Bad Rattle near driver's A-pillar, tweeter, dash, mirror, etc.

[BrianV]

I have a pretty horrible rattle coming from the driver side A-pillar interior area. It seems like it's between the dash and door (on the high side). I'm able to jam my fingers into a void between the dash and door panels and help cure it.

My Audi S4 had this same issue and it turned out to be this metal sunroof manual close tool that is clipped into the plastic fuse panel door. I simply removed that tool and through it in the glove box and that solved the problem. I only briefly looked, but it didn't seem there was a removable fuse panel between the dash and driver's door. I'm thinking of putting some padding between the door and dash to put some pressure on it.

Has anyone else done serious rattle investigation in this area?

[jasonlitka]

My 2016 S6 is at the dealer now having a rattle fixed (among other things). I originally thought it was coming from that area but it turned out to be a bit lower and the dealer thinks it's the Bose emblem on the speaker cover.

There is a fuse panel between the dash and the driver's door. You need to pry it off. I used a nylon spudger when I was trying to hunt down my rattle but you could just as easily use a small flat screwdriver with electrical tape wrapped around the tip.

[Glacier6]

Mine is currently at the dealer for multiple rattles as well. If you can point out the spot, the dealer should cover the repair under warranty (unless you have one of those dbag dealers).

There are multiple TSBs out for rattles in our C7s, so there may even be one for that area.

[BrianV]

Mine is currently at the dealer for multiple rattles as well. If you can point out the spot, the dealer should cover the repair under warranty (unless you have one of those dbag dealers).

There are multiple TSBs out for rattles in our C7s, so there may even be one for that area.

I asked my dealer to look at it, but they said the rattle warranty is only 1 years and 12K miles. I started to argue a little bit that this was a pretty significant rattle that is definitely either a previous repair with bad reassembly or purely a workmanship issue. He didn't budge although he offered to find it on my dime but couldn't quote the cost.

I'm going to pry the panel off right now, will report back. My S4 had the same prying mechanism.

[BrianV]

Well I got both panels off with a blade screwdriver covered with a cloth. Unlike the S4, there is no medal tool velcrowed on making that noise. I couldn't find anything else that looked loose enough to make this noise. I also don't think it's the BOSE emblem just based on where my ears tell me it is. Sound travels weird when doors are shut though, etc.

While investigating the area, I did see a piece on the upper dash, the piece that touches the windshield where on the side closest to the driver (away from the glass), some stripping was coming out between the silvery/plastic component and the lower dash piece. Using a tiny screwdriver, I was able to wedge that stripping/liner back in between the two hard parts. This is extremely close to the area which makes the noise and very close to where I was putting pressure on with my hand to resolve it earlier.

I'll need to test drive it later, but I'll report back.

This is a horrible picture I photoshopped from a low-res picture I found on google images. There was about 1.5" of liner material that was not seated between the metal and the lower dash where they meet. It was on the dash side not the door side and was missing from the edge (where it meets the door) to about 1.5" into the dash. As stated, I was able to sandwich that material back into the seam. That material was soft and seemed to only serve a purpose to bridge two plastic pieces together and make sure you didn't have plastic on plastic action. It's a start down this magical rattle journey.

It does piss me off that I have to do this on an $81K car. I've owned so many brands over time, and it just seems manufacturers don't care about this. The larger/more expensive Lexus' seem to do a better job as does Benz, but BMW and Audi may be noted as having nice interiors, which while dynamically and aesthetics, they do, I question the real build quality of either of the Bavarian makers (Acura, Infiniti and Volvo aren't any better either).

[Serpent]

I asked my dealer to look at it, but they said the rattle warranty is only 1 years and 12K miles. I started to argue a little bit that this was a pretty significant rattle that is definitely either a previous repair with bad reassembly or purely a workmanship issue. He didn't budge although he offered to find it on my dime but couldn't quote the cost.

I'm going to pry the panel off right now, will report back. My S4 had the same prying mechanism.

what the hell is rattle warranty? I don't think that is a thing.

I just picked up my S4 from the dealer. It was in for 15k service and a rattle coming from my passenger side door/dash area, and the dealer basically had the thing apart trying to find what was causing the rattle. They couldn't find anything but no rattle on the way back from the dealer.

[Glacier6]

Wow a rattle warranty?! That's some made up BS.

Like I said it is up to the dealer to decide whether to cover it or not. I luckily have a great SA and dealer. Was just told today my car is ready for pickup and that they replaced 2 rattling issues under warranty, among other things.

When you have cars this expensive and of this 'quality', I think most dealers understand annoyances like this shouldn't be happening.

[grc]

Wow a rattle warranty?! That's some made up BS.

I think it falls under "normal wear and tear" part of the warranty. It is the same thing as the wheel alignment. They only cover it for 12 months. In my opinion that is BS. A luxury car should be rattle free for at least 4 years.
I had several rattles in my 2013 S4 since day one. Dealer was unable to resolve any of them. So I had to remove several trim pieces and apply electrical tape between the joints. That improve the rattles a lot.
Also while the interior of the car is being warmed up (after sitting overnight) I can hear several interior pieces squeaking due to temperature expansion.

For what is worth, both a Nissan Altima and a Infiniti M35 that I used to own had no rattles even after 5 years and 100k miles each. The interior build quality even of the Nissan was better than the S4.

[BrianV]

Well my fix didn't work, same rattle so back to square one.

On the rattle warranty, it is true of almost all cars that they basically only do rattle repair for 1 year. BMW and Volvo are the same way. To be honest, I've had bad success getting rattles fixed even within the first year, often times the dealers make it worse. I've had better luck fixing these myself.

[mmaturo]

Sucks. I must say I have been lucky with my last several Audis with no rattles. My Rs6 years ago the glove box was annoying but well placed felt took car of that by me. In the front anyway in the cabin I'm good...my Rs5 had an issue on a rear bumper support that could thunk but they knew about it and fixed it. R8 and RS5 otherwise no issues at 20K and 30K miles and my Rs7 was fine at 10K. Agree on the self fix. The more things are popped off the worse it will be. The original clips and the holes they go to are only really tight once. I'm more wondering about the wear on the bolster of my RS5 driver seat where my wife is wearing through the finish in a line of the leather a bit early (its her daily driver) but there should be no wear in the 20Ks of these cars. That's the only thing I have noticed is the leather not taking the abuse like any of my previous Audis have. My 2000TT with way more miles the leather is better and my old RS6 with the silver finish but different leather held up better....it had 85K on it with little to no wear when I traded it in.

[BrianV]

Being that I can stop 90% of the rattle by jamming my finger between the door and dash while driving, I'm thinking of putting some foam padding or something there. Does anyone have a recommended material. It is in between the door and dash so it won't be visible except when the door is wide open.

[jasonlitka]

I've got a bunch of soft rubber bumpers I've used in the past for similar issues. Go to Amazon and search for "Isolate It Sorbothane". Pick whatever size is appropriate for your issue.

[dnbdamian]

I just bought some trim tape. Its double sided and padded. Works great. I've fixed a rattle coming from the left air vent, center speaker cover. I now have a rattle in the front right door. So I need to pull the door panel.

[grc]

I use 3M Vinyl electrical tape Professional grade because it is certified for temperatures up to 221 F (105 C).
In the past I have used some cheap tape that shrunk after the car was sitting under the hot CA sun for days.

[mchltschr]

I get some inconsistent stereo driven rattle/buzz from varying places based on the song's acoustics.

Center speaker in front dash will buzz at high pitches/guitar strings hitting the right chord. Sometimes this occurs when on phone calls.
Rear doors have something going on - I believe it is the manual sun shades. Not the shade itself (as I have played tunes while adjusting/pulling the shade) but the unit within the door.
Moonroof - definitely getting some rattle when the bass hits. Not always, but again, the right frequency at the right volume will do it.

All of this is happening more often than I'd like, especially - as mentioned above - from cars that I would anticipate are given more attention in this area.

I'll bring it up at my next service interval with the dealer of course, but I wonder if the music piece is a bit harder to replicate for them to diagnose...

[BrianV]

Just an update. I was able to further troubleshoot and diagnose the sound from the interior of the driver side air vent. After much haggling with the dealer and a YouTibe video later, they replaced it under warranty and the problem went away. The service notes said the interior blade mechanism had broken.

- - - Updated - - -

I'm now chasing a sound from the passenger A pillar that seems to be wind noise related, I'm stumped on this one. I removed the speaker grills. Now I'm trying wedging fabric between the dash and windshield and dash and a pillar.