[Tessa]

There have been a lot of posts sighting chips from rocks. Has anybody out there had other small cars that can be compared to the MINI's track record? It just seems that if the windshield is already under stress due to some design flaw, it might be more likely to crack when a small rock hits it in the right spot. If so, should MINI be picking up part of the tab for chips due to small rocks???

[mikehome1]

Although it would be hard to prove,I've driven 600,000miles in other cars with only 2 cracks.My Mini got it's first at 3000 miles and I never even heard the stone.

[LelloBeetle]

I never could prove it either, but on my newer Volkswagens, the glass was very prone to chipping. On my VW forum, there were numerous discussions about whether this problem is inherent to German glass manufacturers that provide windshields to VW. It makes me wonder if Mini is using German glass. Just a thought.

Quote:

Originally posted by mikehome1
Although it would be hard to prove,I've driven 600,000miles in other cars with only 2 cracks.My Mini got it's first at 3000 miles and I never even heard the stone.

[Technomage]

Mine was cracked by a rock this weekend, I was told they see this a lot do to how ridged the chasis is. With no room to flex you take some tight turns or go thru a major temp change and the thing just snaps.

[HonoluluDoug]

My theory is that the MINII wiindshield is more prone to cracking and chipping because it's is more vertical than most other cars. In the other cars I've driven in or passenged in, little bits in the air stream come toward the windshield, then hit the boundary layer (or whatever it's called) and then swoop up and over the car without contacting the windshield. On my MINI, these same little bits smack right into the glass.

Haven't chipped or cracked it yet, though.

[dco43054]

I've read the threads on windshield chips and cracking and have been a bit leery. But the first week I had my MCS, I took at least a walnut sized rock off a truck and thankfully, nothing happened. Last weekend, I took a fist sized piece of ice/snow off the roof of a truck at 70 mph, and again, nothing happened. Hope this means the problem is solved.

Dave

[Hat]

i can echo what mikehome said. In 10 years of car ownership i've never had a broken windscreen. The Mini one cracked at about 3000 miles, again with no obvious exterior damage.

The dealer replaced it under warranty even though in their opinion the crack was due to stone damage. I had a huge bang on the windscreen yesterday which has resulted in a small chip but no crack (so far)

I can't imagine the glass mini uses varies significantly from any other auto manufacturer - they usually all get them from a handfull of suppliers. I'd agree that it is probably a combination of the geometry of the screen, the upright angle & the rigid structure. Mini should still be doing something to alleviate this problem though.

[GordonD]

If you look at eh shape of the windsheild you will see that it is very radiased (if that's a word) - curved - compared to other cars.

I suspect that the 'tension' in that shapes may make them more susceptible to cracking under shock. Rather than the stone hitting a wide flat surface it hit on a much smaller one

[GTmini]

ah, but the curvature of the windshield should actually help it a bit...remember, the strength of the arch. If you don't believe me, take VW's word for it. haha...that commercial always irks me. it's a (barely) applicable argument only if they expect things to be falling out of the sky onto Beetle's

however, more on topic, I've resolved not to be surprised if, when my MINI shows up this week, it's sitting on the back of the truck with a lovely crack in the windshield. fingers crossed...

[GordonD]

Quote:

Originally posted by GTmini
ah, but the curvature of the windshield should actually help it a bit...remember, the strength of the arch.

I agree about arches' LOAD Bearing advantage but we are talking about a sharp blow on a smaller area rather than dispersed more widely - but I don't really know

Cracked windshields are fairly common - especially if you drive on gravel roads - and I can't imaging ever needing to flatbed a car because a rock cracked a widshield. if a boulder caused the safety glass to shatter into those little pieces maybe but outside of an accident I have never heard of that happening.

As to MINI paying i can't see why its their problem unless the glass fails some safety standard. I'm sure that all manfacturers strive for lighter glass so maybe we are at some limit.

Finally it's only a $50 deductable on the insce policy.

[PigLick]

I have come to think there are really two separate problems with MINI windshields. Quite a few people have experienced "spontaneous" cracks, i.e. a crack just appears without the window being hit by anything. This I think was a design/construction flaw, but they seem to have become less common now, leading me to believe the problem has been sorted in the design or build process.

The second problem is the MINI windshield seems to be prone to being easily chipped. This problem I think, as others have said, has to do with the shape, angle, and height of the windshield. There are also some rumors that the MINI windshield is made of (cheap) "soft" glass, which is more prone to chipping, which may add to the problem. I have a 40-mile each way commute to work, about 99% of which is on the freeway. I drove this route for over a year and a half in my old car (a Toyota Paseo) without ever getting any windshield damage. I've had my MINI for less than three months now, and it already has one large chip, and one smaller one, and last weekend while washing it I noticed that it appeares to be littered with undreds of tiny pits across the whole windshield. I never really inspectd my Toyota's windshield for these tiny pits, but I never noticed them, and I know it didn't have any larger chips/cracks. Could just be really bad luck, but it does seem like something about the MINI's windshield makes it very susceptible to damage.

PigLick

[Tessa]

It is good to hear that there have been successful rock encounters out there. Thanks for some positive feedback. I'm just wondering how paranoid of rock dings I will need to be.

[GordonD]

Quote:

Originally posted by PigLick
tiny pits across the whole windshield. I never really inspectd my Toyota's windshield for these tiny pits, but I never noticed them, and I know it didn't have any larger chips/cracks. Could just be really bad luck, but it does seem like something about the MINI's windshield makes it very susceptible to damage.

PigLick

Now th atyou make me think my z3 had the=is type of pitting on botht the windsheild and the headlight covers - maybe some BMW problem.

I love my MINI so unless the widshield fell out every few months i wouldn't worry about the cracking/chipping thing enough to not want to own it

[Tessa]

Trust me, I want one!!! I just have three or four months to wait before it arrives and have nothing to do except obsess about the details!!!

[EBMCS03]

Another case of Windshield chip... My dad drove the MINI to work today and ran into some rocks on the freeway and guess what? YUP NICE big chip on the windshield.

THANK GOD I got the clear bra... there were LOTS of black sports on the bra indicating where the rocks hit but the bra took it all up $$$$ well spent on the bra!

So if anyone knows where to get windshield repair please let me know... I'm currently running a search looking for sinilar incidents right now.

[Sejanus]

I have a sort of mixed report. My MINI's windshield did indeed recently suffer a dime sized chip inside the glass from being struck by a rock. On the other hand lately a lot of gravel trucks have been sharing my commute route and the car has been hit four or five other times on the windshield without any significant damage.

[Paul_Riordan]

On my first Mini, I also had the screen crack from a stone hitting it. I had had the car 3-4 months, I would also think it is more to do with the screen angle/height especially when you take into account the short bonnet/hood length and shape. I have now had my second Mini for about 3-4 months and have not had to replace the windscreen yet. I had a Porsche Boxster until recently which I managed to get damaged by a stone within one a day of owning so I guess sometimes it's jsut down to luck (or lack of it!).

[tomskilv]

The cracking windshield problem is troubling. I have not purched my Orange 2004 Mini yet, but it seems they should have fixed this. But I can understand on greed by BMW could get in the way. One poster on another thread was able to take some numbers and calculate about 3% of windshields are cracking. The replacement costs about $600. The original glass was estimated to be .17 inch thick. One could install .19 inch glass and the problem seems to go away, but I think BMW just puts in .17 gain. The .19 is about 10% thicker. So if it cost 10% more, say $60, then BMW saves about 1.5 mil a year in USA alone by just putting in the cheap glass an hoping it does not break again. Plus they get out of paying for some by claiming a rock did it.
Math:
Paying $60 more for better glass cost $6000 per 100 cars built. But if only 3 get broken, they just replace at $600 each for $1800 and come out ahead $4200 by mainting the cheaper glass. Any wonder MINI finished so low in the JD Power quality ratings? And people are thankful to pay msrp for that? Crazy! Good luck. TomSki

[Romhog]

Quote:

Originally posted by HonoluluDoug
My theory is that the MINII wiindshield is more prone to cracking and chipping because it's is more vertical than most other cars. In the other cars I've driven in or passenged in, little bits in the air stream come toward the windshield, then hit the boundary layer (or whatever it's called) and then swoop up and over the car without contacting the windshield. On my MINI, these same little bits smack right into the glass.

Haven't chipped or cracked it yet, though.

I agree, but I have gotten a nick and, I also didn't even hear the rock. I sould at least hear my prize, when I win it!

[pcvillain]

I parked my MCS on the drive and a couple of hours later went back to find a crack in the bottom right corner. Took the car back to Rydale Sutton the salesman said it was due to stone chip. i could not argue with him but i also had 1 or 2 other warranty problems that took a couple of visits to fix. The service manager noticed the windscreen and said they would change it under warranty as he said cracking is a problem in MINIs. So my advice to people is to persist and you will get your windscreen replaced under warranty.

ps The warranty work was done successfully after 3 visits. The dealership, in my opinion, were as efficient as they possibly could be it just took a while to sort out.

pps. If you get a courtesy car you dont have to pay £10/day for their insurance as i was told because they never asked me to pay it when i handed the car back (a 318 bmw which is like a dog compared to a MINI).