E92 windshield chipped like crazy

[bubu]

...Where to begin, I looked closely @ my windshield today and found that it literally has hundreds of tiny chips all over the place. While they are individually repairable (less than 1mm in most cases) its not economical so I'm looking @ a new $1800 windshield. How the heck did I get hundreds of chips like this? I've never seen anything like it. Can high speed collisions with bugs cause windshield chips, or possibly invisible "micro" fractures in the glass? I only noticed the chips after having the car detailed...possible that the chips only become visible after the car was properly washed and the windshield was exposed to a rapid temperature change. I do not have any corresponding damage to the paint, and I certainly did not get sprayed with hundreds of tiny rocks...

I drove the car from Houston to Los Angeles a few weeks ago and did long stretches of 120mph+ driving in between San Antonio and El Paso...then El Paso to Phoenix. The front of the car & windshield looked like bugmagedon most of the trip...and you could hear the bugs splattering in some cases. Could some species of hard-shell bug actually do this to a windshield? Like I said I have no corresponding damage to the paint.

Do I have a legitimate complaint with BMW and possibly demand a new windshield under warranty?

I've had horrible experience with m3 windshields...I must have gotten an unrepairable chip on my E46 every 6 months doing normally southern California freeway driving....but this plethora of chips is in a league of its own, it literally looks like the car got damaged by hail.

So what do you guys think...worth pursuing with BMW? Has anyone had a similar experience?

-bubu

*edit* I forgot to add, this is on a May 2008 produced E92.

[FlyFish]

I have owned 4 BMW's and many other cars over the past 22 years and in every case, even in my 1962 Chevy Impala that seemed to have bullet proof glass, my windshield lost it's smooth finish very quickly. A windshield will be subject to hundreds of impacts daily by small particles of sand and rocks picked up by the cars around you. These small particles act like small meteors and will pit your windshield over time. It's not the quality of the windshield in most cases, it's a product of all of the debris on our roads bouncing off of glass--in this case, the glass being your windshield.

[FlyFish]

Also--Griots Garage (griotsgarage.com) have a few glass polishing kits available that will help in this case--they won't fill in the chips, but will help clean up the windshield if some of those spots are calcium deposits, tar, and other contaminants.

[JCtx]

Welcome to my 'neck of the woods' man (if you can call this freaking desert that ). With nasty winds all year long, and nothing but dirt all around, kicked up by trucks' draft traveling on the left lane (they were just banned from that lane recently within city limits, but not on highways), my new cars have more rock chip wear in 100 miles than most other cars in 10K.

But I have to say BMW has the crappiest windshields in automobiledom. Mine is horrible already too, even though I avoid interstates highways like the plague. The problem is I've caught construction zones on my trips, with loose gravel for miles, and that ended up being worse than the interstates . There's basically no paint left right behind my tires, but thankfully it's not too visible with my 'baby blue' paint . This car needs mud guards badly in this area, but are not available. I'm probably going to need a windshield in the future, but won't buy one until it actually cracks. Fortunately, not big chips yet, and most are out of my line of sight. Take care.

[bubu]

...poor quality sums it up pretty well from my perspective.

I wonder if the high chip/pit rate is due to the aerodynamics & the angle of the windshield vs actual build quality. What are the OEM glass manufacturers on the e9x? My windshield was made by Saint-Gobain. Maybe this is isolated to a specific OEM source?

If insurance did not treat glass claims as "non-fault" i'd bet you that quite a few of us would be screaming about legal action vs. paying our $100 deductible. As it stands there is no deep financial hit to people experiencing it...hence BMW is not likely to do anything about it.

Just my thoughts after reading a couple of other glass related claims.

[Damage Inc]

I have the same issue. I like my windshield clean but in this car its impossible with a million tiny chips. do a search, this seems to be common in this m3.

i'm going to do a claim for a new windshield, probably go with some aftermarket glass vs. oem.

[signes]

They do seem to chip more readily than other cars I've owned (paint, too, unfortunately.) Not sure where you are getting your estimate but that is way too high. I paid under $700 for OEM glass/rain sensor installed at a BMW dealer. It was a for a major crack not pitting, and I was fortunately able to get my insurance to cover it.

[swamp2]

Topic well discussed prior in depth. Try usng google to search the forums. Built-in search sucks. Try this search.

By the way I think the going rate for the windshield is much closer to $1k than the price mentioned earlier. Also most insurance will cover it for a small fee. Mine was $100. They want drivers to be able to see!

[bubu]

...official repair estimate from Sterling BMW in newport beach is $1920.00. yeah it seems high but my insurance is paying for it. Irvine BMW came back at around $1800 so the question is have any of you ran into a dealer in southern california willing to replace the windshield for $1000?

[signes]

I'll fly out and fix it for $1500. Those prices are insane...

[brava09]

I had similar windshield problems in all my past car. the M3 is nothing out of the norm in this respect.

[M3Fool]

Could be a BMW thing, my X3 windshield is scratched and pitted the hell up too. Will need to replace here shortly.

[swamp2]

Originally Posted by bubu

...official repair estimate from Sterling BMW in newport beach is $1920.00. yeah it seems high but my insurance is paying for it. Irvine BMW came back at around $1800 so the question is have any of you ran into a dealer in southern california willing to replace the windshield for $1000?

Yes. Don't go to the dealer. There are a lot of mobile windshield guys who will use OEM parts. They will do the job at your home/office and you can watch. I was happy with the guys I used and there was no insurance paperwork. It was right about $1k but $100 for me.

After a quick look at bmwfans.info here. It look like $1k is even a ripoff. The most expensive windshield they list (based on options) is $468. Perhaps that does not include something related to the rear view mirror mounting but IIRC that is integrated into the windshield.

[markjord]

Yeah, lots of threads on this. Not sure about the prices quoted. We get ripped off far worse here in the UK than you guys on pretty much everything but I had my screen replaced for the insurance excess of £75 at autoglass. But I'm fairly sure that the full price was only a few hundred. It's perfect. The old one was really awful - millions of pits that showed up vary badly in sunlight. I've had cars for 33 years and never seen anything like this - my e46 had no problem. Also agree that the paint chips like hell. Just had the hood resprayed too.

[klammer]

just had my x5's windshield replaced and was $950, would not accept that my m3's would be more, just seems absurd...

[bubu]

...so the repair bill brokes down as

Replaced Windshield $1050.00
Green WindSCRN, GR.SHADE $383.13
Set, Condensation Sensors $119.49
Cover, Windshield $34.28
Repair Flat Rate, Windows $83.59 x2 $167.18
Supporting Ledge $7.76
Tape $22.00

so yah...$1783.83 subtotal. While my insurance paid for it it seems ridiculous that the labor was $1050...that's how they broke it down on the invoice anyway. $1050 in Labor and 733.83 in parts. What's screwy is that they charged a "repair flat rate" in the "parts" section...

...and my windshield no longer has the green sunshade stripe. The whole experience stinks to me. Do I have a legit gripe with them over listing the green sunshade stripe on the repair invoice and not delivering? What about the mis-categorized break down? I feel like going back and demanding $ back out of principle...wrong windshield installed (unless the green stripe is an add on part they forgot post install?).

What are the laws in California, I was under the impression the law is pretty specific and very detailed on this sort of thing...automotive repair bill has to be properly itemized, and accurate.

...and yah i'll admit most of my annoyance stems from the original issue of having to replace a windshield after only 15k miles due to poor material quality/design.

[bubu]

...oh ya, and they also damaged the tint on the passenger window with a 1 inch scratch.

<sigh>