Dealer for Windshield Replacement? Or Safelite?

[Vorpel]

Thanks everyone for their input. Came here for another issue on my 2015 X5 but I do have a 4 inch crack in my windshield so this was really good to read - especially the parts about USAA as that is who I am through.

Hopefully it will all work out for the best...!

[Chilled]

Originally Posted by Maverik259

Safelite did my M5 with no issue. Just request oem glass through insurance and they approved it. Safelite even came to my house which was great. Dealer wanted 2x as much and risk of me having to cover the difference with insurance so no thanks. And my dealer does it in hours. Certainly doesn’t call safelite lol.

Rim/leather repair is another story.

Does the glass dual pane/ have the backed in/ imbedded dot matrix? Those dots around the edges, can you feel them ?

[Djhumvee]

Originally Posted by destroy26

I'd be interested in seeing these pics. Very happy with the work that BMW of West Chester did on my X5.

This is what happens when an inexperienced tech removes your glass, and you never know about it. This job here done by my local Safelite previously. This is why I recommend having a small locally owned shop service you vehicle for auto glass, because they typically have had the same tech working for them for years, or the owner does the work themselves.. They can't afford 20 million a year in advertising so the work they do is what brings them the repeat customers..

[F15GorDe]

Originally Posted by Djhumvee

I do this for a living. No dealer does their own glass, and if they did.., lol they issues you would have would be astronomical.

Don't use Safelite, Some great techs, some ok techs, some horrible techs, and you may not know if they did a mediocre job until years later..

Request oem glass, if they don't authorize it go over the aftermarket glass with a fine tooth comb and look for any defect or bad bend you can. Do not put a PGW glass in your car, any aftermarket brand except them, they're bottom of the barrel.

Have a smaller shop do the work, a place that has had the same tech locally for a decade or two. The chains (Safelite) go through techs pretty quickly, you could have a guy that's done it for 10 years or it could be someones first day on their own..

I agree.

Here in Northern California SAFELITE spends huge money on their media buy & buildings, but, that’s it.
In the 20+ years I‘ve owned BMWs my 4 different BMW’s have needed windshields replaced. I took a 4 page copy of the procedure laid out by BMW into the local SAFELITE. They explained that they follow their own procedure, NOT the factory procedure. They would charge additional for OE glass or “premium” glass if requested.
I was very happy with an independent installer I found that used top quality materials and OE glass. This was also an installer who also operated a training school for installers that wanted to get into the glass business. He replaced windshields in the first 2 (a e38 & a e39) with excellent results. No air leaks, chipped paint or broken fragments and glass that had zero optical defects.
Now both current BMWs (a F10 & a F15) needed replacement about the same time I was tipped off to another independent business that did ALL of the local premium dealerships in my large metro area,Sacramento county. Interesting now is that CSAA, my insurance carrier, uses SAFLITEs scheduling system for replacements with whatever business I want to use for the replacement. My replacements occurred right alongside new BMWs right off the carrier that unfortunately arrived at the dealership fresh from BMWs west coast Port of Entry in Oxnard needing replacement. These new vehicles left the delivery center in perfect condition, just suffered damage on the way to the dealership. This unfortunate occurance is rare with new, undelivered to customer vehicles, but it does happen.

Find that small independent glass shop that listens to you, follows the factory procedure using the same materials the factory uses and installs OE glass.
The windshield in our BMWs is a structural component, not just a piece of glass.
You really want it installed with care.

[F15GorDe]

Originally Posted by destroy26

Long one here, but I wanted to update the thread as I FINALLY got my windshield replaced last Thursday (10/26), which was over a month since the "loss" was initially reported to my INS Co (USAA).

When I originally reported the event to USAA, I was forwarded to "Safelite Auto Solutions" and told that USAA outsources all glass coverage to them. USAA has been nothing short of amazing since I became a member years ago and this whole nightmare was not in line with the high-level of service that I came to enjoy as a USAA member.

For almost a month I was jerked around by Safelite Auto Solutions. First, they sent a rep out to attempt to fix the glass instead of replacing. The rep came to my house and refused to even attempt a repair as the break had penetrated too deep. From there, I got back on the phone with Safelite Auto Solutions and was informed that they would not work directly with my local BMW dealership, but also disagreed with the quote provided to me by said dealership. After getting some advice here on the forum, I decided to schedule with Safelite for the repair.

~ 3 weeks before my scheduled appointment I confirmed that an OEM windshield and all necessary parts/accessories had been ordered by the local Safelite shop (West Chester, PA) that was to perform the replacement.

~ 2 weeks before the appointment I received a follow-up call that confirmed this, again, as a courtesy.

~ 1 week before the replacement I received another call from Safelite, informing me that the windshield and parts were never ordered, and that they had no timetable to provide. On this call, I expressed how dissatisfied I was with Safelite given the fact that almost 1-month had passed since the event was reported to my INS Co. The Safelite rep on the phone said that they would make a few calls and let me know what they could do.

On the same day, I received a call back from Safelite letting me know that they "found" all of the parts, and that we were still on for my replacement, scheduled for last Monday, 10/23.

On the day of the scheduled replacement (10/23) I received a phone call from my local Safelite location (West Chester, PA), during which the customer service rep called to "Give me the bad news" that the windshield and parts/accessories were no where to be found. She almost seemed to enjoy delivering that news and seemed to enjoy how annoyed I was.

At this point, I called my INS Co (USAA) and, after threatening to cancel my policies with them, was informed that they also handle glass coverage internally, and that it was fully within my rights to work with them, directly, instead of Safelite. <48 hours later I had the money for the replacement wired to my account, and my local BMW Dealership completed the replacement in 2 days.

This entire process was a shit show, largely due to how inefficient and poorly run Safelite is as a company. As a result, I would not recommend Safelite to anyone that needs anything more than a simple windshield ding/crack repaired.

Sorry you went through all this. But, I doubt the dealer actually did the repair, my guess is a mobile operation the dealer brings in did it. Try and find out if you can. Fair number of people in your area are on this forum.
It’s always nice to know WHO to go to as well as WHO to avoid.

[destroy26]

Originally Posted by F15GorDe

Sorry you went through all this. But, I doubt the dealer actually did the repair, my guess is a mobile operation the dealer brings in did it. Try and find out if you can. Fair number of people in your area are on this forum.
It’s always nice to know WHO to go to as well as WHO to avoid.

I appreciate your comments. As I mentioned in another reply, I was so fed up with the process that it truly didn't matter to me WHO did the work as it was performed at (or through) my local BMW dealer. I have no complaints at this point, but if anything were to occur I would feel much better about addressing any concerns with my BMW SA as opposed to SafeLite.

I'll be sure to ask more thorough questions in the future. While an annoyance, this has been a great learning experience.

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving!