W211 Estate rattle from rear seat catch

dursleyman

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2005 E220CDI Elegance Estate, 1977 Triumph TR7 FHC, 1980 Triumph TR7 DHC
We have an annoying rattle coming from the area of the rear seat/load cover in our W211 estate. We originally thought it was the roll-away blind that covers the luggage but its not that. After a few miles of riding in the back seat but I eventually managed to track the rattle to the catch that allows the rear seats to tip forwards. If you just lift the lever to lower the seat without moving anything else the rattle stops.
It all looks OK and the rubber pad round the catch that the seat rests against looks OK as well.
Has anyone had this one before please and how do we fix it
 

television

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How are you sir. :D:D

There is no known fault on this,,and the only way is to remove the back and the seat upholstery,, I can give you the instructions for this,,but it is a lot of work.

I have always had the problem in my V70 and i stuck some window drought excluder to the rubber stop on the car
 

5pares

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Unforunately itl need a new lock,about 2 hours labour to fit i beleive.
 
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dursleyman

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Thanks for the information gents.
I will try living with the rattle a bit longer until its worth getting it changed.
 

Developer

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Hello Dursleyman,
I've suffered a similar rattle for months now and each time I think I've found it it reappears. I had considered the seat catches, particularly as they set the seat in two positions which means that there's always one position not tensioned by the locators. If you get any more info and and/or a fix 'd be very grateful.

Good luck.
 
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dursleyman

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I have been e-mailed off list by someone with a one year old E320 estate with a similar rattle. He says his dealer has had several goes to fix it including a new luggage blind with no luck so he has resorted to just unlatching the catch and its OK.
I have replied saying we just leave the seat latch "clicked" as if you were going to lower it and its fine.
The only problem will be if someone needs to sit in the centre of the rear and use the seatbelt.
The seat back has the centre seatbelt anchor built into it so it would not be safe as not fully latched.
Next time I talk to my independant Mecedes Specialist I will ask him if he has any ideas.
 

auditt225

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Up until today I had the same rattle - now seems fixed! I was given the same story from Mercedes Benz - very expensive fix. So what did I do to fix this?

I took a piece of soft foam about the density of a washing up pad (without the scrubbing pad bit!) - it is /was about 2.5cm thick, and big enough to go over the catch/staple - so about 12cm by 15cm.

I placed the foam on the seat back over the latching hole, and then pushed the seat back into place.

Problem solved - until I put the seats down again........

Hope this helps some of you?

John
 

billdorset

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Just done the same fix with my '04 w211 est. works a treat!
The trouble is that the car is so quiet now I am hearing lesser squeaks!!
Seriously this is indicative of how good these cars are when you start listening to very minor sounds.
Just got rid of BMW 530 D SE touring due to impending gearbox gremlins, though a good car, no where near as accomplished as this MB!
 

amb67

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I had this rattle from the nearside left rear seat back but wasn't too happy about ramming a sponge in my lock mechanism. So I decided the look around the net and see what everyone else had done.

Eventually I found a thread on another forum that showed the rear seat striker plate rubber cover removed, then the retaining bolts were packed out by adding 3 washers under each bolt. This pushed the rubber cover out around 5mm which was just enough to place a small amount of pressure on the rear seat back locking mechanism to stop it rattling whilst driving.

Just come back from a full on day out with the family, they were all asleep in the car and you could have heard a pin drop it was that quiet.

Job done and I'm a happy chappy, cost me six washers which equates to about 20p in my books. :D
 

Turbo Merc

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The easy way to solve this is to buy new rubber pads that fit over the catches behind the rear seats (marked A on the attached pic). They cost just £4 each! I did mine this week and the problem disappeared immediately:D I think the rubber compresses and weakens over time thus reducing the tension on the seat back/latch. Don't just replace one though, do them both at the same time.
 

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neilto

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I was experiencing the rattle from the rear so I found this thread.
I adopted the washer technique as described above. A few extra points to note:
After dropping a couple of washers down behind the trim when installing I decided to coat the washers in vaseline to keep them in place during the installation. I found that I needed 2 washers per bolt on the passenger side and only one washer per bolt on the drivers side.
There is also an adjustment screw on the passenger side that seats the load cover , I wound that out about ½ turn to put more compression on the load carrier when seats are up. Bit of trial and error to get it right but car is now totally quiet over all road surfaces which is what we want - right.

btw Its not an option to leave the seats unlocked as that brings up an alarm in my car for either side.
 
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Jon N

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The easy way to solve this is to buy new rubber pads that fit over the catches behind the rear seats (marked A on the attached pic). They cost just £4 each! I did mine this week and the problem disappeared immediately:D I think the rubber compresses and weakens over time thus reducing the tension on the seat back/latch. Don't just replace one though, do them both at the same time.

Where can I get these pads please?
 

Ian Brisley

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Where can I get these pads please?

Hi, thanks to forum have now sorted rear seat rattle on my 2019 C220 AMG estate. Two small lenths of pipe insulation foam pushed over striker.
 
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dursleyman

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I had forgotten all about this thread! I finally went with a piece of foam over the catch and its been fine ever since. Cost zero!
 


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