My 2012 M37, with the upgraded sound system, has a rattle in the doors when songs with relatively heavy bass are played at more than about 60-70% of the maximum volume. The rattle is so significant that it almost sounds like the door speakers are blown. Mechanics at the dealership tested other cars on their lot when they learned of my complaint, and informed me that all the other cars have the same issue.

If true, this is a design flaw in the new M class Infiniti -- at least I can think of no other answer.

The dealership was great -- they kept the car over a week, working to fix the problem. They were unable to fix the problem, however. Accordingly, Infiniti sent out a specialist to look into the problem. His report indicated there was no problem, notwithstanding that both I and the dealership techs clearly heard the buzzing. It's unclear to me whether he didn't hear the problem, or if he is saying that this problem is somehow acceptable based on Infiniti design parameters -- he has refused to speak with me, according to the customer service rep at Infiniti with whom I've been speaking.

This is beyond disappointing. I paid extra for the upgraded sound because sound is important to me. For Infiniti to refuse to address the problem, and even to refuse to do me the courtesy of having the specialist that looked into the issue discuss his findings with me, speaks to a lack of concern for the customer.

That's awful. I'm sure if you put a lot of effort into it, there will be some way to stop the rattle, but the point is, you shouldn't have to deal with that. Can you ask them to show you some other cars? I would want to test your music in at least 1 other 2012 model.. I never get any rattle whatsoever even way up at 80-90% volume. Design flaw it most certainly would be. I highly doubt they're like that across the board.

edit: a few simple searches for audio issues, rattle, bad sound system/speakers for 2012 M yield almost no results...

I had the same issue on my 12 M37s and i used this tool to troubleshoot and identify the the frequency/tone that cause the rattle: http://www.realtraps.com/test-cd.htm

I copied the tracks to a usb key and took it to the dealer and had them reproduce the issue on site. The root cause was the wood trim around the door panels. They were able to remove the panels and put in some sound deadening insulation and reseal the panels to correct the issue.

Its been about 2 weeks since they performed the fix and i have to say 98% of the rattles have stopped.

Hope that helps!

At first, I thought it was just my car, but I searched around on some of the other M37 forums and ran into a few others that have experienced the same issue.

I will say though, this level of speaker/trim rattles should be nonexistent on car that costs 50-60K! I'm really disappointed with the quality of fit/finish when it comes to audio on this car!

Tiggaman wrote: this level of speaker/trim rattles should be nonexistent on car that costs 50-60K!

Yes and no. It "shouldn't" exist, but almost every make out there has it's issues like this. Even $300,000 cars. I know a guy whose brand new Ferrari was delivered with a scratch in the windshield. The dealer refuses to replace it.

This may or may not make you feel better: an Infiniti is a $100k car that costs only $50k. IMHO it's worth the savings to put up with to have to get a dealer to fix one or two things. Imagine buying a $100k BMW 7 series only to find out the seat computers stay on occasionally draining & killing your battery. Such is life...

So its kinda like when you put a sub in your car and the license plate rattles when volume is turned up?

You could remove the speaker and put some sound proofing behind it on the door panel, and make sure there is a gasket around the speaker and its mounts. Other than that, all I can say is low frequency sound has this affect on things.

EniGmA1987 wrote:So its kinda like when you put a sub in your car and the license plate rattles when volume is turned up?

You could remove the speaker and put some sound proofing behind it on the door panel, and make sure there is a gasket around the speaker and its mounts. Other than that, all I can say is low frequency sound has this affect on things.

My issue was with the wood trim on the door panels. If music was playing they would start rattling. If I put my finger on the wood trim, the rattles would stop. This would happen even on VERY low volume so I don't think it had anything to do with the speaker itself.

Luckily I was able to reproduce the issue on site with the dealer and they put in some sort of insulation and resealed the wood trim which ultimately stopped the rattle. its been a little over 2 weeks now, but so far so good!

Same effing issue. I had to go back to the dealer twice and was finally able to get the tech to hear the rattle. They added some padding/insulation in the door panel and tightened the screws. Hasn't been a problem since but it is frustrating to have a brand new car rattling. I had my FX45 for 5 years and never heard a single rattle.

MY 07 M35 has horrible rattle in the passenger door tweeter i tried everything. I removed, remounted dyno matted everything and still it comes back after a day or so. I am going to make custom pod mounts to properly install and hold my aftermarket tweeter in a solid pod.

I've seen a couple of threads about buzzing/rattling with the M37 doors. Those of you that have reported these issues, how were you able to resolve them ?

I have a 2013 M37s and have the issues described here and also this thread:

replacement-front-door-speakers-in-m37-t569831.html

My dealer has made 2 unsuccessfuly attempts so far. They have tried combinations of tape, foam and insulation material all to no avail. Low bass, even at low volume and occasionally on rough roads causes both doors to have a buzzing/rattling sound sound coming from the wood trim area.

I also have a seriously disturbing rattle from the rear deck, and the sub generally sounds like its blown, but its not. There seems to be just too much movement with that back panel.

I know that all makes and models can have annoying sounds, however my reference is from the recent Nissans and Infinitis with the Bose sound systems and the Harmon Kardon in the BMWs. I've not experienced this with any other vehicle I've owned or tested.

I'm waiting for a rep from Corporate to reach out to to me as I want to know if the sound quality that I'm experiencing are within specifications. The dealer has not taken a position except to say that they haven't had this reported before.

That is a very frustrating problem. I have spent many hours unsuccessfully working on noises and rattles over my time working on these cars. It can be very challenging even if you can reproduce the noise reliably. It sounds like you have a good team working on it. They should be able to find some combination that works to isolate the vibrations.

My wife's G coupe has a creak in it that appears all the time when she drives it and once in a while when I drive it, it has been there since the day it was new. I have not been able to find it despite many many hours of taking things apart and driving it and slowly putting them back only to think I fixed it and on the way home I would hear it randomly.

Best of luck with this.

Thanks for the encouragement, sadly the dealer has given up and have stated they can do no more. Its looking more and more like I will be resolving this on my own. Im not real confident about a solution from Infiniti at the moment. Im able to recreate the noises at will so thats something at least. Still waiting to hear back from corporate.

Here's my good for nuttin two cents solution.

Turn down the damn volume

Indeed, I actually tried this as my first troubleshooting step! Problem is I'm having these issues at 50% volume.

If it is by design for the doors to and buzz at 50% volume for Nissan's flagship sedan. I'll need to put things in perspective.

I have a 2013 37 with the upgraded sound system and am having the same issues. I live in Dallas and Sewell is working with me to fix the issue. So far, the car has been in twice and each time it gets better. I'm taking it in one more time next week and hoping they can isolate and fix the final source of the rattle. It is even doing it at fairly low volumes and this is just not acceptable to me for this car. I love my music and like some other folks, paid extra for this sound system so enjoying it is a big part of being satisfied with the car.

After I get the car back from the dealership I'll update the post. If it's fixed I'll try and get the information from the dealer on all they did to fix it. Hopefully it will be fixed but if not, then I guess I'll start working on it myself.

Thanks to everyone for posting on this forum. It really helps to know that you're not alone in dealing with some of these issues.

Please do let us know how things work out for you. My dealer gave up after 2nd attempt. However I went straight to corporate and have a tech from Infiniti coming to work on the issue next week.

I will share the result of visit next week. If the tech tells me this is working as designed, things will not go down well at all. I honestly feel there should be a recall for this.

I wish you guys the best of luck! This is indeed troubling and could be expected on a much cheaper car. At one point I owned a Chevrolet cobalt ss which came with a sort of upgraded system and a subwoofer and even that crap didn't rattle at higher volumes! If they decide it's by design then I suggest finding a good reputable audio shop and have them add sound deadening material to all the direct and indirect metal parts close to each speaker. I can only assume that nissan (to help save costs) removed some of the foam and/or used thinner/less sheet metal to construct the newer m's. That said I wonder if in fact the new m's flex more under heavy corners?

Anyway apologies for not having anything better to say but honestly I would never buy another Large luxury car again. I live with my wife and we won't have kids ever nor do we drive friends around so I'm lugging around a lot of stuff every day driving into town. I don't care how much money anyone has it's just not fiscally responsible, so I'm seriously looking at something like the chev cruise diesel. A nice compromise between larger luxury and tiny tin can with motor and 4 wheels. I also hear its a torque monster.

Im actually a lil bit embarassed about the whole thing to be honest. Not only because of the cost of the car but because Im a big fan of nissan. I really just wanted a roomy RWD sedan and this is what I ended up with. It is as though they just put a sound system into the car and didnt even bother testing it.

Im willing to give the sound deadening a try if all else fails. I'll probably trade it and it will be my last nissan ever.

I also think that FatMat, GTmat, or DynaMat is your best bet. When I removed my trunk lining to upgrade to LEDs, I was gobsmacked to see the cheap material Infiniti used to prevent vibrations and noise. It looks like multi-colour hairballs mashed together and was so staggeringly cheap and flimsy, they needn't have bothered to add anything at all.
My only rattle and vibration came from the rear deck lid and only at high volume or low bass. I removed the quasi-carpeted liner covering that area inside the trunk, and added Dynamat on every exposed area, then reinstalled the carpet liner. Now regarless of bass or volume, no noticeable noise or vibrations back there. I also used the license plate kit (in FL we have only one plate on the rear) and that eliminated the cheap rattle upon closing the lid.
I have never dismantled my doors, nor have I noticed any trouble there. I reckon you will find the same hairball insulation in them as well and adding some decent material inside the door and round the speakers will also cure your issues. Shame that Infiniti couldn't be bothered to add it in the first place. A car of this quality and price should have it from the factory, but I reckon most other cars in our class have the hairball alternative as well.

Please update this thread after your project and maybe snap some photos as well so others with this same symptom have a clue how to fix it.

Based on the discussions that I had with the Tech from corporate, their position on this issue is that the acoustics are working as designed however they will give it their best shot at making the me happy. He was quick to point out that this was effectively becoming a "customization" rather than a correction.

The car was worked on for about 5 hours yesterday. Door panels were removed and insulation and dynamat were added. Padding was added to both trim pieces on the door (the silver and wood colored pieces), finally the pieces were glued together. The problem is only slightly better and I kinda feel like it was a waste of time. To their credit I don't think there is much else that can be done here, I think they really gave it their best shot. I've concluded that there is a more fundamental issue here with the door panels/frame that won't be fixed easily.

So the the buzzing/rattling is still there, however I have also traded the new car smell for the smell of chemical adhesives. I can't even drive with the windows up at this point without getting high. Keep in mind the back deck wasn't even touched and is still a real issue, just not as noticeable as the sound from the doors. The smell will obviously go away (very soon I hope).

I keep trying to forget that this is $60k car that is barely 7 months old. I've pretty much given up on any solution coming from Infiniti.

Every car manufacture has bad apples, time to check with the Lemon Laws in your state? They differ in different states. If you qualify for a buy-back, and they refuse, you may need to hire an attorney that specializes in Lemon Law issues and they'll take care of it.

goon3r wrote:Based on the discussions that I had with the Tech from corporate, their position on this issue is that the acoustics are working as designed however they will give it their best shot at making the me happy. He was quick to point out that this was effectively becoming a "customization" rather than a correction.

The car was worked on for about 5 hours yesterday. Door panels were removed and insulation and dynamat were added. Padding was added to both trim pieces on the door (the silver and wood colored pieces), finally the pieces were glued together. The problem is only slightly better and I kinda feel like it was a waste of time. To their credit I don't think there is much else that can be done here, I think they really gave it their best shot. I've concluded that there is a more fundamental issue here with the door panels/frame that won't be fixed easily.

So the the buzzing/rattling is still there, however I have also traded the new car smell for the smell of chemical adhesives. I can't even drive with the windows up at this point without getting high. Keep in mind the back deck wasn't even touched and is still a real issue, just not as noticeable as the sound from the doors. The smell will obviously go away (very soon I hope).

I keep trying to forget that this is $60k car that is barely 7 months old. I've pretty much given up on any solution coming from Infiniti.

There's only so much a dynamat can do to deaden the sound. If the original mounting materials are at fault then infiniti would have to add more material. I suspect they are attempting to shave lbs and $$ by using less material. Not something to be done on the flagship sedan! Bad on you infiniti!

Wish they had a customer satisfaction trade-up program.

I have 2012 M35h (which is the same body and interior as the M37) and I also have had my front passenger speaker buzzing. I took it in to the dealer who confirmed that the M's were having this problem. They added insulation in the door, however they didn't say exactly in what area. I did help some, but there is still a little buzz every once in a while with low frequencies. I will be returning to the dealer at some point for them to look at it again.

wideopn11 wrote:Same effing issue. I had to go back to the dealer twice and was finally able to get the tech to hear the rattle. They added some padding/insulation in the door panel and tightened the screws. Hasn't been a problem since but it is frustrating to have a brand new car rattling. I had my FX45 for 5 years and never heard a single rattle.

So the rattle from the door panels is starting to come back. From my experience at the dealer and what others have said about their experience I'm guessing there isn't going to be a permanent fix from the dealer.

I got my car back from the dealer last week. They did some additional work on the door panels to try and resolve the buzz / rattle with the low bass frequencies but I'm still hearing it. I did adjust the fade on the speakers towards the back. That seems to help but still doesn't resolve the problem. At this point, I guess I'll eventually take the dynamat route when I have some time to work on the doors. It is irritating to have to do this on a car in this class but I don't see that I'll be able to trade out of it anytime soon. I can honestly say that I'm very disappointed that the car has this issue. I really don't blame the dealer for not being able to fix the issue and I think they've tried their best.

I also had another rattle in the headliner around the front overhead console and they couldn't resolved that either. However I think I fixed it by just taking some batting and stuffing it in between the headliner and roof area.

At this point I feel a little embarrassed to keep taking the car back to the dealer to try and fix this issue but I'm sure they'll see me a few more times. Does anyone have a good track to recommend playing in the car to demonstrate how bad this problem really is? I have some music that gets the rattle going pretty good but I want something that really keeps it going so that the dealer can't say they just aren't hearing it.

Get some really low bass tracks. The music is so stupid it'll make you laugh but they pump nothing but low frequencies. Try this lol http://www.mediafire.com/?m4b7ocwrdizperj

So I have been able to resolve most of the buzzing from the door panels on my own.It has to do with a small gap between the silver strip and the leather on the door. I will try to post pics and more details later today.

I was going to suggest what goon3r said, haven't seen it but its obvious something is vibrating against each other, dynomat isn't going to fix something like that. However, beyond that what I would suggest that would improve your overall soundstage and fix this problem is to put resisters on your front speaker wires to cut some bass at the low freq (your choice where, I suggest 80hz, my front is cut at 200hz) and turn the bass up and adjust the fade a little. That will eliminate your rattle and sound stage will be better as well. That's a $10 solution that's priceless.

Sound dampenning was added to both front doors, inner and outer panel but it actually made no difference at all. For me, there were two main issues, the first was a rattle which generally sounded like metal on metal the second the buzz from the silver trim pieces.The dampening shown here was added by the dealer, but didn't make any real difference to the two main issues.


The first thing I did is add some foam between the cylinder circled below and the door panel. This reduced most of the rattling coming from the door.


Next, for the truly tricky area with the buzzing of those trim strips. I noticed when the door panel was held up, I could actually see daylight thru the area that I've circled below. It seems that air is escaping whenever the sound waves pass thru the door causing some of the buzz sound that I was hearing.


I added some very thick felt tape to the corner edges of the trim piece:



Once that was done, there was a huge difference in the sound quality and most of the buzzing sound was gone. I only did the corner of this piece since I ran out of felt tape. ( I was using scraps of tape that the dealer left in the car). Once I can get my hands on some more tape I am going to take the door panels off again and cover the entire edge all the way around. I am confident that 100% of the problem will be gone after that.

One thing to keep in mind is you don't want to put the felt too close to the front edge so that its visible once its been placed into the door panel.

For some perspective, prior to adding this tape, using my test track I could hear the buzzing sound at 20% volume I have to get to about 60% before I hear even a slight difference in sound. I'm confident that the panels will sit nice and quiet once I get more tape.

Obviously I can't say if this will resolve the issues of everyone else here, however it has made all the difference for me. I have also resolved most of the problem with the rear deck as well but will save that (with pics) for another post.

Thanks so much for all the info on what you've done to resolve the buzzing. My second trip to the dealer didn't help, in fact, the buzzing almost seems worse now. I was considering the Dynamat also but when you really sit and listen you realize it's more of an issue within the door panel itself and not the entire door. I also seem to hear some of the buzzing coming from within the arm rest because when the buzzing starts and I put just a little pressure on the center of the arm rest it stops - but maybe that is related to the metal cylinder shown in the pic.

Are the door panels very difficult to remove? I've done it before on another car but wasn't sure if there were any gotchas on removing these. By the way, if you can't easily get the felt tape you can go to any craft store and buy sheets of self-adhesive felt for just a little more than $1 per sheet and cut the strip size you need.