Windshield replacement advice- look before i leap

[Elvis 3.0]

Have had a crack in the lower left portion of DS of the windshield that started out about 2 in long and now is progressing to 4 in about three weeks time. I've searched and have been cautioned by a few experiences that I have read about ( dealing with noise, fit, tinting, etc..). I am down in Tampa FL and wondering if I had the choice of the St. Pete's BMW dealer who states that they do the windshield in house v. the national chain etc.. where obviously all they do is windshield replacements, which route should I choose? What should I look out for?

I normally wouldn't ask but I think I have replaced a total of 1 windshield in 25 years.

Thanks

[cn90]

Search PPG and Pilkington, which is OEM.

The local gurus told me the national chain people just remove the old glass, install new glass. Then a few years later, rust shows up at the A pillar windshield area.
Why? Because most places don't apply prime paint to the attachment area. FYI, During glass removal, very often the glue removal takes some of the paint off.

Thread on primer paint:
moparts: urethane windshield adhesive, is primer needed?

[Riggodeaux]

Elvis, given your locale, you might also want to search the threads for OEM 'tinted' UV? resistant optional glass.

[Ricky Bobby]

I second the optional Comfort Windscreen glass, X5SND and e30cabrio have both had it installed recently.

[pezho405]

Get the comfort windshield. the one with the purple hue to it

[Elvis 3.0]

Thanks for all of the replies. Looks like I will look to have installed by the dealer with comfort glass, if possible.

Will update if anything pertinent comes up.

thanks again.

[Elvis 3.0]

According to the bodyshop dept. at Bert Smith BMW St. Pete's ( after sounding not familiar with my 'comfort glass' request, but then returning my call [assuming they researched it]) comfort glass is only available in Europe.

They quoted approx. $210 for labor, and approx. $940 for the windshield. My insurance (progressive) said they would only cover $390.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

[pezho405]

Originally Posted by Elvis 3.0

According to the bodyshop dept. at Bert Smith BMW St. Pete's ( after sounding not familiar with my 'comfort glass' request, but then returning my call [assuming they researched it]) comfort glass is only available in Europe.

They quoted approx. $210 for labor, and approx. $940 for the windshield. My insurance (progressive) said they would only cover $390.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Call some independednt windshield replacement companies. BMW probably calls one of them in anyway

[Elvis 3.0]

I appreciate the input pezho but the matter at hand is to do both economically but more importantly correctly. That is I don't want to have some third party installer do it with non OE glass and have issues. The St. Pete BMW dealer states that they do not outsource but other local dealers state that they do.

A healthy dose of skepticism makes me cautious when they say they do it in house, but who knows.

It's always the simple tasks that come back to bite you. I'll probably end up going through insurance with no cost but was looking for any similar experiences in FL in dealing with a glass claim, fighting with insurance over replacing with BMW glass, etc..

Thanks!

[jcp240z]

Do some searching on the site. A number of people have had comfort glass installed both by the dealer or independent. It is not a European item. It was a factory option. If they told you otherwise I would run, since they don't know what they are speaking of.