S-Class (W220) 1999-2006: S 320 CDI, S 320, S430, S 500, S 600

windows developing bubbles inside glass! Help!

Old Jul 14, 2006 | 08:16 PM
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windows developing bubbles inside glass! Help!

I was going to get my car tinted but the tinter realize bubbles are forming INSIDE the glass..on all four windows! Between the glass...He said it will make it worse if tint is applied. bubble may expand.. I need to get the windows replaced before tinting..

Anyone have experience with this..

The description of this will be little bubble like marks at near the edge of the windows on all.. it is like a reddish rust color.. Now that the tinte mentioned it. it looks like more bubbles are developing than before. The bubble would be covered up if the window is rolled up entirely. Not noticable when rolled up.

My car is CPO.. you think MB will cover it?
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Old Jul 15, 2006 | 12:19 AM
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I haven't noticed anything. Is it something you have to look for really closely?
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Old Jul 15, 2006 | 02:34 AM
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If under 4 years 50,000 the answer is yes
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Old Jul 15, 2006 | 05:03 AM
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DAMN... CPO warranty excludes glass.. My car just hit 60K miles..

This really blows because I really take care of my cars.. and not much cars out there use this dual glass technology. and MB of all cars have defective Glass using a new technology.. go figure.. looks like there is fungus in my window.. total BS.

BUT It is some type of defect because all 4 windows is developing bubbles within the glass. It is not like I scratched them. I got an appointment next week for the dealer to look at it. Hoping they will good will something..
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Old Jul 15, 2006 | 05:26 AM
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here is how it looks. it would usually be covered up because I dont open the window much but seem excessively bubbling.

They look worse in real life. picture doesn't capture the details of the bubbles.
Attached Thumbnails windows developing bubbles inside glass! Help!-img_1832s.jpg   windows developing bubbles inside glass! Help!-img_1833s.jpg  

Last edited by fkong777; Jul 15, 2006 at 05:30 AM.
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Old Jul 15, 2006 | 08:31 AM
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I would take it to the dealer and plead your case! It seems outragous that this defect wouldn't be given some consideration!
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Old Jul 15, 2006 | 01:44 PM
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I agree, try the dealer even though you are out of wtty something like that should not be happening on ANY 4 year old car let alone an MB.
Is it on all the the glass or just that one that you show,it looks like it's in the first steps of de-lamination..
Try posting it in the general and tech. forums ,try to google the problem maybe someone else had the same fault .
Hope they help you out, I would hate to see the bill to replace all that glass.
Let us know what happens,good luck.
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Old Jul 15, 2006 | 06:53 PM
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That really sucks. Hopefully the dealer will do the right thing and fix it for you. My wife's Audi had a problem past the warranty that shouldn't have occured (oil sludge--and we did all the recommended mx) and they took car of the repairs out of warranty.

Good luck!
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Old Jul 15, 2006 | 08:25 PM
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Exclamation i have the exact same problem...

but mine is probably a little bit worse. I overlooked it thinking it was a common problem and I was just being petty since everything else on the MB seems to feel so solid. But yeah now that you bring it up like that I find myself a bit too embarassed to roll down the window when I have other passengers aboard. They might think my car's so dirty, it's got all this grime and fungus building up on the edge of the window.

Let me know if you're able to get this situation resolved through the dealer at a reasonable price.

thank you!
-luxse
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Old Jul 15, 2006 | 09:35 PM
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If your stealer acts the same way mine does, then good luck with that otherwise you have a few options. Option 1 - pay two grand to have all four windows replaced at around $500 each. Option 2 also known as the evil option, park your car outside and get up at 3am with a baseball bat and lightly break the glass - then file a police report the following morning. Pay $100 deductible for glass and have your insurance pick the tab. (Remember that's the evil option so don't take me serious.) Option 3 - fight with your dealer hoping they will repair this problem. Good luck with that.
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Old Jul 15, 2006 | 11:53 PM
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I would contact the dealer and show them this problem. If they are not as stunned as we are to see this, then I would contact the MB regional office and see what they think. I think this is something they should take care of. Keep us posted on how it goes and their explaination. If you don't get results the feds might be interested in this.
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Old Jul 16, 2006 | 12:15 AM
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Fight them. This is ridiculous.
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Old Jul 16, 2006 | 12:48 AM
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Originally Posted by fkong777
here is how it looks. it would usually be covered up because I dont open the window much but seem excessively bubbling.

They look worse in real life. picture doesn't capture the details of the bubbles.
GO HERE http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w220...nes-glass.html


Thats my story - and you will see its similar. These windows are really something else! And - Mercedes takes no responsility..............
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Old Jul 16, 2006 | 11:09 AM
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Bubbled glass

I had this on my 02 S500.

When I noticed it the car had 60,000 miles on it. Dealer told me to pound sand as I was past out of warrenty account milage. Well with in on time though. This is one reason I am sick of this brand......

This should not happen, let alone on our highly engineered MB!
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Old Jul 16, 2006 | 11:29 AM
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my "new" pre-owned 2002 S500 has this too. Funny, I just noticed it yesterday and today I see the new posting on this board. All four windows have the bubbles but so far they aren't too bad. I hope it doesn't get worse. I have an after-market warranty through Great Lakes, wondering if they will cover it.
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Old Jul 16, 2006 | 11:35 AM
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Originally Posted by jameskk
my "new" pre-owned 2002 S500 has this too. Funny, I just noticed it yesterday and today I see the new posting on this board. All four windows have the bubbles but so far they aren't too bad. I hope it doesn't get worse. I have an after-market warranty through Great Lakes, wondering if they will cover it.

You know what they said in the other forum? It almost pays to break ur windows........... then have insurance pay for replacement............

Brad
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Old Jul 17, 2006 | 06:55 PM
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I realize that almost every car out there use dual glass technology on the windshield. I dont see any old beaters out there that has bubble developing in the windshield.. I would say this is a faulty part.

I would let them know this is a safety concern because I saw picture of the next stage of the glass's "de-lamination" in which the part of the glass actually become foggy..

Geez... And this is a S-class we are talking about.. Not a Pinto..

if they dont replace the glass I would let them know that I will document the denial of replacement.. if in the future, if an accident was cause by impaired vision I would definitely hold MB accountable ..
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Old Jul 17, 2006 | 11:21 PM
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I went by my local MB dealer today and we looked at 4 different pre-owned s-class cars and all 4 had the bubbles. perhaps this is a very common occurrance.
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Old Jul 18, 2006 | 08:41 AM
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The bubbles are inbetween the two panes? Perhaps coating the top of each window with an clear gel or something would prevent this?
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Old Jul 20, 2006 | 01:17 AM
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My dealer is offering to cover the part but I have to pay labor since Im passed the 50k warranty.. My service manager say my car is worst one he have ever seen.

They say it will be a 5 hr job. so it will still be $$$ . Labor $600-700
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Old Jul 20, 2006 | 07:41 AM
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Originally Posted by fkong777
My dealer is offering to cover the part but I have to pay labor since Im passed the 50k warranty.. My service manager say my car is worst one he have ever seen.

They say it will be a 5 hr job. so it will still be $$$ . Labor $600-700

I guess that it is better than footing the whole bill.

Would they give you the glass and let you take it somewhere where the labor is not rediculous?

Good luck
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Old Jul 20, 2006 | 07:59 AM
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Atleast they stood behind their product.
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Old Jul 21, 2006 | 02:24 AM
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Originally Posted by Allzwell
I guess that it is better than footing the whole bill.

Would they give you the glass and let you take it somewhere where the labor is not rediculous?

Good luck
I dont think they will let me do that..they may cancel out my starmark warranty or something... Its better than nothing.. I just dont want to have a huge bubble on the glass as it gets older. I usually keep a car for 10 years+.
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Old Jul 22, 2006 | 09:21 AM
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You really need to fight for this. Makes ure you escalate this within the dealership, up to the owners, if necessary. Let them know that if they are unwilling to assist you will talk to MB corporate. If you do go to MB corporate, do not stop at the regional service rep level. That person is a gatekeeper. You need tell that person that you will go above him, and you need to demonstrate that.

I have litigated very similar situations, believe me this is key. You need to make phone calls to managers, and let the emails fly.

You need to infer that if this is not resolved to your satisfaction, not ony will you puruse legal action, but you will publicly expose this issue through media outlets.

As far as threatening legal action, it will be helpful to elude to the fact that you can prove that this issue has numerosity, commonality, and typicality. This infers that you may be working to construct a class action lawsuit.

Remember, having MB pay to have your windows fixed is far less than the cost of negative publicity. You just need to demonstrate that you are capable of providing exactly what they do no want, and you will need to clearly communicate this to them.

Approach this methodically and strongly, but do not go nuts. You need to demonstrate your conviction but in a rational way.
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Old Jul 22, 2006 | 08:13 PM
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I agree with you 100 %, this is not acceptable on any car of this age,I really dont see why they dont just do the whole job, parts and labor for free, and give you a loaner while the car is in for that work.
As Jam said it would help a lot if you took in messages from boards like these showing that this is not just a random problem.
It's the squeeky wheel that gets oiled, or in this case the Bubbly Benz.
Good Luck, and "non carborundum illegitium"., "don't let the bast*rds get you down".

Originally Posted by JAM
You really need to fight for this. Makes ure you escalate this within the dealership, up to the owners, if necessary. Let them know that if they are unwilling to assist you will talk to MB corporate. If you do go to MB corporate, do not stop at the regional service rep level. That person is a gatekeeper. You need tell that person that you will go above him, and you need to demonstrate that.

I have litigated very similar situations, believe me this is key. You need to make phone calls to managers, and let the emails fly.

You need to infer that if this is not resolved to your satisfaction, not ony will you puruse legal action, but you will publicly expose this issue through media outlets.

As far as threatening legal action, it will be helpful to elude to the fact that you can prove that this issue has numerosity, commonality, and typicality. This infers that you may be working to construct a class action lawsuit.

Remember, having MB pay to have your windows fixed is far less than the cost of negative publicity. You just need to demonstrate that you are capable of providing exactly what they do no want, and you will need to clearly communicate this to them.

Approach this methodically and strongly, but do not go nuts. You need to demonstrate your conviction but in a rational way.
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