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      11-24-2014, 08:49 AM   #1
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Winshield chips/cracks

I just wanted to see how many M4 and M3 owners here have received chips or cracks in their windshield?

I am seriously starting to think something is wrong with the glass BMW is using on these cars.

I have replaced my windshield on the M4 TWO TIMES from cracks and chips within a 3 month period! I no longer drive it on the freeway which is where I seem to be picking up chips which turn into cracks.. Having them repaired in-between, Something is wrong here..

I have never had a rock chip or crack in all my years of driving high end cars... I have a winter car that really takes a licking and it has 0 cracks or chips..

I am starting to believe there is something seriously wrong with the durability of the windshield being used by BMW..

Can any members here please post here if you have had similar issues with this new M3/M4 model?
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      11-24-2014, 08:53 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dondula View Post
I just wanted to see how many M4 and M3 owners here have received chips or cracks in their windshield?

I am seriously starting to think something is wrong with the glass BMW is using on these cars.

I have replaced my windshield on the M4 TWO TIMES from cracks and chips within a 3 month period! I no longer drive it on the freeway which is where I seem to be picking up chips which turn into cracks.. Having them repaired in-between, Something is wrong here..

I have never had a rock chip or crack in all my years of driving high end cars... I have a winter car that really takes a licking and it has 0 cracks or chips..

I am starting to believe there is something seriously wrong with the durability of the windshield being used by BMW..

Can any members here please post here if you have had similar issues with this new M3/M4 model?
M4 with a Chip as well.
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      11-24-2014, 09:00 AM   #3
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Originally Posted by LBC870 View Post
M4 with a Chip as well.
Before this chip, Can you remember the last time you got a chip/crack in the windshield of a car?

I can't, which is why I feel something is wrong with BMW's glass.. No matter what I do or how slow I drive, I kept getting chips and cracks.. After my 2nd windshield replacement, I just stopped driving on the freeway. I take the long way everywhere now and NO chips.. If enough people can report about this issue, Then maybe we can get BMW to do a Recall on the glass.

This glass chips/cracks wayyy too easy. Something isn't right.
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      11-24-2014, 09:01 AM   #4
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Is there something we can put on the glass to protect it?

No chips yet but, not a daily driven car.
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      11-24-2014, 09:05 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by Gstone View Post
Is there something we can put on the glass to protect it?

No chips yet but, not a daily driven car.
I only have 3k miles on my car since getting it in June. I don't drive it daily, but trust me, you will pick up some.

I called around asking if there is a protective film they can install over the windshield, A lot of tint places won't work with the stuff, but they said there is a product, it's similar to what they use for front bumpers.. I called to a place out of state that actually does it, Its 600 bucks to do the windshield and it only lasts a year. They said it's only done for track cars and not for daily drivers.. They said its not even street legal in some states to do the film on the windshield..

I surfed the net and there is nothing else to prevent rock chips.
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      11-24-2014, 09:10 AM   #6
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I think I have gotten chips on every car I have driven. Perhaps the F80 glass is lighter and more fragile... Or roads are getting worse...
Makes me nervous though because I opted to save on insurance with a 1k deductible.
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      11-24-2014, 09:14 AM   #7
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2 chips in two months. One fixed with just an injection at safelite $60, the other is a surface chip (hard to see) can't be filled and isn't spreading anywhere. I don't think the glass is any cheaper, chalk it up to bad luck.
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      11-24-2014, 09:15 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stressdoc View Post
I think I have gotten chips on every car I have driven. Perhaps the F80 glass is lighter and more fragile... Or roads are getting worse...
Makes me nervous though because I opted to save on insurance with a 1k deductible.
I feel your pain.. I did the same with my insurance, But rest easy pal, Most insurance companies treat windshield rock damage as a no fault and the deductible is much lower.. 250 deductible for windshield. It would be worth calling your insurance company to make sure, but it should fit that bill.


I drive a winter car that is low to the ground and I use the same roads as I did the M4, and I have 0 rock chips on my other car. Something is wrong with the glass for sure.
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      11-24-2014, 09:17 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by Andrew115 View Post
2 chips in two months. One fixed with just an injection at safelite $60, the other is a surface chip (hard to see) can't be filled and isn't spreading anywhere. I don't think the glass is any cheaper, chalk it up to bad luck.
Roads were just as bad 2 winters ago, I had 0 chips in my e92.. and 0 chips in my c63.. I really don't think two windshields in 3 months is bad luck.. Something is off with this glass.
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      11-24-2014, 09:22 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dondula View Post
Roads were just as bad 2 winters ago, I had 0 chips in my e92.. and 0 chips in my c63.. I really don't think two windshields in 3 months is bad luck.. Something is off with this glass.
I haven't had a windshield chip in 8+ years 200K miles on roads from ME to NC. I have driven the trip in many cars.

When it rains it pours.... I haven't had a nail in my tire for a few yrs also but I can say the last time I did it was followed by another Nail 2wks later in the same tire. I would think the glass is important to pass safety standards and hard to skimp on.

If it's a global issue I am sure we will hear about it from many other members very soon with more on the road every day.

I hope your right and we all get new glass, fixing my non repairable nick but something tells me that's not going to happen.
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      11-24-2014, 09:24 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew115 View Post
I haven't had a windshield chip in 8+ years 200K miles on roads from ME to NC. I have driven the trip in many cars.

When it rains it pours.... I haven't had a nail in my tire for a few yrs also but I can say the last time I did it was followed by another Nail 2wks later in the same tire. I would think the glass is important to pass safety standards and hard to skimp on.

If it's a global issue I am sure we will hear about it from many other members very soon with more on the road every day.

I hope your right and we all get new glass, fixing my non repairable nick but something tells me that's not going to happen.
Yeah, it's been awhile for me since I caught a nail as well.. My M4, got two nails within 1 week apart from each other. both driver side, one front one rear.
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      11-24-2014, 09:44 AM   #12
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I just saw a nail this saturday, 1200 miles on car. Not sure how long it was there.
Got it fixed at local tire shop.
Haven't had a nail in more than 8 years.

No glass chips, yet.
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      11-24-2014, 09:56 AM   #13
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I don't know but I agree with you. I had to pay $600 bucks two months ago to replace the glass in my daily driver a 328i. It cost me $600 bucks because I have a $500 deductible and I did not pick the glass coverage for a replacement Pilkington. Then last month I got a chip in my M3. I went to the same place and they said you can't fill it but be careful and stop driving so fast with all the slow cars around you.
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      11-24-2014, 10:48 AM   #14
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Had a large rock crack the windshield after about 3K miles. This hit would have cracked any windshield IMHO so I can't comment on the durability of the cars particular glass. Cost about $1300 all in at my BMW dealership, but the work performed was excellent.

There is a product called 'Clearplex' that is applied to the windshield. It costs about $250 installed, and if installed correctly it is very difficult to know its there. Not optically perfect, but very unobtrusive. Finding a good installer is paramount. I consider it a 'throw away' product in that I would replace it annually. It will protect the windshield from all but the worst kinds of damage, and certainly will stop the multiple small pits and chips that occur just by routine driving, at least here in the Midwest. I have had it installed on three different vehicles and will get it installed on the M4 ASAP.
Bish
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      11-24-2014, 11:01 AM   #15
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Originally Posted by thebishman View Post
Had a large rock crack the windshield after about 3K miles. This hit would have cracked any windshield IMHO so I can't comment on the durability of the cars particular glass. Cost about $1300 all in at my BMW dealership, but the work performed was excellent.

There is a product called 'Clearplex' that is applied to the windshield. It costs about $250 installed, and if installed correctly it is very difficult to know its there. Not optically perfect, but very unobtrusive. Finding a good installer is paramount. I consider it a 'throw away' product in that I would replace it annually. It will protect the windshield from all but the worst kinds of damage, and certainly will stop the multiple small pits and chips that occur just by routine driving, at least here in the Midwest. I have had it installed on three different vehicles and will get it installed on the M4 ASAP.
Bish
That is the cheapest I have heard... I live in Michigan which is the motor city for crying out loud, no one works with it here.. Out of state, the couple installers I called were 550 to 600 installed. only lasts a year. So 250 installed is amazing. Don't know how they do it.
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      11-24-2014, 11:02 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dondula
I just wanted to see how many M4 and M3 owners here have received chips or cracks in their windshield?

I am seriously starting to think something is wrong with the glass BMW is using on these cars.

I have replaced my windshield on the M4 TWO TIMES from cracks and chips within a 3 month period! I no longer drive it on the freeway which is where I seem to be picking up chips which turn into cracks.. Having them repaired in-between, Something is wrong here..

I have never had a rock chip or crack in all my years of driving high end cars... I have a winter car that really takes a licking and it has 0 cracks or chips..

I am starting to believe there is something seriously wrong with the durability of the windshield being used by BMW..

Can any members here please post here if you have had similar issues with this new M3/M4 model?
On the way home from PCD no less, gravel truck on I-95 south unloaded debris onto oncoming traffic including my brand spanking new F80! Needless to say, I exceeded the recommended RPMs and speed before break in service to move out of the way. A piece created a surface blemish that I tried to clean with Invisible glass to no avail. I came from an Acura TL type S. The windshield on that vehicle was sloped in a less acute fashion than the BMW. Just a hypothesis, but the more vertically aligned window allows for more direct impact, perpendicular to the surface, resulting in greater risk of injury to the glass. I believe Pilkington makes the front windshield. Interestingly, that manufacturer has it's local NA headquarters where I live...
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      11-24-2014, 12:36 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by Vigilant View Post
On the way home from PCD no less, gravel truck on I-95 south unloaded debris onto oncoming traffic including my brand spanking new F80! Needless to say, I exceeded the recommended RPMs and speed before break in service to move out of the way. A piece created a surface blemish that I tried to clean with Invisible glass to no avail. I came from an Acura TL type S. The windshield on that vehicle was sloped in a less acute fashion than the BMW. Just a hypothesis, but the more vertically aligned window allows for more direct impact, perpendicular to the surface, resulting in greater risk of injury to the glass. I believe Pilkington makes the front windshield. Interestingly, that manufacturer has it's local NA headquarters where I live...
interesting hypothesis.
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      11-24-2014, 01:32 PM   #18
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I need a a new windshield too. A truck threw a rock at mine in August but I haven't apparently had the time to handle this ordeal.
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      11-24-2014, 01:35 PM   #19
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Quote:
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I need a a new windshield too. A truck threw a rock at mine in August but I haven't apparently had the time to handle this ordeal.
When we bought the Benz they tried to sell us this 'diamond fusion' crap. Which we didn't buy. Then we got a crack and had to replace the windshield.

I think the best part of it was that they were going to make a replacement cheaper

(my insurance doesn't cover the windshield - essentially priced to the point where it makes no sense to have it covered and cheaper to self insure, even if it means replacing every year or two.......though I worry with this HUD windshield about how bad it will get....)
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      11-24-2014, 02:01 PM   #20
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Originally Posted by myzmak View Post
When we bought the Benz they tried to sell us this 'diamond fusion' crap. Which we didn't buy. Then we got a crack and had to replace the windshield.

I think the best part of it was that they were going to make a replacement cheaper

(my insurance doesn't cover the windshield - essentially priced to the point where it makes no sense to have it covered and cheaper to self insure, even if it means replacing every year or two.......though I worry with this HUD windshield about how bad it will get....)
Mine covers shields, but as you may have noticed I'm avoiding all the things I'm supposed to do, including this. The dealership said its 2k to replace so the insurance is a good thing and I think I'll keep avoiding this till spring.

Peter and I will now go and ask a nice man at the dealership to sell me a car I don't want. It's funny how much time one can spend in avoiding shit they don't want to do. Somehow I see this turning into a horror story again.
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      11-24-2014, 02:27 PM   #21
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1,800 miles (nearly all Interstate) and I have one bad one (you can see it easily) and several smaller ones. I had this problem on my 335 too...had two really bad rock strikes in about six months. Both were repairable, one better than the other. At least the big one on the M3 isn't spreading...
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      11-24-2014, 02:40 PM   #22
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Originally Posted by Lynchmob6 View Post
1,800 miles (nearly all Interstate) and I have one bad one (you can see it easily) and several smaller ones. I had this problem on my 335 too...had two really bad rock strikes in about six months. Both were repairable, one better than the other. At least the big one on the M3 isn't spreading...
Important things to keep In mind if you want to repair it and not replace.

Cover the chipped area with tape until you get it fixed, to keep the dirt out of the chip. That way, it will repair nice and have a better finished result.

Another thing is to get them fixed ASAP, one bump could within a blink of an eye, turn the smallest chip, into a big crack...

The only downside to the epoxy fillers they use on windshields, is they dull over time from wipers and become more visible.. But a little dab of polish will shine the repaired area right back up again.
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