I was looking through the forums for a similar problem that occurred on my new little baby at the end of Dec and didn't see any posts that truly related. i also apologize for this really long itital post, but I need to tell my story.

On Xmas Eve I went to get in my new 3 month old MINI that was safe in my garage for a week ( I had been away) and found the driver's side window shattered. I was devasted.

Most of the window was intact, but totally shattered exept for a spot at the bottom by the door handle. It looked like the window popped out from the inside.

The weather had been rainy (all you Bay Area'ers—remember that patch of really cold, rainy weather we had the second week of Dec?) but I had not been driving my car.

I called my MA and was able to get my car in the first week of Jan. After waiting for a new window (and got a loaner) the dealer was able to give me a new window iunder warranty, no hassle. I love these guys.

Here we are just couple weeks later where I found my window shattered again. Same scenario, only I was in an outdoor parking lot. This time I was smart and got pictures. The same shattering, the same blow out at the door handle from the inside.

I now have another loaner car and await some sort of prognosis and a new window or whatever. My SA is stumped and very sympathetic, as is my MA.

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

Is your car named Christine?

I had a side window on my wife's Honda Odyssey blow out when shutting the back hatch (this was during the Southern California fires and I think ash sealed all the gaskets where air pressure would have vented when shutting the hatch), but I've never heard of windows blowing out with the car just sitting there.

The only thing I can think of is that both windows had some defect that just showed up over time. If you dealer comes up with a cause, let us know. Good luck!

 

Thanks. In both cases the car was parked. I hope her middle name is not Christine...

 

Here are a coupla pics. Blowout from the inside, same as the first time. I had to sit on my daughter's spongebob blanket on the way to the Dealer. I wonder if the entire door has to be replaced?

 

That is just weird! Did you notice the different glass color variance between the upper glass and the lower glass? To me this just adds to wondering if the glass was defective in the first place -- two dissimilar glass mixes such that one expands / contracts at a different rate and thus "blows out" at some point in time. Of course it could just be the way the light is hitting the bottom area which is bowed out.

 

That's insane! I think there's got to be something misaligned somewhere.

Pretty sure the "variance" is a shadow--notice between the two pics how it shifts.

 

Sounds like gremlins.

 

The color variance is just light... i was wondering if my mini was having gas and burped the window out...air pressure? I dunno.

Anyhoo, maybe the motor wasn't working right. It happened twice the same way. really weird. Hope the mini folks can figure it out. Thanks for your support, everyone.

 

Millie:

Glass is brittle. No news there but, as we all know, when brittle materials are handled, it is important not to apply uneven loads or twist. Otherwise they crack or, in the case of automotive safety glass, they shatter. It seems there is some kind of torque load on your glass panel that is being applied by the car (window channel, door tracks, motor, etc.). The glass does not crack immediately from this torque, perhaps because the pressure is not enough to crack the glass until thermal loads cause the shape of the glass to change minutely but sufficiently enough to increase the load and pop the glass.

Two instances of defective glass, while possible, are unlikely, especially since the original glass came from overseas, and the replacement glass was probably from another source. Even if it was from the same source, it was probably not manufactured in the same run as the original panel.

Now, I've never had the door panel off my MINI, and I don't know what the window track assembly looks like in there, but I'll bet something is crooked.

Another possibility, especially if the car was purchased as a pre-owned or off-lease vehicle, is that the door has been hit and repaired. If the door skin was replaced, you may not have any outward evidence that the car was hit (although I would think the labor to re-skin MINI a door is greater than to simply replace it altogether).

Quality control at BMW is very very good, but they are not entirely free of factory defects and workmanship issues. You may just have bad door guts.

If they change the glass again and it still "pops", I'd lobby the Dealer for an entirely new door.

 

i agree with Mr. W: sounds like a warped or problem door/window channel. To have two happen like that--with a window installed at the factory and another by the dealer, so that's not the same stock--makes me think it's not the glass, but what's holding the glass in.

Do U have any other fit issues with doors, hatches, etc? While BMW's QC may be good, the OC of their contractors who provide the bulk of their parts, esp. windows and mechanisms, is spotty at best.

 

Thanks guys,
My car only has 2100 miles on it. I showed the pics to a friends of mine who are mini peeps and they suggested that the limitor on the motor (Lots of posts onthat!) might be too high. I sent that suggestion to my SA about that too.

I agree it might be that I need new guts for my door. All else on my car is pretty darn perfect.