Radman991

Went down to Florida for a quick trip to check on my winter house and my EQS sedan which has been in storage in my air conditioned garage. First time I take car out for a drive I hit route 95 and bam, a huge rock hits windshield just above my head. Hit right at the very edge of the windshield with some splintering of glass and a 6” long crack. Question I have is I have the acoustic glass upgrade and was wondering where do I get this windshield repaired? Mercedes dealer or the windshield repair businesses? Anybody with personal experience would be helpful.

lkfoster

Mine's at dealer as we speak getting the windshield replaced. I wanted OEM glass, though I expect that the third party installers would only have that available anyway. Main reason for using the dealer is for the cameras calibration.

Radman991

I went to my dealer in RI who said they have a contract guy who does all their windshield work. I’m with you and want OEM glass and correct calibration with cameras etc. my car is in Florida so when I go back in the fall I will contact dealer and go from there.

superswiss

There are a few ways this can be done.

1. Go to a glass shop and request OE glass. May be the only option anyway as all the cameras etc. these days are only guaranteed to work correctly by the car manufacturer if OE glass is used. The glass shop will work with the nearest MB dealer to get the glass and then install it and send the car to the dealership for the calibration afterwards unless they have the necessary equipment themselves. Larger outfits such as Safelite now do their own calibrations. Don't know what the insurance law is like in Florida, but if you go through the insurance they may force you to go to their recommended shop. Here in California we have the right to take the car anywhere.
2. Go to the dealership and have them handle it. There are two ways this can go. Most dealerships contract the glass work out to another shop. The dealership like above will order the glass, then take it and the car to the glass shop, get the windshield replaced and then take it back for the calibration. Some dealerships like mine have their own in-house factory trained glass technicians, so everything is done at the dealership. This is how I replaced my last two windshields. The only issue is that some insurance companies only cover up to a certain amount for labor. Geico in my case only covers $40/hour, which is way too low for dealership labor rates. So with my most recent replacement I ended up paying $400 out of my pocket on top of my $100 comprehensive deductible. Not too bad. With a more common $500 deductible I would have paid this much anyway. Last time Geico covered it all, but the parts cost have skyrocketed since before the pandemic. The $400 I had to pay actually mostly were due to the price of the glass being higher by that much compared to last time I did it in 2020.

If you go through the dealership and they have their own technicians, keep in mind that dealerships don't do insurance billing. You will have to send the invoice and receipt to the insurance for reimbursement. Not a big deal, though. If the dealership uses another glass shop, then they generally run the billing through the glass shop, which do insurance billing, and then you don't have to deal with it.

Radman991

Appreciate the feedback. I have USAA for over 40 years as my insurance. I will contact dealer in palm beach to see how they handle it.

nath_h

This happened on my EQB. Turns out there was no aftermarket option for glass, so OEM was used at Safelight. My SA told me that there is literally nothing to do to calibrate it, and don't worry about it. Granted, it is a simpler car, but I have had no problems post install without calibration.

c4004matic

Mercedes dealer. Getting a"specialty " mercedes windshield from regular widshield companies is essentially impossible due to utter ineptitude. When I tried to get My E43 acoustic windshield replaced, 3 trip to safelite were atrial of patience. Not only did they get the wrong glass 3 times, one of the times the glass was broken! With the dealer, it took just one appoinment and done.

Crito

Safelite installed OEM glass in my driveway. Took them a couple weeks to "source" it and first one didn't pass their inspection but closest dealer is 30 minutes away so was very convenient for me.