If squeeks bother you Ill just let you borrow my 1988 240 wagon for the afternoon. After listening to the glove compartment creak and moan for the afternoon your squeeks would probably not bother you as much.

I notice that the 140 I just bought has cloth strips between the seams of many of the interior components. Perhaps you could find some adhesive cloth tape thats the same color as your interior and use it between the major offending interior components that squeek.

I also notice MB tex tends to have less sound absorption than leather and is probably more prone to the squeeking.

I bought a Honda Accord once with leather that drove me and the dealer insane with squeeks from the interior rubbing on itself. Unlike the Mercedes the Honda was designed for cloth interior so the squeeks were MUCH worse.

Wish you luck on finding and eliminating the source of the noise. If you cant get rid of the noise you could just invest in a really loud stereo

I spray the silicone on everytime I wash the car. Takes 30 secs to do all 4 doors.

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82 300D....went to MB heaven
90 350 SDL....excercising con rods

The friendly lady at the dealer reports that they solved the stumble/stall off idle, so now perhaps I can concentrate on some other irritants, like the noisy interior components.

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2002 Ford ZX2
2 x 2013 Honda Civics

I had the noises with my 84 500SEL. I found it was the door panels rubbing on the plastic door sills. I tried every kind of spray I could find but the noise would keep comming back. Finally I got some velcro at Sams club and put a piece of the wool part of the velcro on the door sill from end to end where it hits the door panel. Have never had the noise again and the Velcro looks good to me. Love that car.

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84 500 SEL (307,xxx miles)

My 300se has similar issues at the doors, particularly the right rear. I tried spray's, etc. to silene them with no luck. I finally pulled the plastic door sill off and it's totally silent over the bumpiest road. Pop it back in and the incessant cracking and popping comes back. I finally just chucked the door sill in my trunk and just haven't had time to figure out why it causes the sounds. I'm not sure if your car has similar plastic sills but if so they just pop off. No screws or any other fasteners.

This works really well. And I only need to do it once a year (twice a year would be better but I'm lazy...)

Open both back doors all the way. Take a spray bottle of Armor All and hose down the bottom edge of the door. By "bottom edge", I mean the very bottom 1/2" or 1" of the inside of the door. When you look at the bottom of the door, you can see inside of the lower body cladding. Above this you'll see the plastic bottom of the inside door panel.. this is the area I'm referring to.

Spray it liberally and let it drip. Come back in 10 mins and spray again. Make sure it's completely we with Armor All. Not sure if it absorbs into the plastic or what, but it quiets the squeaks for a while!

Also, if you have a squeaking/rattling noise that sounds like the first aid compartment, it may be the back seat itself! If you've removed it to change shocks/fuel sender, you may not have put it back on properly.

The backrest LOOKS like it's on properly but it may not be. There are hooks at the top where it "hangs" and screws at the bottom. You can quite easily put in the screws even though the hooks are not engaged! Then the top of the seat bangs against the hooks (metal-metal contact) when you go over bumps. Think of how a picture hook works with the thing on the back of your picture (that wierd sawtooth looking metal piece). Same basic idea.

Take off the rear backrest and engage it properly.. problem solved!

Hope this helps.......

Neal

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'83 300SD 335,000km (207k) mi SOLD
'87 560SL 163,000km (101k mi) SOLD
'86 300SDL 356,000km (220k mi) SOLD
'92 500SEL 250,000km (155k mi) SOLD
'90 300SL 140,000km (87k mi) SOLD
'01 S430 260,000km (161k mi) SOLD
'03 SL500 167,000km (104k mi) SOLD
'07 S550 4MATIC 235,000km (146k mi) SOLD
'07 GL320 CDI 4MATIC 348,000km (215k mi)
'13 GL350 BlueTec 4MATIC 170,000km (105k mi)
'14 SL550 72,000km (43k mi)

Apperently, MB AUS released a service bulletin some 10 years ago recommending that the lip on the door sill, where it meets the bottom of the door panel be cut off. I have been told that by my mech (ex MB) and on a forum in Australia by one of the guys who sells MB parts.

I have not done that to my car however - just not comfortable with cutting bits off my car.

What I have done is gotten the furry draught excluder (I think you call it weatherstripping) that goes around, particularly sliding doors, from te hardware and stuck it to the bottom of the door panel where it meets the door sill.

Now I get to hear the other squeaks instead of the doors!

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1988 W126 420 SE

beware of fundamentalists!

This is interesting. Well, it sounds like a very common problem. I have the EXACT same sounds from the doors of my 85' 380SE as well. Its not really a squeak or rattle, but more like a "scrunch". It seems like on my car that it is the right front and left rear doors with the "scrunching" sounds. Squeak and rattle wise, my car is 100% quiet, despite the 266K miles. I have a dash cover installed and it causes some scrunching sounds too. My car is a southern car and I too think that the hot southern sun over the years dried out the interior quite a bit. With the windows down and the radio on, I cannot even hear the noise.

I like the idea that "pmckechnie" has stated and it sounds like it may stop my sounds. I will give it a whirl to see if that stops it. I sprayed some "3M protectant" on them, but still scrunchy. When I test drove a 90' 300SE, with 174K, it had the exact same noise from the RR door. I have tested other W126's and some did not seem as noisy, but did make some sounds. All depends upon the car, the driver, how the car was cared for and where if came from.

Now, one car that totally amazes my is my old 1969 Chevrolet Caprice (exterior under restoration). It is 100%+ squeak, rattle and "scrunch" free. Absolutely NO interior noises if any kind. I know I have mentioned this before, but it amazes me that a 37 year old American car could be so quiet. My 1973 Pontiac is also virtually noise free, but not as quiet as my Caprice.

Thanks for that bit of info.

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2004 Toyota Sequoia Limited 4wd
1991 Lincoln Town Car Executive
1991 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1988 Mercedes 300SEL
1972 Chevrolet Caprice Kingswood Estate 9-passenger wagon
1973 Pontiac Grand Ville
(Prior MB's: 1974 240D, 1985 380SE, 1984 190D, 1993 400SEL)

i have solved the problem and you wouldnt even know it was there, buy some material of the same/similar colour from your local craft store and some double sided tape. simlpy make a piece wide as the tape and put this on the part where the strip rubs on the plastic. problem solved !!!! done this 5 yrs ago and is still working

Thanks for that additional information. Any photos of these areas where it squeaks? I am assuming it is the plate along the upper part of the rocker panel where it meets the lower part of the door?

Guess not.

Heres a couple of pics of my solution.

Attached Thumbnails

   

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1988 W126 420 SE

beware of fundamentalists!

Thanks 420SE.

I listened closely to mine today and my "scrunching" seems to be coming from the upper part of the door panels, rather than the lower part. I think mine are simply dried out.

I'll bet that is the wood against the backing. I've noticed that they squeak and would like to put a very thin sheet of rubber behind them.

Since I had it off to rebuild my lock cylinder, I took my driver's door panel apart completely, all the way down to removing the insert panel and the wood trim. I used factory anti-squeak tape from a Volvo dealer, putting strips in between all the parts before reassembling. The result is that the door is now totally quiet EXCEPT for a loud squeaking that is apparently coming from the door sill area. Next I am going to apply some of this tape to the door sill area to see if I can completely quiet the door. If it works, I will repeat on the other 3 doors.

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08 W251 R350
97 W210 E320
91 W124 300E
86 W126 560SEL
85 W126 380SE Silver
85 W126 380SE Cranberry
79 W123 250
78 W123 280E
75 W114 280