Windshield — Blog — Healy Chen

You get three stars!

Sometimes you’re simply compelled to leave a negative Yelp review. It’s not that I had a genuinely horrible experience, but in the saga of trying to get the windshield replaced on my BMW M2, it was not so pleasant dealing with certain vendors. What it boils down to is this: communication. Any store has the right to refuse service to anyone, obviously. However, they should let the customer know this! Instead of stopping all communication without warning.

The first bodyshop I contacted to inquire about the windshield was such an establishment. While they did return my initial call saying they can help me, they never contacted me again with a repair estimate, after promising to do so. I emailed multiple times and never got a response. I realize most of these bodyshops completely ignore their emails, but I think that’s a mistake. Millennials and Gen Z people grew up on emails as a communications tool, and are deafly afraid of making a phone call.

A place of business would be wise to pay attention to incoming emails.

After I successfully got the windshield replaced (hat tip to Weatherford BMW in Berkeley), it was time to post lukewarm Yelp reviews for the shops that ignored my requests. A modicum of revenge for making me wait three weeks to get a simple piece of glass replaced on my car. And honestly, it’s such a relatively simple job! I know it doesn’t bring in the big money like a proper collision repair, but a small-bill customer is still a customer.

So I gave those shops three out of five stars, and wrote a little bit about the utter lack of communication. It would not be fair to give them any less stars because ultimately I did not do business with those places. Three stars is just enough to have my say forcefully, without looking like I’m being a dick about it. Even though I guess I’m trying to be a bit of a dick about it.

How hard can it be?

How difficult is it to replace a broken windshield on a BMW M2? Apparently, quite.

I’m sure the actual work is the same as any windshield on a car, but getting to the process has been a challenge. It’s been two weeks since I broke the windshield, and as of this writing the impact crater is still there. At least it is still water tight! No need for a trash bag of shame taped over it. The M2 remains drivable, though I hesitate to ferry people in the passenger seat - never know if the cracks would disintegrate further suddenly!

Because it is a BMW, I can’t just take the car to SafeLite and call it a day. The service manual calls for more than the windshield piece alone for the replacement procedure. You also have to use a specific kind of adhesive. I’m not sure how true it is, but word on the street is the windshield in the M2 is somewhat structural. Screw it up, and the rigidity is ruined forever. All of these things considered, I want the procedure done only at a BMW certified shop, with BMW genuine parts.

My insurance company would certainly want me to go to cheap SafeLite route instead. In fact, Progressive’s dedicated glass claim number takes you to a portal administered by SafeLite. Thankfully in California, we have the right to choose our own shop.

There’s only two BMW certified collision repair centers in San Francisco. The first one I called absolutely ghosted me. The second one I called say they don’t do windshield replacements, which is weird because invariably, if other parts of the car is wrecked along with the windshield, they'd repair it. My guess is those shops do not want the hassle of dealing with insurance. Turns out, most major auto insurance companies have contracted out their glass claims to SafeLite. And SafeLite completely lowballs.

It wasn’t until I contacted dealerships - BMW of SF and Weatherford BMW - that I got positive responses. Because the understanding there is I would pay up front for the repair, and I would deal with Progressive afterwards. Hopefully this means the windshield will get fixed relatively soon.