Yesterday I was heading down the fast lane in my 04 MCS with 1,600 mi and had a rock from a Jeep Cherokee hit the center of the windshield. Got my attention! Unfortunately, it left a divit, and the start of a spike from the center of the impact about 1/8 in long. No way this will pass the ball point pen test!

Has anyone had any success repairing a crack such as this (where they inject a clear epoxy under pressure)? I suppose I could wait until it starts to spread across the windshield and face a bill of $550-605 from the dealer (quote) but they won't use non-MINI windshields. I'm also concerned with future chips based upon what I've read here on NAM about the inherant lack of resistance to pitting for the MINI windshield.

Any success stories out there for windshield crack repairs?
Charlie

 

A few months after delivery of my MINI, A truck kicked up a rock on the PA Turnpike...left a very small divit in the center of the windshield, passenger side, with a 1/16" crack eminating from two points off the divit.

I called SAFELITE autoglass repair, and a repairman was sent to where I work...it took him about 10 minutes to repair it right in the parking lot...first he "cleaned" the point of impact by drilling it out/smoothing the edges of the crack. Then he cleaned it and did the epoxy injection...then "cured" it with a halogen curing light for a few seconds, then "cleaned" the area with a fine abrasive material...then windexed it...and it was done. Result: You can still see a small point where the epoxy was injected, and in certain lighting, you can still see the lines of the crack. But it hasn't gotten any worse, and they gaurantee the work forever...if it gets worse, they will come out and repair it again for free. It costs around $60, but most insurance will cover it...

Check out the process in detail, here:

http://www.safelite.com/


Rock On! (literally),

-MB

 

My experience is about the the same as Mighty_Boog...
Took about 10 minutes. cleaned, stuck on a suction device that pulled the air out and injected some glue.
There is a little dot where the device was. And if you look directly at it, its slightly distorted but better than a weird hole of where it was before.