Huge chip within the first 50 miles of picking it up...had it filled but it's still nasty looking

 

got another chip yesterday. up to 3 of which 1 is a 3inch crack seal...for now

 

January production, cracked within 4 days of ownership

Just driving around the city and there it was, coming up from right in front of me from the bottom edge of windshield for several inches then turning right for a few more. Took it to the dealer and they say they wont cover it since there are two tiny chips, the size of pin ******, around the crack a couple of inches up. They use a pen to run along the crack to supposedly determine if it was caused by an impact, but with the glass so soft they pretty much can make their own divot. I can't help but feel that Mini is being cheap and unreasonable, the windshield should not behave like this - even if somehow a tiny stone managed to hit the windshield between the wiper and the frame there is no way that a quality product without defect should result in such a large and speading crack.

 

Well today on a freeway on ramp in Los Angeles, a truck kicked up a good sized rock and shot it back right at me. (Truck was about 5 car lengths in front of me.) The Rock hit the lowest part of my 05 windshield on the driver side, and with just over 8000 miles I now need the windshield replaced...

There is a star pattern crack on the interior side where the rock hit on the outside.

Not sure how any other windshield would have faired to be honest, but with the 6 to 8 pit chips already present, I am inclined to think the glass is not what it should be.

So I now will get to see how the mini dealership network works on handling this drive related issue.

 

05 February production MCS with 2700 miles and probably needs to have the windshield replaced. Yesterday a rock bounced off the of it while on the freeway and left a quarter sized chip/spider. Fortunately it's on the passenger side.....unfortunately it's right at eye level for a passenger :-(

I too am amazed at how pitted the windshield has gotten in so few miles. In general I feel that auto glass just isn't what it used to be.

 

My '03 glass broke this past Saturday. Apparent spontaneous destruction whilst sitting in the driveway. Crack passes through the tiniest little nick imaginable (diameter of a paperclip, w/ no star) so dealer gives me the finger. I'm out $200 for the deductable. I will be upgrading my glass coverage immediately...

 

Did you get your windshield replaced? Where did you go?

 

I've seen plenty of people post here and on other forums with problems on their 05s (I'm one of them)Here is one thread:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ght=windshield

 

So far so good... knock on wood. The glass on my 05 MCS seems better than what I had on my old 745i.

 

Thank god for this forum or I would have to think that I am going nuts!!!

I purchased a 2005 Mini Cooper S Convrtible in March and have 6,000 miles on it now and already have a scratch in my front windshield, cresent shaped scratches in both rear side glass windows and two scratches in the back convertible top boot window. What's wrong with this picture??? It's not like I am going off-road with this vehicle and dirt is building up on the glass, I keep this car spotless. I totally understand how there can be problems with vehicles as I owned an auto repair shop for 14 years and now have been teaching auto mechanics for 15 years. There is definitely a problem with the glass in this vehicle. Every convertible that I see in a parking lot has the cresent shaped scratches in both rear side windows. There is no doubt about it... the Cooper is an awesome car and fun to own and drive but something needs to be done about the glass issue.

 

Last week a huge rock, probable size of a baseball flew into my windscreen, and made a big impact, I thought it left a small crack, pulled the car, got out, just wiped it off, no marks...wonderful, thumbs up

 

Well I've owned my new 2005 MCS since about early June and just recently started to notice some small rock chips into the glass.

I then started looking very carefully at the glass and started to notice that there was a very fine crack that came from the moulding on the top of the windshield and followed around the rain sensor and then finally travelled down towards the center of the windshield diagonally about 2".

I about flipped. I had heard through this site and others that MINI windshields had been a problem, but I didn't expect this to happen so soon.

So I took my car to the local BMW/MINI dealership here in Germany (note: I'm stationed overseas and purchased my MCS thought the MINI Military Sales Division) and tried to explain the problem at the dealership in my best broken german. Finally, after 5 minutes of me trying to explain the problem and that I truly believed it was covered under the warranty, they took pity on my and had a technicion come out to my car and look at the crack and came back inside and spoke to the first parts rep that I originally spoke with. Without any further explanation or discussion he started inputting the order for a new windshield, to which I did comment something to the effect of- "so it is a problem covered under the warranty". He then explained that "yes, it is a stress fracture" and then continued inputting the order for the new windshield.

I was relieved, since German dealerships (which of course I'm generalizing) sadly have the reputation of being exceptionally stingy when it comes to accepting that work falls within warranty- on top of being terribly pricey- both in terms of work and parts.

Now, the dealership only knew that I had the car for a little over a month and not that I had already managed to put over 4K on it (living in Bavaria and having a Dutch girlfreind will do that to a new MCS ). So I don't know if they had known that fact they would have changed their minds.

However, I did ask if the new windshield was going to use PPG glass, to which they responded "yes, its safety glass" which they explained has 2 separate layers with a thin layer of plastic in between. I doubt that amounts to PPG glass, but again, I'm not a car glass expert.

Paul
Ansbach, Germany

 

Yesterday, after six days of ownership, the first rock that hit me (I was on an onramp going 50 mph) starred the windshield. Not much of a hit either. Fortunately, it's high to the right side so I don't have to look at it all the time while I'm driving.

Steve

 

I've had my car for about 5 months and put about 4,500 miles on it, and have had no problems with the windshield. Every time I hear a rock hit the windshield, I look for something (crack/chip). I have had no issues at all, but I noticed that bugs are strangely attracted to the windshield over other parts of the car.

 

I have a 12" split that started from a rock chip in the black on the passenger side under the wiper. Definitely started from a rock hit. I also have a big chip from a rock on the passenger side. I'm waiting a bit before I go PPG. Everything else has been flawless though!

Mike