I have about an 8 inch crack in my front windshield. Does anyone know of a good place to get the front windshield replaced? Hopefully maybe someone with experience working on MINIs. I've heard some stories of the A-pillar plastic coming off becaues the tabs were broken during install. Thanks in advance.

 

I know that most of the people in our club know more than I do, but few post on the forums. That being said, I have HEARD the best thing to do for windshields is to order a factory one from Rasmussin and have someone else install it. That way you still get the OEM fit, but you dont have to pay rediculous prices for install.

Someone will probably argue this, but I used Speedy Glass on Broadway a while back.. the guy bent over backwards to limit my costs. I brought in my Acura Integra that was leaking through the seal. He told me the risks upfront of removing a windshild in one piece and said if the seal was tight enough.. it would be difficult to remove. At the end of the day, he was able to remove the glass without error and only charged me $50 bucks for his time.

my .02

 

Pilkington make a good glass for the MINI. PPG is ok.

Both are better than OEM for hardness. But not so hard that the first thing they do is crack.

I think the OEM glass is meant to "pit" rather than crack. hence the softness.

 

I bit the bullet back in May and had Rasmussen replace my cracked (and severally pitted) windshield with a new OEM one. While the cost was higher than a PPG or the like (about $400), it wasn't outrageous. For my money, I at least was comforted by the fact that Rasmussen would know what they were doing and I would not end up with broker pillars. But, I guess I paid a premium for that.

 

Thanks for the info guys. As i was doing research I saw that there was a "stress crack" issue that is covered under warranty. I called Rasmussen today and she said it really affected '03s. I have a low mile '03 that is under warranty so the next time the BMW tech is out they are going to check if my window passes the test and qualifies.

I never heard a rock or anything hit the window, and the crack is an L shaped crack that starts below the chrome strip at the bottom of the window.

It woudl be nice to have this covered.

 

if the crack starts at the bottom, typically about the middle of the passanger wipper, and goes up just about an inch above the wiper then makes a nice 90 degree turn and follows a horizontal line, it should be covered.

Seriously, the very brief discription you gave sounds just like what happened to my 04, which was replaced on warranty.