RA032924

I have a 2007 S550, base model that developed a squeak earlier this year.

It was winter time, and I had similar experience with my E320CDI and I just presumed it was squeaky spring mounts, or shock mounts, or worse ball joints.

But I noticed that the squeak did not directly coincide with the up and down body movement. Rather it almost felt like it was coming from right below my seat, and on turns and on odd body movements (like changing lanes or going over speed just before and after the bump, not during the bump).

So I first checked out my seat, I shook it and shifted around in it while the vehicle was still and nothing... I even greased the screw drive and checked the bolts, which were tight and quiet.

Then one day, I was standing outside my car and noticed that there was a strip of body colored trim (fiberglass?) that ran the length of the front door and back door, just under the doors.

See Attached Picture

On a whim, I checked to see how this was mounted on the car and realized it was being held on with 6 or 7 (can't remember exactly) 10mm bolts. So I quickly, grabbed my ratchet set and tightened all of the bolts on the driver side. And voila, almost all of the squeak was gone.

Realizing that this squeak was coming from the body flexing, I decided to loosen the bolts a little (maybe 3 turns max), drive around the block to ensure the body flex was no longer there and then re-tighten all 14 bolts.

Once done, all squeaks are gone and the car is back to its beautiful quiet ride.

Hope this helps someone else.

Thanks,
Vinay

RGS

Was it only on the drivers side?
RGS

S550v

Thanks for sharing that experience. Glad to know there is trim underneath too

RA032924

I noticed it mostly on the driver side, and most of the squeak was gone after tightening the driver side trim. But the squeak was definitely coming from both sides.