Cracked windshield

[Raustin]

Had mine replaced at San Antonio BMW and the bill was $1700....I have USAA with a $500 deductable and that still hurt. If she had a ton of miles on her would have went with aftermarket...but BMW is the way to go..for me.

[markjord]

I'm not really sure why people think that a BMW tech is going to do a better job for them than the 3rd party guys.
I'm in the UK and used Autoglass. Cost me £75 (insurance excess). The job was done back in May and no problems whatsoever. I took it to their depot and waited rather than using the call out service. The guy understood I did not want a rubbish job doing on my pride and joy. These guys fit windscreens all day every day so they get pretty good at doing it. Chances are your BMW tech has not done many. They most likely sub-contract it anyway. Well that's just my opinion. At the end of the day it's just luck whether you get a good guy doing your work. Pleased with mine though. 8 months later and still looks like new - none of the terrible pitting that I had on the original screen.

[thread killer]

Originally Posted by markjord

I'm not really sure why people think that a BMW tech is going to do a better job for them than the 3rd party guys.
I'm in the UK and used Autoglass. Cost me £75 (insurance excess). The job was done back in May and no problems whatsoever. I took it to their depot and waited rather than using the call out service. The guy understood I did not want a rubbish job doing on my pride and joy. These guys fit windscreens all day every day so they get pretty good at doing it. Chances are your BMW tech has not done many. They most likely sub-contract it anyway. Well that's just my opinion. At the end of the day it's just luck whether you get a good guy doing your work. Pleased with mine though. 8 months later and still looks like new - none of the terrible pitting that I had on the original screen.

that there lies the problem.

the KEY difference is who works on it.

i probably have put in over 200-300 windshields. 99.99% of them are BMW's.
who knows how many other peices of glass on a BMW i have installed.

who do you think will do a better job? me, or some cracked out mobile windshield guy who puts glass in any vehicle for as cheap as possible?
you would be AMAZED at the crap i have seen with aftermarket companies putting glass in BMW's. not just the windshield, but any glass for that matter.

its one of those get what you pay for things, and if you get lucky or not.
its the ones who dont get lucky from a cheap installation is where i get lucky having to fix it.


the lastest awesomeness was an E65 who safelite put a glass in and didnt reassemble the drains correctly. the water off the cowl went down the microfilters, got into the Ebox, flooded the interior of the car.


you know how expensive it is to strip the interior of an E65?
a lot more than what it would have cost to have a qualified person install it


take gamble, see if its worth the risk.

[sameh]

check your auto insurance policy, if you have windshield insurance you DON'T pay the deductable, they you replace it, they pay 100% and your insurance premium does not go up. It would be a disaster if you have that insurance and you don't use it and end up paying 500-1000 out of pocket.