The BMW 320d Fanboy Thread

We done a bit of a road trip down to kzn, 5 adults + luggage ( and enough water as there’s no water in Durban apparently)

Considering we got stuck for 40+ minutes twice for accidents , and the road works, don’t think the fuel economy was tooooo crap
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Has anyone ever had their sunroof explode out of the blue?

I left the house yesterday morning at around 9:15. I drove passed a truck and the whole sunroof exploded. I thought something mechanical went bust, but when I got to my senses I realised the sunroof was open - the bang was damn loud and my ears were ringing. After that I pulled over and checked that the sunroof had popped.

Insurance broker phoned me now and said my claim has been authorised. He did mention that a likely cause is the temperature changes. Eg. Cold garage to full blown sun makes the glass expand and go boom.

Initially, I was under impression a stone could have hit it, but there is no other damage to the car making me believe that it's due to the change in temperature. Unless it was a "nothing but net" moment. Another thought is the pressure differential when I drove passed the truck. Positive pressure inside my car due fans + air coming and the negative pressure next to the truck due to it punching a hole in the air infront?

Notes
Sunroof was closed
I was right next to a truck
Speed: 120km/h
I can't recall whether AC was on. I'm 80% sure it was off. The fan was on though. Low speed.

My real question is: How do I prevent this from happening going forward once I've had the sunroof replaced?
 
Novoca1ne said:
Has anyone ever had their sunroof explode out of the blue?

I left the house yesterday morning at around 9:15. I drove passed a truck and the whole sunroof exploded. I thought something mechanical went bust, but when I got to my senses I realised the sunroof was open - the bang was damn loud and my ears were ringing. After that I pulled over and checked that the sunroof had popped.

Insurance broker phoned me now and said my claim has been authorised. He did mention that a likely cause is the temperature changes. Eg. Cold garage to full blown sun makes the glass expand and go boom.

Initially, I was under impression a stone could have hit it, but there is no other damage to the car making me believe that it's due to the change in temperature. Unless it was a "nothing but net" moment. Another thought is the pressure differential when I drove passed the truck. Positive pressure inside my car due fans + air coming and the negative pressure next to the truck due to it punching a hole in the air infront?

Notes
Sunroof was closed
I was right next to a truck
Speed: 120km/h
I can't recall whether AC was on. I'm 80% sure it was off. The fan was on though. Low speed.

My real question is: How do I prevent this from happening going forward once I've had the sunroof replaced?
Click to expand...
I have seen a few reports of the back windows randomly exploding on bmw cars.

Make sure fitting original bmw glass , seen it a few tjmes where insurance tries to cut corners. For reference, sunroof glass on vw touareg is 34k from vw, so they find cheaper alternatives. Friends own cracked on his vw over weekend.

Not sure how can avoid it :(
 
Gtx Gaming said:
I have seen a few reports of the back windows randomly exploding on bmw cars.

Make sure fitting original bmw glass , seen it a few tjmes where insurance tries to cut corners. For reference, sunroof glass on vw touareg is 34k from vw, so they find cheaper alternatives. Friends own cracked on his vw over weekend.

Not sure how can avoid it :(
Click to expand...
I can confirm I had this exact issue a number of years ago on my 3 series.
Car was parked outside as it always is and the rear windscreen (OEM from factory) completely shattered.
My Neighbour said they heard a loud bang and couldnt see anything wrong, and thought nothing of it...
Could have been a minute fault in the original manufacturing process....will never know. Thankfully also replaced under insurance.
 
Gtx Gaming said:
I have seen a few reports of the back windows randomly exploding on bmw cars.

Make sure fitting original bmw glass , seen it a few tjmes where insurance tries to cut corners. For reference, sunroof glass on vw touareg is 34k from vw, so they find cheaper alternatives. Friends own cracked on his vw over weekend.

Not sure how can avoid it :(
Click to expand...

I suspect I may not be getting an original BMW sunroof as I'm only paying windscreen replacement excess which is super low. I'll source the original glass myself once this is done. I see it's about R6k.

Here's a thread I found of someone experiencing the same:

3 Series Sunroof Glass Breaks

hey guys my wife was going to work this morning and she heard a bang and then cracking sound she stopped the car jumped out and checked the sun roof glass was shaterred. there was no cars in front of her so dont think it could have been a stone. took the car to Bmw and the guy says they get...
www.bmwfanatics.co.za
 
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