Windscreens is windscreens ?

[Zeuk in Oz]

Need a new windscreen and spoke with the dealer about it and was told that genuine BMW winscreens are 30% thicker than the common garden variety sold by Windscreens O'Brien etc.

Anyone have any experience ?

Covered by my insurance so cost is not the issue.

Interestingly enough, the local dealer doesn't fit winscreens, gets Windscreens O'Brien to do it instead.

[mamilapon]

Ask Obriens if they install different windscreens for bimmers.

[Zeuk in Oz]

Already done - they either use their own or use a genuine BMW windscreen if I wish at a higher price.

What nobody seems to be able to tell me is if there is any difference between them.

Presuming not, I will probably go with the genuine windscreen anyway, but it would be nice to know !

[John in CT]

I got a non-BMW windshield, brand Pilkington and after two years it has some pitting, light but not perfect looking. The car is garaged and goes 6-8K miles a year in New England so that's not severe service IMHO.

John
1995 525i

[Zeuk in Oz]

Thanks for that !

I was also worried about the screen not fitting into its position properly if it is a little bit thinner.

[Michael999]

I have a non-bmw windscreen on mine. Seems fine, the thing you dont get is original trim around it.
Unless you pay throught the nose, they will fit a bendable rubber surround.
It looks fine unless you are really picky and want perfect match with the rest of the car.
When i was asking prices the difference was $230 for aftermarket, $700 for bmw.

[mattyb]

the surrounding trim (3 pieces) in OZ is $650.00 from BMW. the little plugs- clips needed are $2 bux each and there are about 15 of them. they can only be replaced properly when the windscreen is out. So if its a screen replacement have a look at the plastic trim plugs-clips aroung the screen and see if now is a good time to renew them as they get brittle and snap with age.

[KenB]

On my e28, I went through 4 windscreens in 10 years, the thinner glass cracked with the slightest hit of a small stone kicked up on the highway. Everytime I replaced it, within 3 months, the new one would be done in.

I suspect it was a combination of thinner glass, the less aerodynamic upright position of the glass and/or bad fit of the glass making it tight and putting pressure on it.

If insurance is paying, get the best piece of glass.

[genphreak]

Zeuk, what insurance do you have? Obviously not BMW, they provide one dealer fitted BMW screen per year without any affect on your premium, or having to pay the excess I believe. I would guess that since it'd be dealer fitted you should insist on a new seal...

BMW insurance is trhough Allianz, they have a special team of 'carer's' in Melbourne to answer the phone. You buy it through the dealer, just see their finance person, he/she will sit you down and tell you the numbers. I found it far better than any other, they even pay for a hire car if you have your car off the road AND guarantee only BMW approved repairers and parts will be used.

:) Nick

[Bill R.]

I suspect the dealer is handing you a load of BS. Laminated glass as used in windsheilds/windscreens is typically always the same thickness. The differences noted here over the years is that there are many complaints about pitting on the original bmw glass but the aftermarket glass used here seems to pit much less. If you search some of the other older boards such as roadfly a few years back there were many posts regarding this. Ask the bmw dealer if you can measure the thickness of the windshield and then measure an aftermarket. I would suspect you'll find they are the same



Need a new windscreen and spoke with the dealer about it and was told that genuine BMW winscreens are 30% thicker than the common garden variety sold by Windscreens O'Brien etc.

Anyone have any experience ?

Covered by my insurance so cost is not the issue.

Interestingly enough, the local dealer doesn't fit winscreens, gets Windscreens O'Brien to do it instead.

[genphreak]

I suspect the dealer is handing you a load of BS. Laminated glass as used in windsheilds/windscreens is typically always the same thickness. The differences noted here over the years is that there are many complaints about pitting on the original bmw glass but the aftermarket glass used here seems to pit much less. If you search some of the other older boards such as roadfly a few years back there were many posts regarding this. Ask the bmw dealer if you can measure the thickness of the windshield and then measure an aftermarket. I would suspect you'll find they are the sameBill could be right on the thickness point, Pilks and O'Briens were customers of mine some years ago. I was often at the plants in Melb and Sydney, I saw how they do most of it. They actually import a lot of the lower volume panes (espeically side glass) into Australia.

However I would lay money on BMW having it 0.5mm thicker. The Aussies ones seemed thin to me- but I don't think .5mm is anything to worry about. :D

In Oz (I don't know if it is similar in the US) the glass we make is softer than the German glass, which is very tough. However as much as the cynics might say this is quality related (and it may be) I believe it suits conditions. The kinds of environmental wear each face varies depending on the country- and they can't get that specific (e34 was made in somehting like 5 international versions, to accomodate different glass types would make this too complex to manage).

Soft glass may be better for low rain/dry, hot environments (ie imagine how glass tolerates flying stones and grinding sand differently, at say 0 degrees and 40 degrees C).

A primary factor in europe is grime on the road due to traffic density and rainfall. Getting under your wipers and scratching the screen faster as you drive with them on almost every day. Here in Aus wipers are lucky to get used once or twice a week. However brittle glass leads to more stone damage, so it is, perhaps, a balance maufacturers have to strike.

What turns me off Aussie screens is the quality and the fact that mine is already scratched by the wipers anyway. It is also road worn (pitted) so my money is on a dealer fitted screen next time to see.

Other bonus is you can take an M5 for a spin whilst you wait- if you play it right ;) Nick

[Bill R.]

to be regarded as much better than oem bmw glass. Sekurit is supposed to be the oem supplier for most bmw glass. The ppg doesn't scratch or pit nearly as easy. Glass can be hard and tough, check some of the links on this search
(http://www.google.com/search?q=ppg%20glass%20better%20on%20bmw&sourceid=groowe&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8)



I suspect the dealer is handing you a load of BS. Laminated glass as used in windsheilds/windscreens is typically always the same thickness. The differences noted here over the years is that there are many complaints about pitting on the original bmw glass but the aftermarket glass used here seems to pit much less. If you search some of the other older boards such as roadfly a few years back there were many posts regarding this. Ask the bmw dealer if you can measure the thickness of the windshield and then measure an aftermarket. I would suspect you'll find they are the same

[Zeuk in Oz]

to be regarded as much better than oem bmw glass. Sekurit is supposed to be the oem supplier for most bmw glass. The ppg doesn't scratch or pit nearly as easy. Glass can be hard and tough, check some of the links on this search
(http://www.google.com/search?q=ppg%20glass%20better%20on%20bmw&sourceid=groowe&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8)
Thanks Bill - a fountain of knowledge yet again.

Will continue my research and let you know what I find out, if anything.

[Zeuk in Oz]

Zeuk, what insurance do you have? Obviously not BMW, they provide one dealer fitted BMW screen per year without any affect on your premium, or having to pay the excess I believe. I would guess that since it'd be dealer fitted you should insist on a new seal...

BMW insurance is trhough Allianz, they have a special team of 'carer's' in Melbourne to answer the phone. You buy it through the dealer, just see their finance person, he/she will sit you down and tell you the numbers. I found it far better than any other, they even pay for a hire car if you have your car off the road AND guarantee only BMW approved repairers and parts will be used.

:) Nick
I am with NRMA, Nick.

The problems for me with Allianz ( at least under the guise of Mercedes Benz Insurance [that I used to have on my ML 270] as opposed to BMW) are 2 fold.

- They don't allow drivers under 25
- They don't have agreed value policies - they are market value. I don't like anything that leaves anything to the discretion of the insurance company.

NRMA have a higher excess if the kids are driving but no variation in premium.

The other issue is that the dealer doesn't fit the windscreen - they get O'Briens to do it.

Cheers,

Bo

[BillionPa]

the potassium content of the glass also makes a huge difference in durability and crack resistance.

[GJPinAU]

Bo, when I bought the "movie star" she had a cracked windscreen and had it replaced under the prior owners insurance.
Problem was, when we took out the screen there was a bit of rust under it, (O'Briens had a guy that could repair it!) so had to drive the car home from Artarmon to Mt Colah on the F3 without a front screen. Oh yeah, it was winter time. And I did the repair work myself.
Then I dropped the wiper arm onto the new screen and broke that one.
Paid cash to replace it as it was only $350 and excess was $400.
The windscreen they put in cracked through the centre in a month and had to replace that one, but also had to replace all the mouldings ($700) as it was going to be at least the 5th screen that had been in the car. Claimed this one through insurance.
The one in there now is still in good condition.

cheers,
Greg
P.S. I'm with NRMA and didn't have any probs claiming

[Zeuk in Oz]

Bo, when I bought the "movie star" she had a cracked windscreen and had it replaced under the prior owners insurance.
Problem was, when we took out the screen there was a bit of rust under it, (O'Briens had a guy that could repair it!) so had to drive the car home from Artarmon to Mt Colah on the F3 without a front screen. Oh yeah, it was winter time. And I did the repair work myself.
Then I dropped the wiper arm onto the new screen and broke that one.
Paid cash to replace it as it was only $350 and excess was $400.
The windscreen they put in cracked through the centre in a month and had to replace that one, but also had to replace all the mouldings ($700) as it was going to be at least the 5th screen that had been in the car. Claimed this one through insurance.
The one in there now is still in good condition.

cheers,
Greg
P.S. I'm with NRMA and didn't have any probs claiming

Got the OK from the claims assessors this morning for the genuine BMW screen - $674 v 460.

Will see how it goes.

[genphreak]

There's no excess and barely a claim if you have BMW insurance through the dealer plus you get other frills too. Mine with a 60% NCB was around $1400 per year ;)

[Zeuk in Oz]

There's no excess and barely a claim if you have BMW insurance through the dealer plus you get other frills too. Mine with a 60% NCB was around $1400 per year ;)

Mine has no excess and no effect on the No Claim Bonus.

[Zeuk in Oz]

Original BMW windscreen fitted this morning. Looks good so far.

Insurance company came at original BMW screen - :)