My guess is the noise started after the tires were rotated. The rears are prone to feathering on the insides. When they were moved to the front the noise was much more noticeable. Reverse all your tires on their rims. The Michelin Energy A/S are not directional. I did this and it fixed the noise problem totally.
I have the exact same car. At around 30k miles it started getting noisy. I imagined all kinds of things going bad ( especially after reading forum.) it's tire noise and you can fix it. Have all your tires reversed on the rims. The inside of the rears are prone to feathering and rotating them front to back only makes them all feather. The Michelin energy a/s are NOT directional and can be reversed with no ill effects. I did this and my MAX is now as quiet as new. After the tires have worn off the feathered edges rotate them in an X pattern.
Here's the deal. To elimiminate tire/ driveline noise reverse all your tires on the rims. My CMax sounded like it had terrible driveline noise. It was the tires; the inside of the rear tires are prone to cupping. The Michelin Energy Saver A/S tires are NOT directional and can be reversed. It fixed my problem completely.
Took my Max in for recalls to improve main screen data (temp on 8" screen) and improved phone audio and to make the lift gate more sensitive to smaller feet. All good ideas and looks like Ford is listening to customer suggestions. Well they broke it and now the center screen is blank and there's no audio. Parts are on order. You might want to wait a month or so to schedule for this recall so Ford can fix it.
Got my C Max at Joe Cooper Ford in Tulsa, a silver SEL with 203a (everything but vista roof and auto park.) Mileage started at 35 but is up to 39 now. Does anyone know what the three doodads in the headliner are for?