Anyone else with the McIntosh system have vibrations in the front door panels?

[Sarge]

I just picked up my new 2021 Overland today, and spent the day driving from near Little Rock, AR to Denver, and have noticed a bad 'chirping' sort of rattle coming from the front door panels in the interior door handle area. It's most noticeable in songs with segregated upper mid bass tones (some jazz, some chill electronica type stuff).

It started on the passenger side, and after a while the drivers side was doing it too. I can press my fist into the door panel in that area and it stops (it's not blown speakers). It seems like an engineering defect rather than an assembly defect if both sides are doing it, so I'm hesitant to have the dealer tear it open unless there's a known fix (and so I'm wondering if it's a widespread problem).

It happens when listening at moderate (middle) volumes. I have the bass dialed back to around -7 as it is just to balance the sound out (and I like bass, but this bass is just shockingly overdone with a flat EQ).

 

[Jim1234664]

Mine definitely rattles with bass more than I would expect. I'm no audiophile so I cant really describe how it happens. I do have 3500 miles now and I think it did it a lot more when it was new. It is infrequent enough at this point that I'm not too worried about it.

 

[Trailrated]

I just picked up my new 2021 Overland today, and spent the day driving from near Little Rock, AR to Denver, and have noticed a bad 'chirping' sort of rattle coming from the front door panels in the interior door handle area. It's most noticeable in songs with segregated upper mid bass tones (some jazz, some chill electronica type stuff).

It started on the passenger side, and after a while the drivers side was doing it too. I can press my fist into the door panel in that area and it stops (it's not blown speakers). It seems like an engineering defect rather than an assembly defect if both sides are doing it, so I'm hesitant to have the dealer tear it open unless there's a known fix (and so I'm wondering if it's a widespread problem).

It happens when listening at moderate (middle) volumes. I have the bass dialed back to around -7 as it is just to balance the sound out (and I like bass, but this bass is just shockingly overdone with a flat EQ).

I'm having the exact same issue. I think it's the panel assembly or the LED's integrated into the door.

It's going in Wednesday to have the dealer evaluate. I'll report back what they find.

After paying almost 70k for this car I'm pretty disappointed in some of the quirks I'm having. That and my uconnect will not stop rebooting.

 

[Sarge]

I'm having the exact same issue. I think it's the panel assembly or the LED's integrated into the door.

It's going in Wednesday to have the dealer evaluate. I'll report back what they find.

After paying almost 70k for this car I'm pretty disappointed in some of the quirks I'm having. That and my uconnect will not stop rebooting.

Thanks, please update this thread with what their response.

In mine, it seems like it's either the seat memory switch buttons/assembly or something behind the plastic wood trim. If I press my hand between/around that area and the door handle, it stops. I can't tell if it's the memory button switch assembly, or something behind the panel. If it's behind the panel, some good 3M adhesive trim tape might solve the problem, but I really think it's the switch assembly in mine. It's like the buttons are vibrating, which would likely require a redesign of the switch assembly integrating some rubber isolators in the buttons. I hope that's not the case.

But let us know what you find. I'll try to make a video to add to this thread so Jeep and other owners can see/compare. If it's an engineering problem, a lot of people are going to have this issue, and it's absolutely intolerable at this price point, with this level of audio upgrade.

 

[Sarge]

Mine definitely rattles with bass more than I would expect. I'm no audiophile so I cant really describe how it happens. I do have 3500 miles now and I think it did it a lot more when it was new. It is infrequent enough at this point that I'm not too worried about it.

In mine it's isolated to certain frequencies, and it's most pronounced in music where there is a lower frequency playing (mid bass notes) without a bunch of vocals/guitar/etc stacked on top of it (the higher frequencies mask the chirping/rattle sound).

 

[kbh]

I’m having the same issue with the passenger door with mid/low frequencies. Anyone have any luck fixing it?

 

[big10purdue]

Mine isn't the front doors... it's the enclosure where the sub is in the back... that and the super cheap plastic covering the rear hatch speakers. Im considering disconnecting those as they're worthless and only provide rattles.

 

[miles5241]

Bringing in mine at the end of the month for this and the various recalls. Was there ever a fix?

 

[Sarge]

No resolution yet, months later, and it’s getting worse. It started in the driver door, then the front pass door, now spreading to the rear door.

I’ve provided them with video on different songs. The videos are absolutely incontrovertible evidence, and the dealer tech fully agrees it’s not right (along with so many of my other problems).

It might be faulty retaining clips on the door panels, but I’m pretty sure it’s also loose wires on the backside of the panels or something else too.

 

[Phoenix494]

It appears this problem is prevalent on the '21 Overland L. Any evidence on "22 Jeep Grand Cherokees? Maybe the problem was solved with a model year change, if so they should know how to fix it.
I would be most annoyed on spending that money on a premium audio system and have that ruin it.

 

[Sarge]

I'm not sure if these dropbox links will work on here, but here are a few videos of what I'm talking about. These are songs that consistently produce the mid bass frequency that causes the rattling without a lot of other higher frequency sound to camouflage it. The top one shows the problem most clearly, the next two show that it remains, even at lower volume levels. Not what anyone spending this much money on car audio is bargaining for...

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[miles5241]

I'm not sure if these dropbox links will work on here, but here are a few videos of what I'm talking about. These are songs that consistently produce the mid bass frequency that causes the rattling without a lot of other higher frequency sound to camouflage it. The top one shows the problem most clearly, the next two show that it remains, even at lower volume levels. Not what anyone spending this much money on car audio is bargaining for...

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the drivers door is a very similar sound to mine, yours is way worse however, all the other doors are solid as far as I can tell. The odd part on the drivers door is I took off the rubber on the door pull and there was a bolt in there that was loose with a washer that was rattling. That fixed part of it, however the sound you are experience still exists and when you put weight on it, which sometimes I drive with my leg leaning on the door it mostly goes away. To me it sounds like something behind the door. If I open the window the sound also gets dampened.

 

[Sarge]

Thanks, that’s good information to pass on to my dealer, anyway.

 

[big10purdue]

Ive got the same... but a REALLY nasty rattle in the subwoofer enclosure on low bass notes, but also when running over small pockets of imperfections in streets. We're not talking potholes... just small divots will make this thing rattle like crazy.

 

[Sarge]

Rattle-chasing isn't rocket science. They should be able to pull it apart and solve the problem easily enough. What seems to be the problem is dealers have a hard time getting Jeep to pay warranty money to do it. But if you document it with video, it helps the dealer get the necessary time approved because they can open a STAR case and get corporate approval on that basis. That's basically the understanding I got from my (very good) service writer.

It sucks that we have to make that effort on the one hand, but it's also a lot easier for them to diagnose and repair when we show them how to produce the problem. It's nearly impossible to fix rattles you don't know how to observe (ie find a song that causes it, or a particular patch of road near the dealer that will cause it, etc). Customer video sent to Jeep seals the deal (or it should).

As more of these vehicles get into consumer hands, corporate techs should have more concise solutions, as well.

 

[eleceng1979]

The rattles in my SR are so bad that I have considered dropping it off at a car audio place to apply deadening mat in the entire vehicle. The road noise, wind noise, stupid broken noise cancellation system, and to top it off the Mac stereo making everything rattle. I have already had the passenger door speaker replaced due to rattling, helped some, but not much. You shouldn’t be able to hear the stereo set to 15 when outside the vehicle over 10’ away. It is pretty clear outside the vehicle which tells me there is nothing in the doors

I believe the door interior has little to no insulation/sound deadening. It is probably the highest quality from the lowest bidder, which means crap. The entire vehicle from top to bottom needs sound deadening. To remove every interior panel and apply sound deadening mat from floor to ceiling will cost at least $3K in materials alone, let alone time. Then the risk of torn up panels/broken clips. It’s not for the faint of heart. Due to vehicle cost, I would only consider primo shops.

As a stereo guy, the Mac system isn’t worth it IMO, and has only created more rattles due to stronger than stock bass. It is setup very heavy on bass at 0/0/0 EQ settings. Volume is pressure, more pressure causes more rattles.

I have purposely held off on mods due to dumping it back on corporate or trading it in for anything but a FCA vehicle.

 

[Sarge]

Sound deadening mats will definitely help (I did the whole tub and doors in my '06 LJ and it made it a lot nicer with the top on. Still had wind noise, of course, but the road/tire/engine/exhaust noise was cut down considerably. I also put a fairly high end audio system in that (Focal speakers and upmarket amps, I forget the brand now) and made a custom hidden shallow mount 13.5" sub box as the base of the removable rear seat. Amps were in lock boxes and everything besides the front kick panel subs looked completely stock (important in summer in a Wrangler).

The point being, I've also spent a lot of time screwing around with higher end audio (cars, RV's, boats) and I think the McIntosh system is actually really good for an OEM system - one of the best I've ever heard, even at full volume. It does produce too much bass at mid volumes, but it all sounds right at high volume and a flat EQ. At mid volumes (most of my listening), I dial the bass down around -4 and it's fine. Not perfect, but not offensive (I'm a musician, have perfect pitch, and a fairly audiophile ear)

For the relatively nominal cost of it it really is very good. You'd spend $10k trying to do better, which I read you can't do yet because the 3rd party signal processor required to convert the signal from the head unit isn't out yet. On top of that, the sound cancellation system is also engineered into it, so to me it's not worth the cost and trouble of messing with.

As for your rattles, the sound deadening will help, but you have to gut the whole interior to do it right Just doing the front doors might be helpful.

Speaking of the doors, someone wrote that their dealer looked into the rattles and pulled the door panel off a new unit in stock, and found that the person with the rattles also didn't have the felt pads on the trim clips, which causes vibration. Apparently the proper clips with the felt pads weren't available, so they built them without them. The dealer also said they couldn't order just the clips, so they'd have to order whole new door panels at $500 each.

So, check your clips, while the panel is off add some deadening to the interior metal door skin, and see if some better fabric insulation might be available to isolate the trim panel from the outside. I have no idea what's in there yet. Also, obviously, find better ways to isolate and secure all the wires and switches, because it seems to me that's where a lot of the rattles are coming from.

Good luck, I'll be curious what you find!

 

[Sarge]

Also, some were built with defective door seals (I think mine may be one based on weird cold air in my cabin when it's cold). Some people have reported water even getting in on the carpet. So that could also be a cause of excessive road noise. I'm not sure how to tell which seals are good vs bad, but it's another thing to check.

 

[GCOverland]

I'm not sure if these dropbox links will work on here, but here are a few videos of what I'm talking about. These are songs that consistently produce the mid bass frequency that causes the rattling without a lot of other higher frequency sound to camouflage it. The top one shows the problem most clearly, the next two show that it remains, even at lower volume levels. Not what anyone spending this much money on car audio is bargaining for...

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Well, at the first video, the bass is all the way up to 9. In THAT case, I'm not surprised by any rattling - especially on a system like the McIntosh that is "bass heavy" already (I have mine set below 0).

 

[Sarge]

Well, at the first video, the bass is all the way up to 9. In THAT case, I'm not surprised by any rattling - especially on a system like the McIntosh that is "bass heavy" already (I have mine set below 0).

That was done intentionally to isolate the lower frequencies, which cause the rattles. I also had the mid and highs to the lowest setting, for the same reason. The video was taken to help the dealer and STAR tech hear the rattling noises, against a song that produces them throughout the entirety of the track (good for troubleshooting).

The other two videos were shot around volume 15 with a flat EQ, showing you can hear the rattles at low volume on 'light' tracks, and the other one was the same song at 25, which, on that song, you can still clearly hear my voice talking over the music (ie it's still not that loud).

Generally, I listen with a flat EQ (at higher volumes or less bass heavy tracks at mid volume), or with the bass turned down four notches, because the system is a bit bass heavy at mid volume levels (but very good at higher volume levels).

Bottom line: it's an audibly serious problem for any car, but especially with a top shelf audio system. Overall the sound quality is better than any other optional OEM system I've owned (in much higher end vehicles like Bentley, Porsche, MB, Audi, etc), but the rattles here are not remotely acceptable. It has grown worse with time, too.