I am documenting this to help others. I was looking for this type of information to help me determine how to approach fixing my windshield.

I live in Southern California with a 2005 MCS with Rain Sensor and the closest dealership (Bob Smith) verbally estimated a $1,000 experience.

The before photo is a little out of focus but you can still see the star pattern that a rock thrown back from a truck tire on a freeway on ramp, caused....

I ended up going to a Safelite autoglass shop (in Pasadena) and the $57 fee was waived and paid by my insurance company even though I have a high comprehensive deductible ($1,000).

The after photo shows the repair circled in red and the reflection from the sunlight on the top of the dash. Oddly, if this makes sense, after the repair the reflections from the cracks eminating out from the point of impact are gone, but the horizontal line going left and right and vertical like desending from the impact point are more noticible on the dash.

The actual repair is harder to see and depends on what is in the background (i.e., in front of the car). While looking at Gray (or Grey) cement through the windshield it is easier to see the repair, yet with a complex background like asphalt it is very hard to see the repair.

I wish I had gotten this repaired immediately as the cracks got about 40% bigger in the week after the impact. It was about the size of a dime initiallly and at the time of repair was about the size of a nickle.

There seems to be a lot of mis-information (A lot of factors will affect what happens when a rock hits a windshield. Such as the shape and size of the rock, the softness/hardness, the speed it is traveling at, the angle of impact, the type of glass, and probably things like temperature,etc...) and dis-information (statements made by some dealerships/ and perhaps BMW/MINI representatives that promote their products and services out of fear and not fact) out there.

I have tried to be objective in my report on my experience.

Obviously it is a case of buyer beware. If you are reading this, I wish you good luck in solving any issues you may have with your great mini car !!