[scottyn]

I was washing my car, and when I started to lift up the windshield wiper to clean underneath, it slipped out of my hand. It was probably only 3-4 inches off the glass at the time, but it slammed down and the blade came off. I didn't think it would cause any real damage, but I was wrong. There's now a huge starburst crack (with one of the legs going almost the entire height of the glass) and a 2-3 inch gouge right underneath the wiper. The result seems ridiculous to me, but has anyone else ever heard of this happening? Does this say something bad about the glass in the 2er, or would you expect the same result on any car in these circumstances?

The only blessing here is that I live in Florida, and in this state no insurance company is allow to charge a deductible on a damaged windshield. They have to cover the entire cost of repair/replacement, and the customer can go wherever he likes to have it fixed. I was honestly expecting my insurer to give me a hard time with it or try to trick me into paying my deductible, but they did no such thing. They recommended I go with Safelite, but I think I'll go to the dealership. The situation still sucks, but finally living in Florida has proven beneficial in some way.

[overcoil]

Damn !

[BEM-S4]

Did the blade come off then the arm hit? Or blade came off after?

Gotta assume you hit the one in a million perfect angle distance maybe even ambient temp. You could probably try doing that over and over again and never replicate the result.

[Deutsche-Broke]

Christ in a sidecar... That happened to me yesterday in the middle of a wash.. Was washing the windshield and lifted the wiper arm slightly and unexpectedly, the blade popped off.. Instinct was to try and catch it before it hit the paint and the metal arm smacked back on the windshield. I shuddered as I heard the sound and just stopped and stared for about three minutes, hose in hand, waiting for spider cracks..

I totally lucked out as the windshield was intact but I completely feel your pain, as I was making diamonds down there at the time..

It's insane because I was just checking the blades earlier as I'm not really on board with how the blades connect into the arm. Its happened before about a month ago when I replaced the blades with new ones.. Had a similar wiper arm on the previous E82 and it was solid and sturdy under ice and heavy snow.

The F22 must have had a change because I don't trust the receiving arm at all and throw a protective mat on the glass when changing the blades.

I told my SA about it a few weeks ago and he obviously told me that there were no reported issues. But he did temper that with a, "Make sure you use BMW blades and not aftermarket as they will dispute a warranty claim, blah, blah..".. I did notice that there was a mention in the owners manual about not letting the arm smack the windshield.. (Cover your ass..)

I definitely see small black, neatly trimmed zip ties around that assembly in the very near future.. Not something I expected to have to do to this car..

I would definitely pursue BMWNA over this and keep receipts..

Please let us know how it works out, as I don't think this is a isolated issue...

[scottyn]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

Did the blade come off then the arm hit? Or blade came off after?

Gotta assume you hit the one in a million perfect angle distance maybe even ambient temp. You could probably try doing that over and over again and never replicate the result.

I'm not actually sure, but I feel the like the blade only could have come off after it hit the windshield. It certainly didn't stay in my hand...my grip just slipped because the thing was wet.

[scottyn]

Originally Posted by Deutsche-Broke

Christ in a sidecar... That happened to me yesterday in the middle of a wash.. Was washing the windshield and lifted the wiper arm slightly and unexpectedly, the blade popped off.. Instinct was to try and catch it before it hit the paint and the metal arm smacked back on the windshield. I shuddered as I heard the sound and just stopped and stared for about three minutes, hose in hand, waiting for spider cracks..

I totally lucked out as the windshield was intact but I completely feel your pain, as I was making diamonds down there at the time..

It's insane because I was just checking the blades earlier as I'm not really on board with how the blades connect into the arm. Its happened before about a month ago when I replaced the blades with new ones.. Had a similar wiper arm on the previous E82 and it was solid and sturdy under ice and heavy snow.

The F22 must have had a change because I don't trust the receiving arm at all and throw a protective mat on the glass when changing the blades.

I told my SA about it a few weeks ago and he obviously told me that there were no reported issues. But he did temper that with a, "Make sure you use BMW blades and not aftermarket as they will dispute a warranty claim, blah, blah..".. I did notice that there was a mention in the owners manual about not letting the arm smack the windshield.. (Cover your ass..)

I definitely see small black, neatly trimmed zip ties around that assembly in the very near future.. Not something I expected to have to do to this car..

I would definitely pursue BMWNA over this and keep receipts..

Please let us know how it works out, as I don't think this is a isolated issue...

Right. I will definitely be reporting this to my dealership and BMWNA. I hadn't looked closely at the assembly before, but the blade sure came off easily. All you have to do is squeeze those little rubber tabs, or apply enough force to make them flex...

I'll keep you all updated with the response.

[CO_Steve]

I did that once on my ML Mercedes. A wiper arm up off the windshield is a loaded gun aimed at your wallet.

[Y0tsuya]

I did the same with mine. Lifted the arms to clean it, then remembered I had check something under the hood and raised it. The arms scraped the lip of the hood, popped one blade off an arm, then slammed the naked metal down on the windshield. The spider crack can't be repaired, but I drove it for another 6mo before it expanded and the entire windshield must be replaced.

[SlickShift]

Ouch. I did the same thing years ago. I took off the wipers to replace them and accidentally knocked the wiperless arm down. Boom. Cracked windshield.

[XutvJet]

Had this to an Accord decades ago while changing out a blade. I learned my lesson to handle wiper arms with care. By the way, it's extremely unlikely the wiper arm with a blade in place did the damage. There's too much surface area and nothing rigid. A wiper arm with no blade is exactly like a glass breaking device like those carried by the police.

[rightrudder]

Dang, sorry about that. You're doing a great service to others by posting, so we can all be more careful handling the wipers. I'm gonna put a bath towel at the base of the windshield when the time comes to change the blades.

[scottyn]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

Had this to an Accord decades ago while changing out a blade. I learned my lesson to handle wiper arms with care. By the way, it's extremely unlikely the wiper arm with a blade in place did the damage. There's too much surface area and nothing rigid. A wiper arm with no blade is exactly like a glass breaking device like those carried by the police.

It's funny you said that. I was wondering the same thing last night and woke up convinced the blade must have come off before the arm came down, otherwise there wouldn't be this much damage. The fact is, I wasn't lifting the whole thing up by the blade...I was lifting the arm itself, at the very end. Now I realize that's where the blade is connected and (since the blade isn't attached very securely) may have actually contributed to the problem, but I didn't think of that previously. I stand by my actions as reasonable though - to move anything on a hinge, you make the lever arm as long as possible so the required force is less. Also, it would be hard for me to grab any further down on the arm without sitting on the hood of the car.

And thanks for all the commiserations. Makes me feel a little better to know I'm not alone

[bimmerfile]

I did the exact same thing several years ago with my BMW X1.
Lifted the wiper arm (by the blade) to wash under the arm, the blade slipped off (dunno how) and the blade-less arm hit the windshield from no more than 4" away and crack.
I was really surprised at how easily the blade came off the arm.

[bryan_G01]

don't use safelite. THey do not use OEM glass and you will have to go to the dealer anyway.

Glass replacement was right around 1500.00, than go reimbursed by insurance.

[BEM-S4]

Had no idea this was so common good to know. I think the lockdown clip is pretty weak on our wipers noticed mine had come undone the other day.

[DrunkPandaBear]

holy shit!

[RotorOver]

Originally Posted by scottyn

The situation still sucks, but finally living in Florida has proven beneficial in some way.

That and no state income tax!

[ORIGIN M.]

Sucks.

With the arms up if you lift the hood it does the same thing breaks the glass.

I'd claim it as COMP as if a rock hit it.

[Maynard]

There must be some luck involved - I recently did the boneheaded move of having wipers up, and then opening the hood. It made a horrible noise knocking the wipers back down, but as far as I can tell no damage to hood lip, and didn't break glass (but wipers remained intact and were point of contact w/ windshield). Kind of unsettling that something CAN shatter a windshield this easily though. I know the safety glass will keep you safe(ish), but it would freak me out to have a rock hit take out the windshield. And at $1500 I'm going to call to verify that I'm still on the 'full glass' policy.

[PDXF22]

I'm in this club, too.

I did this same exact thing in winter. Raised my wipers up when it was snowing so they wouldn't stick to the windshield. Once the snow/ice melted I went to push the blade and arm back down and the blade pull off the arm and bam, giant crack. Sucks, but glad I'm not the only one I guess.

[redontheline]

My buddy constantly leaves my wipers lifted when he gets out of work before me (every day). He just got a link to this thread, thanks.

[omasou]

Originally Posted by scottyn

I was washing my car, and when I started to lift up the windshield wiper to clean underneath, it slipped out of my hand. It was probably only 3-4 inches off the glass at the time, but it slammed down and the blade came off. I didn't think it would cause any real damage, but I was wrong...

Years ago, I overheard a mechanic service mgr. conversation where they broke a windshield and have always been extra careful every since.

Originally Posted by scottyn

Right. I will definitely be reporting this to my dealership and BMWNA. I hadn't looked closely at the assembly before, but the blade sure came off easily. All you have to do is squeeze those little rubber tabs, or apply enough force to make them flex...

I'll keep you all updated with the response.

I wouldn't bother with BMW or the dealer as BMW did not design the wiper blade locking mechanism and it was just bad luck. Take a trip to Walmart there are 3-5 ways a wiper blade attaches to the arm for all manufactures.

Originally Posted by Deutsche-Broke

...
The F22 must have had a change because I don't trust the receiving arm at all and throw a protective mat on the glass when changing the blades.

...

Great idea.

Originally Posted by bryan_f22

don't use safelite. THey do not use OEM glass and you will have to go to the dealer anyway.

Glass replacement was right around 1500.00, than go reimbursed by insurance.

Dealers do not replace glass. They call a third party. If the car is newer let the dealer manage it and get a loaner. If older find out who they use and if you like them use them. Some times dealers will tell you to deal w/it yourself regardless of car age.

If the car is older they may have a non-OEM glass option. If newer or special (LR heated windshields) they will use OEM. When you talk to the repair place ask. If they have both for your car your insurance may make you pay the difference.

Do not replace the glass first and call insurance second. That is a guaranteed denial.

In fact insurance at least State Farm is using a separate glass insurance company. So when you call they forward you to them and they make the appointment.