My 2020 110 X has a rattle from at least 3 of the 4 doors with certain frequencies in songs and perhaps more annoyingly, when I'm on the phone in the car. I don't think it's the door cards, and the lower (large) speaker grilles don't seem to rattle. The dash speaker is quiet and all the rear panels in the cargo area are quiet (I've read some 90 owners have issues with these rear panels).

I've realized that if I very lightly press the silver colored speaker grill near the power lock button that says "Meridian" on it, the buzz/rattle stops. Same spot on back doors (without the lock button there).

So I removed this Meridian-specific trim piece on all 4 doors, carefully using as a guide (at 2:26). They just pry off.



=



All 4 came off fairly easily with a plastic trim tool, I was very careful not to damage anything. Each is held on with 4 plastic clips, 2 on upper edge, 2 on lower edge. Unfortunately on the left rear piece, 2 of the little clips on the piece broke off. I did nothing different there so it's clearly a bit of luck of the draw. So I'll order a new one. Annoyingly it's $90 USD. And I can't find the black one w/ Meridian on parts diagrams so will do it at next dealer visit.

It appears that there are a few reasons these trim pieces rattle::

1) The speaker grates are real metal, and they're held by simple bend back tabs. Just like on a D2 or most other cars with metal grates. Fix = Bend em back more to get the metal grille tight.
2) There are stickers that on mine that were not stuck down / were coming up. I think they might have rattled around, I've had labels in speakers before cause noise. Fix = remove stickers. Each had 3 or 4 stickers from the factory.
3) I was getting a little plastic on plastic creaky noise when pressing more firmly on these trim panels. Fix = Used Tesa tape (pictured below) which can be used to wrap wiring harnesses that rattle (and subs for felt tape) to cover mounting points and cover over where the metal tabs bent back. It's a good very thin solution to this problem, thinner than felt.

Pics below with my err ... journey. I tested it quickly tonight (it's cold out and they rattled more when temps are low) and I think I've fixed it. I'll report back after a few days with it.


This tab up top wasn't even bent back.


Fixed - bent back



More loose tabs


Potentially rattling stickers from Slovakia!


Stickers removed


The Tesa Tape #51036, I ordered it online when I was redoing a RRC wiring harness disaster last year, easy to source. Don't get another brand btw this is a good product lots of OEM's use in factories


Small bit of tape on the edge at the spot where it clips in / the contact area


Another view of the tape pieces on the edge / contact area


Taping over the back just in case these metal tabs were contacting the door panel behind (It appeared they might be a cause of the creaking). Hopefully these tape strips don't do the same thing the stickers did with loud bass.


All taped up on the back

 

This is interesting. I have the same issue with my 2021 110 S...I'll have to pry off the cover and do some tightening. Keep us posted.

 

Great post, I have heard the rattling, but it only happens on certain frequencies, and I haven't had time yet to wait for the right song when I am able to look. This should really narrow down my search.

Please update when you know more.

 

Check out Parts_Link on eBay. They've been parting out some Defenders. They may have some of those speaker covers. Won't be as expensive as a Dealer, so if within your "Give a Crap" it may save you a few bucks. I'd do it just to avoid an hour trip (each way) to the closest Dealer.

 

Man, when you try to sell your defender at Barrett Jackson in 30 years, that lack of OEM stickers on the inside of the speaker grill is really going to ding you.

 

nashvegas - this is great detective work! I have a similar issue on my driver's door speakers. I had the dealer look into it, but they couldn't reproduce it (like you said, only certain frequencies caused the resonance.).

For trial #2 (while having some other issues addressed at the dealer), I used a synthesizer to create a number of test tones so that I could isolate the frequencies that caused the issue. I then saved this as a MP3 and put it on a USB stick so they could troubleshoot. I haven't gotten it back yet, but will be interested to see what they do/don't find. Given the finicky nature of the issue/and fix, I will probably take the path you proposed!

 

GREAT POST

YOU MENTIONED A FEW REASON - YOU LEFT OFF THE BIGGEST REASON - LAND ROVER ENGINEERING

 

I have the same thing in my car and it is AWFUL on certain songs. So bad that I will click the Next Track >> arrow on the steering wheel because I can't stand it. I have no idea how Land Rover claims to have tested this car for hundreds of thousands of miles on 5 continents and missed this. What, nobody turned on the stereo at any point? Little things like this make me very reluctant to pay any more than I did for my 2020 for anything farther up the range. Guarantee the $100K+ V8s have the same horrible quirk.

 

Update: This works. And trust me I was so irritated with this ~100K vehicle over this as well I considered trying to even swap it for a 2022 or 2023 just because it might be better. I drove it home from gym amped up today with The Blaze (electronic music... highly reco btw if you are into such things) and the soundtrack to Tron Legacy (Daft Punk) at a very high level ... and I got at least 95% of the vibrations out. I did not adjust the audio bass/treble etc at all. Left as is.

1 vibration remains from my passenger front door big lower speaker. Will take the door panel off and see what is going on there, probably similar I'd guess.

Anyway, angry me in the driveway and a couple of IPA's apparently can fix this better than an 8+ million dollar franchise LR facility with trained techs and factory access after 2 visits ... so yea there's that. But this fixed the problem (on my 110 X 2020) easily.

 

This is great, thanks Nashvegas. However, my vibration at certain frequencies seems to be coming from the passenger side rear speaker in my D90