Stone from chip and seal road repair smashed into centre of drivers side of windscreen today 
Looks like my insurers use National Windscreens who don’t use OEM screens.
Car is 1yr old BMW c 5k on the clock. Any advice much appreciated…
Email your insurers customer service department ?
I’m hoping that some negotiation is an option. I’m not overly positive about insurance companies but I guess I should give them a chance …
I have a 2014 BMW with HUD. I had my windscreen replaced by Autoglass, and the HUD works perfectly.
My insurers weren’t interested in my position that I should have an OEM screen fitted (new for old, vehicle up to manufacturers spec, blah, blah). Too expensive…However on my car, all is fine.
I suppose it will depend on whether or not newer,BMW’S have newer "improved " windscreens.
Won’t non BMW windscreens be opaque until activated at a dealer for a fee?
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Our new car (JLR) had a stone chip that almost immediately turned into a crack. OEM screen fitted by the well-known fitter apparently but inspecting the work after I got it home (opened the bonnet to fill the washer bottle) revealed that the screws holding the A pillar trims in place are half-in, cross-threaded, the screen is not symmetrical at the bottom and the trim covers properly on one side but not the other. I’ve raised this as a complaint. So, even having OEM is no guarantee.
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This is exactly the sh1t I’m concerned about 
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Take it to your bmw dealer and get a quote, tell the insurers to arrange payment. Unless of course you bought insurance that clearly states that you must use a particular suppler.
I don’t imagine this will be the case for windscreens, but with a 1 yr old car, still under manufacturer’s warranty, may be prudent to check there is no impact on warranty by fitting non OEM parts.
Peter
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That’s my instinct. With lane assist, cruise control, speed detection, crash awareness, parking cameras etc etc plus glass tint matching I’m wary of an 18yr old apprentice fitting a ‘made in Laos’ screen…
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If they do fit it, or will allow the repairer to come to them, fine, but I did contact my supplying dealer first and they don’t fit screens or get involved in all the systems calibration even on new cars.
Many years ago I had a rear screen go on my DB9. I asked AM Works here in the UK if they’d fit a new one. They did, confirmed it was a specialised job on their cars, came 50-odd miles and collected it in a covered transporter and delivered it back. I’d put a nasty old curtain normally reserved as a decorating sheet over the leatherwork in the rear in case the screen fell in and deposited glass in the car (it didn’t) and that curtain had been cleaned, pressed, neatly folded in a dry-cleaner’s plastic cover and laid carefully in the boot when I got the car back. Cost covered on the insurance less a small excess.
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I wouldn’t be having a non OEM part on a car that’s 1 year old. It will be buried in the insurance small print about what rights they have, but you can have the car fixed by anyone you want. That’s your choice. There maybe some extra to be paid though. I hate insurance companies.
First thing I’d do is strongly argue my case with the company and let them know you won’t accept non OEM. If they think you’re a push-over, they’ll take the cheap option.
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Sorry to hear..
Do you have to go directly through your insurer?
When something similar happened on my Golf, I called AutoGlass to see if it could be repaired.
They came round, decided it couldn’t and they contacted my insurer to arrange a replacement.
I told them I only wanted an OEM replacement and would be happy to pay the difference if necessary.
As they already had an OEM one in stock, they said I didn’t need to.
OK, this was just before Covid, but its probably worth a call to them.
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Happened to me in Canada on my Toyota. I was able to get an OEM windshield replacement but had to pay the difference in price compared to the standard one they were going to use.
A few years ago when I was having my Lotus serviced at the factory I had a windscreen replaced. They called Autoshield who did a good job. The difference was that Lotus covered the guarantee. If anything had been wrong I would have returned to Lotus, not Autoshield or the insurers. Thats the point. Let the dealer take on the risk.
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A friend works for a company that specialises in visiting dealers ( even main dealers) to fit screens and calibrate the cameras. Often outsourced.
When I had a stone chip which soon became a long crack in my windscreen on my six month old BMW i4 I was told that Autoglass would be able to do it, no problem at all. I told my insurers I would only trust a BMW dealer to do it properly with all the sensors, calibrations, etc that would be involved. This was accepted and BMW fitted it with no issues a couple of days later. While I suspect the major car windscreen repairers nominally have the capacity and skill to do such repairs I’m afraid I was unwilling to trust them.
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Don’t give them ideas…
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