[qariM550]

I was driving on the highway going along with traffic but still in the left lane and then BOOM!! a big pop and see light shine thru and glass falling everywhere. Took me a few seconds to process what happened, but the sunroof shattered.

I pulled over at the next exit and took back roads home. But now does anyone know what i should do? I think this is bmws fault or would i have to go through insurance? The flying glass also left small scratches around the back of the car

[ztx84]

Wow - first of all I hope that you are ok! If this were me my first call would be to my dealer, and then if no luck there insurance. Do you know what might have caused this?

[tron1043]

The same thing happened to my 2012 335i in winter of 2014 while I was driving on the highway. I’ll see if I can find the pictures showing the glass was angled upward like yours. I see you’re in Michigan too. Mike Hood at Erhard BMW in Bloomfield handled talking to BMW NA to get it covered, though it took a bit.

[Warp Ten]

I have heard of this happening with sunroofs that have been covered with tinting. Was your tinted or just stock? It looks untinted to my eye in your pictures. If stock untinted I definitely would press to have your dealer get BMW NA to cover it under warranty. In a BMW dealer loaner, I once had the front passenger side window blow out in the same manner. Scared the heck out of me. The dealer tried to blame it on a rock but I was travelling on a highway that had a wall nearby and it was a side window so rock hit unlikely. And the glass just blew out, not in. Hardly any glass in the car itself. Pretty clearly a glass failure, perhaps overstressed during installation or due to misalignment of the window mechanism. Since it was a loaner I left it to the dealer to figure out.--Bob

Here's a link to an older thread about a sunroof exploding and the dealer blaming the tint: https://g30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...tinted+sunroof

[qariM550]

Originally Posted by ztx84

Wow - first of all I hope that you are ok! If this were me my first call would be to my dealer, and then if no luck there insurance. Do you know what might have caused this?

yeah i'm ok, but it was forsure the scariest thing i've expeirced on the highway. Im pretty sure it wasnt a rock. This has happened to other people and they all said it happened randonmly

[qariM550]

Originally Posted by tron1043

The same thing happened to my 2012 335i in winter of 2014 while I was driving on the highway. I’ll see if I can find the pictures showing the glass was angled upward like yours. I see you’re in Michigan too. Mike Hood at Erhard BMW in Bloomfield handled talking to BMW NA to get it covered, though it took a bit.

Funny thing is i was on my way home from the getting it serviced and mike is my service advisor. I called him and he said to go through insurance because of the scratches it left on the trunk and spoiler. He said he will try to talk to BMW North America but its a whole process and that bmw does not typically cover it under warranty

[qariM550]

Originally Posted by Warp Ten

I have heard of this happening with sunroofs that have been covered with tinting. Was your tinted or just stock? It looks untinted to my eye in your pictures. If stock untinted I definitely would press to have your dealer get BMW NA to cover it under warranty. In a BMW dealer loaner, I once had the front passenger side window blow out in the same manner. Scared the heck out of me. The dealer tried to blame it on a rock but I was travelling on a highway that had a wall nearby and it was a side window so rock hit unlikely. And the glass just blew out, not in. Hardly any glass in the car itself. Pretty clearly a glass failure, perhaps overstressed during installation or due to misalignment of the window mechanism. Since it was a loaner I left it to the dealer to figure out.--Bob

Here's a link to an older thread about a sunroof exploding and the dealer blaming the tint: https://g30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...tinted+sunroof

No tint and about 10 mins before it happened i had the sunroof open tilted up but i closed it when i got on the highway. My service advisor said that bmw will most likely not covered under warranty but he will try. he said best bet is insurance because of the scratches it left all over my trunk

[SteveinArizona]

Originally Posted by qariM550

Funny thing is i was on my way home from the getting it serviced and mike is my service advisor. I called him and he said to go through insurance because of the scratches it left on the trunk and spoiler. He said he will try to talk to BMW North America but its a whole process and that bmw does not typically cover it under warranty

The sun roof is not a maintenance item. It should be covered through warranty. If the hood suddenly popped off, would you call it an insurance item?
I wouldn't. Tell your SA that you are going to sue the bastards unless they cover it!

[hlothery]

Don't see any way installing tint on the inside of a sunroof, or normally using it in the manner described in the Owner's Manual could possibly contribute to this kind of failure. This should be covered by warranty. I agree with Steve.

[MauiSteve]

Yeah, seems total BS that this would not be warrantied. The sunroof was a manufacturer defect if it did this. Your comprehensive coverage should apply to the scratches.

[qariM550]

Originally Posted by MauiSteve

Yeah, seems total BS that this would not be warrantied. The sunroof was a manufacturer defect if it did this. Your comprehensive coverage should apply to the scratches.

yeah i agree they are trying to say that its not covered under warranty but i honestly might have to go through insurance and be out the deductible. it would be a quicker process and easier.

[SteveinArizona]

Take BMWNA to small claims court:

https://michiganlegalhelp.org/self-h...ims-case-court

Exploding sun roofs are a known problem and should be covered under warranty.

[steve090619]

Originally Posted by SteveinArizona

Take BMWNA to small claims court:

https://michiganlegalhelp.org/self-h...ims-case-court

Exploding sun roofs are a known problem and should be covered under warranty.

Originally Posted by SteveinArizona

Take BMWNA to small claims court:

https://michiganlegalhelp.org/self-h...ims-case-court

Exploding sun roofs are a known problem and should be covered under warranty.

I had ice fall off tree and shatter my sunroof. I had to use glass portion of y insurance. A glass shop replaced with bmw sunroof glass.

[kring]

I had this happen in my infinti. car was in the parking lot on a hot day, I went out for lunch, got in the car and closed the door and it exploded and rained glass on me. they do occasionally do this. the infiniti dealer looked for signs around the edges of the glass for visible rock hit, couldn't find it and so they covered it under warranty.

[qariM550]

Originally Posted by SteveinArizona

Take BMWNA to small claims court:

https://michiganlegalhelp.org/self-h...ims-case-court

Exploding sun roofs are a known problem and should be covered under warranty.

after doing my research i think im going to talk to BMWNA because i dont want to go through insurance beacause my rates will go up and they might consider an accident and bring down the value for when i go sell it. and im 90% positive that no rock or debris hit it. It looks like it exploded upwards which means the track probably shifted and hit the side of the glass which caused it to go upwards. BMW better take car of this becuase it more than replacing the glass

[Bklynjoker]

Originally Posted by qariM550

I was driving on the highway going along with traffic but still in the left lane and then BOOM!! a big pop and see light shine thru and glass falling everywhere. Took me a few seconds to process what happened, but the sunroof shattered.

I pulled over at the next exit and took back roads home. But now does anyone know what i should do? I think this is bmws fault or would i have to go through insurance? The flying glass also left small scratches around the back of the car

HOLY SHIIIIIT. THIS HAPPEN TO ME TOOO WOW I was flying on the highway doing about 90mph and my sht blasted open.

[LogicalApex]

Originally Posted by Bklynjoker

HOLY SHIIIIIT. THIS HAPPEN TO ME TOOO WOW I was flying on the highway doing about 90mph and my sht blasted open.

Sounds like one should never drive at highway speeds with then sunroof shade open? Can only imagine that happening with the shade open and glass flying unchecked into the cockpit.

[Nordkeyz73]

https://www.consumerreports.org/car-...nger-overhead/

[440xiGCMSport2]

Ok obviously this doesn't happen very often. For companies like BMW to tell customers it isn't there problem boggles my mind. Just take care off it and make the customer happy and will make up the cost when they are a repeat customer when they feel they have been taken care of. Other wise customer leaves the brand
over maybe $200(cost to BMW). This is just bad math or this is how much they think of us as customers.

[VipinLJ]

Happens in a lot of Audis. Happened in my previous A6. Audi didn’t cover it under warranty and I had to get it done via my insurance.

[SteveinArizona]

Just because a company says its warranty doesn't cover something, doesn't mean it doesn't cover it. It only means that the company is taking that position.

As several here have noted, that view can be very shortsighted if it turns off potential repeat customers.

[dberry08]

Happened to me in my 335i about a year ago. Covered by my glass coverage in my insurance. I think they had to ship the part from MI, so maybe it will be quicker on your end.

Crazy when it happened, I thought the car got shot.