since my last post on this subject,I have gone through two more windshields, bringing my grand total to 6 in a year and four months.I have learned that I am not alone,as I know of at least 2 other people who have broken 5.Enough is enough ,mini usa!You have a windshield which is constructed of two 1/16 pieces of glass ,separated by some kind of matrix,and this is clearly not good enough!I need to hear from any and all of you who have had similar experiences ,because now I am ready to seek legal council,and I am prepared to force Miniusa to deal with this.Please contact me at jholden@ssginc.com if you want to be counted in on this.If I didn't love this car so damn much, I'd just sell it in disgust and walk away.

 

9 months and 11K miles on my first windshield. I have 2 rock chips, one of which was about 2/3 the diameter of a dime. It caused no fracture, just a nice chuck of glass missing. I can't hold MINI responsible for either of them, but I am curious as to why some of these cars are more prone to develop stress cracks than others.

I know this doesn't help your cause any. BTW, did all your windshield fall victim to stress cracking?

 

>>since my last post on this subject,I have gone through two more windshields, bringing my grand total to 6 in a year and four months.I have learned that I am not alone,as I know of at least 2 other people who have broken 5.Enough is enough ,mini usa!You have a windshield which is constructed of two 1/16 pieces of glass ,separated by some kind of matrix,and this is clearly not good enough!I need to hear from any and all of you who have had similar experiences ,because now I am ready to seek legal council,and I am prepared to force Miniusa to deal with this.Please contact me at jholden@ssginc.com if you want to be counted in on this.If I didn't love this car so damn much, I'd just sell it in disgust and walk away.

I awoke to a stress crack in mine this week, just 3 weeks short of one year since taking delivery.

Have all 6 of yours been replaced under warranty? If so, what legal remedy are you seeking? A new car? Some payment for your time and mental anguish plus some punative damages for their bad design and being stupid?

 

>>9 months and 11K miles on my first windshield. I have 2 rock chips, one of which was about 2/3 the diameter of a dime. It caused no fracture, just a nice chuck of glass missing. I can't hold MINI responsible for either of them, but I am curious as to why some of these cars are more prone to develop stress cracks than others.
>>
>>I know this doesn't help your cause any. BTW, did all your windshield fall victim to stress cracking?
so far all have been replaced under warrentee.All but two were stress cracks which occured with the car at rest.the last two ,pebble ( and I do mean pebble,not rock!)induced ,but again the cracks occured after the fact with the car at rest.The service mgr. at mini peabody(northern Mass.)made it real clear that the next one is going to go through my insurance co.I could live with divots, I've had lots of them over the years, but these all seem to result in nasty 7-14 inch cracks.The remedy I will be seeking is a redesign to inclde a MUCH thicker outer sheet of glass.Thanks for the input ,stay tuned. :evil:

 

I just had mine crack for the first time (02 Cooper S). The dealership said that a rock had hit it and it would not be covered under warantee. I was displeased, but nothing I could really do...

 

I also got the first crack in my 02 MCS this past week.

Right lower windshield, started practically at the edge, very near the bottom.

Dealer says its a "foreign object crack" due to the "pen test"...he traced a pen along the crack, and when it stopped, he pointed that spot out as point of impact--happend to be right at the edge of the windshield.

I'm not sure I think it was a foreign object, but I don't have much expertise to disagree...and according the the "pen test" its a smooth crack until that point....

I'm not sure I'll replace with stock windshield...if I'm paying, I'll probably see if I can get an improved quality glass....
maybe the upright design of the windshield predisposes to stone damage????

 

I'm with MINI USA. I've passed this message on to a MINI National Customer Relations Representative who will be in touch with you soon.

 

MINIDivision, how do you decide which posters are worthy of your assistance? I once PM'd you concerning my stress cracked windshield that the dealer refused to replace, as they claimed it was due to a rock chip. The crack appeared within 2 months of delivery. I never received a response from you.

Knowing that MINI made a serious mistake when choosing glass for the windshield, I refused to pay the $750 that Global Imports in Atlanta wanted to replace my windshield. Instead, I have stubbornly chosen to drive around with a cracked windshield and use it as a chance to inform potential MINI buyers to be ready to pay $750 every few months to replace the defective windshield.

Hopefully, some aftermarket company will step up to the plate and offer a thicker, more durable windshield.

 

I experience extensive creaking from the area of my a-pillars. I have had one windshield replaced, at my insurance companies expense at 3,000 miles. The crack itself appeared while the vehicle was at rest. I have heard, and continue to hear, creaking fom area of the a-pillar while stationary at a traffic light.

I am very concerned of the long time reliability of our vehicles. It has been reported that some form of reinforcement has been added to 04 models. It will be beneficial for MINI to devuldge what fixes have been put in place, and at what date.
It would also be beneficial for MINI to explain what, if anything can be done to remediate this issue on earlier vehicles.

 

I doubt that, because my Land Rover Defender 90 has an even more vertical and perfectly flat windshield. The truck is almost 10 years old and has been hit with so many rocks that is is now frosted from the sandblasting of 10 years of Colorado gravel. I have prayed that it would crack so that I could make an insurance claim, but the damn thing is so strong that it refuses to. It has even survived direct hits from huge chunks of a blown out big-rig tire that exploded right in front of me at highway speed.

 

Yesterday I got in my MINI and noticed a crack in the right hand side of the windshield, started at the bottom in the middle of the wiper blade, went up about 6 inches and took a hard left towards the fender. It wasn't there the night before so I'm wondering if it's a hot/cold issue (heated garage, cold outside). There does seem to be a little chip (I did the pen test as well) but I had to get about an inch away before I could see it. My 4Runner takes abuse and has several 'chunks' out of the window but has no cracks. Even if the chip was caused by road debris, the design of the window predisposes it to cracking. With the less than stellar service I have received from my dealer and all the other issues (stumble, defect of rear window from delivery only replaced after 3 visits, faulty motor on passenger window, broken clock - we called ahead but they forgot to order the part so more time off work to get the thing fixed, service engine light on for third time - just got back from the fixing it at the shop and it came on during the drive home), I am seriously considering selling the car.

If I have to pay for the window that will seal the deal - fun while it lasted.


>>I also got the first crack in my 02 MCS this past week.
>>
>>Right lower windshield, started practically at the edge, very near the bottom.
>>
>>Dealer says its a "foreign object crack" due to the "pen test"...he traced a pen along the crack, and when it stopped, he pointed that spot out as point of impact--happend to be right at the edge of the windshield.
>>
>>I'm not sure I think it was a foreign object, but I don't have much expertise to disagree...and according the the "pen test" its a smooth crack until that point....
>>
>>I'm not sure I'll replace with stock windshield...if I'm paying, I'll probably see if I can get an improved quality glass....
>> maybe the upright design of the windshield predisposes to stone damage????

 

>>Hopefully, some aftermarket company will step up to the plate and offer a thicker, more durable windshield.

I called a glass replacement company who works with my Ins. Co. and they said that they would wave my deductible if i used after market glass, which they had, but they would not wave it if I used OEM glass. I do not have any more details than that, because I was only inquiring about the deductible at the time.

 

Who is your Insurance Co?

 

Considering that we all know the OEM MINI glass is garbage, I would not hesitate to have any aftermarket glass put in its place. In fact, I would demand that it be aftermarket so that MINI/BMW does not get to profit from their poor engineering/workmanship when it comes to my windshield that their famous "pin test" proved that my crack was a rock chip and not a stress fracture.

And now a rant about the "pin test":

My windshield crack started at the bottom of the windshield on the passenger side and moved upwards and to the center over time. Even though the crack actually started at the bottom of the windshield, Global Imports in Atlanta had a pin that was able to identify a rock chip in a spot where the crack had grown to and was not part of the initial stress fracture. Yes, I am suggesting a "Magic Pin" conspiracy here!

 

'02 Cooper CVT = 19K miles still on original windshield.

 

Cooper4us, I'm on my original windshield too at over 18k miles, but 15k of them have been with a cracked windshield

 

Yucca, fortunately the windshield in the '02 CVT has been flawless in 15 months of ownership. We have done at least 6K to 7K on roadtrips alone.

 

>>Who is your Insurance Co?
>>

Allstate, the glass company I called was Glass America.

 

>>'02 Cooper CVT = 19K miles still on original windshield.
Just curious, sunroof or no ?

 

Solid black roof in the '02 (PW body color) and 15" non-runflat tires with std suspension. My '04 MCS has a solid white roof also.

 

I find it curious that I was going to search for this thread ( or one like it) and I saw this pop up in Recent Topics. I have an 02 MCS with sunroof. I have just over 13K miles on it and just yesterday, the windshield cracked!!

It starts at the top, apparently under the moulding and points straight down. It is right in front of my eyes so I notice it whenever I am driving. I see no impact points but I have not performes the pin test.

It seems like, if I have to pay for a new windshield I should get the PPG as opposed to the MINI glass. Does everyone agree with that?

 

I got a PPG because people said it is slightly thicker. So far no problems. The glass is apparently poorly made however. There are visibal imperfections in the dark or shaded areas and the glass itself has waves in it that you can actualy feel when washing the outside glass. Very odd. According to my glass guy this is common to PPG and not limited to their MINI part. I figured since it probably won't be my last windshield, no point in making a stink about it. Just something to look for.
He did say another customer had replaced 3 OEM windshields before switching to PPG, and hasn't had to replace that one. It was posted a ways back that somebody brought a micrometer to the glass shop and confirmed that the PPG was in fact thicker.
So put me down for a yes to the PPG.

 

>>>>'02 Cooper CVT = 19K miles still on original windshield.
>>Just curious, sunroof or no ?

I am suspicous of the 60 or so added pounds of the sunroof adding to the problem.

Any of the unfourtunate ones on their say 4th + winshield not have the sunroof ?

 

This weekend, (27-29 Dec), while parked at the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, the original windshield in my '02 Cooper cracked. No rocks, gravel or other "foreign objects" were involved. I have very low miles on this Aug '02 delivered car: 6K. I noticed in an earlier post that the thin glass combined with a moonroof may be to blame. I have the moonroof. In the HC parking lot, the car did heat up from about 35 degrees to about 60. Usually parked in SF, this was the greatest temperature change that my MINI has ever experienced. That's the only remotely unusual activity that preceded the cracking. (What if SF had real winters?!!)

The damage starts in the lower left of the windshield and extends diagonally to the center, about 6" in length. The service manager at MINI of SF examined the crack on Monday and determined that replacement is covered under the warranty. The only hitch it that I need to schedule a time for replacement so that I can leave it there for at least 24 hours after the new glass is in place to allow the adhesive to cure. I can't do that right away.

Though I'm not pleased that the glass failed on its own, if the replacement process goes well, that's what a warranty is supposed to do. I'm only documenting my experience here and hope that I only have to replace this once.

I phoned 1-866-ASK-MINI and spoke with "Isaac" who took down the details. He told me that a "team is collecting all complaints about windshields". I will also go to the NHTSA website and fill out a complaint form. MINI needs to take this seriously and they'll only notice if we file complaints.

"Be careful out there."

_________________
2002 Indi Blue Cooper w/ Black top & mirrors, sport seats and Prem. Pkg. Christened "Ringo".

 

>>>>>>'02 Cooper CVT = 19K miles still on original windshield.
>>>>Just curious, sunroof or no ?
>>
>>I am suspicous of the 60 or so added pounds of the sunroof adding to the problem.
>>
>>Any of the unfourtunate ones on their say 4th + winshield not have the sunroof ?
>>
this was my post 5 windshields- no sunroof.