This is just an informal poll.

I treat my MINI very carefully. I don't drive off-road, I avoid trucks at all costs, I never follow too closely, I don't drive around construction sites and I do only urban and suburban (as opposed to rural) driving. I have about 12,000 miles on the clock after about 10 months.

But despite all this, my windscreen (front windshield) glimmers and glistens in the sun like a finely cut diamond, reflecting and refracting light with chaotic beauty owing to the fact that there are literally hundreds of tiny specks in the glass as if someone had sandblasted it with very fine particles.

How is your windscreen doing? Have you observed this sort of wear to your glass? I'm just curious and would appreciate any hearing about experiences similar or dissimilar.

 

Hell yeah, almost 68,000 on our original windshield.

Yes, it's on the list of things to do, but I'm going for power first.

 

OEM MINI windshields are notoriously soft, easily chipped, and suffer from frequent stress fractures.

Word on the street is that the aftermarket PPG brand glass is not only cheaper but is stronger

 

38k on original screen: one small star crack and the rest looks like it was sandblasted (which it probably was by road grime). It does create a small bit of distortion/glare at night and in inclement weather, but like most things in life, I deal with it.

 

21,000 miles on the original 2005 windshield(screen) since July 1st. Yup, it's got lots of little starlike thingies (real little ones, not like you get from being hit by a rock) in it. No cracks yet, but it definitely has the "sandblasted" effect, which I wouldn't expect so soon. I do a lot of freeway driving and of course, there's lots of crud on Cleveland freeways, so I guess I could expect some little chippie-doos, but not as many as I have. Thanks for the info on the PPG replacement, in case I need one.

 

Yipper dipper - 20,000 miles on an '05 and it's sandblasted.

mb

 

Soft it is.....17k on my '02 MCS and the windshield "glistens". Just had a rock smack it last Tuesday bad enough to get it fixed, Advance was out on Friday to fix it. They did a fine job. Guy says he's been doing glass for 6.5 years and has found that BMW glass seems to be softer than most. But other euro glass is catching up....Les

 

mine's at about 20k miles and in the bright sun, I do notice a slight glitter type reflection on my winsheild. not as bad as others, but i do have some.

 

At 5500 or so now, and nothing too noticeable, I will have to take a closer look next time it is sunny out and the car is clean. Good to know of things to come.

 

25K, one stone chip, and that sandblasted look. Need to get that chip fixed soon.

 

1300 miles and 3/4 of it was on my first day driving all night with nothing but animals in sight and the rest was in the rain and it looks as it had been sandblasted.

 

snip

Mine too after 72,000+ miles. 1,000s of specks and one small chip.

Earl

 

My tires have less wear than my windshield.

 

My informal poll input: 5600mi on an 05 windscreen and it's sand blasted! Plus about 10 big chips but no cracks or divits yet. I have the wiper blade sensor so if I replace it with a PPG I have a very expensive setting on my wiper selector ****! And no variable speed wiper control...

The $800 or so factory replacement seems silly though, especially if it's as soft as the original.

cheers,

 

My odometer reads 37,500 and I too cannot see anything when I drive into the sun because of the glare created when the light refracts off the thousands of pits in my front windshield. And my side door windows are suffering from the same effect. But the questions are, shouldn't this be covered under warranty? Could you not claim it to be a defect? Isn't it unsafe to have windshields this soft installed on an automobile, especially if it causes a wreck and possible injury, or even death?

 

It is possible to have PPG with rain sensing. I've had the following bookmarked for the day when I might need it: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=49259

 

72k miles on my '02 with original glass... and it's so sandblasted I really should have it replaced. We knew the problems very early on and many got stress cracks in their windscreens... I am very surprised that MINI made no changes in the years since!

 

Exactly the same here!!! Except I have close to 12K. This has been really bothering me. If so many people have this problem, shouldn't this be considered a defect? I've had lots of vehicles in my life and never anything close to the windshield wear on my Mini. Don't get me wrong, I love JIMI, but come on...

I vote we file a group complaint!

 

I don't know about other state's but in Florida when a windshield chips, cracks or gets to the point of not being drivable it is 100% covered by the comprehensive insurance with no deductible and no record on your insurance. It's state law to keep clunkers from driving around with broken glass. I only have 1700 miles on mine and am showing signs of diamond effect. When it gets worse I will call State Farm and get it replaced.

 

25K on an 04 and it's bad. No chips, but thousands of little pits. Was driving into the sun yesterday and it was terrible. If MINI isn't going to change vendors, maybe they should come with tear-offs.

 

Wow...I could have done w/o reading this. I am a somewhat tentative future-owner waiting on delivery in 2 weeks. Have owned many vehicles since the 60's but windshield issues (other than getting clobbered by large flying object) have never been part of the equation.


This sounds like a full blown warrenty issue if I've ever heard one.

Hoping to hear someone chime-in with a good report card on their well used windshield.

CASUAL-CQQPER

 

yeppers - same as everybody else has posted - both of our windscreens look like they have been through the war....mine as 16K miles and Mike's has 12K miles...

Donna

 

Probably not going to happen...I've got just over a year on my second windshield. It's got all kinds of little pits. Never ever had a crack though...windshield was replaced after a wreck. This is one of those things ya just hafta live with...it ain't great, but it isn't all that horrific either. The car is overall just so blasted good that this issue seems minor.

 

After almost 19 years in New Mexico, with March winds so high they will blow out windows in parked cars, the "sand-blasted" effect occurs on ANY vehicle you own. It did not matter if it was one of our Fords, Toyotas, Mazda, or now my MINI, they all suffer. With the exception of my MINI, I have had to replace the windshield on an average of every 3-4 years and this includes PPG glass. So I just view this as a fact of life when living out in the high desert, and not an issue with either a vehicle or automotive glass manufacturer.

But to be honest, I am wondering about the purchasing a cockpit cover and putting that over the MINI when it is parked.

 

and 32K 'spots' on my windshield. No cracks or replacements, though (knock on wood). It is especially tough to see when clean and the sun is rising. It really is unbelievable the amount of chips in my view.