Is this a warranty Item?

- I just picked my new 650i from ED redelivery on Saturday. Yesterday, I was at a friends house and parked my new 650i facing due West from about 2:00pm til about 6:00pm. When I arrived my windshield had no visable defects. When I left at 6:00pm I noticed a large L shaped crack that started near the bottom of the passenger side pillar went horizontal for a few inches and then vertical for another 6" or so. This is in an upscale gated communitcy in North Scottsdale and there was no damage to the windshield or car aside from this rather nasty crack. Yesterday was unseasonably hot for this time of year in AZ about 75f and much warmer in the direct sunlight. I have heard about heat setting off cracks caused by damage during install. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

I swung by the service department to show them the crack and they agreed that it didn't appear to be from external blunt force tramma, no rock damage, bat etc. and no shattering. I asked if it would be covered under my warranty and they thought it would, but said the BMW warranty guy would need to swing by and take a look and he was just there a few days ago and only comes a few times per month. I just waited months to get the car, and have only had it for 4 days, so I don't want leave it sitting around to make this repair.

This car has HUD and windshield mounted rain sensor, so I would guess a new windshield might be expensive. All things being equal I would like to have the windshield replaced under warrnaty, but I also want to get it fixed as soon as possible. Any advice? Do I have a chance getting this replaced under warranty? If not should I use a high quality shop that does nothing but glass and will come to my house? I am sure that the dealer has a great service department, but I hope they aren't replacing windshileds all day and with glass installation experience counts.

Advice to any and all of my many questions is welcome. Thanks.

Reply » Is this a warranty Item?

Clearly a warranty item. If no damaging from the outside is visible, the windshield cracked by itself. This happens sometimes if there´s a production error in the glass (uneven heat spread while cooling during production for instance). There was a tension preloaded in the windhsiled that made it crack now.

Beeing a brand new car, you should take it to the dealer and have the windshield replaced right away. There´s no need for them to hold you out to wait. You´ve just spent some serious $$$ on a 650 so you really shouldn´t be told to wait for several days with no chance to use your vehicle before they repair a clearly warranted item. They´re sheduling problems are not your sheduling problems.

They can take a picture of the crack and send it to the inspector by email if neccessary. Or just replace the glass and keep the old shield for later inspection.

Sounds like your dealer is not exactly very cooperative.

Reply » Is this a warranty Item?

tierfreund is correct they can take a picture of a defective/broken part and email to a BMW inspector for warranty approval. My dealer did just that this week with my broken coil spring(s) issue.

Reply » Is this a warranty Item?

For what it's worth, I've heard of this happening a lot on the new 5's also. Something to do with how the front of the chassis is aluminum and the rest is steel. Aluminum and steel cool at different rates, so it causes stress where the windshield is (where the aluminum meets the steel). If it's a known defect like this, it's a warranty issue.

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