F10 M5 Windscreen Replacement

[JMBMWM5]

W8PMC said:

Managed to pick up a not insignificant stone chip on the top left of my windscreen, thrown up by a cheese eating surrender monkeys Renault banger en route home from Le Mans. Was a tad pi$$ed off as the car is only a few weeks old & only covered 2k miles, however i assumed a repair would be straight forward & thought nothing more of it until turning up at my local Autoglass last Thursday.

The Engineer stated that due to the location of said chip it was possible a repair attempt could cause a stress crack & low & behold that's exactly what happened. Now a little annoyed but not overly i stated that a replacement would naturally be needed & could they sort this ASAP.

This is where for a few days things took a severe downward turn. Without boring you with the full details, basically Tesco Insurance didn't want to assist as they have a dedicated Windscreen repair/replacement service managed through National Windscreens (used to be Autoglass) & as i'd not followed the correct procedure i was only able to claim £175 towards the screen cost & this with an excess of £75 so net £100. A new OEM M5 screen fitted is just shy of £1000 so i was facing a big hit now. I kicked off with Autoglass for not stating this & therefore exposing me to a potential huge bill as they should have told me to ring my Insurer before they cracked my screen (knowingly) during the repair attempt. I also kicked off at Tesco Insurance for not being clearer in NOT using the obvious choice for a windscreen repair as per Autoglass's advertising & this compounded by the fact the Autoglass ARE an approved Tesco Windscreen repairer, but no longer their preferred.

After many calls & quite a bit of shouting, Tesco backed down & stated they would cover the cost of a NON OEM screen replacement by Autoglass. It's worth noting the little BMW stamp on the glass actually equates to £240 but i'm lead to believe the BMW stamp is the only difference between an OEM & non OEM screen. I then spoke to BMW & they stated that having a non OEM screen fitted could invalidate the cars warranty on technology linked/associated to the windscreen such as the various sensors, HUD & cameras. Getting more & more frustrated i then get back in touch with my Insurer to really this info & initially they were totally unconcerned & confirmed the actual screens are identical other than this bloody BMW logo stamped on the bottom corner.

After more calls i got this overruled & a new OEM screen is en route to Autoglass which will hopefully be fitted 1st thing Saturday.

Quick question, has anyone had a replacement screen fitted & if so did everything work as it should post replacement?

Hi Paul, I had a screen fitted by Autoglass, I phoned my insurance first.
I had to have the original screen by BMW as the cameras were said to need that screen.
It took a week to locate and 2 hours to fit.

[W8PMC]

All sorted & am happy again, although i musty have the worst M5 luck as on my way to Autoglass in Preston on Saturday to get said screen fitted, some ar$ehole jumped a red light & hit the rear offside wheel/back bumper on my car & then proceeded to reverse back up the road & do one

Police were about as much use as an ashtray on an R1 so couldn't even be bothered to attend the scene. Turns out through good luck & good defensive driving, the only damage was a scuff on the rear bumper behind the wheel & some deep scratches on the wheel itself, no mechanical damage was suffered & no injury. I think a decent wheel refurb & smart repair will get the car looking perfect again.

Tracked her yesterday at Anglesey & WOW, she behaved beautifully & kept some tidy machinery very honest. Am now fully in love with this car.

A funny photo i took this morning of the twins:

[tobybmw535i]

W8PMC said:

All sorted & am happy again, although i musty have the worst M5 luck as on my way to Autoglass in Preston on Saturday to get said screen fitted, some ar$ehole jumped a red light & hit the rear offside wheel/back bumper on my car & then proceeded to reverse back up the road & do one

Police were about as much use as an ashtray on an R1 so couldn't even be bothered to attend the scene. Turns out through good luck & good defensive driving, the only damage was a scuff on the rear bumper behind the wheel & some deep scratches on the wheel itself, no mechanical damage was suffered & no injury. I think a decent wheel refurb & smart repair will get the car looking perfect again.

Tracked her yesterday at Anglesey & WOW, she behaved beautifully & kept some tidy machinery very honest. Am now fully in love with this car.

A funny photo i took this morning of the twins:

Looks Good next to its Twin! Glad you are ok but you need to find the ahole who crashed into you!

[forest172]

I don't believe it. On Sunday my defender got a bad stone chip on the passenger side of the screen and half an hour ago my m5. Smack in the line of vision. So Paul, what should I now do? I'm also with tesco insurance.

Is your troublesome m5 for sale now on a forecourt?

Edited by forest172 on Wednesday 9th July 16:37

[W8PMC]

forest172 said:

I don't believe it. On Sunday my defender got a bad stone chip on the passenger side of the screen and half an hour ago my m5. Smack in the line of vision. So Paul, what should I now do? I'm also with tesco insurance.

Is your troublesome m5 for sale now on a forecourt?

Edited by forest172 on Wednesday 9th July 16:37

Ring your Insurer (via the Windscreen Claim Line on your policy document). They'll advise you & should the screen need replacing, make sure you DEMAND on OEM screen. Only way i know you can tell is the OEM screen has the BMW logo stamped on it.

The rejected M5 is on it's way down South but it was being collected by BCA so it may be going to Auction.

[W8PMC]

tobybmw535i said:

Looks Good next to its Twin! Glad you are ok but you need to find the ahole who crashed into you!

Pretty sure all the damage can be rectified with smart repairs/wheel refurb so i'm less annoyed now than i was at the time. Had the car checked over & no mechanical damage whatsoever & also had the wheel alignment check via one of those fancy laser systems & that's also spot on so purely cosmetic & even that's now minimal after some diy polishing over the weekend.

[Glassman]

W8PMC said:

Ring your Insurer (via the Windscreen Claim Line)

...which diverts the inbound call to the prevailing preferred repairer who will answer the call with something like, "Tesco Glassline", non?

[W8PMC]

Glassman said:

...which diverts the inbound call to the prevailing preferred repairer who will answer the call with something like, "Tesco Glassline", non?

Yes. As per earlier in this thread, it's National Windscreens but i'd not want anyone to suffer the same hassle i did so would suggest following the 'ring the insurer route'.

[crossy67]

W8PMC said:

chris56 said:

This is a direct consequence of poor research - firstly by not reading what you were buying when taking out Tesco Insurance - presumably you went for Tesco Insurance because they were one of the cheapest quotes and secondly not checking what you could claim for before allowing Autoglass to work on the car windscreen.
One of the most likely claims on your car insurance policy is a windscreen claim and insurers are trying to weasel out of paying for proper screens by imposing excess clauses if you do not use their chosen (cheapest) windscreen supplier.
Classic case of you get what you pay for.

A very unusual response.

Having owned many let's say many pleasant vehicles & having insured all of them, where would you class Tesco Insurance as any better worse than every other available motor insurer? As far as i'm concerned & i'm no expert but fairly well qualified, good value & reputable can be found easily & i'd put many of your Household name Car insurers in this camp & in fact many are basically umbrella companies for one physical insurer.

I'd eat my policy booklet if anyone chose an insurer purely due to their levels of windscreen cover & excess for the same. I'm fine in the knowledge i should have paid more attention to the handbook, whilst at the same time Tesco Insurance & Autoglass should have paid more attention in their levels of communication & customer service.


I doff my cap in you're being correct that Tesco were in fact the cheapest this year for my M5 (first time they've ever come close to a good quote), but i've been with Kwik Fit, Direct Line, CCI, Elephant, Admiral & many others over the years & i VERY MUCH check that i'm getting the correct cover for my needs & dealing with a reputable firm, however i don't pay a huge amount of attention to windscreen cover.

Pretty sure i did get what i expected from Tesco insurance as my OEM (BMW stamped) screen has arrived at Autoglass & will be fitted to my car tomorrow

Lastly & as said above, i approached Autoglass regarding the repair before speaking with my insurer & they (Autoglass) confirmed they were an approved Tesco windscreen repair/replacement company, had access to my policy details & assured me all was well even should the screen crack during the repair. Perhaps believing Autoglass was stupid of me, but i saw no reason to think they were lying which to be fair they were.

Good post Chris and one I'd have made my self. And good response Paul.

Tesco buy things cheaply and sell them cheaply for profit often at the expense of the producer, they have a reputation for it if you believe the media. Tesco policies used to be provided by Direct Line (UKI (RBS, iirc)) when I left the UK they were provided by Fortis (AGEAS).

As you said Paul, they are almost all the same insurance company masquerading behind a different front.

I have used the AG repair kit for 7 years whilst I worked there and a couple after. It's vacuum operated kit that is supposed to suck the air out of the chip prior to injecting it with Gavin's special sauce via a pig vacuum cup stuck to the outside of the glass. Think about that for a minute. You have a flaw in a piece of glass, would you press that flaw with your palm from the inside? That is in effect what that vacuum cup is doing on the outside.

Really glad you got it sorted and are happy with the outcome Paul. I would have said the best outcome would have come from genuine glass fitted by a proper glass fitter.

[W8PMC]

crossy67 said:

Good post Chris and one I'd have made my self. And good response Paul.

Tesco buy things cheaply and sell them cheaply for profit often at the expense of the producer, they have a reputation for it if you believe the media. Tesco policies used to be provided by Direct Line (UKI (RBS, iirc)) when I left the UK they were provided by Fortis (AGEAS).

As you said Paul, they are almost all the same insurance company masquerading behind a different front.

I have used the AG repair kit for 7 years whilst I worked there and a couple after. It's vacuum operated kit that is supposed to suck the air out of the chip prior to injecting it with Gavin's special sauce via a pig vacuum cup stuck to the outside of the glass. Think about that for a minute. You have a flaw in a piece of glass, would you press that flaw with your palm from the inside? That is in effect what that vacuum cup is doing on the outside.

Really glad you got it sorted and are happy with the outcome Paul. I would have said the best outcome would have come from genuine glass fitted by a proper glass fitter.

Which fortunately is what i ended up with, although i had to fight my corner to get it.

A lesson learnt by all as Tesco rightly admitted they should be far clearer in their requirements & not rely on the policy booklet which nobody reads. Autoglass agreed they should have informed me they're NOT Tesco's nominated supplier rather than pretending they were so i'd have been best checking my policy before they proceeded to crack my windscreen.

Edited by W8PMC on Thursday 10th July 09:05

[Wills2]

Resurrecting this old thread, I've just had my M5 in for repairs due to hail storm damage which included the fitting of a new BMW screen 5 days later the screen has gone again!

Tiny stone chip has developed into a 10" crack overnight right across the drivers eye line, I didn't even hear the stone hit the screen, very strange.

Not withstanding the battle I'm about to have to get BMW replacement, is there an issue with BMW screens I remember having 3 fitted to my old M3 in an 18mth period and now this will be the second one in 6 months!

[Glassman]

Wills2 said:

Resurrecting this old thread, I've just had my M5 in for repairs due to hail storm damage which included the fitting of a new BMW screen 5 days later the screen has gone again!

Tiny stone chip has developed into a 10" crack overnight right across the drivers eye line, I didn't even hear the stone hit the screen, very strange.

Not withstanding the battle I'm about to have to get BMW replacement, is there an issue with BMW screens I remember having 3 fitted to my old M3 in an 18mth period and now this will be the second one in 6 months!

Fingers crossed it all goes well for you.

There are a few variants of this windscreen; here's one I did earlier

http://www.glasstecpaul.com/bmw-5-f10f11-windscree...

[Wills2]

I've seen that Paul, all it does is make me worry more

I am coming to the conclusion that they are made of sugar glass as they don't seem to be able to sustain any kind of impact.

[crossy67]

One of the biggest causes of glass breakages are from tiny stone chips on the black line round the perimeter of the glass. This is for many reasons. They are not seen easily so left to crack, they are not as audible when they occur because they are on a part that is supported and not hollow as it were.

Lastly and by far the most common reason is because there is a stress concentration in this area due to it being where the bond is applied and even more importantly, the manufacturing process. When a screen is made it's cut out of flat float glass which is then sat on a metal jig. This is all then put through a kiln where the class sags to the shape of the jig, the glass is supported by a rim all the way round, this causes the glass to cool at different temps round it's edge leaving stress concentrations round the screens perimeter.

If like me you're an anorak take a look here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg3moEI9V5g . At 3.00 mins you can see this jig and at 4,15 you can see the stress concentrations.

[IATM]

well done on sticking to your guns.
If truth be told I have many a time been told "same quality as OEM" without the badge. I have to say over the years I have seen this not to be the case.

The OEM quality I have found to be better.

This is coming from someone who does not like to overpay for things!

[Wills2]

crossy67 said:

One of the biggest causes of glass breakages are from tiny stone chips on the black line round the perimeter of the glass. This is for many reasons. They are not seen easily so left to crack, they are not as audible when they occur because they are on a part that is supported and not hollow as it were.

Lastly and by far the most common reason is because there is a stress concentration in this area due to it being where the bond is applied and even more importantly, the manufacturing process. When a screen is made it's cut out of flat float glass which is then sat on a metal jig. This is all then put through a kiln where the class sags to the shape of the jig, the glass is supported by a rim all the way round, this causes the glass to cool at different temps round it's edge leaving stress concentrations round the screens perimeter.

If like me you're an anorak take a look here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg3moEI9V5g . At 3.00 mins you can see this jig and at 4,15 you can see the stress concentrations.

Indeed, this chip was 4" in from the edge and then cracked across the screen that night.

I'm thinking of getting a film applied to protect the glass after this one has been done

[W8PMC]

crossy67 said:

One of the biggest causes of glass breakages are from tiny stone chips on the black line round the perimeter of the glass. This is for many reasons. They are not seen easily so left to crack, they are not as audible when they occur because they are on a part that is supported and not hollow as it were.

Lastly and by far the most common reason is because there is a stress concentration in this area due to it being where the bond is applied and even more importantly, the manufacturing process. When a screen is made it's cut out of flat float glass which is then sat on a metal jig. This is all then put through a kiln where the class sags to the shape of the jig, the glass is supported by a rim all the way round, this causes the glass to cool at different temps round it's edge leaving stress concentrations round the screens perimeter.

If like me you're an anorak take a look here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg3moEI9V5g . At 3.00 mins you can see this jig and at 4,15 you can see the stress concentrations.

As above. If you can't see any significant chip in the screen then the likely reason is it was badly fitted 5 days ago. Being bonded, the screen forms part of the structural integrity of the car so if fitted incorrectly it would soon develop stress cracks. Mine went during a chip repair & the glass company stated this could happen as the chip being repaired was at the top of the screen. New OEM screen fitted & no problems, even though a few further small chips have appeared due to as you'd assume, stones hitting the screen & a couple of impacts were fairly sizeable without cracks appearing.

Hold out for an OEM screen (with BMW logo).

[driftinnjohn]

got a crack on my new fully loaded X6 M40d windscreen - in November. Reported to Direct line insurance - and the nightmare commenced.
It's the 21st feb and still no sign of a replacement.
BMW want branded windscreens only for warranty BUT cant supply a windscreen until March ! - Direct line want autoglass monkeys to 'have a go' - autoglass cant carry out any technology recallibrations and would hand back a car with a compromised warranty and defective technology - you couldn't really make any of it up.
Direct line eventually caved in and agreed a bmw dealer could do the job BUT have failed to confirm this in writing to dealer - who won't act (understandably) until he has this. Direct line now wont reply to email requests for the same.
So after around 3 months I still have a cracked windscreen and I'm back where I started - avoid windscreen technology I say

[likesachange]

driftinnjohn said:

got a crack on my new fully loaded X6 M40d windscreen - in November. Reported to Direct line insurance - and the nightmare commenced.
It's the 21st feb and still no sign of a replacement.
BMW want branded windscreens only for warranty BUT cant supply a windscreen until March ! - Direct line want autoglass monkeys to 'have a go' - autoglass cant carry out any technology recallibrations and would hand back a car with a compromised warranty and defective technology - you couldn't really make any of it up.
Direct line eventually caved in and agreed a bmw dealer could do the job BUT have failed to confirm this in writing to dealer - who won't act (understandably) until he has this. Direct line now wont reply to email requests for the same.
So after around 3 months I still have a cracked windscreen and I'm back where I started - avoid windscreen technology I say

What a joke.

Use the power of Twitter.
Explain your disappointment and the situation in what should be a relatively simple resolve, also factor in the safety aspect and tag them in.
You'll prob have it sorted within days!

[Wills2]

Just had mine replaced yesterday, the fitter said they only have BMW screens for the M5 no alternatives available, which is good news for those worried about a cheap copy.