I've had my mini since june 07. This the first time that I have witten any thing to the group. I do have a question, It seems that every rock on the highway seems find my windshield, is there any kind of bug shield or reflector I can buy to help? Thanks Joyce

 

They are definately a rock magnet.....I had a clear bra installed on our first MINI to protect the bonnet and they do have coatings that can be applied to the windshield as well but I opt'd out of that. Have not decided what I want to do with our new 08 but I will try something. I have heard that PPG glass for windshield replacement seems to hold up much better than the OEM windshield

 

I've got 30K on my '06MCS, and caught a NASTY rock a week ago or so... a minivan kicked it up and OVER a motorcyclist to hit me (I'm glad it caught me vs the biker!)
anyway, $10 later I bought a crack-repair kit from the friendly parts place.
Crack is gone (except a tiny divot).

The kit wanted the windshiled to be between 50F and 70F, and its 30F here in NJ (and really cloudy)... so I put an electric space heater in the boot (with the seats down) in the garage... I got the windshield upto 68F (measured with an IR pyrometer) and followed the dir.
the other wrinkle, the epoxy uses IR to set, so I grabbed a compact florescent bulb and screwed it into a lamp... instant IR source.

My your rock chips be as easily repaired as this... now I just need to find some good touch-up paint for the front bumper rock chips
(damnable road construction)

 

PPG (brand name) is the only way to go. Our Element went through four windshields before I finally demanded PPG glass. It has four rock dings, but none of them have turned into cracks.