[Greyfox]

Of course ~4 miles from work I hear a loud pop and immediately see a quarter to half dollar bulls-eye in the windshield in front of the passenger seat.

Well the insurance gave me the option of using Safelite before getting the window replaced. The guy did a hell of a job and got probably 90% of it fixed (clear) but the impact point which was about a pencil size hole is basically an opaque mass (looks like a bug splat).

So, now I'm going to call the insurance and have them replace it. Should I trust the Safelite crew to put an aftermarket windshield in or get a dealership to do it. (Which the guy said the dealership will call them to put it in).

Just curious as to what others have done.

[grzes]

call them directly, dealers don't change the windshield, they always call others to do it and all you really gain is nothing but longer waiting time since the car goes from the dealer to the other shop, back to the dealer and then you. You will still have the warranty from them for the work done from the shop that will do it

[Welcome to NBA Jam]

If you've got a good relationship with your SA, ask him or her who the dealer goes through. Maybe even get a name of a common glass technician that comes by there, and you can request them.

The dealer has a deal (hah) with a glass company that they trust will do the right job. The dealer supplies the glass, performs all the quality control, and makes sure that the job was done to spec. They then charge a premium for going through the dealer.

The company that does this will have worked around BMWs often, that's a guarantee. The dealer also chose them specifically because they don't want customers to come back angry and tarnish their reputation. I'm sure there are also some guys there who have worked on BMW windshields more often than others, so they know their way around removing the cowling and making sure everything is put back together properly.

Find out who they are, go right to them Dealer-quality install for a fraction of the price.

Avoid Safelite's in-house brand. It's hit or miss on quality. There's a reason why it's cheaper, and that's it. Less QC.

Brands you want that are made for BMW:
- Pilkington
- PPG
- Saint-Gobain Sekurit

Brands you don't want:
- SYG
- XYZ
- Anything not one of the above 3

[itsstock02]

Im glad this thread came up as I need to have my windshield replaced sooner or later. Any other car of mine I wouldnt care as much, but I dont want the 335 getting messed up in any kind of way from the install.

[MGT81]

Ha! I just called the local glass repair place to get my windshield replaced this Friday. I've got third party glass coverage. Pay a $50 deductible to get my windshield replaced

[The Cleaner]

Just had mine done at the dealer, my local dealer does the glass in house and did a perfect job, 850.00 bucks for a 335is coupe. 100 deductible so it was not to bad.

[e92_enthusiast_1]

Windshields on our cars are nothing special from what the chip repair dude told me. The only thing he mentioned in my case, since I have rain sensor, was to let them know about that whenever I was ready to do a complete replace.

[Augster]

Speaking of the rain sensor, BMW recommends replacing the "stick-on" condensation sensor with a new one when replacing the windshield, but most shops simply re-glue the old one. You should also ensure the shop transfers the bottom windshield supporting ledge which the windshield cowl snaps into. I just had my windshield replaced two weeks ago and the shop discovered it was replaced once before and the other shop didn't transfer the support ledge which was why the cowl wasn't seated against the windshield.

I now have the support ledge on order and will try to install it myself, probably requiring that I trim some of the excess urethane adhesive in order to fit properly at the bottom of the windshield.

BTW, the shop I went to was Safelite here in SoCal and they did an excellent job as usual (they also did my truck a couple years back) but I heard of countless horror stories with Safelite franchises on the East coast and South.

[kdbryce]

My brother had his e92 windshield replaced with safelite. They did a great job and you can't even tell.

[mythek]

Originally Posted by The Cleaner

Just had mine done at the dealer, my local dealer does the glass in house and did a perfect job, 850.00 bucks for a 335is coupe. 100 deductible so it was not to bad.

$850 bucks for windshield replacement? these dealerships never failed to disappoint ahahahha

[BDSBMer]

Originally Posted by kdbryce

My brother had his e92 windshield replaced with safelite. They did a great job and you can't even tell.

Asked for and received an OEM windshield from safelite and Geico had no deductible! It's all good!

[3s4u2]

I have used Safelite before with good results but I made sure I had the windshield top cover, part number 51317061967, before I had them come out, little over $20 in cost and most dealers have them in stock.

[oshusttoley]

BMW uses Pilkington glass. You can get a bmw glass (Pilkington) with the BMW logo on the glass for thousands of dollars, or... You can get Pilkington oem BMW glass for about 250-300 with install. I cracked my windshield and got Pilkington. Only differ is that there is no BMW logo on the glass. The actual glass is the same as from the factory. You don't want cheap glass or safe lite glass, some people can see the differ in clarity

[e92_enthusiast_1]

Good to know thx.

In case other people are looking too i noticed my BMW branded windshield is made by Saint-Gobain Sekurit and it looks pretty solid but I did get a chip in it recently that i had filled. No pits or swirls though.

Originally Posted by oshusttoley

BMW uses Pilkington glass. You can get a bmw glass (Pilkington) with the BMW logo on the glass for thousands of dollars, or... You can get Pilkington oem BMW glass for about 250-300 with install. I cracked my windshield and got Pilkington. Only differ is that there is no BMW logo on the glass. The actual glass is the same as from the factory. You don't want cheap glass or safe lite glass, some people can see the differ in clarity

[smithf80]

Mine isn't cracked or chipped but it looks like shit all pitted and swirled. Theres been lots of discussion on how soft BMW glass installed on US cars is

[Quasimodem]

Originally Posted by oshusttoley

BMW uses Pilkington glass. You can get a bmw glass (Pilkington) with the BMW logo on the glass for thousands of dollars, or... You can get Pilkington oem BMW glass for about 250-300 with install. I cracked my windshield and got Pilkington. Only differ is that there is no BMW logo on the glass. The actual glass is the same as from the factory. You don't want cheap glass or safe lite glass, some people can see the differ in clarity

This is what I did. I had a $500 deductible, and the cost of the windshield was less than that (I did go through AAA, not sure if that gave me a better price), so I paid the full amount out of pocket. The pilkington glass safelite installed is fine so far (maybe 10 to 15k miles on it so far). Get some cleaner (those interior wipes are nice) and look around your upholstery after the new windshield is installed. Wipe away any window sealant that might have migrated to your upholstery before you get it on your clothes or spread it around your leather. Also, I removed the A pillar upholstery pieces (there is a screw under the airbag sign -- best to find a DIY on doing this first so you dont damage anythin) before taking it in to avoid dirty fingerprints on them.

I am very pleased with the performance of the U.S. Pilkington glass so far. It doesnt seem to get as pitted as the German stuff, but I havent gone nearly as many miles yet with the US glass as I did with the German "BMW" glass.

[JesseJames]

£70 on insurance

[ccraig13]

Originally Posted by smithe90

Mine isn't cracked or chipped but it looks like shit all pitted and swirled. Theres been lots of discussion on how soft BMW glass installed on US cars is

This.

I took my Griot's Dual Action polisher to it last summer and it helped a bit, but not much sadly

[mansito]

Safelite did a great job replacing the windshield on my wife's Lexus GX470. It was only ~$300, which is slightly more than getting a stone chip fixed. For that price I don't think I'll ever repair a windshield.

[bunker]

This thread has been very helpful.

The BMW Store in Cincinnati wanted to charge me $1600 for a windshield replacement on my 2011 E91.

Safelite confirmed with me that they stock and use Pilkington glass. $525 before my deductible.

Brilliant.

[Greyfox]

Well, after having it repaired it was still an issue. The damaged place looked like a magnifying glass covered with a spider web from the inside. And it looked like it had started to splinter from one place.

So, called up insurance told them about it and they scheduled a full replacement. Took it over and Safelite had a BMW windshield waiting on it. $250 and got a new windscreen