E70 Trunk Latch Rattle - Help Diagnosing This
 

All, I've been fighting the dreaded trunk rattle since I got this car 4k miles ago. I've adjusted the bump stops and that didn't really help, I've used silicon spray, etc. Still no real cure in sight.

Today I looked at the latch, and I noticed if I wrap my finger around the hook on the tailgate part, I can easily pull it and it makes the exact metal on metal noise I hear while on the road.

I read that many people have noticed the hook area loose. I found mine to be relatively loose, so I used a 13mm combo wrench and tightened it, well. However, the noise is still there and I can still feel the play in the latch.

While reading, I noticed some people say there were 4 screws, however, mine (2009) only has two. There are two holes in the back, but they don't appear to be threaded like the front two. It seems that if I was able to get four screws down, it would fix the issue, but it seems like the truck only uses two screws.

Here is a picture

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/112537/latch.jpg

So if I pull on that with my fingers, it can slide forward and back with some noticeable play and an annoying noise. The empty holes in the back do not have threading so I can't imagine anything fitting in there.

I'm trying to buy time until my next service to get this looked at (3500 miles away), but I'm not sure I can stomach this anymore. It's quite embarrassing with customers and co-workers in the car. Any speed bump or reasonable bump in the road causes the trunk to make a very annoying noise.

Forget about the hatch ! Open the bottom tailgate and if u look at the right and left hand corners just under the taillights u will see a "U" shaped latch on each side that secures the lower hatch when shut. Put felt or even electrical tape around the "U" shaped latches. This should make the noise go away.

Thanks, I'll give that a shot!

Wow that helped. It's so much better now. Still not as quiet as I'd like a $65k luxury vehicle to be, but definitely tolerable now. The noises now are just from the various cheap plastic pieces throughout the vehicle that make noise mostly under hard turning.

Hate to revive an old post but I did this and it works great!!

Concurred! I just wrapped my u-shaped hinges in hockey tape and presto, no more trunk noise.

couple months late, but I just fixed mine. Pop that small panel off (as you did before) at the catch on the side of the tailgate thats rattling, loosen both bolts, close the tailgate and push on the tailgate some so it is seated further at same time tighten those bolts.

Felt tape around the u-hooks solved my rattle along with a replacement rubber seal around the opening.