Has anyone had the black, glass piece between the windshield header and the panoramic sunroof fracture? Happened to our GLK yesterday. I think it was caused by going thru' our local carwash as it was fine when my son took it to be washed, and was fractured when I looked at it an hour after he'd parked the car at home. However I thought I'd ask to see if anyone else has had any issues with this part.
Bish

 

I've wondered if that could ever get a rock chip or break, never heard of it happing though, sorry to hear that. Will it be covered under warrantee?

 

Haven't heard anything like this yet. Insurance should take care. Pics?

 

The more I investigate this, the less I believe it was caused by the car wash. I wonder if being parked outside and exposed to very cold temps, (my son lives in Boulder, CO most of the year), then coming home for spring break where it's pretty warm has caused some kind of failure of this part, and perhaps the car wash high pressure water was just the 'catalyst'?

Am taking the GLK to the dealership today to show my SA. He is a great guy and I've always had good service there. Hopefully it will be covered under warranty, especially as the quote for the repair from an auto glass shop my dealer recommends is for over $1600; (the part alone is about $1100!!).

Will let you guys know what happens. I do have some pix and will try and upload them.

BTW, I would suggest that people get that piece protected by having it covered with some 3M 'clear bra'. It is not very thick and anything that helps to protect it might be worthwhile.

Bish

 

An update:

SA believes that the fracturing of the glass partition began with a rock impact. When I mentioned this to my son he mentioned that indeed he did hear a loud impact noise the day we noticed the damage. The car wash spray jets, etc. may well have just sped up the process. Hence it wasn't covered under warranty.

Had the part replaced at a total cost for parts and labour of $1600. I spent an additional $90 having the new glass partition protected with a layer of 3M 'clear bra'. It is essentially invisible, and I highly recommend everyone consider this easy modification; it will save you alot of money potentially in the future.

Bish

PS: Trying to post pix but the site won't let me. If anyone can post them for me I could send them to you via email and then perhaps you'd share them with the board. Send me an email address re: PM if you'd like to do so. TIA.

 

insurance?

 

The GLK is driven by my 18 yo son, so I keep a $1K deductible on it and all the cars. Better for me to just pay the bill and not submit it to insurance as I hate to see my rates go up.
Submitting the bill to insurance may well work for many others though.
Bish

 

sorry to hear that. With 1k deductible it doesn't really matter I guess.

I don't know how insurance is where you are at but 250 dollar deductible is usually not much more to your premium than 1000 dollar deductible.

Also, things like this most likely would not affect your rates, as this is out of your control.

Thanks for sharing the story, I'll consider putting clear bra on that piece.

 

I have the glass damaged too. I went thru the car wash and i see the pieces falling onto the front windshield. I look closely at it and I think the glass is too thin. IMO, MB should never have put it there since it really serves no real purpose. Maybe it looks great but it is vulnerable for its location. It is only a matter of time ppl will need it replaced.

 

Mines got a rock chip, maybe I should fill it now...

 

I got a chip on driver side top section right at the seam while driving down from Rocky Mountain national park to Colorado Springs. It created a crack about 5 inches down while I hit a couple big holes while speeding to avoid the storm behind us.

IMO, I think the thickness of the windshield on GLK350 is rather thin and the position is making it worse when dealing with rock from the road.

My insurenace said they will waive the deductable if I can get it fixed by contacting SafeLite Auto Glass without having to replace the whole windshield.

Unfortunately, I applied a solution from Walmart to prevent further crack while driving home to Austin texas. This has prevented the tech from fixing it.

So I will keep driving it for another 1-2 years and replace the whole windshield later. I have couple more rock chip on my windshield now since my last trip from Colorado.

 

windshields cant really be thin and im pretty sure it has to meet a certain criteria to meet crash test. Theres also a film in the middle of it ot prevent the glass from breaking into pieces.
the edge of the glass are always the most fragile part because of the way force is distributed at those places when struck.