casualmikey

Hi all,

I purchased a certified pre-owned 2013 S550. I absolutely love the car. The problem is that the LED light fixtures on the door panels rattle when when I drive.

I have taken the car back to the dealer 4 times and they cannot resolve it. They said they will have to replace the entire door panel?!?! I think that is overkill as I am almost certain it is the LED light fixture under the wood trim as I press it and the rattle stops. I do not feel they are doing a very good job at diagnosing the issue and instead take a sledgehammer to resolve a problem that requires only a scalpel.

My question: I want to try and resolve this myself. How do I remove that wood trim from the door panel to expose the LED light fixture?

Thanks again for your help.

Mike

1bad540

I get the same vibration. dont know how to fix it. but curious if you find out.

greglig

Hi, I have a 2007 which may be a bit different but from memory the trim is is attached with plastic like rivet?? which is melted to hold the trim to to the main door skin (ref photo).
It may be that one of them has broken and causing it to not hold things in place. I cannot give you any recommendations here as you would have to inspect whats going on.

Caution: when attempting to get the door skin off, lots of care and considerable force may be required as the clips hold very firmly to stop door rattles. There are also a few hidden screws around the door handle and one or two elsewhere I think. I would have to lookup the WIS documentation on exact location - which I will post later in the day.

It is also recommended to use a wide plastic or nylon prybar so as not to damage the edges.
I used a combination of wide screwdriver cover in electrical tape and a thin wooden wedge that I made.

I would be interested to see whats wrong as most Mercedes vehicles are extremely good when it comes to noises and rattles, it may be someone has done some sort of repair and damaged things in the process.

Cheers.

greglig

Bzzzt Wrong!!!. Sorry I'm in error, it can be easily unscrewed. Ref two docs from WIS.

Much better info here:

https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...or-panels.html

If your not aware "WIS" is the Mercedes WorkShop Information System.

Cheers.

casualmikey

Hi Greg,

Awesome! Thanks for the great information. I was tinkering around last night trying to diagnose the issue and found the entire door panel slightly shudders. When it shudders, it will cause the rubber liner along the base of the window to move back and forth, on and off the window. That is the source of the noise.

Is there a way to fit the door panel tighter to the door frame?

I would assume that removing the door panel itself will lead to a slightly looser fitting. I will mess around with it further and let you know.

greglig

Hi casualmikey, not sure whats going on there. I cant be certain how that parts is attached but on other cars I've looked at (not specifically Mercedes) there is a metal "U" channel embedded in the rubber sometimes with barbs that pushes onto the edge of the door skin. Our cars being what they are may use an unorthodox method to ensure things don't come lose or limit vibration under normal circumstances.
With regards to mounting the door panel tighter, It may be possible that the mounting clips have been broken or just not correctly aligned when the door was reattached. As your car has been to the dealer numerous times I would have thought they "should" have replaced the clips after the second or third time it was removed. That is even if they even removed it.

If they are broken or weak your local dealer "should" have them in stock.
Also just found some old photos of the back of the panel with I had mine off and I'm not sure how critical it is but there is also suppose to be these high density foam rings (or gaskets) around each clip of which most of mine were missing :-(


From my experience with dealers in Australia (doing work for them that is), just because they have the big sign out front and access to all service info and procedure does not mean they know what they are doing.


Also red hot tip (ref photo): if you have a light color interior the best way to get the scuff marks off is to use a quality (ie 3M etc) magic eraser sponge with a bit of water or water and a small amount of soap. If you do it gently it gets everything off and does not damage the surface. For me all of what your see in the photos is just about gone. Found that info on youtube from someones car detailing video.

Cheers.

wilassasin

Dealer is changing the door panel so let them do it, hopefully it resolves the issue. Keep us posted.

pleeson

I'll be interested in your results.
I've spent a year trying to quiet down that noise.
New LED/wood trim strips were louder than the old ones.
Glued the clear diffusers into plastic frame with E6000 glue; that took care of about 50% of it.
The door panel itself rattles; a light touch under the middle of the door quiets it.
Tried adding foam weatherstripping to back of panel, hoping to exert a bit of pressure; slightly better.
Foam behind red door clips, no help.
Overall, annoying, indeed....

casualmikey

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casualmikey

One thing I did notice is on the back doors, there were two spots on the top of the panels that seems to have missing clips. Both panels were like this. I checked the corresponding holes in the door itself where those clips would be inserted and they had a grey tape over them almost the same color as the car door - Like the manufacturer did it. I wonder why they took those clips off or omitted them in the first place. I think this would contribute to the door shimmy that caused the window sill rattle. Those missing clips are precisely on the left and right top portion of the panel. This would definitely allow the panel movement to and from the window seal.

I think I will buy clips and put them in to see what happens.

Will keep you updated.

survey1

Did anyone ever fix this?