That notorious driver side dash rattle..

[1LE McQueen]

2021 M3 LR, only about 300 miles - I'm starting to hear that weird crackle / rattle noise coming from the drivers side dash around highway speeds (65mph and up).

It sounds just like this.

I had a couple of points I wanted to ask ya'll -
1. Why has this continued to persist? I've been cruising the web for answers and saw this issue being brought up back in 2019. Perhaps someone in service or engineering could chime in here?
2. Is this specific rattle covered under warranty? I have a service appointment set up for September.
3. If not.. What is the easiest, best way to stop it? I saw Aaron Averett's video and frankly I'm a bit skeptical to pop some of the trims, given how i've only had the car for a week and i'm really good at damaging things.

Thanks!

 

[Kimmi]

Mobile service will not fix it, I tried. He said to take it to the service center. YMMV. Well placed high density foam quieted the one in my 2021 LR.

 

[jjrandorin]

1. No one from tesla service or engineering is going to post here about a topic like this (with the exception of one person who doesnt post any longer, they dont post here at all. Tesla does look at websites, but its social media people.

2.Rattles are only covered under warranty near the beginning of ownership. Since your car is a 2021, you would want to get it in there sooner rather than later. I dont know "how soon" you need to get it in there, but If I were you I would put a service request in right now. Sooner is better.

 

[1LE McQueen]

Mobile service will not fix it, I tried. He said to take it to the service center. YMMV. Well placed high density foam quieted the one in my 2021 LR.

Thanks. I've read a couple of posts regarding using high density foam - but I need a visual representation to understand where exactly to put it.

1. No one from tesla service or engineering is going to post here about a topic like this (with the exception of one person who doesnt post any longer, they dont post here at all. Tesla does look at websites, but its social media people.

2.Rattles are only covered under warranty near the beginning of ownership. Since your car is a 2021, you would want to get it in there sooner rather than later. I dont know "how soon" you need to get it in there, but If I were you I would put a service request in right now. Sooner is better.

Thank you, my car is still very young but I'd like to know how much time / mileage they give you.. I believe I was told 100 miles or 24 hours, but that's not enough time to figure out something like this on a brand new car IMO. And certainly a rattle issue SHOULD be taken care of during a cars bumper-to-bumper anyway and if they don't honor that I'll be disappointed in Tesla as a brand.

I put in my request yesterday and the earliest appointment they have is early September.

 

[jjrandorin]

Thanks. I've read a couple of posts regarding using high density foam - but I need a visual representation to understand where exactly to put it.



Thank you, my car is still very young but I'd like to know how much time / mileage they give you.. I believe I was told 100 miles or 24 hours, but that's not enough time to figure out something like this on a brand new car IMO. And certainly a rattle issue SHOULD be taken care of during a cars bumper-to-bumper anyway and if they don't honor that I'll be disappointed in Tesla as a brand.

I put in my request yesterday and the earliest appointment they have is early September.

They absolutely do NOT cover rattles under the 50k 4 year bumper to bumper. I dont know how long they cover them, as I remember reading various results here, but I imagine that 12 months 12k ish miles feels like what I remember reading.

Its good that you have video / proof though, because they also want that (or to be able to re produce it themselves). If it doesnt happen all the time but you know how to re produce it on demand, then thats a bonus. Otherwise, save your proof as you may need to produce it.

 

[jimtelsa]

That is the exact issue I have on my 2020 M3P, Mobile service would not address
Same Area . also have rattling noise in the doors as speed goes up
If I take car in, I have to agree to a cost per hour, as its not covered under the warranty, then its put into a service que and I dont know when they will look at. This is with an appointment
So I am on my own with this, so any way to correct these issues with out paid help from Tesla would be great

 

[aspec818]

Check if it’s the vin plate. Put your hand on it when you drive.

 

[dorsai]

I had this in my 21, and the service center fixed it under warranty when I told them about it. I was in for a different issue and didn't ask what they did to fix it, sorry. Seemed like it was an easy fix, might just need to add a piece of foam under the vent trim strip.

 

[1LE McQueen]

That is the exact issue I have on my 2020 M3P, Mobile service would not address
Same Area . also have rattling noise in the doors as speed goes up
If I take car in, I have to agree to a cost per hour, as its not covered under the warranty, then its put into a service que and I dont know when they will look at. This is with an appointment
So I am on my own with this, so any way to correct these issues with out paid help from Tesla would be great

See people like you paid big bucks for that car, this is something they should cover period.

 

[P-Lo801]

I have the same exact rattle in my 2019 LR AWD. I even recorded a video that sounds nearly identical. It seems to come intermittently, so sometimes I hear it; then I won't hear it for a few days, then it'll come on again. It's utterly frustrating.

 

[Rippin1Gear]

Had the same issue… after 2 service attempts to fix the issue I found it myself driving on the highway. It ended up being the plastic housing around the steering column. Pressed on the top and the rattle went away.

 

[kyle1998]

Did this ever get resolved?

 

[1LE McQueen]

Did this ever get resolved?

Yup 3 visits later and me literally telling them how to fix it. Foam did the trick they just didn't place it right til the 3rd visit.

 

[focher]

Sorry to dig up this thread after a few months, but anyone who fixed it (or got it fixed) can you explain exactly how it was fixed? I’ve had this issue on my 2018. It started out very sporadic but is now pretty consistently happening. I don’t even mind paying for the SC to fix it, but I’d really like to know exactly where the cause is too.

 

[BroadShoulders]

Sorry to dig up this thread after a few months, but anyone who fixed it (or got it fixed) can you explain exactly how it was fixed? I’ve had this issue on my 2018. It started out very sporadic but is now pretty consistently happening. I don’t even mind paying for the SC to fix it, but I’d really like to know exactly where the cause is too.

 

[SkunkApe]

Bumping an old thread to say the video posted was a huge help. Picked up my model 3 at the end of May and finally got around to taking the dash apart to fix this. Ended up being very easy and didn't take long at all. Used some felt padding in the spot where the rattling was happening and so far so good. It's been a few days now and haven't heard the noise since. Hopefully it stays that way.

 

[GoodManFrank]

Bumping the thread again. It's a really annoying problem. Luckily I found this thread and the YouTube video about the fix
My thread

 

[heavyD]

Mine had the rattle with days of taking it home for the first time and it's one of the worst dash rattles I have ever encountered on a vehicle. Pretty silly that they still haven't fixed the issues. I did fix it as per the video by stuffing as much sound deadening foam between the corner end of the dash and the VIN plate but this should have been resolved by Tesla a long time ago.

 

[Transformer]

The video in post #15 was key. Start with the high bang/buck approach at the end:

where you just stuff some door seal foam into the corner of the windshield. Consider it a diagnostic or an easy fix.

With the problem well localized, the Service Center was able to fix it! The repair was covered by the warranty (unlike having them fix anything you broke trying to DIY).

I tried to combine the appointment with the December 2021 Trunk Lid wiring Harness Retrofit recall, but they still don't have the parts for the recall.

 

[Petr Jelínek]

I had the same issue on my M3 LR 2023, from the video OP posted, it sounded the same as I was experiencing. I discovered that this noise came out of the adjustable safety belt holder on the side pillars - when driving on a bumpy road or some uneven surface, even a minor bumpy road, would summon the noise. Since the acoustic in the cabin is as is, it sounded like it was coming from the window or door, but after some investigation, I found out that it was the seat belt holder. I put some soft tape around the moving parts and it's fine now.