Well it finally happened! After reading hundreds of stories over the years about MINIs having the worst luck with windshield damage, it finally happened to me. I was driving down the highway last weekend and POW! I almost had to change my shorts due to the loud sound of the impact. What I can only imagine to be a rock, nailed my windshield and put a nice quarter-sized starburst on it. Just great!

Luckily in Florida, there is zero deductible for windshield repairs or replacements so at least I had that going for me. I just was worried about breaking the factory seal and all that stuff… sigh. After talking to other MINIacs who have gone through this before, I was put at ease after learning the process is really not that big of a deal. Safelite Windshield Repair came highly recommended and, luckily, they were on the list of approved contractors so I placed the call and they were out yesterday. The technician was nice enough to let me snap pictures throughout the process and talked me through each step as he saw I was interested in how windshield replacement is done.

Removing the damaged windshield is the tricky part. The A-pillars need to be carefully removed without breaking any of the clips that help hold them onto the car (he did a GREAT job on this by the way!). After spending some time cutting the adhesive that holds the windshield in place, he had to force the whole unit forward with his head. This caused the windshield to crack even more. Once he got that free, it was just a matter of cleaning and prepping the area for the replacement. Primer was used around the border where the windshield was used just in case he made any scratches removing the old one to prevent rust (he did not scratch anything, but better safe than sorry!).

The new windshield was prepped and new adhesive was applied. I tell you what, you need to be quite the “attention-to-details” kind of person for this type of job because applying that stuff can get messy if you are not. He used some serious suction cups to lift the windshield into place and I assisted him as we placed the windshield on the car. He then made sure all the molding was on properly and Scooter was ready to roll. He said not to wash the car for 24 hours, but I would be able to drive it. Since it has been raining, I am thinking Scooter is going to sit for the next day or so just to be on the safe side.

All-in-all I am extremely happy with the results. I did not realize how badly pitted my old windshield was until I saw the new one on the car. WOW! What a difference! I posted photos of the whole process in the gallery – enjoy!