banging noise from rear of passenger compartment
 

Advise please- have a 2001 E55 which has had aworsening banging sound that seems to come from the right rear of the passsenger compartment-it sounds like something BIG is loose- my dealer has aleternated between saying"with the stiff suspension and performanse tires this soun is normal" and replaceing things ie. the entitre sunroof assembley and then the headliner- the noise is only getting worse- it is absent on most smaller bumps but a lagr or sharp bump sets off either one LOUD smashing sound or a series of closely spaced loud rattles as if it were an SUV with the rear hatch ajar. My dealer seems to want to make chrgeable changes rather than SEARCH for a problem(they do not get paid for searching!) Thanks for any help.

Jeff,

Sounds like you have a schmuck dealer. Try to get hold of the MB zone rep.

How about the lemon law? Has time or mileage run out? If they can't fix the problem in 4 tries, you might be able to get your money back or another vehicle. Make sure you keep complete records of the work done.

P E H

Just a thought, without trying to sound too obvious, but have you checked the spare and the jack area?

I had the same thing happen years ago. Drove me crazy. Big bumps this metallic bang bang bang, smaller ones nothing. It turned out it was the car jack. It got away from its holder.

The other thought I had was a broken or missing exhaust hanger. They are the rubber doughnuts that suspend the exhaust system. Even with one missing or broken, most of the time there is no noise.

It is only when there is a good motion will it travel upwards and whack the underside of the car. Small oscillations won't do this.