Hi,
I am pretty new to this and would like to start off by saying how helpful this site has been.

I am currently trying to sort out the issue with my rear window shattering on my mcsc, mine shattered on the 23rd December 2006 when I entered the vehicle and closed my door, I was very shocked and couldn’t believe what had just happened so I decided to check the forums to see if this had happened to anyone else and to my disbelief it had happened on a few occasions in a few different scenarios.
Just sods law that it had happened to me over the Christmas period so no dealers were open until today! I visited my dealer today and with no surprise they said "they had never heard of this happening before", I said "have u received a bulletin about this fault" he said "we haven't received a bulletin about this matter before”, obviously they weren’t going to hold their hand up and admit it, i got fed up with getting nowhere so I said "what is the next step to getting this resolved" they said "you need to speak to mini assist and get them to collect your car", I have done so today and within a hour my mcsc has been collected and sent to the dealer to look at and give me their opinion.
I’m not quite sure what rubbish they are going to come up with, so will wait until then and keep my fingers crossed.
Also I noticed throughout the threads that oxford mini have dealt with a few of the shattered rear windows, but when I phoned them today they said "they have never heard of a 'thermal' fault with the rear window".
I was wondering if anyone could please advise me on the best way to get things resolved.

Many thanks.

Hi all,
Just to let you know the end result of my mcsc and shattered window, to my utter surprise the car was picked up at 3pm on the 27th Dec 06 and was ready for me to collect at 4pm the following day, all complete with a new roof and window! (lets just say a few strong words were exchanged). Im not sure why they agreed to change it so quickly, but i feel that these threads helped in a big way for my defence.

looking pretty good so far here too..Mini assistance hace provided a courtesy car FOC for 6 days(New Cooperbut alas not an S)and BMW are considering the issue and so far no serious problems..
Cost of new roof is £1605!!!!!!!
Will advise on outcome next week but I agree that this forum/ thread has been a great help.

I am delighted to advise that the window/roof has been replaced under warranty.Our dealer, **** Lovett in Hungerford have been brilliant and sorted it all out with BMW without the need for any intervention or pressure. I would highly recommend these guys.
Interestingly I found a TSB (Technical service Bulletin) issued by BMW in the US regarding this issue. Pre-mid may 2005 manufacturing stress faults could cause spontaneous failure of the rear screen.
may be of use if your dealer is not as good as ours.
Cannot post link yet as need to do 5 posts so will follow shortly

wait for it, won't allow me to post it yet

http://www.alldata.com/tsb/BMW/1122879600000_1156921200000_M511105/index.html

Hi,
Our daughter`s mini one convertible has just suffered the same fate i`m saddened to say. The reer window shattered for no reason at all. We contacted BMW who said that a new roof would have to be fitted at around £2,000. Then we contacted our insurance company who were no help either. I then put a search in on Askjeeves and found to my great surprise this forum.
Joanne has owned the MIC since 01/03/05 and we purchased for her an extended 5 year warranty.
Any advice on the best way forward would be greatly appreciated please. All the best!
Kind regards
Mike and Dawn

Hi,
Our daughter`s mini one convertible has just suffered the same fate i`m saddened to say. The reer window shattered for no reason at all. We contacted BMW who said that a new roof would have to be fitted at around £2,000. Then we contacted our insurance company who were no help either. I then put a search in on Askjeeves and found to my great surprise this forum.
Joanne has owned the MIC since 01/03/05 and we purchased for her an extended 5 year warranty.
Any advice on the best way forward would be greatly appreciated please. All the best!
Kind regards
Mike and Dawn
Yes print out the BMW message about the problem, and this thread, go to the dealership and show them this and that you know that this is not a one off incident, and then prove to them how nothing has smashed the window;)

Just be calm, and patient, remember those that are resonable with their complaints get more than those that shout and freak out.

Good luck:)

Yes print out the BMW message about the problem, and this thread, go to the dealership and show them this and that you know that this is not a one off incident, and then prove to them how nothing has smashed the window;)

Just be calm, and patient, remember those that are resonable with their complaints get more than those that shout and freak out.

Good luck:)

Just to verify this,there has been a Mini UK technical bulletin (no.UK-54-001-05) that reports of the rear screen shattering on production dates before 01.05.2005,so if there is no evidence of third party damage it may be as well mentioning this to your dealer.;)

Just to verify this,there has been a Mini UK technical bulletin (no.UK-54-001-05) that reports of the rear screen shattering on production dates before 01.05.2005,so if there is no evidence of third party damage it may be as well mentioning this to your dealer.;)
This one;)

http://www.alldata.com/tsb/BMW/1122879600000_1156921200000_M511105/5111051.html

I think it very much depends on your dealer, and how helpful they are. BMW are aware of the problem, fact and will authorise roof replacement provided you can convince them that there was no external impact etc. Ours just shattered on the driveway so it was no problem and as I say in my earlier posts, our dealership (nickname for Richard but sanitised on this forum) Lovett of Hungerford were brilliant. We even got a car for 6 days as ours happened during the Xmas break.
Good luck and as advised, don't lose your cool.:)

The rear glass on my mini shattered when I closed the drivers side door. I too was told that the dealer was unaware of the problem and that I should file a claim with my insurance company for the approximate cost of $5K to replace the top & rear window. I have spoken with my service advisor about this thread and the TSB mentioned. He asked that I forward both links to him, so we'll see. My insurance company also asked for the links. Still waiting to see how it all turns out.

This site was very helpful, will keep you posted.

In less than an hour of providing the links to this thread and the TSB on the rear windows - my dealer, Knauz Mini, called to say the replacement window/top was covered under warrenty. They also thanked me for turning them onto the problem. All's well that ends well.

really pleased that highlighting this issue and the way the initial suffers worked together got another result for someone:)

Same here, this morning I was driving to the dealer to have a tire pressure indicator light issue checked out and out of nowhere, BOOM, sounded like a gunshot, two fist size holes in the rear glass, nothing hit me, no impact fractures on the glass, just BOOM. I'm waiting on the dealer to call me back right now but I've already spoken with my lawyer and he told me to tell the dealer to ensure the glass is not removed after inspection....

Anyone else experience this with MCS?

Sounds a little poor but OMG what a steep cost!!

Ok so I'm more proof of this problem. I woke up to see my 2005 Mini Cooper Rear Windshield shattered without any evidence of anything hitting it, and it look like it exploded because there was more glass outside vs inside - in fact no glass even made its way to the back seat but just immediately below the window, but my dealer claims there are no service bulletins and that I should contact my insurance. I gave him this thread of info so he's still looking into it. Does anyone have any US Service Bulletin #s and date of issuance? I saw the earlier UK reference.

My rear windsreen shattered for no reason whilst on the driveway as well. There was a really loud bang and glass everywhere. It is a 2004 Cooper S Convertible. Anyone successfully claimed for a new roof out of warranty?(as the links from previous posters to "service bulletins" confirming BMW know about the problem have vanished)

My rear windsreen shattered for no reason whilst on the driveway as well. There was a really loud bang and glass everywhere. It is a 2004 Cooper S Convertible. Anyone successfully claimed for a new roof out of warranty?(as the links from previous posters to "service bulletins" confirming BMW know about the problem have vanished)
yes I claimed and got it done on warranty, but be prepared for a fight;)

And it will be harder at this stage is my guess

Anyone know what they changed on the 05 cars to stop it happening?

Anyone know what they changed on the 05 cars to stop it happening?

I suspect it was a quality control thing that affected a small proportion of the original roofs/rear screens.

Ian

Anyone know what they changed on the 05 cars to stop it happening?
It was just a small batch issue on some of the original cars, if I remember correctly something to do with the bonding/lamination of the glass;)

Finally got mine resolved. BMW first offered all parts free and half of the labour cost which worked out that I would have to pay £345.00. I sent an E-Mail to BMW head office and they replied that they would make a final offer of 80% of the labour costs which bought it down to £120.00. Not too bad a result considering the car is almost 4 years old, but I feel they should have paid for the lot as it was a known fault. My Insurance company will pay out a max of £125.00 for the glass repairs but there is a £60.00 excess so all in all I would have paid around £65.00 for the job.

Finally got mine resolved. BMW first offered all parts free and half of the labour cost which worked out that I would have to pay £345.00. I sent an E-Mail to BMW head office and they replied that they would make a final offer of 80% of the labour costs which bought it down to £120.00. Not too bad a result considering the car is almost 4 years old, but I feel they should have paid for the lot as it was a known fault. My Insurance company will pay out a max of £125.00 for the glass repairs but there is a £60.00 excess so all in all I would have paid around £65.00 for the job.

Good to know, Voyager7, and good on you for your persistence. I just hope BMW MINI will be so sympathetic when my roof wear gets so bad that a second replacement is necessary......:eek:

(But first, I need some nice weather ;))

Great result!! How did you know what email address to use? You get a Standing Ovation from Germany!! I hope I am as fortunate (like Dalboyne says) when I am in that situation. Hopefully the 2nd gen cabrios have had the lot of soft top issues addressed and corrected. One can hope.

It was just a small batch issue on some of the original cars, if I remember correctly something to do with the bonding/lamination of the glass;)

hi guys and girls, im new to this forum, as i just bought a mini one 55 plate last saturday, all fine and dandy and yesterday.. you guessed it... i was on my way to work, used my de-mister and 20 minutes later my windscreen shattered into a million pieces?? i was stationery, with cars around me so it couldnt of been a stone or anything.
took it to my local bmw (stephen james, Enfield) and its the same story.. wont accept liability for the glass or the possible scratched paint work..

help!! what ammo can i use to get it done under warrenty so i dont have to go through insurance an pay £75 excess?? i only got it 5 days ago :(

Hi

I'm a new member here and guess what, yep my MCC S's rear window shattered spontaniously last sunday while I was at work. The car was parked and between 8AM-10AM the rear window was all in pieces partially behind the car.
Looked just like all the other cases I have seen here. :angry: The car is 2005 and manufactured pre mid may, so I presume it had a faulty window. I wonder why there hasn't been callbacks considering this fault (at least in Finland)?

I need help. My mini dealer / BMW Finland doesn't want to know anything about problems in cabriolet mini's rear windows.
BMW Finland says that they haven't got any service bulletin concerning this matter, there is no known problem in rear window!? This is really frustrating after reading this thread when the window shattered three weeks ago.

Please could someone post the whole service bulletin to this thread or working link to it. I find it really hard to believe that BMW Finland is totally unaware of this fault.

I still persist in my opinion that the top should last more than three years considering the price of a new top.

omigod! There I was thinking that my quiet rural estate had been invaded by vandals, and it's a design fault. My 54 Cooper s cab shattered sunday night. Insurers said I could claim on glass damage, until they found out it needed a new hood. The assessor visited, told the garage to proceed and then the garage rang to say instead of a £75 excess, I was now facing a £550 excess, and a blemish on years of NCD. Will now read the thread all the way through....

Last January, the glass window on our Jag conv. shattered as we were driving. Just before it happened, I smelled something-thought it was burning antifreeze. Turns out it was the rear defogger overheating. It was on 'cause it was snowing lightly-it did not turn itself off, and BANG! Window blew out.
Maybe some of the Mini glass failures are similar?

Hi everyone,

Looks like I've joined a growing band of dissatisfied people, most of whom are struggling to get their BMW dealer to cover the cost of a shattered rear window. I have been advised by my friendly insurance assessor that it is a known fault and that some BMW dealers have repaired (or rather replaced the whole roof !! Great design). Reading some of the entries on this forum, which he directed me to, it is now pretty obvious.

It's my wife's 04 Mini One and I, like others, found it had shattered whilst parked up outside the house. As an retired policeman, I immediately cursed the vandal that did it but now realise it just went. The car boot was full of water, as it was a particularly wet night - typical.

I have to admit that I haven't gone back and read all the entries yet, as I want to get on and pester my local dealer as soon as possible. I'll keep the forum updated on my progress.

I would appreciate any advice from anyone, particularly on how to pressurise BMW to cover the cost.