see if the noise is the same? I don't know what you expect an online community to offer if you don't answer basic questions and just whine....

Terminator2029

I concur - this dialog was sort of one-way. The advice from MBNUT1 was spot on. It would be unwise not to take it and not act upon the recommendations prescribed.

robroymc

Thanks everyone. I did not yet make a video of the noise but will do so early next year. I have asked the dealer to lend me an S550 and will do a comparison. All I can say for the moment is that for the last few years I have driven Jaguars (XF and XJ) and compared to the S400 they are much much quieter.
My ultimate problem will be getting MB to do something about it. Obviously the noise has a cause and MB finding and rectifying it would require them to admit there is a problem. Till now the dealer adamantly refuses to acknowledge there is a problem. Hopefully the video will help my cause. I had hoped (obviously mistakenly) that just the hint of dissatisfaction would have had MB bending over backwards trying to help. This is an S Class which I had also mistakenly believed to be as good as it gets.
Will post the video once I have made it.

robroymc

Before going any further I asked MB Japan is they would at least just take a look at my car. I was told, sorry not interested.
So I have done what I should have done a while back. I sold my nice new S400 and bought a second hand XJ.
It has been interesting push water upstream with MB but enough is enough.

Terminator2029

Sorry to hear about that. I’m sure you have tried every option available to you, however the dealership’s attitude cannot be justified. I’m actually not surprised. Last time I went to Japan, one upscale restaurant in Osaka refused to serve me just because they don’t have anybody who speaks English. I was told (literally) to find another restaurant. I learned my diversity lesson; whereas the restaurant employee has enriched his English vocabulary with a new F-word. A win-win situation.

Red Marko

Quit bragging about it, sitting quiet in your garage, and start driving the thing

emilner

Haha, like I could afford the gas!

Besides, it stays so clean in the garage....

robroymc

Hi Terminator I know the feeling. It wasn't language this time (I have been here 45 years and am fluent) is is the philosophy of "ignore a problem and it may go away" and to be honest in this case it worked.
Still the euphoria of being able to get back to a Jaguar makes it worth while. And even though Jaguars are not perfect for some inexplicable reason they can be forgiven. I mean its British..(like me)

emilner

Ah. A lot has been explained.

WSH

US/Japan/Germany have roughly similar income tax rates for affluent taxpayers

Arguably, Germany has world's smoothest roads and best unrestricted fwys (and lane discipline) to enjoy perf cars

But US has world's cheapest MBs (or any car) and most consumer-friendly lemon laws if car is defective....quite difft from Japan/Germany

That said, have several colleagues who buy 1-2 new 65/yr (and have done so for yrs)....all have had at least one lemon 65....seamlessly handled by their usual MB dealer in BH/SF (though incredibly annoying when one faces the inevitable multi-wk lemoning process)

But anyone who routinely consumes any luxury good/svc of even far greater cost than a $250K 65 is familiar w/notion that some finite lemon % exists...real question is how seamlessly one's usual dealer/counterparty handles process....repeat customer base for any product/service reveals much

My sense is that, partly thanks to fact US has world's wealthiest plaintiffs' lawyers, affluent consumers in US are far more protected than similar consumers anywhere on planet vs mfrs' defective products.....though I still am jealous of German autobahns (damn the corrupt politicians in CA who won't spend our tax dollars on basic smooth rds first)....but not jealous of Germany's (or Japan's or non-CA US') crap weather or food vs SF/BH....

mklasse

I think consumer protection laws in many asian countries are horrible/weak, which is why manufacturers don't really care so much about resolving "unsual" problems as they know the customer is not really protected and can't do much about it (ie. file the lemon law, etc).

That said, I thought Japan is good, being one of the first world asian countries, and being a country with quite a good reputation for customer service. Evidently from this thread, don't think this was the case.. or maybe they are just lazy to figuring out what was wrong with it? as the OP said.. they replied "sorry, not interested"

I just found out a while ago, while lurking on Porsche Macan's forum, that Japan buyers are getting an aftermarket Clarion head unit instead of PCM unit like the rest of the world gets (not just for Macan, but also for the whole Porsche line up in Japan). Why? it's been said that Porsche Japan is too lazy converting PCM for Japanese nav map. I mean, they get Mercedes' COMAND and BMW's iDrive no problem, why not PCM?

Sorry for the OP for having to go through with all this nightmare.