S4 B8 rattle

[Coolknight]

I've got a temperature-sensitive rattle coming from the passenger-side rear of my new (1500 miles) S4 and am hoping someone here may have some ideas about what's causing it.

When the weather's hot and the car's been in the sun, the rattle is completely gone. For the rest of the time the constant tapping over broken surfaces is driving me crazy and really spoiling what I thought was going to be a great ownership experience.

The rattle isn't caused by - rear seat latches, door seals, window seals, tools or spare wheel. It happens if I brake over bumps as well so it's not brake pads rattling. It's much more obvious when the rear seats are folded down. It's still there if I drive with the boot lid open so it's not boot seals or fouling between the lid and the body.

There's nothing obviously loose anywhere, including in the service compartment on that side of the boot (where the navigation DVD player is).

The dealer said they'd cured it by fitting some felt to the boot floor while I waited (for 3 hours!). Of course, they hadn't fixed it (and there's no sign of any new felt!).

I don't get any noise when pushing the back up and down but the frequency of movement is probably much less then the bumps causing the rattle.

Please help. It may sound crazy but this is going to put me off Audi's if I have to live with it for the next few years.

Thanks in advance.

[kodkod.84]

OK I would narrow this down to probably something plastic as you say it doesn't rattle in the hot- the plastic has heated up and expanded.

You notice it when the seats are down more and the boot is up.

I thought it might have been the little compartments in the boot as the latches on the B7 on these are notoriously crap and a bugger to clip shut properly, but you say you have checked these.

Good luck on your search for the annoying sound though.