OEM Windshield replacement

[signes]

Originally Posted by Montoya

The OEM replacements could be rejects from the factory. In my experience that seems to be the case. When I put a non OEM replacement in, like PPG the glass fit perfectly and there was no distortion. With the OEM glass there was some very severe distortion.

And yes the rain sensor is BS. Most shops are experienced in replacing them now.

I found this to be the case with my replacement - OEM glass replaced at the dealer but with significant edge distortion/waviness.

[whaleboy]

Damn... same just happened to me. Just 800 miles on it and my wife noticed a small nick in the windshield. A day later its turned into an 8" crack. 27 years of driving and this is the first cracked windshield I can remember... on a brand new M3. Like I said... Damn.

-David

[bubu]

...from my own personal experience my windshield looked like someone took a shotgun to it after 15,000 miles. I could almost swear that it was caused by hard shelled insect impacts @ 120mph+. Glass looked horrible, no corresponding damage to the paint. Had an E46 previous to this, drove the car the same way, same roads...no comparison. The glass quality/reliability has dropped on the m3s in this gen.

...My 'stealer'ship experience, Sterling BMW in Newport Beach CA charged my insurance $1850 for the replacement. Irvine BMW quoted almost identical. As did most of the other dealers in Southern California I did not particularly care since I have a $100 deductible through Ameriprise/IDS. Worst part is the outside glass installer they use (lets face it, the labor is always farmed out for windshields) scratched my hood pretty badly and chipped the passenger pillar). They are "fixing" it, but would you not be pissed?

Interesting tid-bit, apparently the 4 inch green sun-shade stripe is being removed from the M3s. I had a meltdown on the service manager when my car came back with a worthless 1 inch light gray stripe that you find on the 335s windshields (not to mention the other damage). My invoice lists the windshield as having a green sun-shade but he was insistent that this is the updated windshield and that BMW has not updated their computer system because of older windshields still floating around. He claimed to have opened 2 other boxes they had in-stock and said the windshields were the same. He also claimed they had a contact at the bmw parts depot, and they checked their inventory...also gray 1 inch stripe. All very believable but he said something that struck me as an outright lie "...they told me there are 7 of the old type green sun shade windshields left in the whole U.S...at the NJ depot". How they know if the part # is the same and these supposedly come in a box?!? So bottom line, I don't know what to believe. All the new 11 coupes on the lots have the green sun stripe, with april & may manufacture dates. Would love to hear everyone's opinion...am I being lied too?

I really hope the "new windshield revision" story turns out to be true, otherwise the service manager has knowingly committed automobile repair fraud (since my invoice states green sun stripe & the correct part #) by compounding what could have been a honest screw up with bs. Heck if it is a glass revision update maybe it'll be less prone to all the pitting & micro-fractures we've all been seeing.

-bubu

[TIMBO_M3]

Originally Posted by swamp2

Irvine BMW? Either way that price is outrageous. Talk about greedy stealers...

My deductible for a badly sand pitted winshield was $100. I think the bill the mobile installers sent to my insurance co. was about $1,000.

This OEM glass sucks and that has been discussed prior on the forum as well. My E36 M3 had a better looking windshield at 150k miles than this one did at 15k.

Nope...not Irvine BMW. Crevier quoted me ~$1900. My deductible is also $100, so that's not too bad. But...now I have to get the new front windshield tinted again which is going to cost over a bill. Oh well..it's been worth having it on an all black car.

Originally Posted by bubu

Worst part is the outside glass installer they use (lets face it, the labor is always farmed out for windshields) scratched my hood pretty badly and chipped the passenger pillar). They are "fixing" it, but would you not be pissed?
-bubu

That sucks. I'll see if I can be around for the install.

[BCA]

Originally Posted by Radiation Joe

The parts alone (at retail) for the M3 are over $700. No one is going to get an OEM windshield installed for $500.

It's been a while since I checked this thread and I never saw this response. I'll take your word for it. That price sounds CRAZY considering that the windshield seems to be exactly the same Pilkington one that was in my 2006 E90 330 except that my M3 does not have the tint strip (the windshields' fit/shape are the exact same on the M3 as the normal 3 series). Mine is 7/09 production. Are they just raising the prices for the M3 parts because they can or what?

My M3 windshield seems to be wearing about the same that my first E90's did...much pitting but luckily no cracks, get (fingers crossed). From reading the other posts, I think I'll find a PPG if I ever need a replacement.

[bubu]

BCA,

Did I read your post correctly...your M3 does not have a front windshield sun stripe?

I'm curious to know if some of the latest '11 delivery cars have the green tint stripe, or an "updated" 1.5inch gray stripe.

[V1.47fan]

Originally Posted by JTM3

Just wondering how many people here have replaced their M3 windshield before. Did you end up going back to the dealer for the OEM glass or did you go to a local glass shop for aftermarket?

If so, how good is the aftermarket stuff compared to the OEM Pilkington Glass?

Dealer is about 4 x more than the ordinary aftermarket windshield which is probably made in China from what I've been told.

Thanks

My 330i E90 windshield was replaced by safelite auto glass,they did an excellent for less than $400. The OEM pilkington was replaced with Sekurit/Saint Gobain OEM now on E92's and e90's i think.

What a lot of people don't realized a lot of BMW dealerships ordered the windshields but outsource the install anyway.

Safelite did a better job than my local BMW dealership and much cheaper and they use quality glass, even US made PPG OEM on some BMW's is good.

[BCA]

Originally Posted by bubu

BCA,

Did I read your post correctly...your M3 does not have a front windshield sun stripe?

I'm curious to know if some of the latest '11 delivery cars have the green tint stripe, or an "updated" 1.5inch gray stripe.

That's correct...mine is an '09 E90 delivered in 9/09 (7/09 production) and it has no tint stripe. Weird. Glass is Pilkington.

[BobsM3Coupe]

Originally Posted by BCA

That's correct...mine is an '09 E90 delivered in 9/09 (7/09 production) and it has no tint stripe. Weird. Glass is Pilkington.

Most of the E90, E91's from 2009 and all 2010 and later don't come with the dark band of tint across the top of the windshield. Just another cost cutting move for BMW to save 50 cents a windshield.

[bubu]

Every 2010 e92 m3 I've seen on the lots have the stripe.

BobsM3Couple can you clarify? I believe the 3-series (non m's) lost the tint stripe. Are you talking about all e9x cars loosing the tint stripe past 09, or just the 3-series non M cars?

[JCtx]

That tint stripe of barely 1-1/2" is like having nothing , so you're not missing much IMO.

[starkraven]

I guess there is something to be said for OEM fit, but the quality of the OEM glass is absolute shite. Spend some time in Porsche or Audi forums. No one posts anything about chipped windshields. I have driven my M3 about 1500 miles, and I have two chips that need repairing and two nicks. It is ridiculous.

[BobsM3Coupe]

Originally Posted by bubu

Every 2010 e92 m3 I've seen on the lots have the stripe.

BobsM3Couple can you clarify? I believe the 3-series (non m's) lost the tint stripe. Are you talking about all e9x cars loosing the tint stripe past 09, or just the 3-series non M cars?

So far, I haven't seen any E92 or E93's (M3 and non M3) without the dark tint band across the top of windshield. Only the E90 and E91's are missing it since mid year 2009 model year. But I have read of one guy that had the windshield changed on his E92, and even though it was a BMW windshield, it didn't have the dark tint band. So if that is true, then BMW sounds like they are eliminating it on the replacement windshields.

[BobsM3Coupe]

Originally Posted by elp_jc

That tint stripe of barely 1-1/2" is like having nothing , so you're not missing much IMO.

I just measured the dark tint band on my 2010 E92 M3 and it measures 4" down from the bottom of the black rubber seal at the top of the windshield.

The one on your car sounds like it wasn't made correctly.

[BobsM3Coupe]

Originally Posted by starkraven

I guess there is something to be said for OEM fit, but the quality of the OEM glass is absolute shite. Spend some time in Porsche or Audi forums. No one posts anything about chipped windshields. I have driven my M3 about 1500 miles, and I have two chips that need repairing and two nicks. It is ridiculous.

I have yet to find any make of vehicle where the windshields and the front paint don't get chipped now and then. It's just one of the hazards of using a vehicle on a roadway. Automotive paint and windshield glass have gotten softer in the past 10 years due to mandatory production changes.

[bubu]

...yeah, like I said I think they installed a regular 3 series windshield on my e92 and the service manager is lying through his teeth about some fictional new revision. I assume the 3-series windshield is probably a cheaper part.

I'm going to have to go to another dealership parts dept and have em pull both an e92 m3 windshield as well as a regular 3-series and open the boxes.

Now for the juicy question, do I get a lawyer and sue for automobile repair fraud since my invoice lists the correct part #, and mentions the tint strip in the description, do I file a credit card chargeback/dispute, do I again go and try to reason with the stealership? Call BMW NA?

any thoughts?

[kscarrol]

Originally Posted by TIMBO_M3

The SA also told me that going with a non-OEM windshield would mean that the sensor for the automatic windshield wipers wouldn't work anymore. Sounded like BS...can anyone prove or deny this?

Any other problems going with a non-OEM replacement other than maybe a bad fit (as mentioned above)?

We had my wife's X5 done by Safelite. Has the same rain sensor set up and the non-OEM windshield fit perfectly with no disruption to the rain sensor. Go with a reputable company like Safelite who knows how to deal with the rain sensor and you should be fine. $1,900 for a windshield is outrageous.

[BobsM3Coupe]

Originally Posted by bubu

...yeah, like I said I think they installed a regular 3 series windshield on my e92 and the service manager is lying through his teeth about some fictional new revision. I assume the 3-series windshield is probably a cheaper part.

I'm going to have to go to another dealership parts dept and have em pull both an e92 m3 windshield as well as a regular 3-series and open the boxes.

Now for the juicy question, do I get a lawyer and sue for automobile repair fraud since my invoice lists the correct part #, and mentions the tint strip in the description, do I file a credit card chargeback/dispute, do I again go and try to reason with the stealership? Call BMW NA?

any thoughts?

I think the same windshield is used for the E92 M3 and regular E92 3 series cars. I doubt there is a difference for the M3 windshield. I was at my dealership today for the Ultimate Driving Event and my salesman said I could drive any vehicle on the lot. So for the heck of it I took a 2011 E92 335is and the new 2011 550i out for a ride. Certainly no M3 but nice cars for what they are.

While I was at the dealer, I never saw any E92/E93 cars with a windshield that was lacking the dark band of tint across the top of it. So as you suggested, the service manager is no doubt lying through his caps.

[positiveions]

My cousin owns a glass shop up in San Jose. I can ask him if he can gets OEM and how much. And, if there is a better quality. I hate OEM stuff, it doesn't withstand small rocks and stuff, and it cracks easily.

[polonus]

I just replaced windshield with rain sensor on my 2008 M3 e90. Total cost $240, service done in my garage. I live in Charlotte, NC area and job was done by local independent shop, "Perfection Auto Glass" out of Cherryville, NC

It is a Pilkington Solar glass, with green shadow at the top - the original one had a gray shadow.