Solved: Road Noise & Front Wind Noise

Through the last few months, I have been watching and reading up the various posts regarding the many ways many of you all have attempted, as well as the various kits available online, to reduce if not eliminate road noise and wind noise from the Model3. After reviewing all those posts and review of the kits, I figured that since none of you have been able to achieve that elusive goal, let alone even come close to reducing the noise, made me ask the question: What are we missing?

So as I kept driving my M3, I attempted to focus on finding those missing sources ie where is the noise emanating into the cabin from. Turns out they are the 4 corners of the cabin ie the A-Pillars and C-pillars. More specifically, the A-Pillars for wind noise and C-Pillars for road noise.

#1 - The solution for wind noise is the following - Z Weatherstrip down inside the leading edge of the front door, and foam block at the top triangle where the front fender, windshield and door meet.

Z-Weatherstrip

Foam at the junction

#2 - The solution for road noise is the following - 2" Fiber insulation behind the rear seat side panels that cover the rear wheel wells.

I hope this helps everyone who have been pursuing this goal. Thanks for all the contributions and many thanks to @XPsionic for his constant engagement and interest.

 

[Neskiredk]

Summary of sound measurements

.No Sound Treatment
.Nokian friction winter tires,
-67db±2

.Sound Treatment on Trunk well, trunk bed, rear wheel arch and back seat side panels
.Nokian friction winter tires,
-65±2db

View attachment 930460

.Sound Treatment on Trunk well, trunk bed, rear wheel arch and back seat side panels
.Michelin Pilot Sport 4 235/45 ZR 18 T1,
-69±2db

View attachment 930461

Sound Treatment on Trunk well, trunk bed, rear wheel arch and back seat side panels.
Sound treatment on front wheel arch and acoustic foam on front fender.
.Michelin Pilot Sport 4 235/45 ZR 18 T1
-66±2db

View attachment 938205

That’s a huge improvement.
I drive Michelin crossclimate 2 (all year round), these are much quieter than Michelin pilot sport 4 (stock).

I know it feels stupid to even consider changing from winter Nokias to all weather tires like mine for the summer period. But perhaps you should consider it. As you said yourself, winter tires are less loud, and I get to enjoy that all year round

Thanks for all the input in the thread.

 

[ICE5891]

That’s a huge improvement.
I drive Michelin crossclimate 2 (all year round), these are much quieter than Michelin pilot sport 4 (stock).

I know it feels stupid to even consider changing from winter Nokias to all weather tires like mine for the summer period. But perhaps you should consider it. As you said yourself, winter tires are less loud, and I get to enjoy that all year round

Thanks for all the input in the thread.

I think actually the all weather make lots of sense here. The season are more or less like
A- 40% winter
B- 30% mild summer
C- 30% should I have already changed tires or not?

Around March-April and September-October the predominant topic on coffee breaks are "have you already changed tires? Spikes of Friction?". And while the recommendation is change when it cross the 7°C (45F), reality is that for a long period it will be oscillating between -5°C and +15°C (23-60F) so you always will be with wrong tire at some point.

I don't drive on the limits that would benefit from cornering on a sport tire like the Michelin PS4, I think a All Season Tire makes lots of sense actually. Would be simpler on the shoulders season and more silent.

Only issue is the Michelin PS4 is brand new, I took delivery on February this year and most of this time have been with the Nokians, If I wait them to wear out it will take still many years. I don't know if I want to realize the loss on a tire that is brand new.

I have been looking the Pirelli P ZERO™ ALL SEASON PLUS Elect which was topic of this other post.

Review: Hankook iON evo AS vs Pirelli AS+ Elect vs Michelin PS 4S vs Michelin PS AS 4

I tested all these tires back to back on either a Tesla Model 3 or Y. I have both a Model 3 and a Model Y (wife’s). My goal was to have a great handling tire (makes me happy) that can handle the occasional snow, is quiet, and has good range. For context, I have the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[enemji]

Now this may be the stupidest post but bear with me. Yesterday I was driving and it felt as if the car is just a tad bit quieter from the rear deck. I did not pay much attention to find out what & why but this morning I suddenly realized why it might be. See the picture below and you can draw your own conclusions.

This was a roll of foam I was taking to a yoga class for my wife!

 

[tivoboy]

Now this may be the stupidest post but bear with me. Yesterday I was driving and it felt as if the car is just a tad bit quieter from the rear deck. I did not pay much attention to find out what & why but this morning I suddenly realized why it might be. See the picture below and you can draw your own conclusions.




This was a roll of foam I was taking to a yoga class for my wife!

Makes sense

 

[jwalkingjon2]

Hey guys, So i've been dealing with Wind noise too, I had tesla service come today and the mobile tech readjusted my door to make the window sit tighter.

Something i haven't seen yet though, He gave me a piece of rubber he said fits perfectly and is designed for the front window rubber. He said I can put it in if it the door adjustment doesn't help the wind noise and should push the rubber out perfectly a little more.

The part number is 1021462-00-B if anyone needs it, I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere else so figured i'd mention it here! I'm going to drive later and see if the door adjustment helped if not i'll put in this rubber piece he gave me.

 

[jwalkingjon2]

this is the piece of rubber he gave me, he said basically take off the piece of rubber near the window edge by passenger and slide it into the hole, then cut it to size and it'll make the rubber sit a lot higher to the window.

 

[JMc2018M3]

this is the piece of rubber he gave me, he said basically take off the piece of rubber near the window edge by passenger and slide it into the hole, then cut it to size and it'll make the rubber sit a lot higher to the window.

It would be helpful (to me, at least) if you could post a picture or two of the actual installation so I can get a better handle on exactly where this goes and what it's supposed to be doing. Also, what year is your car?

 

[enemji]

this is the piece of rubber he gave me, he said basically take off the piece of rubber near the window edge by passenger and slide it into the hole, then cut it to size and it'll make the rubber sit a lot higher to the window.

Can you take a picture without the plastic bag?

Was it for the Milk run for the cyber truck?

 

[jwalkingjon2]

It would be helpful (to me, at least) if you could post a picture or two of the actual installation so I can get a better handle on exactly where this goes and what it's supposed to be doing. Also, what year is your car?

2019 Model 3 and Sure I can take a pic later today if I get a chance or during work

 

[jwalkingjon2]

Can you take a picture without the plastic bag?

Was it for the Milk run for the cyber truck?

Yea I'll take pictures today if I get a chance, He actually didn't say what it was from he said he found it helps to push to rubber out the part number points for the rubber on the model 3 near the window which is odd.

It was odd he said he wasn't going to tell service that he gave it to me or mark down that he gave it out and then on the service report he didn't even mention he touched the door. Really nice guy, I haven't installed it yet so not sure it actually helps as much as he said it would but I'll take pics once I do.

 

[jwalkingjon2]

Here is a picture so basically I took the rubber on the side of the driver end off and shoved the piece of rubber inside (there is a hole that goes all the way down I only got the rubber about half way in but it seems to still lift a lot of the rubber seal up enough to make the bottom lift a little too), it was really hard to slide in. I'd suggest lubing it up with something like cleaner or something greasy so it slides in.

I didn't get a pic of the rubber but it's like a 1/4 circle of rubber that's long like a piece of spaghetti. Looks like below

 

[jwalkingjon2]

It basically lifted up the edge of that piece that seals the window from behind so it looks like the rubber is touching the window a lot more. I haven't gotten a driving test in but I used Gummi Pfledge on the rubber and since it's wet I can see the seal really well and it looks like the rubber is pressing firmly on the window now. Will keep you all posted on a 60-80mph test.

Anyone have suggestions on what I can use to maybe try shoving the rubber down a bit easier lol. I may put something to lube up and try to shove it down more to reach all the way to the bottom, I was just using my hands to shove it down there but got about half way

 

[enemji]

Here is a picture so basically I took the rubber on the side of the driver end off and shoved the piece of rubber inside (there is a hole that goes all the way down I only got the rubber about half way in but it seems to still lift a lot of the rubber seal up enough to make the bottom lift a little too), it was really hard to slide in. I'd suggest lubing it up with something like cleaner or something greasy so it slides in.

I didn't get a pic of the rubber but it's like a 1/4 circle of rubber that's long like a piece of spaghetti. Looks like below

View attachment 954959View attachment 954960

Haha I have done a similar engineering solution myself by adhering windshield weatherstripping to that rubber and ensuring tighter fit.

 

[jwalkingjon2]

Haha I have done a similar engineering solution myself by adhering windshield weatherstripping to that rubber and ensuring tighter fit.

That's what I did as well I superglued a piece of rubber under the flap to lift it up more to tighten it, The tech saw this and laughed and suggested this as a better solution as mine was causing the window to bulge out more due to it and he thought it was doing more harm than good, He said since this is harder and designed to fit in there it would work a lot better. Only issue I'm having is getting it all the way down, I have to find a tool or something I can use to press it down all the way since my finger can't get in there

 

[jwalkingjon2]

This is behind the rubber btw, If you peel it off there is some sort of small hole - The way I did it prior was glueing the rubber to the front under the flap that the window barley touches.

 

[Ampre Sand]

I just completed the rear seat bolster sound insulation and front door A-pillar seals/foam. It took a couple of hours, and I made sure to wear protective gear when handling the ceramic insulation. That stuff is like fiberglass, but heavier and more brittle.

I also was going to embark on adjusting the window to seal tighter due to a noisy air leak on the driver's side, but decided to first try pushing the window gasket out a bit from behind using some strips of adhesive-backed MLV and some foam weatherstrip in the spongier areas that needed more support. I added the MLV strips directly to the sheet metal behind the seal (outside of the area it pinches onto the frame). It took a little trial and error, but now my window seals are making double-contact all around. The B-pillar glass is also better sealed as a result. Tesla needs to make a better window gasket if they aren't already.

New tires, too: Hankook iOS evo AS to replacing the noisy MXM4's which were going to soon require replacing anyway.

Test will be an up-coming cross country road trip. Hopefully we won't be wishing we brought our earplugs, unlike the recent cross-country trip before these upgrades.

 

[ss71]

I just completed the rear seat bolster sound insulation and front door A-pillar seals/foam. It took a couple of hours, and I made sure to wear protective gear when handling the ceramic insulation. That stuff is like fiberglass, but heavier and more brittle.

I also was going to embark on adjusting the window to seal tighter due to a noisy air leak on the driver's side, but decided to first try pushing the window gasket out a bit from behind using some strips of adhesive-backed MLV and some foam weatherstrip in the spongier areas that needed more support. I added the MLV strips directly to the sheet metal behind the seal (outside of the area it pinches onto the frame). It took a little trial and error, but now my window seals are making double-contact all around. The B-pillar glass is also better sealed as a result. Tesla needs to make a better window gasket if they aren't already.

New tires, too: Hankook iOS evo AS to replacing the noisy MXM4's which were going to soon require replacing anyway.

Test will be an up-coming cross country road trip. Hopefully we won't be wishing we brought our earplugs, unlike the recent cross-country trip before these upgrades.

Looking forward to a post trip update!

 

[Dave EV]

Here is a picture so basically I took the rubber on the side of the driver end off and shoved the piece of rubber inside (there is a hole that goes all the way down I only got the rubber about half way in but it seems to still lift a lot of the rubber seal up enough to make the bottom lift a little too), it was really hard to slide in. I'd suggest lubing it up with something like cleaner or something greasy so it slides in.

I didn't get a pic of the rubber but it's like a 1/4 circle of rubber that's long like a piece of spaghetti. Looks like below

View attachment 954959View attachment 954960

Just to be clear, it appears that this would help primarily with B-pillar wind noise? I have a bit of A-pillar wind noise at highway speeds on the passenger side of the car, which doesn't appear to the plastic triangle.

 

[MarkoP]

My journey with 2020 M3P sound deadening.
Tires are 235/35R20 PS4S.

Here is the summary of measurements, some pictures below.

Measurements taken with a decibel meter at the middle of front seats area on head level, no radio or AC blowing, speed 80km/h or 50mph, same road etc.
- Stand still: 38db
- Stock: 68-69db
- Sound deadening inside fenders: 68-70db
- Sound deadening trunk: 67-68db
- Sound deadening front floor: 67-68db
- Sound deadening front doors: 65-66db
- Sound deadening rear doors: 65-66db
- Additional door seals: 65-66db

After all above was done, I took some measurements from here and there, on a different road (higher db)
- From the original measuring spot: 67db
- At the middle of side front window: 72db
- Top back corner of the front window seal: 72db
- Front floor: 72db
- Windshield: 72db
- Middle of the front door: 74db
- Middle head level backseat: 68db
- Middle of the door: 73db
- Middle of window: 73db
- Back seat floor: 74db
- Under the back seat: 72db
- Back triangle window: 78db

After these I actually added some more sound deadening to the back/trunk and door seals, but did not re-measure as I could not hear the difference.

Sound deadening inside of the fenders:
In my previous cars, typically biggest gains have come with sound deadening the fenders with underbody coating.
Tesla has non-existing rust prevention, so I started by going through the seams with a zinc paint, then rust protecting cavity wax and finally thick underbody coating to kill the noise (~1kg per fender).

Next sound deadening the trunk, front and rear floors, rear fenders from inside, doors:
Materials used were CTK brand as that was locally available.
I added 2.2 millimeter Butyl mat to all straight surfaces in body, avoiding to add over the seams as that would collect moisture in Finland conditions and I wanted to avoid rusting.
On top of butyl I added some felt type of blanket in dry locations (Caimat) and in doors and locations whetre i expected to have moisture or water (Wavefix) which is not absorbing water.

This is not the final stage of trunk, as I added some more material, but gives the idea.

Trunk roof.

Back floor, front floor, doors, trunk lid and pane, sound block from a-pillar to door. (also added some butyl to frunk, but did not notice any difference)
.. seems like there is a 10 photos max limit, but followed the similar practices inside of the cabin, inside of the doors and also added more sound deadening to the door panels.

Overall I managed half the sound energy (-3db), which is ok, but was honestly expecting more improvement when original sound deadening was so bad.
I could not identify any single source of problem and sound dropped rather gradually as I made progress.

 

[ICE5891]

I added 2.2 millimeter Butyl mat to all straight surfaces in body, avoiding to add over the seams as that would collect moisture in Finland conditions and I wanted to avoid rusting.

I just spent 2w and 4600km in Norway and the noise difference is huge. Here in Finland, at least in Helsinki region the asphalt is very rough, even in the areas they have recently repaired and look smooth, still they are louder.

With the noise levels I got in Norway I would probably not even spend any money or time on sound deadening it.

Great pictures and good job specially on the fender, rust there is a real concern for me.

What have you done on the front doors, this is a area I didn't do much but seams that have done a improvement for you.