05-22-2017, 08:13 PM | #1 |
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My windshield wiper arm broke my windshield
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. |
05-22-2017, 08:21 PM | #3 |
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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.
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05-22-2017, 09:03 PM | #4 |
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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... |
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05-22-2017, 09:19 PM | #5 |
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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.
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05-22-2017, 09:29 PM | #6 | |
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I'll keep you all updated with the response. |
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05-22-2017, 09:33 PM | #8 |
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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.
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05-22-2017, 09:55 PM | #9 |
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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.
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05-22-2017, 10:22 PM | #10 |
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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.
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05-22-2017, 10:49 PM | #11 |
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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.
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05-23-2017, 07:45 AM | #12 | |
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And thanks for all the commiserations. Makes me feel a little better to know I'm not alone |
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05-23-2017, 07:49 AM | #13 |
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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.
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05-23-2017, 08:40 AM | #14 |
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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.
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05-23-2017, 08:40 AM | #15 |
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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.
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05-23-2017, 05:49 PM | #17 |
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05-24-2017, 08:03 AM | #19 |
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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.
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05-24-2017, 03:35 PM | #20 |
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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. |
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05-25-2017, 12:47 PM | #22 | ||||
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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. |
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