[niruvrs9669]

Yesterday our 2016 BMW X5 sunroof shattered as I was just moving it out from the parking space. The noise was audible enough “thud”. Enclosed a pic. No damage was done as the roof visor/ padding was below it. Interesting that the glass was in tact for 6 years.

Little bit of online research says that it’s due to manufacturing defect in these sunroof glasses. Lot of such incidents reported in bmw forums though. Not sure how the warranty plays out in such cases. Any light on this from the forum members would help. Thank you

[mukeshgoel]

Reading this, it will be a good idea to get a transparent (or a shade of your choice) sunfilm installed on the sunroof glass.

Sunfilm will hold glass fragments together in case of glass shattering.

[GTO]

Thanks for sharing! Moving your post out to a new thread. A new thread means 100X the views & 100X the visibility in search engines, including Google. Will add to homepage later this week .

@ BHPians, if you should spot any good post in an existing thread that deserves its own new thread, please report the post and we'll move it out for greater visibility.

Thank you!

[Axe77]

Wow. This is quite incredible.

Please do keep the forum updated on whether or not your car is within warranty and even if its out of warranty how is BMW treating this incident - any goodwill coverage for instance. This is not the kind of tab I’d like to pick up on my car at any age of ownership. Its simply not a routine item and I’d expect a manufacturer to stand behind the costs from such an occurrence.

[VW2010]

Not sure how the warranty plays out in such cases.

A friend of mine had the same problem with the 5 series. Some dealers will push it down as customer-paid repair. If the car is under warranty please write to BMW directly if the dealers play tricks. This problem is very common as you said if you search in the bimmer forums as well. Post-warranty even BMW will not cover this and you will have to shell dearly out of your pocket. That friend is very clear that he will never buy a car with a sun roof as he had to shell out of his pocket. He said the feature that is used very rarely and for smug value is not worth spending that much for repair.

[Axe77]

Sorry can someone clarify how does the screen just crack of its own volition. Without any external interface, impact etc.

Is this an issue with most sunroofs or is there a specific batch of BMWs that are only prone to this due to some batch specific manufacturing defect? I’m kind of glad now my GT is the non sunroof sportsline edition.

[mercedised]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Sorry can someone clarify how does the screen just crack of its own volition. Without any external interface, impact etc.

Is this an issue with most sunroofs or is there a specific batch of BMWs that are only prone to this due to some batch specific manufacturing defect? I’m kind of glad now my GT is the non sunroof sportsline edition.

One of the cars I owned (Indica Vista) had developed crack in main windshield without any external impact. The windshield replacement guy told me that when parked under extreme heat some cars windshield do get cracked, due to build up of air pressure. He advised me to keep side windows opened marginally in summer days. I dont know how true he was, but my car was parked in open in those summer days.

[bj96]

Originally Posted by mercedised

... parked under extreme heat some cars windshield do get cracked, due to build up of air pressure. He advised me to keep side windows opened marginally in summer days...

Safari's cabin wasn't airtight () still it had a vent in the boot, so is in the Brio. This vent, hidden behind the plastic cladding, in the boot is covered by a one-way flap- can be pushed open from inside but not outside. This, I believe is to relieve the air pressure e.g. when parked under the sun or when you slam the door shut with a thud (air needs to escape). So, air pressure is taken care of by most manufacturers. However, under extreme heat there could be unequal expansion of top vs lower surface of the (thick) glass causing a thermal stress (similar phenomenon as a thick glass cup sometimes breaking apart when hot water is poured in) leading to crack.

In 21st century I would think this should be a solved problem for any car manufacturer to fix in design stage... need to wait for investigation e.g. could be a manufacturing defect in the glass leading to a invisible "fracture-plane" in the unit.

Thermal fracture in glass.

-BJ

[Tony2298]

As described by other folks on the forum the most probable reason would be thermal stress factor. My friend who owns a Volkswagen Polo 2013 Highline had a similar issue when the rear windshield automatically shattered, the service centre told him that there are some particles trapped inside the glass during the manufacturing of the glass and with time and heat these particles expand and cause stress on the glass and shatters it down. He did have to claim insurance though IIRC. Keep us updated about the progress, it is indeed very worrisome to know

[Nitish.arnold]

Originally Posted by mercedised

The windshield replacement guy told me that when parked under extreme heat some cars windshield do get cracked, due to build up of air pressure. He advised me to keep side windows opened marginally in summer days. I dont know how true he was, but my car was parked in open in those summer days.

It's True,
My good friend has a lot of windshield replacement centers under the brand name, Dr. Windshield, in and around NCR. He also mentions the same modus operandi to avoid any sudden cracks in the windshield.
Also, he is against sudden ac blasts as soon as you enter these hot cars.

His business booms in the summers, so data reflects the same.

[BhayanaV]

Originally Posted by Nitish.arnold

My good friend has a lot of windshield replacement centers under the brand name, Dr. Windshield, in and around NCR. He also mentions the same modus operandi to avoid any sudden cracks in the windshield.
Also, he is against sudden ac blasts as soon as you enter these hot cars.

His business booms in the summers, so data reflects the same.

Is that Mr. Abhin???

[motorguy]

I dont think heat can be directly blamed for the cracking. In the middle east (like Dubai) we see a lot of luxury cars with sunroofs. Given the extreme heat there we dont really hear of windishields or sunroofs cracking.
Hence this must be a manufacturing defect.

[Asish_VK]

That's some weird thing to happen. Looks like any impurity in the glass and crack triggered by some external factor

Originally Posted by Axe77

Sorry can someone clarify how does the screen just crack of its own volition. Without any external interface, impact etc.

Is this an issue with most sunroofs or is there a specific batch of BMWs that are only prone to this due to some batch specific manufacturing defect? I’m kind of glad now my GT is the non sunroof sportsline edition.

OT: Our 4 year old gas stove's glass top , which was a thick toughened glass also shattered into million pieces one day all of a sudden.
Only external factor I could see was direct sunlight.

[Mafia]

This is a first I have seen where a sunroof has cracked. I can only imagine the issues in claiming warranty / insurance.

I have seen a few cracked wind shield due to temperature differential. One time, in an AC taxi we were travelling in, the rear glass shattered for no reason. The driver just brushed it off saying it was due to the difference in temperature.

When I was in the middle east, even in the height of summer such issues were un-heard of.

[lemedico]

This is very unfortunate. Are you sure there was no vandalism the night before; had a look at cctv for any clues?

Please keep us updated on how the company proceeded with replacement, and the costs and other headaches involved.