Just wanted to post an update on this for anyone still following this thread, or experiencing this problem.
I can't say with certainty that I am out of the woods, but inexplicably, about 2 weeks ago, the noise just stopped. And I'm talking, completely stopped. Not sure if an overall temp change outside had anything to do with it, but the noise (for now) is completely gone. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the noisy period was just settling of the materials and that I never hear it again.
To be clear, I never actually got it over to the dealer, so no servicing was done between my first post and the noise stopping.
I wanted to post this update to give some hope to those still experiencing this really annoying noise...