Nasty Windscreen Chip

J

Jeverson28

Member
 Somerset
I was having a lovely drive down to the beach today and a tractor very kindly threw up a rock straight into my windscreen causing a relatively nasty chip. As it's right in my eye line just above the driver side wiper I'm assuming I'll need the windscreen replaced rather than repaired. I'm going to call my insurance tomorrow and sort this all out but I was wondering if I should be insisting on them using an OEM part or should I just leave them to it? Has anyone had issues when reaching windscreens?

Cheers for any help!
 
Do a forum search if you've got a lifetime to read the posts. You need genuine screen AND gasket/seal. If anything the gasket is more important than the glass. BMW gaskets are so much more supple and avoids a lot of issues with OME equivalent.
 
OK so OEM it is. Any advice on how to argue this with my insurer? I have auto wipers and I'm with 1st Central if that's useful to know
 
Jeverson28 said:
OK so OEM it is. Any advice on how to argue this with my insurer? I have auto wipers and I'm with 1st Central if that's useful to know
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Have a quick look at your policy most (but not all) do genuine - its gen BMW you want not just OEM. Expect to wait longer for it to be changed because the screen and gasket will be special order and not held in the screen firms stock.

If its just a chip you might be as well getting it filled and save your screen excess. If they will do it in the next couple of days while its hot and dry (at least round here!) and the sides of the chip are clean. We had one done in our 5 series and you wouldn't know it was there.
 
Jeverson28 said:
OK so OEM it is. Any advice on how to argue this with my insurer? I have auto wipers and I'm with 1st Central if that's useful to know
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You'll be EXTREMELY lucky to get anything OEM with 1stCentral insurance, I had a right carry on with them a few years ago and had to threaten legal action to get them to co-operate. Take it you took the cheapest insurance option from Money Supermarket like me :rofl:
 
Just checked my policy, they don't cover anything over £150 unless it's their own repairer. Now I don't know for sure but I'm guessing BMW will charge far more than that? I'm thinking I'll take your advice and just get it filled for now. Hopefully it'll still pass MOT next year!
Crazy Harry who fixed your windscreen in the 5 series?
 
Jeverson28 said:
Just checked my policy, they don't cover anything over £150 unless it's their own repairer. Now I don't know for sure but I'm guessing BMW will charge far more than that? I'm thinking I'll take your advice and just get it filled for now. Hopefully it'll still pass MOT next year!
Crazy Harry who fixed your windscreen in the 5 series?
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We had a bad run of screens. I did two in the Zed in four months but both times Aviva agreed to genuine BMW parts. In the same period we had a new screen in the 5 series (OEM but not gen - and again with Aviva) which chipped about six months later. All the repairs were done by Autoglass their preferred repairer.
 
I've never had a genuine screen, but I've never had a leak or whistling afterwards...

That's over more than 10 screens between the M5s, Z4M, Alfa 147s, or e46.

Must just be down to a combination of decent (Pilkington, Sekurit, St Gobain, rather than manufacturer-stamped) parts and decent fitter.
 
Bunch of paranoid nutters on this forum :lol: no you don't need an OEM windscreen. BMW don't make windscreens, sorry to tell you tin foil hat wearers. They are made by a company and then they stamp the BMW logo on them.

I've had a few windscreens now and they're all pretty much the same.

The seal is the part that's important. The pattern parts ones are crap and they split in the top corners. It's not a seal so it won't let water in your car, but costmetically they look rubbish when split and distorted, so you could argue for the OEM seal.
 
ben g said:
Bunch of paranoid nutters on this forum :lol: no you don't need an OEM windscreen. BMW don't make windscreens, sorry to tell you tin foil hat wearers. They are made by a company and then they stamp the BMW logo on them.

I've had a few windscreens now and they're all pretty much the same.

The seal is the part that's important. The pattern parts ones are crap and they split in the top corners. It's not a seal so it won't let water in your car, but costmetically they look rubbish when split and distorted, so you could argue for the OEM seal.
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Exactly the point I made but even the tinted areas on none gen glass is different.
 
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