Wind Noise Q

[Andrew280SEL]

Hey everyone, I'm not sure if this particularly belongs here, but we'll see how I go...

I'm just wondering what sort of wind noise you guys would think is "right" for the W116, say at general crusing speed (I suppose the W107 would be more or less the same)? I mean, you should be able to almost whisper to a passenger and they should be able to hear you, right?

Allow me to elaborate a bit...

You see I am aware that the W116 was never known for being one of the quietest cars, even in their day, in terms of wind noise and even road harshness. The so called "road harshness" is not really a huge factor IMHO, as you "feel" more in your driving. I guess the key word is you feel "connected" as you drive. In any case, at crusing speeds a decent W116 is still an actual nice ride, especially for a 70's car. But this has been covered before I think.


What I've noticed is among the W116's my dad and I collectively have, is that some of them have less wind noise than others. And I think with wind noise, you probably tend to get a bit more general noise (engine, road etc..) along with it.

But the thing I can't work out... for example, our 6.9 has (what appears to my untrained eye) pretty much perfect looking rubbers around the doors and the windscreen.
Yet the 6.9 has the same or worse level of wind noise than my white 350SE with very dodgy door rubbers!

In fact, my 280SEL's rubbers are probably due for replacement (but not terrible), but this car is one of the quietest W116's and more "refined" feeling cars here. Even still there's a bit of wind noise, but nowhere near as much as some of the others.


I guess to cut a very long question short, am I really on the right track regarding the rubbers etc? Am I to expect there to always be a decent bit of wind noise?

It's not a really big deal for me ultimately... it's just that the difference is so noticeable (or not) between the cars even with good rubbers, it really got me thinking!

Cheers.

 

[Lukas]

I'm in a similar position - when motoring around in the blue 6.9, a lot of wind noise comes from the passenger side A pillar. Someone suggested the door seal, but on inspection it is in good condition, save a small part that gets folded over when shut. I've tried to un-fold it and then shut the door, but not sure if it worked (can't see it when the door is shut) - next drive will tell.

Another thing I noticed is that the wind deflector plate on that side seems to stick out a little more than the drivers side one - given that it is there to quieten the wind, it is quite possible that a poorly fitted or bent one would increase wind noise issues.

Based on the (lack of) wind noise from the driver's side A pillar, I'd expect to hear pretty much no wind noise if all was well. In the case of the 6.9, the engine is the dominant sound.

Am keen to hear what you find.

 

[TJ 450]

116s are renowned for wind noise and so are 126s to a lesser extent. Is it just general wind noise, or are there whistling and wheezing sounds? If the latter, that would suggest dodgy door/window seals. Perished screen seals might not help either.

Tim

 

[Andrew280SEL]

Hmm, well I'd say it's more general wind noise. The only time I can recall hearing whistling and the like is when there are really strong winds outside the car, in which case I suppose you would expect some whistling. But otherwise no, it seems to be more general, but very audible wind noise.

I'll try and have a closer look around the doors and windscreens tomorrow, and have a look at these "wind deflector plates" (if my cars even have them). I'm not exactly sure what part they are, but hopefully it will be obvious upon inspection

 

[B13]

Sure its not tyre rumble? The MBs of our generation are well known for it.

My wife and I was driving to a function at 110km/h in my 6.9 and she commented that the car was noisier from the road-noise and definately the engine than her car (a 97 Mits Verada 3.5Xi) and I had to agree with her.

But then again contemporary reviews of the 450SEL and the 6.9 seemed to indicate that the engine sound in particular could be easily heard in the cabin (which was in marked contrast to a R-R or Caddy which strive for an altogether silent engine), and the radial tyres produced more noise than other similar cars which were fitted with quieter cross-ply tyres - this was the early 1970s after all.

I tried over a couple of big brigdes to and from work in my 6.9 each day, and I can say you can definately hear the wind, you can feel it pushing the car, and you can SEE the wind pushing smaller cars and big trucks all over the road. But there's no whistling or other nuisence noises (my door seals and window seals are in good nick) and the car isn't pushed all over the road due to good condition suspension and steering bushes, so i just accept that the sounds you hear driving a 6.9 are a couple decibels higher than driving a car less than 15 years old.

I.

 

[BAR]

I found that after a replacement windscreen was fitted the wind noise increase so much as to make me think that something terrible had happened.

Upon inspection I found that there were two major issues. First, the body coloured insert in the A pillar on the driver's side had not been properly fitted and that the forward edge was not flush. Second, the rubber seal around the windscreen was not fitted over the chrome windscreen trim. Carefully levering and pulling it over the chrome trim also dramatically reduced the noise. As for the front doors, well most of the noise comes from the topmost window seal (the felt U section), if it is worn or flattened and the window doesn't fit snug up to the top at the rear.

Those are my tips as to where to look and how to attempt a reduction in noise. Hope they help.

 

[Martin280s]

You are probably going to laugh at me but, I have never thought of wind noise as being an issue as I don't find it intrusive at all. What annoyed me was the squeak that came from the old door seals! I don't even find the road noise unpleasant.

To crib the lyrics from an Arctic Monkeys song "They say love is blind but deaf as well!"

 

[John S]

Most of the Road Tests of the time commented about the wind noise, but remarked that it seemed to reach near maximum around 60mph and got very little worse after that. My 116 originally had the smokey plastic wind deflector for the sunroof, and the wind noise was high. Took it off and the noise markedly reduced. The W126 model is much quieter as Mercedes raked the windscreen back at a greater angle.