Few months ago a rock hit the base of my windshield and a crack developed running horizontally along the lower half. The state inspection is due this month and I must get it replaced. My insurance does not cover it.

The last one I replaced was 2 MINIs ago. I will be getting some estimates, but what did it cost for those of you who have had one replaced recently? Advice, brands to avoid, etc? Thanks in advance!

 

I have the same crack, but its at the top of my windshield in a reverse L with about 3 inches each way. I spoke to several companies and I believe Safelite quoted 350 and the others averaged 250 with the lowest being 225.
Safelight later called after a couple of days with a lower price of I think 250?

I'm not sure how the quality stacks up with OEM, but i'm sure it's not much worse. Also.. I doubt insurance is going to pay the 1,200 cost minus deduct.

-J

 

We have replacement coverage, so it costs us nothing

 

What good does this do the OP. He already states his insurance will not cover it.

My insurance company paid alittle over $400 for the new window i had last year and knowing they actually pay more than I would, i suspect you are looking in the $250-$300 range.

 

Replaced mine with oem mini windshield $275 including install

 

From my understanding.. Auto glass is made in only a few places. They are all pretty much the same unless you want OEM. (Usually you are paying for the BMW/MINI stamp on the glass.) Important if you leased the vehicle.

 

Seems like a decent price for OEM.

I find it interesting how the insurance replacement quotes are always so high compared to when paying out of pocket. What a scam.

 

Has anyone had their windshield look like its been sandblasted. I only have 30K on my '10 and its hard to see out when the sun is rising or setting.

 

I had the same problem w/ the car i had before my MINI--a 2001 Civic. I guess I never paid it any mind, as that was the last of my "mechanical" worries at the time (165k miles). Nonetheless, my Polarized sunglasses seemed to help w/ the glare a little. Hope that helps!

 

Lowest quote I got was $250 and highest was $375. That should give you an idea.

One guy who gave me the higher quote said he had to replace a top trim seal? Anyone know the truth to that? In that case, I can buy the part myself and it would be cheaper. On RealOEM it shows 51317155304 as a part number in conjunction with any windshield. Its labeled as "1" and should be about $16 at the dealer. (Sorry not trying to jack the thread, thought it would be relevant for you too). I also see "Rubber Buffers, 51311925433" listed in the glazing towards the front windshield with the quantity of 3, anyone know if this is needed too?

 

Polish your windshield.

 

I try that no luck. I quest its time for a new windshield.

 

What did you use to polish it? Glass is very, very hard so most car polishes won't work very well unless it's a very agressive compound. A dedicated glass polish with a machine to apply it works wonders.

 

polish glass to get the pits out? I tried to find glass polish like you described with no luck , can you steer me to some?

 

Large pits, no, but the "sandblasted" effect can very effectively polished out. I use 3M polishing compound which is a fairly aggressive polish. Griot's, Autoglym, Diamond Fast, and Diamondite all have glass specific polishing compounds.

Here's a link to some good products. http://autogeek.commerce-search.net/...y=glass+polish

 

To the OP, not sure what insurance you have, but this is the first time I have ever heard of not having windshield replacement coverage, especially if you still have a loan on the car and have comp and collision. I have had every windshield on all my old cars replaced, some 2 or 3 times and it has cost me nothing. Because it is a safety thing (being able to see and all that) I am not even sure my insurance peeps (allstate) give me an option not to have it.

May want to look again. On the Mini it aint cheap I hear, and you want it done right.

 

I have the Griot's kit for polishing the car along with their glass polish and it doesn't work on scratches or small pits (sandblasted).

 

Funny this came up. Not to get too far off topic, but along those lines...

When I bought my R55, i hadn't noticed when I took delivery, but the car had been "blasted" with clearcoat overspray from a nearby spray booth. I didn't notice until I was driving the car home (AZ to NV) and the sun was setting right in front of me and made the glass look terrible. After inspection I noticed much of the front/roof/doors of the car were covered in it as well.

So I went to a professional detailer supply shop and asked what their recommended way of getting rid of it was. His advice was claybar or fine grit steel wool. I had a consumer level claybar kit at home, but he recommended an aggressive clay kit. So I picked up an aggressive clay kit, some professional grade detailer spray, and some steel wool from Lowes.

NOTE STEEL WOOL ONLY FOR GLASS, NOT BODYWORK!

The steel wool wasn't very effective. In all honesty if probably knocked off the larger "pieces", but it wasn't very noticeable. The aggressive clay bar though was extremely effective. Just spray the detailer, lightly clay the spot until the overspray comes off, then kneed the bar and repeat. Worked wonders on my windshield and the bodywork as well.

The polish sounds like a very similar solution, though I would suspect you need an electric polisher for it to be really effective?

-z

 

I believe ours was $250-ish to replace. If we had the rain sensor then it would be another $100.

 

Not if it's really bad, but if you catch it early it works well. There's another one I'm thinking of, it's a paste that gets applied by machine (I want to say Diamondite, but I'm not entirely sure) and it is freakin' amazing.
http://www.diamondite.com/diamondite...ing-creme.html

Steel wool and some 3M polishing compound works very well for cleaning glass. It's my first step when removing hard water spots.

 

I had the sand blasting problem and couldn't tolerate it anymore.
Got the windshield replaced last fall at Economy Glass, Dunkirk MD. $219
installed.

 

$190 new windshield replacement in Hunts Point, NY
$14 new top molding at dealer

Couldn't be happier

 

Just installed today. 2006 R50. Clarksville Tennessee. 185.00 parts labor tax and all. Like Driving a new car.

 

Just got a quote from Safelite in Plano TX for $384 for my 11 JCW. All included price. Not OEM. Anyone get a better deal in DFW?

 

$640 out the door from dealership. I have heard people having trim and such broken or tabs broken by some window re-placers and parts flying off. If the lower seal is damaged removing you can have wind noise.