QuadBenz

Thanks, it's good to have another "nut" and not be the only one. (pun intended)

WingFlex

Nice to know I'm not the only one easily driven nuts by these rattles and squeaks. I blame it on the cold winter as the cause of sporadic/random rattles from passenger side seat and squeaks from rear view mirror area. Annoys the hell out of me, yet there is not much I can do.

trumpet1

Since we have had some warm days lately in the south (80 + degrees this week) my car has been extremely rattle free. In fact, my car has "settled" a bit over the past months and what few rattles I've experienced (which are very rare) have gone away. I guess the seams and moldings are settling in and the rattles are going away.

In fact, my car seems to be sounding more and more solid as I own it

bzliteyear

CJF - i think Moraga road over the past 2 yrs is pretty new and my car drive great there too, but not as well on older roads up in orinda like Miner Rd, or other smaller roads in orinda - some buzzes and rattles around dash or sunroof area. that said, my car is 7 yrs old and 105k miles. do you have any experiences in that part of the area? i'd be curious your opinion.
p.s. our R500 is awesome and very smooth w/ the air suspension. however, my 95 E320 cabriolet feels VERY solid also.
PL

cjf_moraga

Hi Blitzyear - I think you mean Moraga Way between Moraga and Orinda that was (finally!) resurfaced last year... It used to resemble a farm track... and the roughness of the surface was fine tuned to vibrate at just the right resonance and frequency to eeek out the most unlikely squeaks and rattles in any car doing a steady 20 - 30 mph... When my S600 was new I did get some ticks and squeaks in the dash area, but I think it was the leather and dash components flexing up and settling in. Now like Trumpet I don't hear anything at all... the car seems to become more solid with age! I have driven in the Miner Road/Sleepy Hollow area... and yes, Orinda roads are pretty bad to be sure!

Another great stiffness and squeak/rattle (and ABC) test is to take the corners on either Canyon or Pinehurst road up to Skyline Boulevard! (Always fun taking a 5000 lb car around hair pin bends)

Chris

QuadBenz

Trumpet and cjf- How many miles do you have on your cars?

cjf_moraga

In my case a modest 13,100 miles... (I have had it for about 1.5 years)

Chris

QuadBenz

17K, 2 years.

Does anyone else have a really small rattle from the B-pillar? I remember reading about it somewhere and yup, I found it.

Quadcammer

You guys are like me, any noises or creaks in the interior drive me nuts. Im working on one in the instrument cluster of my 220, but I think its just the cluster plastic itself, and not any sort of clearance issue.

trumpet1

I have around 33,000

QuadBenz

Occasionally my cluster will creak too. I think it's just the plastic expanding and shrinking. It usually happens in direct sunlight.

vonbeeler

My car seems totally solid and rattle free. Never heard anything from the dash. However my drivers seat seems to be creaking a lot in cornering, braking etc. I weigh 180lbs so the is no undue stress. Anybody else get creaking in the seat? Is it worth a warranty visit to the dealer? 27k miles.

WingFlex

My passenger seat creaks esp when cornering.... but it's intermittent... what a pain!

QuadBenz

I have this too, but on my driver's seat. PITA. (17K mi)

Someone willing to take it in and see if they'll fix it?

K-A

Just out of curiosity, how does the ole' W220 stack up to the new W221 to you? Being someone who's lived with and experienced both cars extensively. I'm always interested in actual "reviews" from people who have owned the cars being reviewed, as opposed to stat sheets and Magazines, etc.

My W220 was SO quiet, my W211 is very serene and quiet too, a few rattles here or there that thankfully end up working themselves out (one keeps popping up very subtly every now and then right near one of the posts on the roof near the driver side sunvisor). I remember when I first made the switch, I kept thinking a window was cracked open in the E since it wasn't as incredibly insulated as the S, now the E feels super quiet to me.

bzliteyear

after not driving my 2002 S55 for the past week, getting back into it was actually quite a nice experience - it's comfortably, sporty, lots of power, and very solid.
i think we all take our cars for granted and taking a break(or driving a rental car for a while) also helps us appreciate them more.
Patrick

QuadBenz

People always talk about the W221 having superior quality over the W220. To be honest, I don't notice that at all. My 220 has never had any rattles or creaks from the seats or anything like that.
The W220 is very silent, I'm thinking more so than the W221. I'm not sure if it's because of the new tires on the 220 (recently got them replaced) compared to the never changed tires on the 221 with 17K miles on them. One thing that's bothering me is the 221 has some wind noise only from the front which seems like it's being caused by the mirrors.
I found this:

so I'm hoping that's the cause and it'll be remedied easily. (I'm rambling here now, lol.) Basically, I enjoy driving the W220 and I enjoy driving the W221. For different reasons though. The W221 just says "I'm so executive" and you just want to cruise nice and smoothly with it. The W220 doesn't feel as big and is almost sportier (feels strange calling an S-Class sporty) feeling than the W221.
Then again, the 221 does have it's newer technologies that I tend to enjoy. Ex: the updated Keyless Go. On the 220, you have the touch the handle, and then pull. You basically have to wait for the car to unlock first, and the pins on the 220 are sort of slow to move up, which is the reason they're so silent. On the 221, all you do is pull the handle as if the car is already unlocked. Whether or not the pins are fully up, the door will open. Another thing I like is that when the 221 is locked, when you walk up to open the door, even the slightest pull on the handle will unlatch the door. I like the way it works on the 221 more than the 220. Also, the trunk closer (and opener) is much smoother and quieter than the 220.
Okay, I think I've shared enough of the differences. I'm done.

K-A

Thanks! Yeah, I think the W220 is a great car, and a super clean, AMG packaged one looks almost unmatchably slick and sporty for a large sedan. Unfortunately the major problems they were known to have, have contaminated their history and the way they will be judged in the future (by some).

Agreed. I drive a different Rental Car almost every weekend, and it keeps me really appreciating my car. Helps me not get tired of it so fast.

QuadBenz

I haven't had any issues with mine besides regular maintenance, but I know for some, that's simply not the case.

K-A

Nice. Mine had 152K Miles when I sold it, although I know the original owner had to do some general W220 repairs. Still rode, showed and felt like new. 2006 was supposed to be a great year for them too as that's when M-B started getting it's quality really on track.

SL2003driver

I would think the CL would be higher quality then any of the "S" class vehicles since the CL class is the top of the line Mercedes.










Anyone take the bait???

softgenious

WHAT?

QuadBenz

If it's not, then what justifies the extra price?
I do think CL's do have marginally better quality than the S though.

What, what?

K-A

The CL's interior is exactly the way the 221's should look IMO.

Too bad M-B is calling it an "S-Coupe" now. Even the new E-Coupe is retarded as it's based on a C-Class completely. I dunno with M-B these days....

softgenious

More expensive does not always mean higher quality.

More expensive usually means more options/features and that can lead to additional issues in the future. Bottom line is all the Mercedes cars should be of high quality and I really think Mercedes is starting to show that they have made many improvements since the 2007 intro of the S class cars.