Windscreen replacement - as close to OEM as possible?

Man of Honour
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Sadly, owing to the cold weather, a chip on my windscreen has now become a crack. :(

The car is a 740d and has the original BMW spec 'climate comfort' windscreen with the blue tint, in addition to the self-driving systems, adapative lights, HUD, etc.

If I go through the usual channels with Autoglass via the insurer, will they turn up and fit something a bit naff? Anyone had experience of this recently?

I might see what my local BMW dealer (who are very good) advise too.
 
Car manufacturers don't make their own windscreens, the branding is just done for them.

Generally the "non OEM" windscreens that places like Autoglass use are the same company that make it for the car manufacturer, just without the branding.

A combination of looking up the reg and asking you questions should have them replace it with all the same features and tint, etc.

I had my screen replaced and all they checked was what colour tint (gave me a couple of options to chose from). Otherwise afaik they got everything else from the reg, the non OEM screen had a perfect colour match to the side windows, the heated screen elements (which are still working fine nearly 5 years later) and all the cameras and sensors are still happy.

If that wasn't the case, I'd have kicked up a fuss to get it replaced with OEM if they can't match it otherwise.
 
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Car manufacturers don't make their own windscreens, the branding is just done for them.

Its more than just branding - the product is made to the exact specification of the manufacturer. You've no way of knowing whether this is the same as the specification used for the manufacture of aftermarket screens.

Generally the "non OEM" windscreens that places like Autoglass use are the same company that make it for the car manufacturer, just without the branding.

Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't and the last couple of aftermarket screens I've had were not from the original manufacturer of the glass anyway.
 
Its more than just branding - the product is made to the exact specification of the manufacturer. You've no way of knowing whether this is the same as the specification used for the manufacture of aftermarket screens.



Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't and the last couple of aftermarket screens I've had were not from the original manufacturer of the glass anyway.
If it is the correct specification windscreen then the only difference is branding.
It should be possible for autoglass to get the exact spec just without the branding.

And a bit like tyres, I'm sure the glass manufacturer changes over the production of the vehicle.
 
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If it is the correct specification windscreen then the only difference is branding.

What is the correct specification? How do I know which specification is used by a windscreen replacement firm and whether it is the same as that used by the vehicle manufacturer?


It should be possible for autoglass to get the exact spec just without the branding.

It should be possible, but the specification delivered will be down to what the customer has ordered - do you not think it's possible that the specification might differ between customers and that a company specialising in fitting aftermarket screens to older vehicles might opt for a different specification to one fitting screens to brand new vehicles they manufacture themselves?

Like I said, this is before we consider that you are not normally offered a choice of manufacturer - the last screen I had fitted was not made by the original supplier of the windscreen it replaced, it was made by a different company which made aftermarket windscreens.
 
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I think it's probably a mixed bag. I'm going to speak to BMW and then my insurer and try and get an idea of how things work.

If Autoglass turn up and I'm not happy with the glass, I'll stop the work going ahead...
 
I think it's probably a mixed bag. I'm going to speak to BMW and then my insurer and try and get an idea of how things work.

If Autoglass turn up and I'm not happy with the glass, I'll stop the work going ahead...

It's only a windscreen claim with a £75 (or whatever) excess if you use their repairer (as long as they can do it whilst keeping all functionality, they know this from the VIN). Otherwise the excess will be much higher or even be treated as a full claim.
 
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Auto glass will replace like for like so if it was factory tint you will get the same.
Except as mentioned above, there is a possibility that the like for like is not actually identical and is just "near enough".

Case in point, I had a windscreen replaced on one of Ford's (either my Focus or Fiesta I can't remember). With the original windscreen the heated screen elements were much less visible, with the replacement, they were more noticeable. Whilst the replacement was a reputable brand, it clearly wasn't identical to the original windscreen.

Will a replacement be good enough? For most non-car people, absolutely they wouldn't notice a difference. But there certainly can be minor differences, and if you are pedantic enough, they may bother you.
 
Except as mentioned above, there is a possibility that the like for like is not actually identical and is just "near enough".

Case in point, I had a windscreen replaced on one of Ford's (either my Focus or Fiesta I can't remember). With the original windscreen the heated screen elements were much less visible, with the replacement, they were more noticeable. Whilst the replacement was a reputable brand, it clearly wasn't identical to the original windscreen.

Will a replacement be good enough? For most non-car people, absolutely they wouldn't notice a difference. But there certainly can be minor differences, and if you are pedantic enough, they may bother you.
Did the heating of the screen work as good as original?
 
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Have you looked closely/engravings to identify your screens oem glass manufacturer ... had done that before I had a replacement on older BMW/pikingtons and had chceked local guy would use the same,
did it in works car park.
 
Autoglass have caused me a lot of woe recently, they replaced my screen "like for like" and ever since none of my radar distance, matrix lighting, windscreen wipers, roadsign recognition and audisense work. I've had to call them every day for an update, they keep telling me the car needs to be reset to "audi OE settings", I've changed nothing, the car is factory apart from enabling video in motion so the kids can watch netlfix (which I've since disabled just in case that was the cause).

The issue is the cameras can't calibrate, but rather than resolve the issue autoglass have batted the issues back to me/audi, my car is one of three community ambulances, so I can't just drop it off to audi and pick it up a few days later, nearest appointment Audi have with a suitable replacement car is 27th December. So until then I have drive around with a million warning lights, gongs, dings and bongs and nothing working. This is also not to mention the camera recalibration from audi will cost a couple of hundred quid, which despite asking over and over again, I've yet to actually clarify if this will be refunded.

All highly irksome, very poor customer service, so poor it's something I'm now considering documenting to take to the ombudsman. Something I really don't have time for, I just want my car working, but they have dropped the ball so hard I feel they should be held accountable.

FWIW chatting with the service tech in audi, he said the windscreen they fitted will likely be too thick for their generic calibration software to work, who knows :confused:
 
Auto glass will replace like for like so if it was factory tint you will get the same.
Yep. I must’ve been lucky, the one time I’ve had a screen replaced, I requested OEM glass and it was spot on, no arguments over the phone, just a slightly longer wait whilst they got it from Land Rover. If I hadn’t asked, they would’ve likely thrown anything on there and without the heating elements.
 
I had an issue with Autoglass & my ST220 about 5 years back.

They fitted a "Shatterprufe" screen & the heating elements started to fail inside of 2 weeks. It's warrantied for the life of ownership so we went round & round for about a year & they kept fitting Shatterprufe screens which kept failing.

Eventually they tried to blame my cars electrics so wanted me to take it in to check the output to the screen which I did, everything was in spec & like idiots they threw in another shatterprufe whilst they had it.

It had failed elements within 48 hours. After kicking off at both Autoglass & Direct Line they caved & fitted an OEM Ford screen, it's still working to this day.

I think in my ownership that car has had 9 or 10 screens in it now.
 
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I once had to claim via Insurance to get my Windscreen replaced, it was done via Autoglass…

It was a MK7.5 Gold GTD and it was mentioned to me that I may or may not have to take it to VW afterwards due to the ACC, Emergency Braking, Auto Lights/Wipers potentially in need of recalibration but thankfully all was well.

They used Glass Spec’d for the Vehicle, Identical Cut outs etc but obviously they must have cases where it hasn’t worked without knocking the sensors out of calibration.
 
So, I've looked into this a bit more.

My local BMW dealer are happy to fit an OEM one and have given me a quote - £1790. In an ideal world you'd just give this to your insurer and pay the windscreen excess, but virtually nobody seems to offer this service.

My insurer, Direct Line, as per usual, only work with Autoglass. I've spoken to Autoglass who have requested permission from Direct Line to order and fit an OEM BMW screen - no idea whether they'll agree to it, probably not.

If it has to be the Autoglass "OEM spec" replacement, I'll let them go ahead and see what they turn up with. If it looks dodgy or is the wrong colour, I'll tell them to hold off fitting it. If it looks like it should be OK, I'll get it fitted, and if it annoys me, I could always stump up for a BMW one at a later date.

Should hear something later next week...
 
Autoglass have told me Direct Line automatically refuse OEM glass. I've told them fine, but I will be inspecting the glass before anything is fitted. It needs to match the climate comfort spec (acoustic, solar blue, etc) and ideally be a brand I've heard of.

The woman at Autoglass was helpful, and I did ask her (thinking of this thread) what insurers tend to approve OEM glass, and she said Liverpool Victoria are usually fine with it... not that we often have much of a choice when it comes to insurance in this market.

Edit :: Oh, and Autoglass did give me the option of paying an additional amount for OEM, but it was £900, so not exactly cheap...
 
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