I have not had a chance to get under the car yet.
At idle, the car rattle fairly loudly as if two metal plates were vibrating on each other - it seems to come from the transmission area. I feel a little vibration too.
Is there a transmission mount or something similar that could cause this? Any thoughts?
I have a 97 E420 with 74 kmi.

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2008 S550
2010 GLK350
1997 E420 (retired)
2005 CLK500 (retired)

Afraid of getting dirty ?
Could be a heatshield.

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2007 C 230 Sport.

Well, it IS a lot easier to get under my Suburban than the lowered Mercedes . . .

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2008 S550
2010 GLK350
1997 E420 (retired)
2005 CLK500 (retired)

The heatshield idea is the first one I had too. Seems alot of times it'll get bent right at the front somehow, kind of curls back and rubs on one of the catalytic converters, so I'd look there first.

Gilly

Do a search under catalytic convertors, or under my name. I had a rattle from that exact spot that turned out to be a bad catalyst. Worth a look.

Intruder

I would recommend you get to the dealer as soon as possible. Not because anything is potentially dangerous, mind you, but I see this all the time and your symptoms point to a bad catalytic convertor. Big money item, but your cats are covered by and 8 year/80000 mile warranty. The dealer will do the whole repair for free, provided the in service date on the vehicle is less than eight years ago. On a '97 you are just about out of time (I'm hoping mine goes out on my '97 within the next couple of months for the same reason).

My most recent rattle on a '98 E320 was the catalytic on the left side.

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Don't ask me, I'm a shop-owner by default

I had a similar sound on my '98 W210. It turned out to be a broken exhaust pipe clamp. Had the clamp welded together and it's been fine since.

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Dave

1998 E320
2001 SLK320
2000 Lexus RX300