Love my IS350 BUT so much road noise
 

Bought my car last august, 2007 IS350 with stock (guessing?) Bridgestone Potenza tires. I hear so much road noise that I am thinking of just getting rid of the car. Mark Levinson subwoofers are both vibrating (blown?) and dash rattle noise is annoying. Any ideas & opinions on how to solve these issues would be greatly appreciated.

Get a louder exhaust.


:D

Get other tires:

soft tires would help, I got michelin ps3 which helped a lot.

If not try to sound deadening your car with dynamat like materials.

replace your sub, if its in warranty :)

where does the dash rattle coming from?

If everything else is OK (no steering or car wobbling/vibrating which might indicate a bearing, for example) then the road noise is likely your tires. I have Hankook Ventus somethings on my 2007 IS350 (which I bought 4 months ago) and I have a little road noise but not bad at all.

Is your car still under factory warranty? If so, then the rest of the issues (ML subs and dash rattle) are covered, so take it in. If not, do you have an extended warranty? The subs would likely be covered under that but the dash rattle wouldn't.

If you're only just out of warranty, you could still bring it in and ask, since both those issues would have been covered by factory warranty.

My car's CPO. The dash rattle is very, very annoying (mine's been into the dealer 4-5 separate times for it), but I got it covered goodwill by the dealer I bought it from (because it wouldn't be covered under CPO warranty). The cost for that repair can be as high as $1000 - all labor, for removing and reattaching dash pad (parts are just clips and foam kit).

I don't have ML, but if had speaker issues they'd be covered under CPO warranty. I know blown ML subs are very common, so someone should be able to throw out a price quote.

Unfortunately NO warranty on the car. The dash rattle noise is coming from right behind the odometer. screwed on the ML subs. No vibrations, just A LOT of road noise

get an aftermarket sub. i like the infinity basslink subwoofer. small and pounds.

I got Continental Tires and they reduced road noise a lot

I'm not sure if the car had suspension mods... but a lowered car is more susceptible to road noise because if the higher springs rate/harder springs. I'm not sure if the previous owner had moded the suspension.

Also as others have side, tires will make the biggest difference. A harder compound tire will yield higher road noise from vibrations. Softer tires will tend to dampen the sound from the road.

Weather stripping around the doors also help dampen the road noise. If those are all worn or damaged, you'll have more sound entering the cabin.

If the previous owner was pretty hardcore with racing, he/she may scrape off all the sound dampening coating around the car to save weight. If I remember correctly, typically manufacturers will spray around 10-20+ lbs of this stuff to make the car more quiet.

If it really bothers you, we can trade cars . :)

You gonna trade the car in for these issues? :uh: Get new tires, new sub that I can't imagine bein to hard to replace yourself, and turn up the music for the rattles LOL or go to the dealer see if you get outta there under 1k for fixin em. Probably gonna cost ya more than 1k to trade in the car anyway. Then the new car is gonna have issues to because nothin is perfect.

Seems like a list of fixable items to me. Don't be afraid to take the dash apart and insulate it with foam tape.

I got the same cluster rattle... Have my 50k service coming up in 200 miles so I think I'll stop in a but early and tell them everything I need done!

I would seriously consider changing the tires first. I also have a 2007 IS350 that I took delivery of last month, and it had fairly well-worn OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE050 tires still on it. The tires were unacceptably loud by this point and the car almost wasn't pleasurable to drive. I changed the tires to Hankook Ventus V12 Evo K110 (possibly the longest name ever for a tire) and the road noise was considerably reduced. I imagine that since the Evos are maximum performance summer tires, there is still a little bit more road noise than if I had opted for all-season tires which would be geared a little more toward touring and luxury than performance.

Change your tires. The OEM RE050 and ER33 aren't exactly the quietest or best performing tires. If that doesn't work go drive a Honda and be thankful for the serenity that is your Lexus. Road noise is abundantly notorious in the aforementioned automakers vehicles

didn't give much info about the suspension mods on the car or what the previous owner may have done while in his/her possession. most likely culprit is first the tires, types of roads you travel on, and suspension mods (if any).

I hear ya brother! The road noise on my 350 is apparent enough to make me not want to drive it at times....but, then I think about how fun it is on the highway, and take it out anyhow. I went from the Bridgestone Potenzas to the Michelin Pilot Sports PS2's and actually got much louder with the Michelins. However, the Michelins handle and grip sooooo much better in the rain and hot dry weather....I cant say enough about them as far as performance. I heard the new PS series by Michelin are suppose to alleviate alot of the road noise in our cars. Let us know what u decide please, as I am thinking of changing to something quieter this summer.