Couple of days ago I was driving behind a truck. I heard this sharp noise when a stone hits the window, but could't discover any damage. Today I parked at the airport and when I came back this evening i had a 3/4" (20 cm) crack , from left lower corner of the windshield and 45 degrees up. I did examine the windshield and found a small crater near the corner (where the windshield is "black". Apparently something happened during the day. Do anyone have any experience if this crack would grow? I will go to my dealer to get it fixed (on my insurance), but I am quite buisy for the next month or so. Any risks? The crack apparently expanded from both sides of the small crater like ------*------

 

Ouch! I wouldn't be driving around with that big of a crack in the windshield. I would try to get it in as soon as possible and ask if they can provide a loaner during the repair.

 

I wouldn't go through a dealer - they just outsource it and charge you more. Go to a windshield repair specialist - perhaps at only 3/4" it can be filled and be good as new - they can tell you that. I had a big chunk out of my wife's GX470 that started to spider web, and was 3/4" at its widest. It has been filled and hasn't been a problem since.

 

Same happened to me...once the crack appeared it grew by 5mm a day over a 3 day period. The screen is an integral part of the "stiffness" and rigidity of the car. Get it changed....

 

Exact same thing happened to my car.

Parking it in the hot sun made the small crack get bigger over time. After 2-3 days, the crack was half the windshield.

Get it replaced.

 

Stafli, sorry to hear about the stone in windshield. But you probably meant 20mm rather than cm, correct?

You can probably let it go until you have time to fix it, but you should tell insurance company right away so it is documented in case there is some time limitation for notification with them.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by gdavis' date='Aug 19 2005, 10:48 PM

[quote name='stafli' date='Aug 19 2005, 04:25 PM']Couple of days ago I was driving behind a truck. I heard this sharp noise when a stone hits the window, but could't discover any damage. Today I parked at the airport and when I came back this evening i had a 3/4" (20 cm) crack , from left lower corner of the windshield and 45 degrees up. I did examine the windshield and found a small crater near the corner (where the windshield is "black". Apparently something happened during the day. Do anyone have any experience if this crack would grow? I will go to my dealer to get it fixed (on my insurance), but I am quite buisy for the next month or so. Any risks? The crack apparently expanded from both sides of the small crater like ------*------

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Stafli, sorry to hear about the stone in windshield. But you probably meant 20mm rather than cm, correct?

You can probably let it go until you have time to fix it, but you should tell insurance company right away so it is documented in case there is some time limitation for notification with them.

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Thanks for your reply! No, it's actually 20 cm (not mm). I looked a bit on the web, and it seems there are companies (cooperating with- and supported by the insurance companies) that claim that they are able to fix cracks like this. They also say that the crack will be almost invisible and that the windshield will be as strong as it was from start. This method is also approved by the national motor vehicle inspection.

The "reward" for repairing instead of replacing will be that the insurance excess will be apx $30 instead of $300. That's a good argument, but is it good enough?

 

If you have HUD and Rain Sensor or one or the other IMO let your dealer do the replacement thru the insirance,(comprehensive) and pay the deductible.It will be well worth it even if they farm it out you will be getting a OEM windshield. I had a chip fixed and it became a large crack after the weather got very hot.
cheers
vern

 

I have had the repair (as opposed to replacement) done on two cars with different outcomes. The first time was on a 1990 Nisson 300ZX with excellent results. I could see the repair only at a certain angle from the outside, and, even then, it was very slightly noticeable. The second time was on my 1995 BMW M3, and the result was not good, and I replaced the windshield. The reason for the bad result was that the windshield on the M3 is a structural component.

Unless you are certain that the windshield is a structural component on the E60 (my hunch is that it is not since the car is a sedan), I would first do the repair and see what happens. The guy who did the repair on my M3 never billed either me or the insurance company because the result was not good. Before he started the repair, he told me that was his policy. The big advantage of the repair is that you do not have the risk of the windshield replacement not being done correctly. It took 3 attempts to replace the windshield on my M3. The first time the replacement windshield cracked while the glue was curing. The second replacement did not fit correctly and, oddly enough, was the only BMW replacement windshield of the 3.

Good luck.