After spending countless hours driving around trying to figure out what was making the noise, ONLY at low speeds, and with the windows cracked it was reduced, I finally decided to focus on the B-Pillar as I noticed the drivers side, the one with the noise, didn’t match perfectly to the headliner and there was some “play” in it when I pushed on it.
So I starting taking the panels apart. I started with the sill plates and door seals, front and back, and quickly realized that the middle panel comes out completely and then you can remove the upper panel that connects to the headliner. The upper panel has 2 slots that need to fit into a bracket to correctly mate up to the headliner. You have to angle the panel and slide them into 2 slots in the bracket mounted to the B-piller. On mine - the front was not in the slot, but the back was. This also caused an issue with the panel clip toward the front and it would not seat into the B-pillar. The door gasket fits tightly against the panels, but what I concluded was that when I messed with the seal it just put more pressure on the loose panel and after a period of time - it would rattle again. So basically the upper trim was not in the correct slot and as a result the panel clip would not lock into the B-pillar. Both would and did cause both a click (plastic to plastic) and a rattle (metal panel clip to B-pillar.
So I pulled everything apart - middle panel and upper panel. There are metal clips on the top and bottom of the middle panel and plastic panel clips in the middle as well. the upper panel slides into the plastic bracket and then there are 2 metal panels clips and then 3 plastic panel clips. I used a panel tool to try and be gentle with the plastic clips, but I still broke 2 of them (one on the middle panel and one of the top panel.
ONE VERY IMPORTANT part - to get the metal clips to work I had to reset them as they were pushed to far back on the panel. There are plastic stops built into the panel, but as you can see in the pictures, the clips was pushed into those stops and that is the reason the clips would not stay in place. All you have to do is pry up one side and wiggle the clips off the panel. Once I had them removed I actually put them in the B-pillar and then installed the panel. This worked great as the panel would not set with them pushed back - I tried to just put them back on, but they would slide before locking in place. This is likely one of those “learning experiences for INEOS, and hopefully they add a little more plastic to allow the clips to stay in place.
I have attached a number of pictures comparing the drivers side (the issue) with the passenger side. I also attached some pictures of the upper panel, the slots in the panel and the bracket.
As far as the clips - I have asked INEOS for a part number on the panel clips and they don’ have anything so I am going to try some Toyota clips. As you can see from the pictures - the clips are designed to be replaced and just slide into a the slots in the panel to the fact that INEOS doesn’t have a part number is a bit pathetic. That said - the factory slips are VERY well built and actually have seal that mates to the body of the vehicle with a rubber isolator that is actually MOLDED into the clip! This is pretty amazing. I thought I could just pull the seal and put it on another clip, but that won’t work as the seal looks to be injected into the clip. This is really impressive engineering except they BREAK really easily AND there is not party number for them……..
So - moral of the story - if you have a rattle or a click near the window or headliner, take a look at the upper part of the B-pillar. I if you push on it and it moves or if it doesn’t look perfectly aligned with the headliner - then it is likely not in the slot in the bracket and if it is not in the slot then the metal clips will not seat into the B-pillar.
I hope this helps someone. If you just want to see the clip and the slots - you can pull the door seal and look at the clips and slots.
Lastly - this is/was clearly an assembly issue of not getting the upper panel aligned with the bracket. One that happened, the metal clips got pushed to far back, likely from hitting the panel hoping it would seat, and then sending it down the assembly line. It is a little tricky as you have to get BOTH of the tabs in the slots.
