My dealer's Xfire tech "listened" to it (in the noisy shop where you couldn't hear jack) and sorta shrugged his shoulders. Our dialogue:
Tech: "Is it what you call a severe shuddering or shaking?"
Me: "It's not 'severe' but it's noticeable. It's a new car, I don't expect it to shake at all."
Tech: "No engine is perfect. Every one has its idiosyncracies."
Me: "If this was a 7-year-old $20,000 car, I might expect it to sound like this. But this is a Benz engine with 500 miles on it."
Tech: "Just because a car is $10,000 cheaper doesn't mean it's not going to run 200,000 miles.
Me: "[thinking: huh?!] What I'm saying is this sounds like what I used to call lifter noise on an older car. I know that technically some folks say this doesn't really have lifters, just adjusters and tensioners..."
Tech: (interrupting, suspiciously) "Who told you that??!!"
Me: "I've been doing a little research, just trying to figure out how this engine works. Last newest car I had was a '92 truck, this is a little different, figure I want to know what's under the hood."
(Tech disappears for about 5 minutes)
Tech: "It's a Mercedes engine but that doesn't mean it's perfect. I could take half a dozen cars off our lot, start them up, and half a dozen might have a little tach jump here or there while they idle, or what you might call some shaking. If you're looking for your car to run perfect, it's not going to happen."
Me: "I'm not looking for perfect. But I've driven a lot of new cars in the past couple years, as rentals, and they usually sound pretty smooth. This didn't sound like this when I first tested it. It developed a ticking by 150 miles, and now at only 400 miles it's a tapping. I just want to nip it in the bud."
Tech: "Well I could completely disassemble this engine and put it back together and it might not sound any different to you. And I'm not saying I'd do a bad job, but your engine gets completely ripped apart...."
Me: "I'm not asking you to do that. I'm just saying that the engine is running uneven, and I'm trying to find out why."
At that point I brought up the oil level. When I had checked the oil level this morning with engine cold, it seemed like it was significantly above MAX (which the filler cap warns "MAY CAUSE ENGINE DAMAGE"). I haven't put a drop in this car. Tech checked it -- immediately after turning off engine -- level was right in midrange (altho manual says wait 5 min. before checking oil). Looked at me like I was crazy. SO either I misread the dipstick this morning or...
Anyway we left it that I will continue to drive it and see if it changes. Taking a road trip this weekend. Should be good test. I am scheduled to bring it in next week. Will bring it in either the night before or early AM so they can check oil cold and start it cold like I do/did.
Service dept. seems nice enough but kinda weird/defensive; I'm not accusing anyone of anything! Tech is highly regarded at dealer because he has raced. I just want my new engine to sound like a new engine not a chain-rattling Ghost of Vehicles Past. Car should sound as great as it looks and feels. Experience a little unsatisfactory. If DCX wants to use the Xfire to play on the same field as Porsche, Audi, and BMW, they need to start getting used to customers demanding their cars run and sound pretty darn good.
The attitude seemed to be that I was some sort of hypochondriac and/or that they really don't want to touch the car. Whereas, when I bought a new bicycle -- a much simpler machine -- the shop specifically WANTED me to come back because they don't assume that everything comes from the factory just perfect, and that there should be a checkup early in the lifecycle of a new machine even as complex as a Trek.