[minimike7]

I think I must either be really unlucky or doing something wrong but after owning 2 MINIs I'm needing another new window screen in a year and a half.

MCS

Window 1 (from factory) = brand new mcs cracked within 4 days of ownership. stone chip!
Window 2 (Autoglass) = survived until car sold, with minor stone chips but not an issue

Mini Cooper

Window 3 Had BMW window replaced when purchased as was in an awful state (dealer replaced as could be MOT fail)
Few days later coming back from Ace Cafe - big stone chip on passenger side (not too much of an issue)

6 months to the day of the new window being fitted, on 1st of March, cracked again! Massive crack running from bottom left up and along to the right now stretched across a good 25% of the window and growing.

I worry when I get it replaced it will only get another crack or stone chip within a matter of days!

Has anybody else experienced window troubles, its must be a design issues due to the sheer harshness of the angle the window, and a bit of bad luck I guess.

[timc]

I had two windsreens fitted within 6 weeks of each other. Stone chips

[KillerByte]

I got a stonechip within one month of owning my Cooper.

I'm hoping the S is a little bit luckier.

[Gristy]

Had mine replaced about 4 months ago, then got hit by a large rock a few days later then got large chip a few days after that...

I think they get damaged more as they are not sloped as much as other cars

[OJM]

I have quite a few stone chips and scuff marks, but got them done at one of those chip companies (insurance paid) - can't see the scuffs now, and the chips have been filled. Fingers crossed!

[jimmy_racoon]

I've had only one replaced in 3 years. Had a couple minor chips, then the "stress fracture".

Seems with spirited cornering, plus maybe frozen weather, MINI's tend to bend and crack windshields.

I read about this possibility and modified my auto insurance to include no deductible windshield coverage. (Especially when I learned the MINI mindshield costs north of $450!)

All is well now, if it goes again, it goes.

Nothing like a new piece of glass to enhance your motoring view!

Best of luck.

[NeuroBeaker]

Quote: Originally Posted by jimmy_racoon (original)

I've had only one replaced in 3 years. Had a couple minor chips, then the "stress fracture".

Seems with spirited cornering, plus maybe frozen weather, MINI's tend to bend and crack windshields.

Would strut/chassis braces help prevent this sort of "stress fracture" in the windshield?

[johnlondonw3]

I recently sold my Audi and before selling it I contacted Auto glass via my insurance company to see if they could fix a stone chip in the windscreen..........first question they asked was how big was it,they wanted to know was it the size of a 5p ,long and short of it was that they wouldnt repair it unles it was that size ,they claimed that to repair it could cause more damage.............
Ive got 2 small cips in the MINI screen,just wondering if anyone else had this sort of response,as I want to get them seen to

[alski]

big hole in mine, will live with it for a while, aerodynamics of a brick mean its just going to keep happening

[OJM]

John, if you see one of those stone chip repairers near a DIY shop, just check with them to see if your insurance company will pay.

I'm with Elephant, and I had to pay the £50 repair, then send the receipt to Elephant (with a small covering letter). About a week later, I received a cheque to cover the £50.

Some insurance companies allow the company to charge them directly, so you don't pay anything, but some say the customer has to pay, then claim it back.

My stone chip was only small - smaller than the blunt end of a pencil - but the company sorted it out.

[Gristy]

This is what happened to my last chip after a few days - watched it grow as i drove to Autoglass

My new chip is also down on the bottom right as well

[OJM]

Owch, wonder if a strut brace would help deter the stress fractures.

[NeuroBeaker]

Quote: Originally Posted by ARCrawford (original)

Would strut/chassis braces help prevent this sort of "stress fracture" in the windshield?

Quote: Originally Posted by OJM (original)

Owch, wonder if a strut brace would help deter the stress fractures.

Great minds...?

[OJM]

Haha, yeah, sorry forgot you'd posted that already.

[NeuroBeaker]

Quote: Originally Posted by OJM (original)

Haha, yeah, sorry forgot you'd posted that already.

Well, nobody either agreed or disagreed with me - so it was a good thing to bring it up again.

[Joiner]

Call Hilton Windscreens. They have just done mine and paid for the excess. I literally gave them my policy number and address and they showed up and fitted it. They arranged the whole thing. Dead easy - handed them the keys and made them a cuppa.

01279 647776 or 01279 757060. Hilton Windscreens are based in Bishops Stortford but will travel approx 60 mile radius. Luton is definitely covered.

If anyone wants any more info let m know.

[minicabrio]

Strut braces didn't make a blind bit of difference to my MINI Despite having all three GTT braces

3.5 years.... three screens

Just one of those things - the screen is very upright, and is always going to be subject to missiles!

[NeuroBeaker]

Quote: Originally Posted by minicabrio (original)

Strut braces didn't make a blind bit of difference to my MINI Despite having all three GTT braces

3.5 years.... three screens

Just one of those things - the screen is very upright, and is always going to be subject to missiles!

Ah, but Jon - yours was a convertible... and it wasn't so much the missile penetration we were thinking about when asking about strut braces - it was more the stress fractures that crack in from the edges of the screen towards the middle.

Stress fractures will be more prone to the convertible than the hardtop, I would assume - though someone put me right if I've got that the wrong way round. Strut braces will help the convertible more than the hardtop with stresses to the windscreen, but probably will not achieve the same total rigidity (in my mind) as on the hardtop. Just wondering what sort of measurable or semi-quantitative way we can assess just how much benefit you might receive.

Also, regarding the impact of projectiles - if you don't drive so close behind other cars, then you get hit by less debris. In four years, I've only had to replace the windscreen once - and that was only because I wasn't happy with the sun glinting and dazzling me from a small repair in the middle of the windscreen.

All the best,
Andrew.

[minicabrio]

Stress fractures are very uncommon as cracks are usually started by a small chip impact within 1" of the edge of the screen. The edge of the screen is under the most stress, thus even the slightest impact here can start a huge crack. A stress fracture would mean a crack occuring without any 3rd party impact

The convertible is actually no more prone to it than the hardtop.... in fact on the hartop the body is attached to both the top and bottom of the screen, so is more likely to put stress onto the glass than the convertible which is only attached at the base Plus the a-pillars in the soft top are are made of a much higher tensile steel, so flex far less.

In 9.5/10 cases, a crack will be caused by a chip, and can't be classed as a stress fracture

[85NIXMIN]

I have a few stone chips on my windscreen... and bonnet... I think the MINI's are bad for it... hehe But ahh soo much fun to drive