Crack in front windscreen

[psquare]

A stone hit the front wind screen Wed last week and we didn't think anything of it. My wife mentioned it, but we didn't check it further.

The car stood in the early morning sun on Sat morning and the little spot had now developed into a crack going up about a third of the whole front screen. It hasn't increased any further since then. The impact seems to have been just under the wipers.

I'll get it checked out at my dealership tomorrow morning. My guess is it needs a new front screen. Has anyone on here had to repair this in the UK and knows that the costs involved are?

No idea how this will work with or affect insurance.

Thanks,
P

 

[jadnashuanh]

Around here, if a chip is caught quick enough, there are 'fixes' that can be made to many them to stop and essentially fix one if it is small enough...once it grows to what yours sounds like, it's replace the windscreen time. Insurance coverage is very much an agreement between you and the company as to what the costs to repair are. My guess is that there are not any aftermarket glass providers for this low-volume vehicle, so that means OEM glass.

I don't know if there are any special tricks to removing and installing one on an i3 verses more normal construction vehicles, so it may be best if you can get the dealership to do it - that way, they're on the hook.

Let us know how things go, it will be good information to have. I guess I've been lucky, only a couple of windshields replaced in over 45-years of driving...one wasn't technically broken, but was so pitted from sand and crud, it was a hazard seeing through at night with people's lights on. My last one was a small chip, and they were able to fill and stabilize it, and with my insurance, that was free. I have a small glass deductible, so could have had it replaced if that failed. Depends partly on how long the crack is, and where it is...if it obstructs normal vision, it must be replaced verses repaired.

 

[psquare]

Just got back from the dealership and the windscreen needs replacing. The crack is about 40cm long and was definitively caused by stone impact. We were unlucky, as impact is just under the wipers at potentially slow speed, because it would otherwise have hit the wiper instead.

Repair quote is for £1,060 (jikes!) and I will call the insurance company this afternoon to arrange have it fixed. However, the insurer might have a preferred supplier, which could not be BMW. Jim already eluded to this: I am not too keen to have someone else fitting the screen on such a new and relatively unknown product.

Update: The insurer (Direct Line) suggests Autoglass to perform the repair. We couldn't speak to anyone in person, so will have to ring again later.

I checked on Autoglass' website, where it says: "We use glass that's as good as the original.". Very reassuring (not).

 

[WoodlandHills]

IIRC, the last time I replaced a windscreen, I was given a choice of paying a deductible for OEM glass or getting their brand for no out of pocket. This was my insurance companies preferred glass provider.

 

[PluviaPlumbum]

Just a note of caution, I recall reading about one owner who had a screen replaced by a non Franchised repairer, turns out they did some damage to the CFRP life module frame, which then required an examination by BMW engineers to determine if the integrity of the Life module had been compromised.

I rather suspect that your average Autoglass mobile workshop will probably not have been either trained or even equipped with the tools necessary to bond a new screen to CFRP. Personally I would play safe and book it in with BMW so that you know you are covered should the installer get it wrong ( I am assuming that most Dealers will still call in a contractor.)

Direct Line will not be able to stop you doing this, but your renewal quote might then make you go elsewhere, If you do then you should declare that you had a windscreen claim, but I doubt they will ask for further details on cost of repair etc.

 

[spinball]

My 2 cents: You're playing with fire if you go non-OEM glass at this point in the i3 lifecycle. This isn't a Toyota Camry we're talking about here.

 

[uktechie]

If you can avoid Autoglass please do as service gone so downhill since selling branches and going mobile only they got featured on Watchdog last week.

I had on my previous car a poor experience with them, went for chip fix and they cracked screen then 1st new screen cracked after a day then tried to say it had been hit again which was bollocks.

2nd screen ok but they were still trying to say it had been hit but it cracked while I was driving and I did not have a stone hit.

I would not trust them with my i3.

 

[psquare]

First of all thank you for all your responses so far. I couldn't respond sooner as the forum site was up and down like a Jo-Jo for me.

The screen hasn't been fixed yet and the crack has increased in size. We spoke to Autoglass yesterday, who confined that they have no i3 front screen in stock and need to source it from BMW now. We mentioned to them our concerns about the fitting procedure and that the i3 is a different kind of vehicle. We were told that it could well be that Autoglass can't fix the screen and the work has to be done by a BMW dealership anyway. We're currently waiting for Autoglass to get back to us, but I'll chase them tomorrow anyway.

More hopefully soon.

 

[psquare]

We've chased Autoglass and were told that it could take up to a week now until the new screen from BMW is in. Autoglass is confident they can fit it. The call handler spoke directly to their product team, who has a small number of "C Grade Engineers" who are trained and equipped to fit a screen to a car with a CFRP body. Downside is that it will take about another week until such an engineer will become available. Autoglass made it clear that a normal fitting procedure, using "cheese cutters" can not be used for an i3.

Overall, the call filled me with confidence. Realistically, even a BMW dealership might outsource their i3 screen fitting to a third party like Autoglass.

More updates hopefully soon

 

[Ruffles]

Let me share my tale of woe.

My 2014 i3 had Rex issues - it was at the dealer for over 48 business days and even had the entire engine replaced. While they were working on Rex, they took it for a test drive and a rock hit the windshield and cracked it. They said they would replace the windshield and they did.

Driving home from the dealer, I noticed three things. First, my windshield wipers hit each other. Second, the rear view mirror would shake and vibrate more than before. When I looked at it, the gap between the mirror and headliner was larger than before and looked like a piece was missing. The third and largest issue was the trim was flapping around. I returned to the dealer where with the tech, we re-adjusted the wipers and removed the trim to see what was going on. It was then that we discovered the holes.

The BMW dealer in Idaho Falls used a 3rd party windshield place. The glass guy didn't know how to get the trim off the windshield so he pried it off with a screwdriver and broke the clips that hold it on. Then, to cover his mistake, he tried to reattach the clips by drilling new holes into the CFRP A pillars. This didn't really work because the clips now no longer matched up with the tabs in the trim. He finished the job by attaching them with double sided tape.

The dealer took pictures of the holes and opened a PUMA case with BMW to determine if any structural damage was done to the car. 2 months later, they replied. BMW said that yes, the car had been compromised. They wanted to ship the vehicle 790 miles to a dealer in Oregon who would cut the entire roof off the car and glue a new one on. I called that dealer to get more info. They said they had never done this before, expected the repair to take 4 months, and show up as accident damage on a title search for the vehicle. It was this or sign a waiver that they had notified me of the issue and I would not hold them liable for any damage or injury in the case of an accident. Obviously, this was unacceptable to me. I contacted BMW corporate and they agreed to a buyback of my vehicle which I surrendered last Friday and I bought a new 2015 i3 earlier this week.

Long story short, make sure whoever does you windshield know what the heck they are doing.

 

[spinball]

Holy hell man!

Yeah I don't think I'd replace the windshield anywhere but a dealer. Some things are not worth the risk!

 

[psquare]

Yeah I don't think I'd replace the windshield anywhere but a dealer. Some things are not worth the risk!

That's easier said than done. Obviously my preference would also be to go to a BMW dealer to sort out my screen, as it gives me experience and get-back.

Having said that, when I got a repair quote from the dealership where I bought my i3, the service manager told me that he has not fitted a screen on an i vehicle yet. True enough, they surely wouldn't drill holes into the CFRP body -unless approved by BMW, which is hard to imagine- but you're probably none the wiser sticking to a BMW dealer. As I pointed out before, chances are they outsource the work to a 3rd party anyway. My dealership already has glass chips fixed by a different company. I was told this when I first called them last Monday.

More importantly, there is obviously the preferred supplier that you are given by the insurer, which I have to stick to if I want to pay £75 instead of £1,060 (dealership quote) to get my screen fixed. At the moment, my focus is on finding out what Autoglass can do and whether they are skilled enough to perform the repair. Let's face it, each of their engineers probably fits more screens in a week than my BMW dealer fits in a month or even a year.

I'll try my best to ensure that the person/business who eventually fits the screen will be as trained and experienced as can be. If I'm not happy then I have to refuse the repair, which -as a worst case scenario- might mean I'd have to shell out £1,060 to get a front screen fixed. But we're not at that point yet.

 

[spinball]

I disagree that it's easier said than done: If you go through the dealer and THEY outsource the work, the responsibility still stops with the dealer and ultimately BMW UK. If you outsource on your own, now you are likely talking about getting a lawyer before you get a new car if you (god forbid) ended up in Ruffles situation.

I agree it would suck to pay more but that's kind of the name of the game with such a unique car at this point. Paying less introduces what I'd call significant risk and seemingly proven infinitely with the nightmare that Ruffles described.

But hey, it's your choice and be sure to let us know how it goes. You'd have to think that eventually third parties will catch up and you might not have such poor luck.

 

[psquare]

I disagree that it's easier said than done: If you go through the dealer and THEY outsource the work, the responsibility still stops with the dealer and ultimately BMWNA. If you outsource on your own, now you are likely talking about getting a lawyer before you get a new car if you (god forbid) ended up in Ruffles situation.

You can disagree all you like. Once again, it is contractually not my choice. The insurer determines who performs the work in the first instance. Currently, I have no reason to believe that Autoglass will do a poor job. I'm waiting for their product team to get in touch with me directly. I also spoke to my BMW dealer today to find out what the specifics of refitting an i3 screen are. There are two: A different, string-like cutting tool (to protect the CFRP) and the so-called "reinitialisation" of the mirror. I also called BMW i UK customer service today, who never had a customer (yet) with a broken wind screen, but told me that they see no reason why Autoglass should do a bad job.

I agree it would suck to pay more but that's kind of the name of the game with such a unique car at this point. Paying less introduces what I'd call significant risk and seemingly proven infinitely with the nightmare that Ruffles described.

"Risk", "seemingly proven infintely"... Well, we're not at that stage in the "game" (as you call it) yet, so let's not overly dramatise it.

But hey, it's your choice and be sure to let us know how it goes. You'd have to think that eventually third parties will catch up and you might have such poor luck.

It is my choice indeed.

 

[spinball]

Sorry for the drama. I meant it is your choice to pay £75 instead of £1,060 and my personal belief is you'd be more likely to be "made whole" by BMW UK if something goes off the rails than any third party glass outfit. It's a lot of money but also seems like high risk to save money, at least in my opinion.

I mean seriously have you heard of any other horror stories where a crack in a windshield leads to a dealer buyback? I'm sure they are out there but I cannot recall anything that extreme. Certainly made me think twice.

It sounds like you are taking it seriously and doing your due diligence. I would have a very hard time in your situation as that's a lot of money and I also have a (somewhat irrational) fear of the car never being the same after certain repairs. I know insurance companies like to cheap out and maybe most people don't notice the difference in low quality parts but I sure do!

 

[jadnashuanh]

The contract laws in the UK verses the USA are likely different, but in the USA, your insurance company can recommend, but you are not required to follow their recommendations. You might end up paying the difference in their contract price to their preferred supplier, but it would be nowhere near having to pay the full price of the repair.

 

[MikeS]

I am under the impression that the process is the same in the UK as jadnashuanh stated. Certainly this is true for mechanical and body work repairs.

 

[PluviaPlumbum]

in UK Law it is an implied term in any contract that work must be completed with reasonable care and skill. Given that Psquared has notified Autoglass of the different nature of the i3 to the average screen replacement and they have informed him that they will send a higher trained tech to do the job then I think liability would firmly rest with the contractor should things go badly wrong. I would advise that you should check that they really are trained up and have the correct tools before any work commences though. Personally I f you go down this route I would keep detailed records of who said what to who and when and try to get some written confirmation that they are aware of the issues raised.

As I'm with Direct line Insurance myself I think I will dig out the policy docs to see where the fine print leads us. I am still thinking that the Insurer can only recommend a repair station, so for example your average body shop would not be equipped to perform CFRP repairs so you would be left with the BMW network anyway, I don't see how the windscreen repair differs from this.

 

[BoMW]

May2014 I suffered a stone crack after my 2nd day of ownership. Clearly with the i3 just being released, I was not keen to go with insurers preferred Autoglas replacement. I did manage to persuade RSA to let the dealer replace my windscreen. My contribution was to paŷ for the VAT.

 

[psquare]

Brief update:

10 days in, Autoglass UK is still waiting for an original BMW i3 screen to appear in their stock, as no non-OEM glass is (thankfully) available. Direct Line (insurer) and Autoglass have assured me that they have many i3s on their books and several successful screen replacements have apparently been made. I am still chasing Autoglass to confirm this by actually speaking to one of their engineers.

I tried to get Direct Line to allow me to have the screen replaced by my BMW i dealer and they are more than happy to do that, but would only contribute £125 to the bill, leaving me to pay the remaining £935. Only if Autoglass were to concede that they could not perform the replacement would the BMW replacement be an option (keeping in mind that my BMW service manager has admitted to me that they have never fitted glass on an i vehicle either).