Windshield Pitting
11-04-2008, 01:58 PM
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I have 2 year old E60 that has some serious pitting on the windshield and headlight covers. I am about to repair the headlight covers by sanding and polishing as I have done on other vehicles with great success, as they are plastic. My question is this - can anything similar be done to the windshield to polish or improve the pitting on it? It looks as if it's been driven in a sandstorm for about a thousand miles. Thanks.
11-04-2008, 02:03 PM
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Originally Posted by Sooner79' post='712277' date='Nov 4 2008, 04:58 PM
I have 2 year old E60 that has some serious pitting on the windshield and headlight covers. I am about to repair the headlight covers by sanding and polishing as I have done on other vehicles with great success, as they are plastic. My question is this - can anything similar be done to the windshield to polish or improve the pitting on it? It looks as if it's been driven in a sandstorm for about a thousand miles. Thanks.
11-04-2008, 02:41 PM
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I have the same problem too! 
The previous owner of my car was in Arizona and must have been driving through sand storms on a regular basis! 
I did manage to take care of the headlights and fog lights too, but the windshield is still VERY pitted! 
The previous owner of my car was in Arizona and must have been driving through sand storms on a regular basis! I did manage to take care of the headlights and fog lights too, but the windshield is still VERY pitted!
11-04-2008, 03:00 PM
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My Ride: 2008 535i, 6spd mtx, Monaco Blue w/Beige interior. Sport, Preimum, Logic 7/HD/I-Pod/USB, Nav sys, rear sunshade, HUD, PDC, Split seats,
Mine too!! Only has 9K miles on it and looks as if I have 40K miles worth of pitting - especially the fog lights and headlight lenses are awful and I haven't been driving in sandstorms!! Can't remember it being this bad in the past but what can you do? BMW wants $160/each for the plastic fog light housing - so I'm not going to do that 
11-04-2008, 03:29 PM
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My Ride: 2009 550i sports, Nav, logic Best E60 yet
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The windshield pitting has been one of my pet peeves, I spend a lot of time driving on Interstate 95 and in South Florida, where road constuction has been going on forever.
Ive had 7 bimmers since 2001 and each one has has pitted windshields that drives me crazy especially in the mornings as the sun is rising. I have thought many times that BMW must be using soft glass, if that even possible. I cannot remember ever having this problem on any other car Ive owned.
I cannot imagine why BMW can not figure out how to make their glass chip resistant, the only fix that I know of is to replace your windshield. If you have glass coverage, pray for large stone hitting your glass causing a nice crack.
Ive had 7 bimmers since 2001 and each one has has pitted windshields that drives me crazy especially in the mornings as the sun is rising. I have thought many times that BMW must be using soft glass, if that even possible. I cannot remember ever having this problem on any other car Ive owned.
I cannot imagine why BMW can not figure out how to make their glass chip resistant, the only fix that I know of is to replace your windshield. If you have glass coverage, pray for large stone hitting your glass causing a nice crack.
11-04-2008, 03:58 PM
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Originally Posted by jochet' post='712340' date='Nov 4 2008, 06:29 PM
The windshield pitting has been one of my pet peeves, I spend a lot of time driving on Interstate 95 and in South Florida, where road constuction has been going on forever.
Ive had 7 bimmers since 2001 and each one has has pitted windshields that drives me crazy especially in the mornings as the sun is rising. I have thought many times that BMW must be using soft glass, if that even possible. I cannot remember ever having this problem on any other car Ive owned.
I cannot imagine why BMW can not figure out how to make their glass chip resistant, the only fix that I know of is to replace your windshield. If you have glass coverage, pray for large stone hitting your glass causing a nice crack.
Ive had 7 bimmers since 2001 and each one has has pitted windshields that drives me crazy especially in the mornings as the sun is rising. I have thought many times that BMW must be using soft glass, if that even possible. I cannot remember ever having this problem on any other car Ive owned.
I cannot imagine why BMW can not figure out how to make their glass chip resistant, the only fix that I know of is to replace your windshield. If you have glass coverage, pray for large stone hitting your glass causing a nice crack.
11-04-2008, 04:30 PM
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I had the 3M clear bra extended to cover the headlights and fog lights. Very happy I did as Colorado roads are notorious for flying sand and rocks. I am told when the "pitting" gets bad I can peel off and replace this last generation 3M clear protectant.
11-04-2008, 08:26 PM
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BMW uses soft glass so that if a rock hits the windshield, it'll just pit instead of cracking. But as one of the members, alex9496, mentioned just pay a deductible under your insurance and have it replaced. I'd suggest you take the insurance check and find a local windshield professional to take care of the job - it should cost no more than $300 installed.
11-04-2008, 08:34 PM
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Originally Posted by Mike@F1 Autoha?s' post='712642' date='Nov 4 2008, 09:26 PM
BMW uses soft glass so that if a rock hits the windshield, it'll just pit instead of cracking.
