Radcad06

I ended up with a rather large horizontal crack on my windshield. Luckily, my insurance is covering it with a $100 deductible ($2,555 replacement cost if done through the dealership).

Safelite Auto Glass will doing the work. Anyone here have experience with them?

Also, since my insurance covers an OEM replacement, how do I know for sure it's OEM? Am I simply looking for the Benz signature at the bottom of the glass?

Any comments are appreciated. Thanks!

MTrauman

On average I have had a windshield replacement once a year since 2000 on my S Class cars so I have lots of experience here. I have had my '16 S550 4matic for almost 1.5 years without a break so I am crossing my fingers.


The way I go about dealing with this is I make sure they purchase the glass through the dealership no matter who installs the glass. This way the installer goes to the dealer to pick up the glass. If they will not buy the glass from the dealer I will not have the installer install the glass.

belarus27

maybe this will help with some info.

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ed-advice.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...indshield.html

Radcad06

I've been a member of auto forums long enough to know that I should've used the search function first. In a burst of brain-melt I forgot this step. Thanks for your help everyone, and thank you Belarus for the links without adding snarky attitude!

BTW, I will have to take the car to the dealer after the install to have the sensors/cameras re-calibrated. I am getting reimbursed by insurance company for that as well.

belarus27

good luck , let us know how it all worked out.

Radcad06

Well, that worked out beautifully. They had the OEM glass and the installation is absolutely flawless. I'm very impressed with the company (and the Individual who did the work). I received email and text confirmations the entire time leading up to my appointment (including the heads up that they were running 15 minutes behind). Very professional. Even better, they installed it at home in my garage.

The installer said that I would not need to have the sensors re-calibrated, as he didn't need to unhook the wiring to the sensors. Not sure about this, as I'm wondering if everything will work properly if the sensors are even a millimeter off.

I'm sure if I call the dealership they'll say I need to bring it in (more $$ for them, paid through insurance).

Mythic Man

I had my windshield replaced by a different company on my 2010 c300 for I think around 350$ . I went with that way because they order their windshields from the same company that supplies Mercedes with their factory ones so really no quality issue. Just do your research and ask other companies where they get their replacements from if it's Germany I'd do it but if you want to be 100% safe and sure go dealership but that is a hell of allot of money for just a windshield replacement.

BenzV12

Great to see that worked very well
Happy Driving

Steinhart

I have had my windshield replaced 4 times in just over a year of ownership, '15 S550 4 matic, all replaced by Safelite, all without issues. I do almost all freeway driving, however I'm really wondering if they may be an issue with their glass. I have never had so many windshield cracks from rocks hitting the windshield.

syswei

I also wonder if there might be something wrong with the windshield design/manufacturing on the W222. In maybe 300-400k lifetime total miles on various cars between me and my wife, we've only suffered a cracked windshield ONCE...the W222, which happened around 5k miles.

Phoeny

Different car,same issue: 4 windshields replaced in 3 years of ownership...never experienced something similar before!
I do believe it's a mix of glass design/inclination and low budget materials,it only takes a small chip to break it!

emilner

I had the windshield changed in my GL last year and also went through safelite. What a great company! Like you said, fantastic service and just like new results. The windshield looks exactly like the oem glass. I've had my S for 2.5 years and, knock on wood, it's still in good shape.

Radcad06

@Steinhart: 4 windshields in a year? Wow. I'm also driving a 2015 S550 Four-matic. There seems to be some anecdotal evidence that this is a common issue.

Has anyone tried a paint protection-like film for their windshield? I've read there's some distortion with those on the glass.

Mythic Man

If you go to a reputable company to do it it's a pretty good investment and you can drive with some confidence that your windshield had some protection

PeterUbers

Safelite did an amazing job in my 2014 e63S

syswei

BTW if anyone that has Distronic Plus, I believe that Safelite, or generally non-MB, is not available. At least that was my experience.

apsdop

I too have to say that Safelite is phenomenal. I had my driver's window jammed in and then had a crack in my windshield a few months later.

Both times they came out and were very professional. In both instances they were OEM parts and Safelite told me they don't have non-OEM parts for this car.

I didn't realize this at first. When I needed to replace the driver's side window I actually got a quote from the dealer. Dealer told me takes 3 labor hours and with the part would be $1100. Safelite was $520 and took 30 minutes.

Didn't even bother with a quote on the windshield - went straight to safelite

emilner

Nope- I have Distronic+ and there are no issues...

PeterUbers

+1

Radcad06

I'm not sure if you're saying that Safelite doesn't carry MB OEM windshields or that they ONLY carry MB OEM windshields for the W222? I had the option of either when they called me on the phone to set up the appointment.

syswei

Sorry I mis-wrote earlier. What I meant is that when I suffered a break on a W222 Distronic Plus, no matter what shop I called, they could only use the MB OEM part. There was not, at least at that time, any non-OEM glass. And btw in my case the cheapest place to have the work done turned out to be my local MB dealer.

OnlyGerman

What if you have the heated windshield option? Can only MB order it?

nishboo

Just went through this on my S600 with heated windshield/night view/distronic/etc.

I believe only MB can order it.

Where in FL are you? and which model do you have?

crock

The glass on my 2015 chips easier than any car I have experience with. The glass is simply soft compared to other cars. You can easily scratch it with a screwdriver. Weird.

yovenim

Well, it has happened. A rock hit my windshield and cracked it. Do I go to a normal windshield replacement service or the dealership? Thanks!