blinkme_210

Have any of you shattered your glass roof panel in front of the sunroof?
My entire panel is shattered, and on the passenger side a chunk of the glass is completely missing. Luckily it looks like there's a plastic liner underneath the glass, so the water doesn't get into the headliner.
I'd fathom a guess that this happened because a rock struck it.

Streamliner

Why Mercedes makes that panel out of glass is a mystery to me. It doesn't open, it doesn't look good--especially on lighter colored cars, and like most anything made out of glass, it can crack, shatter or virtually disintegrate. BMW offers a Panorama style roof on their X5, but they do it in a way where only the sliding portion is glass, which is the way any intelligent person would design something like this. I love MB cars, but I feel that the Panorama Roof, as they have designed it, is an absolutely HORRID option. I would never even consider any vehicle equipped with it.

2012MLBlue

But how do you really feel about it?

Seriously, not good that it shattered and I bet that's an expensive repair!

Nbenz

Just noticed my 2014 GL has the same problem. Glass between sunroof and windshield is shattered!

kumarjaybee

Had the same problem with my 2014 ML350 couple of months ago. MB engineers did not think this thru. Had to shell out $1200 to get this fixed. There was additional delay as MB had to ship the part to get the repair done.

Still scratching my brain on why they put a glass panel which makes no sense.

sly10

The glass behind the sunroof just exploded for no reason today on my 2013 GL350. Thank God my kids were not with me. Can't wait to see what the dealer will tell me tomorrow!

Streamliner

The bottom line is that glass roofs are ridiculous, unneeded and unsafe. MB will probably tell you that a falling BB from a BB gun broke it, as they NEVER seem to be willing to admit that ANYTHING could be a design flaw. A simple sunroof with an all steel surround is the way these things should be built. Having a gigantic mass of glass over your head is just NUTS!

Streamliner

Do you recall how that piece is attached to the body? Do they use clips or an adhesive? Was that $1200.00 mostly the part or mostly labor? Thanks.

blinkme_210

No idea how the part is attached to the roof, but if I had to take a guess, it's most likely adhesive around the edges just like a windshield. Total replacement cost me $1,200 as well. Part was $900, and $300 for labour.

To prevent something like this from happening again, I had the new part wrapped in 3M clear bra.

Streamliner

Much appreciated, thanks.

kumarjaybee

I have no idea how they attached the piece. It was done inside the dealership. Took them couple of hours to get the job done.

That piece of glass seems to be very brittle. Covering with 3M seems to be a good idea. Blinkme_210, can you post few photos with 3M on the panel?

Thanks.

Barry45RPM

With the 3M stuff on the glass, it can still shatter, the pieces will just be better held to it.

Streamliner

I have not had it covered yet. Still thinking about it.

dprice03

Are all of these issues just on vehicles that have the full panorama sunroof option? My understanding is that the normal, typical 1 panel sunroof is standard on every ML and GL. But the panorama sunroof is optional.

M Stelma

I was driving down the road and we heard this tremendous smashing sound but no rock was anywhere in sight. This is a very strange phenomenon but I will take it to the dealer in a couple of days and let you know what happened

Streamliner

Very sorry to hear of your problem. It will be interesting to see what the dealer has to say. My guess is that they will tell you to place a claim with your insurance company. Please keep us informed and good luck to you.

ajdml400

I had the same issue with my ML 400 here in Calgary except that I never heard any smashing sounds. I took the ML in for service on March 25. A few hours later I received a call asking if they should wash my car due to this damage. My first response was “what damage”. When I picked up the ML I saw the damage for the first time. Looks very similar to picture by M Stelma. I was told it was probably a rock. Service Manager also mentioned that they have seen this a lot lately - possibly due to cold weather the last month in Calgary. If it’s due to cold weather that would be a manufacturing defect. Was quoted $1600 to fix it.

M Stelma - let me know what dealership tells you.

M Stelma

I took the vehicle in and it is going to be covered by warranty. I did not have to argue or plead my case. The fracture location is atypical of a rock impact i.e at the back ( also I know there was no rock involved as there was no impact and it would have been pretty easy to see on a clear day )

This is my first warranty issue after having had 2 AMG GTS, a AMG GTC, , 2 GL350 a G63 and a finally a 4x4 squared.

Remotely I had a ML350 and I found it so poor (2004?) ( i was burned by the heated seat!-- I ignored the brand for several years and know I am quite impressed with the quality --cant wait to get my 2020 G63

trendsetta205

This just happened to me today on my W212 E63 i was driving from work and while I was sitting in the drive through at Chic-filet I heard a loud pop. I got out because I thought something may have fallen from the building but there was nothing all of a sudden I took a closer look to see that the glass strip between my sunroof and windshield was cracked there is no glass missing and there is no point of impact which indicates there is an issue with the design. After reading this I will be taking the car to the dealership tomorrow. My wife has a Genesis G80 and she just received a Panoramic Recall just yesterday. And then this happens not even 24hrs later. I will keep you all updated.

stealth09

Has anyone replaced this on their own? I got the part, MB wants $540 for labour.

as.thompson

The panorama roof on my '16 S550 coupe cracked about 6 weeks ago while driving down a clear 3 lane highway. It sounded like the car was hit by a load of gravel. My result with MBZ was different than Stelma's though. Based on photos, my dealer said that MBUSA said it had to be caused by impact damage and they would not cover it under warranty and that I should submit it to my insurance. They did immediately offer to pay my insurance deductible though (which hinted to me that they knew it was a stress crack and not impact damage).

It took several weeks of back and forth between my insurance company, Safelite (the sub contractor that does their glass repairs), and the dealer. During this time, a second crack appeared while the car was in my garage. The glass roof came from Germany, the dealer removed, and later reinstalled, the headliner and the local Safelite techs changed the roof panel glass. The dealer said the local Safelite company was who would do all their glass work anyway.

The part was $2800 plus $245 tax; the Safelite labor was $300 and the dealer labor was $577. And the dealer did cover my $1000 deductible. The job appears to be perfect and I can't tell that any work has been done.

kallain10

I bought a 2024 Mercedes Benz GLE350 and this JUST happened to me! I have not even had this car two months yet. I just made my first payment… only difference was that it was in my garage and completely untouched, and we came out to it being broken all the way around.

How has this still not been addressed or fixed?! my car is a 2024!

Spontaneously cracking windshield while my 2024 GLE350 sits in the garage…

Spontaneously exploding windshield panel on my 2024 GLE350 sat in the garage overnight…

Streamliner

I once looked into how much it would cost to have that front piece replaced and it was a HUGE price, like $4,500.00 or something like that, but that was several years ago. At that time, and I believe I checked for a W222 S Class, that piece of glass was part of the entire railing assembly and could not be obtained separately.

At any rate, on such a new vehicle, I would try to get MB to replace it under warranty, but be prepared for them to say you need to have your insurance pay for it. PLEASE keep us informed of how this ends up being resolved and best of luck to you.

Diabolis

It was built in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Does that answer your question why it is put together like crap?

Scott Minor

Yes, at my sons baseball game in my wife’s C300 when a foul ball found it.