Wind noise from front windows

[Alex Besler]

I've noticed a decent amount of wind noise coming from both driver and passenger side windows on my 2022 refreshed X. I looked at the seal, is this normal and how all of them are?

 

[TheD]

Wow
That's not right at all.
Not normal.
Is that picture from after service?
SC should have fixed that.
To do it yourself you'd have to adjust the widow and probably the door.
It's quite difficult to add rubber in that area for this design.
The window looks pitched out at the bottom and in at the top. I'd reduce that angle and tighten the door.

This picture was taken before SC adjusted it. It no longer has this gap and there is less road noise. However, I still notice air coming into the cabin from this same area. It's especially noticeable if I'm on the highway and a large vehicle like a truck or semi passes me on the driver side. You will feel a gush of air coming in from that corner and a bit along the bottom edge where the glass meets the door panel. Time for another SC visit.

 

[mr10012]

This picture was taken before SC adjusted it. It no longer has this gap and there is less road noise. However, I still notice air coming into the cabin from this same area. It's especially noticeable if I'm on the highway and a large vehicle like a truck or semi passes me on the driver side. You will feel a gush of air coming in from that corner and a bit along the bottom edge where the glass meets the door panel. Time for another SC visit.

I have the same issue on a 2-week old MX LR. At high speeds there is air coming in from both the bottom 5 inches of the window edge and from the back 3-5 inches of the door panel. The air from the bottom of the corner seems to be coming from inside the door panel itself, so I wonder if it gets somewhere into the door and then exits from the back part of the bottom edge of the window. FWIW, almost all of the wind noise seems to come from the bottom 5 inches of the window glass. The air coming from the door panel is cold, but not noisy.

At least for my car, I think the problem is that at high speed (or when passed by a truck) the pressure differential pulls out the window enough to allow air in. Hopefully this can be fixed by adjusting the door latch a mm or two--on the todo list for my next SC visit. The window seems more rigid than it was on my late-2016 X, where after many SC visits for exactly the same issue the wind noise was reduced, but still worse than on the 2023 at delivery (but it is more noticeable on the 2023 as it is a quieter car). @mohanman I fully understand your frustration, but you will find the 2023 a much better car, as long as you don't get one that slipped by while the QC guy on the X assembly line was taking a break.

 

[Georgesb2]

I would first check the integrity of the door seal(s) to the outside. I will attach pictures of the door seals of my Model 3 and the window seal at the top. Since it appears to me that you are getting air into the door, inside the door then through the bottom seal to the window, and it's cold, I'd think you have a leak in the door seal or the door handle or door latch opening leaks air. For the door handle leak, the door would have to be taken apart to examine. I'd remove the inner door panel and look for any paths for the air. I've sealed many doors in older non-Tesla cars. My model 3 leaks primarily at the window seal at the top. There is another path through the door latch where it is open. For cold air to enter the door at the latch opening, the door seal would have to be loose enough.

 

[mr10012]

I would first check the integrity of the door seal(s) to the outside. I will attach pictures of the door seals of my Model 3 and the window seal at the top. Since it appears to me that you are getting air into the door, inside the door then through the bottom seal to the window, and it's cold, I'd think you have a leak in the door seal or the door handle or door latch opening leaks air. For the door handle leak, the door would have to be taken apart to examine. I'd remove the inner door panel and look for any paths for the air. I've sealed many doors in older non-Tesla cars. My model 3 leaks primarily at the window seal at the top. There is another path through the door latch where it is open. For cold air to enter the door at the latch opening, the door seal would have to be loose enough.

Thanks--I will check when back in town. On the X the door handles have no mechanical connection to the door open mechanism, so that would make it unlikely to be the problem, right? Alternatively I could always cover them with an easy to remove tape to test.

 

[Bradlmas]

Update for me. 2022 X back left corner of the passenger door lots of wind coming through multiple service visits. They told me it was acting normal even though the technician noticed the problem when we were driving before appt and then told me there’s nothing they could do after hours of failed fixes. I persisted and went back for a third visit and they adjusted the window and bolstered the seal and fix the problem probably by 75% so now I’m satisfied. I will add that. I spent a lot of time on my own determine exactly where are the noise was coming from and that helped them fix it. I had my wife take a high powered blower from inside the car and then I stood outside the car and listened and used my hand to determine where it was leaking. There’s always something that can be done.

 

[Bradlmas]

I tried every third party product I could find, and nothing really did any good the problem ultimately ended up being that the inside seal B pillar was not connecting to the window and providing the proper pressure. It was off by about 8 inches, so they got that down to about 2 inches and that was a substantial improvement.

 

[mr10012]

I tried every third party product I could find, and nothing really did any good the problem ultimately ended up being that the inside seal B pillar was not connecting to the window and providing the proper pressure. It was off by about 8 inches, so they got that down to about 2 inches and that was a substantial improvement.

Thanks--what third party products did you try? Was your wind noise present at low speeds? In my case it only starts around 60mph or when a large truck passes close by. I know where the leak is (bottom rear corner of driver window, both from glass and door edges of the window). I have a visit next week to SC, but they said they wont be able to drive the car at high speed, so not very optimistic. Let's see. Bolstering the door seal on the b pillar should help, if that is an option. The door and window look well aligned, so I don't want them to change that. Hopefully adjusting the tension at the door latch would also help. This is what solved a similar problem with my previous X, but I do not know if that is possible with refresh X.

 

[Bradlmas]

Thanks--what third party products did you try? Was your wind noise present at low speeds? In my case it only starts around 60mph or when a large truck passes close by. I know where the leak is (bottom rear corner of driver window, both from glass and door edges of the window). I have a visit next week to SC, but they said they wont be able to drive the car at high speed, so not very optimistic. Let's see. Bolstering the door seal on the b pillar should help, if that is an option. The door and window look well aligned, so I don't want them to change that. Hopefully adjusting the tension at the door latch would also help. This is what solved a similar problem with my previous X, but I do not know if that is possible with refresh X.

I tried my own weatherstripping. I taped all kinds of different spots while I was driving, but I eventually found the exact spot by using the blower inside the car. I tried a few of those seal kits and they didn’t really do much because they weren’t addressing the actual problem. What I was going to try were wind deflectors, but I never got around to doing that. Sorry I don’t have a good list handy at the moment.

The fix ended up being an issue that I think is present with a lot of the new model X, the bottom portion of the seal does not make a full contact with the window, and it still is not completely fixed, but he was able to get it close enough where it killed off 75% of my noise and I’m now pretty happy with a solution. I have a similar problem on the passenger front side in the bottom corner but it’s just a little less severe. Perhaps I will have them work on that next time I do a visit. Sounds like you know what I’m talking about, it’s that inside seal that needs to pressure the window properly. If you do some troubleshooting on your own and stay persistent, eventually, you will get some sort of a solution worked out.

Mine was present when I was accelerating probably about 35 or 40 mph, and then it got really bad over 60. It was pretty quiet under 30.

 

[mr10012]

the bottom portion of the seal does not make a full contact with the window

Thanks. So that would let air in from the top or the front part of the window, right? In my case that part seems to work well. If my problem is caused by the door seal, it would be the vertical part of the seal in the area near the top of the door frame and bottom of window.

 

[Georgesb2]

I tried every third party product I could find, and nothing really did any good the problem ultimately ended up being that the inside seal B pillar was not connecting to the window and providing the proper pressure. It was off by about 8 inches, so they got that down to about 2 inches and that was a substantial improvement.

Do you have a picture of the 8" to 2" change?

 

[Bradlmas]

Thanks. So that would let air in from the top or the front part of the window, right? In my case that part seems to work well. If my problem is caused by the door seal, it would be the vertical part of the seal in the area near the top of the door frame and bottom of window.

Yeah, so for my car, the top was OK. It was a vertical seal on the inside towards the bottom of the window where it meets against the door frame. It was not having pressure against the window up to nearly 8 inches and they reduce that down to 2 inches and I would say to fix my problem by 75%.

 

[Bradlmas]

Do you have a picture of the 8" to 2" change?

I took these pictures before they fixed it. I don’t think this is really going to help very much though, but it does show the seal that I’m talking about on the second picture. That was not making contact flush with the window and that’s how the air was getting through. You could probably have this problem at different spots but I was just having it on the bottom. It’s also happening on the passenger side it’s about 4 inches of no pressure so it’s not as bad as the other side but I’m probably still gonna have them mess with that next time I go into the service center. As a reminder, I had three previous visits before this and they told me there was nothing they could do. They were doing all kinds of window adjustments and other things they drove another model X and told me my car was normal, even though it was not acceptable to me or to the service tech who rode with me. I just stayed persistent and eventually we got it fixed or at least fixed enough for my satisfaction. Maybe I’ll try to come up with something where I can fix the final 2 inches but I’m pretty happy right now especially relative to before.

 

[Bradlmas]

I took these pictures before they fixed it. I don’t think this is really going to help very much though, but it does show the seal that I’m talking about on the second picture. That was not making contact flush with the window and that’s how the air was getting through. You could probably have this problem at different spots but I was just having it on the bottom. It’s also happening on the passenger side it’s about 4 inches of no pressure so it’s not as bad as the other side but I’m probably still gonna have them mess with that next time I go into the service center. As a reminder, I had three previous visits before this and they told me there was nothing they could do. They were doing all kinds of window adjustments and other things they drove another model X and told me my car was normal, even though it was not acceptable to me or to the service tech who rode with me. I just stayed persistent and eventually we got it fixed or at least fixed enough for my satisfaction. Maybe I’ll try to come up with something where I can fix the final 2 inches but I’m pretty happy right now especially relative to before.

The plastic seal that you see on the outside of the window that sometimes doesn’t look perfect is pretty much just decorative. They told me it’s the one on the inside that matters.

 

[Bradlmas]

The plastic seal that you see on the outside of the window that sometimes doesn’t look perfect is pretty much just decorative. They told me it’s the one on the inside that matters.

Here are the notes he left me from the visit

Concern: Customer states: Wind Noise - We are going to take another crack at this. I’m going to do some testing to try to figure out the exact location of where the air is coming in. SV00EB608C-
Confirmed with the customer at vehicle drop off, a small area of light contact on the rear lower edge of the front left door glass do the door seal. (area of the customer concern)
Bolstered the left b-pillar applique seal and door seal. Good seal contact now present in the area of concern.
Performed repairs as a goodwill gesture due to fitment concerns.

 

[Bradlmas]

Here are the notes he left me from the visit

Concern: Customer states: Wind Noise - We are going to take another crack at this. I’m going to do some testing to try to figure out the exact location of where the air is coming in. SV00EB608C-
Confirmed with the customer at vehicle drop off, a small area of light contact on the rear lower edge of the front left door glass do the door seal. (area of the customer concern)
Bolstered the left b-pillar applique seal and door seal. Good seal contact now present in the area of concern.
Performed repairs as a goodwill gesture due to fitment concerns.

Thanks. So that would let air in from the top or the front part of the window, right? In my case that part seems to work well. If my problem is caused by the door seal, it would be the vertical part of the seal in the area near the top of the door frame and bottom of window.

The air for me was coming in on the bottom, left area, right where the seal was not touching the window. I spent a lot of time taping all over to make sure it wasn’t somewhere else, but it ended up being pretty much the same spot where I heard the sound. They told me that using the air gun inside the car and having somebody stand outside the car wasn’t necessarily going to solve the problem but I guess in this case it did solve the problem because they did it and now it’s fixed.

 

[JustTony916]

I have a 2023 M3 and have wind noise from the driver side window near the B pillar when I drive above 40mph. I discoverd if I push the window button very slightly to lower the window by a centimeter or less, the wind noise is gone. It seems if the window is fully rolled up, it loses it seal to the weather strip.The other windows has no issues. I did compare the driver side window to the front passenger window by comparing the gap between the Tesla logo on the window to the top of the door frame and I found the driver's side window has a bigger gap; so it rows up a bit higher. I tried calibration to get it to row up less, but I wasn't successful on that.

 

[mr10012]

The air for me was coming in on the bottom, left area, right where the seal was not touching the window. I spent a lot of time taping all over to make sure it wasn’t somewhere else, but it ended up being pretty much the same spot where I heard the sound. They told me that using the air gun inside the car and having somebody stand outside the car wasn’t necessarily going to solve the problem but I guess in this case it did solve the problem because they did it and now it’s fixed.

To clarify, bottom left as you are inside or outside of the car? If you were referring to left from inside the car, which seems to be what you have in your photos, then we had the same problem area. Also seems we had a similar solution, the service center either bolstered the seal or adjusted the door, and now the wind noise is noticeable only above 75mph, which I am OK with.

 

[MeganFernandes]

I have window wind noise in the driver side of my 2023 model 3 RWD. I’ve had it looked at and “repaired” 3 times in the past 2 weeks.
1. My first issue was significant frost inside my driver window beat the front corner and windshield (Canada’s coldest winter weather). Guy came to my house and said he tried to adjust a cosmetic looking gap in the window seal in the side but straight up told me it’s because my vent wasn’t pointing there.. lol -25 degree weather from one day to the next will cause frost inside of a warmer vehicle if the temperature is significantly warmer inside and there is an air leak
2. That same night I went to go get my kids at school and noticed a new wind noise coming out of that window he so called “fixed”. After getting back home I noticed there is a massive gap in the outside of the window seal in the front corner and clearly that’s where the air is coming in. So I attached pictures to my scheduled service and even compared the driver side to passenger side and passenger side has no gap.

Passenger side

The dealership took a look and found the issue. They adjusted my door and took it for a test drive to make sure the noise was gone.
3. After leaving the dealership I get in the highway and when I go over 100km that’s when you hear the noise and guess what? Still there!!! I make a 3rd apt (that was today) and this time they ordered a part in advance and replaced it. They did noise exams with some device they have before and after the installing. Before the noise level was at 8 and after it was at 0. I leave the dealership, get in the highway and you bet ya.. that damn wind noise is STILL there!!!!

Me pushing down on it

4. I’m about to make my 4th service any suggestions??? Its clearly defected (remember I had no wind noise since my delivery date on Dec 2, 2022 until the guy came to “fix” it the first time).

 

[MeganFernandes]

I have window wind noise in the driver side of my 2023 model 3 RWD. I’ve had it looked at and “repaired” 3 times in the past 2 weeks.
1. My first issue was significant frost inside my driver window beat the front corner and windshield (Canada’s coldest winter weather). Guy came to my house and said he tried to adjust a cosmetic looking gap in the window seal in the side but straight up told me it’s because my vent wasn’t pointing there.. lol -25 degree weather from one day to the next will cause frost inside of a warmer vehicle if the temperature is significantly warmer inside and there is an air leak
2. That same night I went to go get my kids at school and noticed a new wind noise coming out of that window he so called “fixed”. After getting back home I noticed there is a massive gap in the outside of the window seal in the front corner and clearly that’s where the air is coming in. So I attached pictures to my scheduled service and even compared the driver side to passenger side and passenger side has no gap. View attachment 901455
Passenger side
View attachment 901456 The dealership took a look and found the issue. They adjusted my door and took it for a test drive to make sure the noise was gone.
3. After leaving the dealership I get in the highway and when I go over 100km that’s when you hear the noise and guess what? Still there!!! I make a 3rd apt (that was today) and this time they ordered a part in advance and replaced it. They did noise exams with some device they have before and after the installing. Before the noise level was at 8 and after it was at 0. I leave the dealership, get in the highway and you bet ya.. that damn wind noise is STILL there!!!! View attachment 901459
Me pushing down on it
View attachment 901460
4. I’m about to make my 4th service any suggestions??? Its clearly defected (remember I had no wind noise since my delivery date on Dec 2, 2022 until the guy came to “fix” it the first time).

 

[OK-S]

I have window wind noise in the driver side of my 2023 model 3 RWD. I’ve had it looked at and “repaired” 3 times in the past 2 weeks.
1. My first issue was significant frost inside my driver window beat the front corner and windshield (Canada’s coldest winter weather). Guy came to my house and said he tried to adjust a cosmetic looking gap in the window seal in the side but straight up told me it’s because my vent wasn’t pointing there.. lol -25 degree weather from one day to the next will cause frost inside of a warmer vehicle if the temperature is significantly warmer inside and there is an air leak
2. That same night I went to go get my kids at school and noticed a new wind noise coming out of that window he so called “fixed”. After getting back home I noticed there is a massive gap in the outside of the window seal in the front corner and clearly that’s where the air is coming in. So I attached pictures to my scheduled service and even compared the driver side to passenger side and passenger side has no gap. View attachment 901455
Passenger side
View attachment 901456 The dealership took a look and found the issue. They adjusted my door and took it for a test drive to make sure the noise was gone.
3. After leaving the dealership I get in the highway and when I go over 100km that’s when you hear the noise and guess what? Still there!!! I make a 3rd apt (that was today) and this time they ordered a part in advance and replaced it. They did noise exams with some device they have before and after the installing. Before the noise level was at 8 and after it was at 0. I leave the dealership, get in the highway and you bet ya.. that damn wind noise is STILL there!!!! View attachment 901459
Me pushing down on it
View attachment 901460
4. I’m about to make my 4th service any suggestions??? Its clearly defected (remember I had no wind noise since my delivery date on Dec 2, 2022 until the guy came to “fix” it the first time).

Hi Megan, I have an older MX but am familiar with this area as my newly acquired MX was also leaking air at high speeds from the same area.

First, it does look like the design has changed a bit with that seal. It looks like an additional wind deflector was added that I believe in trying to overcome the opportunity for the wind to catch the leading edge of the glass. But that is pretty useless unless the seal is tight against the window.

It is a little hard to make out, but from your photos, it appears that the window towards the top front edge is not actually in the guide in the rubber. Is that correct? If this is the case, it may be that the window is tilted "backwards" and should be re-adjusted. One way to verify this would be to take a picture of the back edge (with the window in the same position) to see if the tilt is not also evidenced there (too much overlap). If this is the problem, the fix should be easy as it requires the four track screws loosened and the window tilted back into the correct position. I did this on my MX successfully.

The other option is that the small, front, fixed window is not properly seated and aligned, so it is not capturing the front edge. I have not tried this, but I assume it can also be re-aligned.

The result you want is to get that guide to snugly capture the window as it slides up and also hold against the rubber seal on the door frame.

If you want to share a photo of the back edge and perhaps a video of the window going up to see where it deviates that might help us nail this down.