Hi All,
Just thought I would post some of my findings as it may be helpful to any other SL owners. I recently got an 2016 SL63 having had a 2002 SL55 before. My SL55 which I have owned for many years had no rattles once I had diagnosed the early creaks as needing some rubber lubricant. The ride is also “gentle”. I was a bit surprised to find the SL63 had a number of rattles which could be heard clearly and the ride is definitely harsher than the 55. I put that down to the lower profile tyres on the 63 but it is quite noticeable on poor roads. It’s not bad, just different.
Now on to the rattles.
1. Right behind my right shoulder. Near the small rear window.
2. Above my head, seemed to come from windscreen or instrument binnacle.
3. Above my right shoulder.
4. On the passenger side seemed to come from headlining.
5. From the rear middle.
I set about trying to identify each and work out if I could solve them and it turned out to be quite straightforward.
Solutions:
1. I dropped each window on the drivers side in turn, and the noise stopped. I then raised each in turn; nothing. Only when both were raised did it start again. My solution was to use the Gummi Pflege rubber treatment around the window rubber liberally putting on the upright rubber parts and the parts which contact both windows.
2. Very simple - was the sun visor touching the headlining. I used a small piece of velcro and stuck it to the points of contact.
3. This one was slightly trickier as it was hard to isolate since I still had the window rattle. However reaching above my shoulder I pressed the trim pieces in turn and found that pressing one stopped the buzzing. Looking more closely you can pull the plastic trim piece away from the top of the door rubber. What you find is that the contact point “should“ be kept fixed by the window rubber but in fact it doesn’t. There is a small locating tag in the plastic which you can easily see. It is this which buzzes when contacting the other plastic piece. Simple solution was to stick some velco (the fuzzy part) over the tab. Then there is no plastic/plastic contact and the buzz disappeared.
4. Same as 3. as the problem is the same, its just not quite as annoying as its further from the driver!
5. This turned out to be the sunshade in the glass roof which was fully retracted. Just pulling it out a bit fixed that one.
I now have a quiet interior!
My SL55 had a lot more leather and many years later I still have no rattles! So I am hopeful this will be the end of it.
If anyone needs more specific information, just send me a message.
The good news is no tools required, just a bit of Velcro and some rubber treatment. Given the design i am surprised more owners haven’t found this. Having said that, I am very fussy about rattles, so maybe its just annoying to me.
All the best to everyone, take care.
DB1
Just thought I would post some of my findings as it may be helpful to any other SL owners. I recently got an 2016 SL63 having had a 2002 SL55 before. My SL55 which I have owned for many years had no rattles once I had diagnosed the early creaks as needing some rubber lubricant. The ride is also “gentle”. I was a bit surprised to find the SL63 had a number of rattles which could be heard clearly and the ride is definitely harsher than the 55. I put that down to the lower profile tyres on the 63 but it is quite noticeable on poor roads. It’s not bad, just different.
Now on to the rattles.
1. Right behind my right shoulder. Near the small rear window.
2. Above my head, seemed to come from windscreen or instrument binnacle.
3. Above my right shoulder.
4. On the passenger side seemed to come from headlining.
5. From the rear middle.
I set about trying to identify each and work out if I could solve them and it turned out to be quite straightforward.
Solutions:
1. I dropped each window on the drivers side in turn, and the noise stopped. I then raised each in turn; nothing. Only when both were raised did it start again. My solution was to use the Gummi Pflege rubber treatment around the window rubber liberally putting on the upright rubber parts and the parts which contact both windows.
2. Very simple - was the sun visor touching the headlining. I used a small piece of velcro and stuck it to the points of contact.
3. This one was slightly trickier as it was hard to isolate since I still had the window rattle. However reaching above my shoulder I pressed the trim pieces in turn and found that pressing one stopped the buzzing. Looking more closely you can pull the plastic trim piece away from the top of the door rubber. What you find is that the contact point “should“ be kept fixed by the window rubber but in fact it doesn’t. There is a small locating tag in the plastic which you can easily see. It is this which buzzes when contacting the other plastic piece. Simple solution was to stick some velco (the fuzzy part) over the tab. Then there is no plastic/plastic contact and the buzz disappeared.
4. Same as 3. as the problem is the same, its just not quite as annoying as its further from the driver!
5. This turned out to be the sunshade in the glass roof which was fully retracted. Just pulling it out a bit fixed that one.
I now have a quiet interior!
My SL55 had a lot more leather and many years later I still have no rattles! So I am hopeful this will be the end of it.
If anyone needs more specific information, just send me a message.
The good news is no tools required, just a bit of Velcro and some rubber treatment. Given the design i am surprised more owners haven’t found this. Having said that, I am very fussy about rattles, so maybe its just annoying to me.
All the best to everyone, take care.
DB1