I was out of town in a state with higher speed limits than I am accustomed to driving, and noticed an odd rattling sound in the rear end of the car at around 80mph. As far as I can tell, the sound seems to be coming from the exhaust heat shields back there....or maybe the bumper. If I rap on either of them, I can hear a sound that is similar to what I'm hearing at speed. The sound is very faint. I thought, at first, that it could be little pebbles or something, but it persists at that speed.

I tried putting a bit of a gap between the passenger side heat shield, since it seemed like the most likely culprit, but it didn't help. Anyone seen anything like this? I see people complaining of rattles from the hatch latch, but the sound seems to be coming from a lower area. This is a 2013 Clubman S with less than 2k miles if it matters. I also have the stock Potenza RE050a summer tires on 17" wheels, and it is starting to get cold...so this could possibly just be caused by a harmonic vibration from the rubber that didn't happen before because it was hot. These run flats seem hard and noisy, so it wouldn't surprise me.

--Matt

 

Pretty sure it is the parcel shelf. Doesn't seem to happen with it removed or retracted. Any ideas on quieting it down?

--Matt