Got hit by a rock on my 2018 e63s wagon and now need a new windshield. Thankfully it didn’t hit the hood or roof.
My windshield has a signature on the lower right side of it, does anyone know what that is and what it represents?
I’m assuming that if I go somewhere other than the dealer I’ll get a non oem windshield that won’t have that signature on it. Not sure if I should worry about that or not but wanted to see if anyone knows just what that is?

 

I’m assuming the signature is Carl Benz - OEM glass. You can request OEM glass from windshield installers like safelite. It takes a bit longer for them obtain vs. aftermarket non OEM - which is usually what they have in immediate stock.

 

My first thought when I read your title is that you went to the track and got a new time written on your windshield in shoe polish, lol.

Sorry, carry on...

 

There are several different OEM windshield glass:

Standard
Infra-red blocking
HUD (in combination of the two above)

 

On my third windshield now.

The first received a small chip on the last day of my European Delivery tour on the drive back to Sindelfingen and was replaced by the VPC in Baltimore. I had the car delivered to a dealer in Germantown, MD rather than my home dealer in San Diego rather than wait for the trip through the canal and planned a nice cross country drive to further the breaking in process. I've done the drive a number of times so was looking forward to doing it in this car.

Interestingly enough when I picked up the car from the dealer, as I drove away I received a number of Distronic related errors that pointed to the cameras not working - suspiciously like they weren't aligned after the windshield replacement or if the wrong glass had been installed. Stopped at a dealer in Nashville to have the rear diff fluid changed as that was planned to be right at the mileage for when the change was required per the schedule at that time. Had them try to recalibrate the cameras but they failed and ended up clearing all calibration on the car so I had basically a manual car with no cruise control at all.

As luck would have it, I got whacked by a large rock in Little Rock right square in the middle of the passenger side of the windshield. Pressed the help button on the car and Mercedes was able to find a dealer in Dallas with the right windshield so stopped there for the replacement. I had purchased the Mercedes windshield replacement insurance with the car because I was worried about the insurance company trying to replace the glass with some off-brand product. My car has the acoustic sound reduction and heat reduction, plus HUD and Distronic features so definitely didn't want some off brand.

When mentioning that to the Dallas dealer, they told me the trick is to take the car to the dealer first and get the replacement process started before calling the insurance and then they basically have to use the factory glass. Technically they supposedly can't force you to use 3rd party glass, but they sure can twist your arm about it. The dealer in Dallas did a fine job installing the new windshield and getting everything recalibrated and for the rest of the drive home I got to enjoy the full Distronic features of the car and let the adaptive cruise control and lane keeping assist do most of the work through the long boring parts. Made great use of the heated massage features on the seats to help keep from getting stiff after a long day in the car

A month or two ago I got struck by a pebble at the base of the windshield. Made a small chip which started to spread into a line. Had my annual maintenance scheduled so added the windshield replacement to the list. Called Allstate after I dropped the car off to let them know about the crack and the windshield replacement and they didn't give me any grief at all. Routed me to the department that handles windshield claims for them and got the process started.

Had to pay the dealer up front for the glass repair, which was about $2300 - $2400 and then send a copy of the invoice to the claims department. After a week or so I received a notice that the claim was being paid and a check was on the way.

 

Agreed - dealer or installer will pull the VIN to determine what specific windshield is required.

 

The signature in the windshield signifies if the windshield is genuine. Aftermarket glass will not have the signature. With the cameras you want to avoid aftermarket glass. MB will not guarantee that the driver assistants and safety assistants work correctly with a non-genuine windshield. Generally, the insurance will pay for a genuine windshield as soon as you say yes when they ask you whether you have a camera. And if you have the HUD, then you need the specific glass to work with it.

My MB dealership does all the glass work in-house. They have factory trained glass technicians and obviously use genuine windshields and then do all the calibration in accordance with factory requirements. The only thing is that they don't do insurance billing, so I had to submit the invoice and get reimbursed, but all was covered. The insurance estimate was actually spot on with what it cost at the dealership minus my $100 deductible.

https://vroomo.co.uk/why-does-merced...he-windshield/

 

Thanks all, yes I have the acoustic glass along with HUD so looks like dealership is only option, not a bad thing.
I don’t have any additional or special windshield coverage will be interesting to see how Progessive handles it.

 

Me, neither. Windshield replacement falls under comprehensive. I have a low deductible for my comprehensive coverage. It doesn't increase the premium by much and I got tired of forking over $500+ for things I have no control over. I upped my collision coverage deductible, because if I'm at fault in a collision, I only have myself to blame. BTW in some states windshield replacement is fully covered w/o deductible. Here in California insurance companies fully cover repairs, but not replacements.

 

I’ve always had good luck with my insurer’s windshield policy. When I file a claim online it allows me to select where to take it (dealer included). I just pay the dealer or installer the $100 deductible, and the installer direct bills insurance the remaining balance.

In one instance we took one of our vehicles (non-MB), to Safelite as the dealer had long wait times. Requested factory OEM glass due to cameras, heated windshield, etc - no issues from the insurer approving.

Winters here are brutal on windshields. Ended up replacing two on my truck this last winter alone.

 

No deductible with Allstate for the windshield in my case either. The cameras and the icon that lights up in the sideview mirrors were the questions they asked. After that, they said it needed to be be factory glass and that calibration at the dealer would be required after the installation was completed.

Also, for what it's worth, the Mercedes windshield replacement insurance expired after four years so it only covered the replacement I had during the first year in Dallas. I wouldn't buy it again knowing that regular insurance will cover the factory glass for this car.

 

Yeah, these dealer add-ons are all pure profit centers along with wheel and tire packages and extended warranty. Hugely profitable for the dealerships, counting on customers not knowing that insurance covers much of it and most tire places these days include free road hazard insurance. My dealership wanted to sell me a 7 year extended warranty for $8k, which is really only a 3 year warranty, because the factory warranty covers the first 4 years. I just laughed at them.

 

I went through statefarm and they approved the OEM Glass. I told them I did not want aftermarket glass since I have the acoustic package and HUD. No deductible

 

I had OEM glass fitted a month ago, all the new windshields (windscreens) have "Mercedes" in italics now rather than the "Carl Benz signature

 

If you have a loaded up car with the sun protection package (IR windshield), and HUD you are lucky because there are no aftermarket options. So here in FL my windshield was replaced new oem free of charge. It was replaced a couple months ago and says Carl Benz at the bottom right corner.

 

How did this turn out with Progressive insurance? I have them too. I went today to get a new glass at Safelite and they were very helpful and nice but only had aftermarket glass. I asked for OEM and they said they could get in stock in about a week but wasn’t sure if Porgresive would pay the difference. The “difference” was just shy of $1000. I also asked if their windshield had the ACP film and HUD requirements. She said she went by the VIN so it “should” have it. I also stated that their software was labeling my car as a E53 when it imported from Progressive and I was a little concerned.

So my question for help is, if Progressive denies the OEM glass, what should I do? I cannot go to my local dealer because they don’t do glass work and they told me to go elsewhere. Do I insist on OEM and if not, can I claim i want “diminished value” then?

***Side note about diminished value. When I tried trading in my GLE recently, the dealer knocked off $1000 because I had a chip on it filled and not replaced. They stated therefore they would replace it and knocked $1000 off the value.
Thanks for the help.

 

Safelite ended up being able to seal the chip and did such a nice job I really can’t tell where it was. Had they not been able to do so I’d resigned myself to having to just pay for oem glass at a dealership.
I suggest if your local dealership can’t or won’t do glass find another dealership nearby and make a day out of having them do the work.
given the complexity value and scarcity of our cars I wouldn’t want to mess around trying out non oem glass.