That's an interesting comment to consider...could some of the wind noise that has been mentioned NOT be an issue on UL cars due to the panoramic roof?

 

Might be possible if the upper part and leading edges of front doors are in contact with something different on UL than non.

The wind noise I am familiar with is generally window area so don't know if UL is different as to gaskets etc.

 

Well, I have a wind noise in mine and it's getting louder at lower speeds. I mentioned it to my service tech and he said that's normal for the ULs. I didn't want to challenge him on it because it was soft and still is soft than what it sounds like some people have experieneced, but I use my 2002 ES 300 to compare it by. In that car, there is NO WIND sound. Period.

 

Jeff,

Is it possible that one of the black rubber plugs on underside has fallen out or been pushed inside? Check it out and see since you are noticing this starting and not it seems present all along, something has changed. Or maybe one door has dropped slight due to gravity or going over road humps/bumps, either passenger or driver door doesn't matter, if one is out, you hear more.

And as for awesome and quiet on many levels, the older ES you have RULES on engine, wind and exterior noise abatement and far quieter engine in general at idle.

 

Have you compared your wind noise to a non UL model (loaner car)? My UL is not super quiet either, but it had less wind noise than the loaner car.

 

I'll investigate that. I do notice that the trim (previous thread) was not aligned 100% on the door. The wind noise definitely sounds like it is coming from the front corner of the drivers side window, and not the glass roof.


You are absolutely 100 percent correct. Now engine power is another thing.

 

One of the things I've noticed on my car is the wind noise is variable. Sometimes I notice it and other times it's negligable. My when I close my window I don't think it seats as tight as it should against the gasket in the window frame. If I pull on the power window button again it will usually close just a hair more. This seems to make a small reduction in wind noise. Also my drivers door as other have commented is not alligned properly. Compared to the passenger side it does not close as tight. If I run my fingers from the drives side rear door to the front I feel a ridge at the seam of the front and rear door. It is also visible compared to the passenger side. I wll ask Lexus to address these issues in a month or so once I have a few more miles on the car.

 

Bill,

I think once you have had the door aligned you may also notice somewhat less outside sound intrusion as well.

The window gaskets can be pulled down out of their channels and then allow the window going up to reseat them back up in their channel rest, that helped somewhat on my former car, haven't yet done it on current.

 

I brought my UL ES for 5k service yesterday and drove a non UL ES loaner (with 3k mileage). This is the second loaner I have driven and this time i find it actually a tad quieter than my UL, both engine and wind noise in local and highway (at 80mph). Both the loaner and my UL are 07/06 build.

Also interesting is that the loaner has both door trims misaligned while they are perfectly aligned on my UL, and yet the loaner seems to be slightly quieter. I guess there is really no corelation between the alignment of door trims vs wind noise or the design of UL glass roof vs non UL ES sunroof.

Btw, the loaner also has the diesel knocking sound from cold start and goes away similarly like mine after a couple miles of warming up. It looks very consistent to me unless I am so "lucky" to drive 3 ES lemons in a roll. LOL

 

Many of us have realized the wind noise is of several contributing factors, door misalignment is only a part.

I notice your experiences with the ES350 diesel noise are identical to mine, wanderers and Riley's where loaners etc. are concerned but posting it does upset those who do not have it, makes some of them feel their car is the odd one out because they are not experiencing it.

 

The wind noise in my UL and two loaners I have driven seem agreeable to me, at least they are similar to 2003 ES300 I previously owned. So i could not tell that's really a problem, unless someone can show me a sound recording of the wind noise they are experiencing.

Regarding the diesel knocking noise, I believe it is in most cars (if not all) during cold start and but you have to look for it with all accessories turned off. I have not yet driven a perfect es350 without such noise. Anyhow, it does not bother me at all for now.

 

I'm considering having the moon roof wind deflector installed prior to delivery of my ES. Is there anybody who has this wind deflector on their car and does this help to quiet the wind noises that some are experiencing?
oakplank

 

The wind noise issues discussed here are demonstrably coming from the side windows and not the moon roof. A deflector would not help in that case at all.

Personally, I think a roof wind deflector mars the clean look of any car, especially this one. But if wind noise without it when your moon roof is open is an issue for you, go ahead. I recommend testing the noise level before installing one though.

 

Oak...I know of not one person who has posted wind noise coming from moonroof or sunroof. Maybe I missed a post on it, but the wind noise I see posted on most often is that associated with the or near window areas of the car, driver and passenger side front window areas, not moon/sunroof area.

 

This made me think of side window rain deflectors. I had those, along with moonroof deflectors on my previous '98 Altima SE (of course it looked good cause it was a black car with tinted windows ). Well, those side window deflectors were from Weathertech, and they do not get taped to outside but rather precision-machined with a sharp wedge-edge to go inside of your window opening. I wonder if using something like this will help ES with its side window noise?