Gorilla Glass windshield: lighter & stronger (fishing for interest)

[IamFODI]

https://www.corning.com/gorillaglass...exteriors.html

A few cars (e.g. GT3, 720S) have Gorilla Glass windshields, and at least one company is making aftermarket ones for other cars. They can be made lighter and stronger than traditional windshields.

We should have this option for our cars as well. Our cars tend to live long lives and see real usage, so there's a significant chance that a lot of us will need windshields at some point as ours get sandblasted/chipped/cracked. Pretty confident I'm not the only one who could and would shell out a few more hundos for an option that's both lighter and stronger.

From the company's perspective, the business case is even better for the fact that our cars share windshields with non-M cars. That's a lot of cars and I'm sure some of those folks would go for it as well.

If you agree, please drop some votes with the applications you'd like to see. I'm not affiliated and have no contacts with Corning or any other relevant party, but if there's enough interest, maybe we can get their attention.

[SYT_Shadow]

I have to replace the windshield in my E90 M3 track car. It would be really nice to use one of these

[IamFODI]

I reached out to the company that is making these for aftermarket applications. They said they'd need a few hundred orders to start development. Seems crazy to me. That and some other aspects of their email makes me suspect they just don't want to do it.

The main excuse they gave is that there's actually a ton of different windshields for these cars; I'm guessing that's for all the different combos of coloration, tint strips, and rain sensor compatibility. Couldn't they just make completely clear windshields with rain sensor compatibility and leave it to owners to add tint strips or heat blocking if they wanted?

[SYT_Shadow]

sounds like complete BS... how annoying. It would be a great upgrade

[IamFODI]

I feel like we need to find a vendor that knows this platform, has a product lineup in which this would fit, and is willing and able to fund development. Might be a hard sell now but maybe when the economy rebounds...

[Exclusivs]

Interesting topic. Ironically just made a thread about windshield replacement (have yet to do so), but seeking advise.

Any update on this? Or did you replace with an OEM unit?

[IamFODI]

Interesting topic. Ironically just made a thread about windshield replacement (have yet to do so), but seeking advise.

Any update on this? Or did you replace with an OEM unit?

Haven't replaced mine yet, but it's not because I'm waiting for this. We haven't even found a vendor to back this effort yet, so it's going to take quite a while if it pans out at all.

[Exclusivs]

Got it! Thanks for shedding light on the subject, an interesting note on the GT3/720S.

[derbo]

Interesting topic. Ironically just made a thread about windshield replacement (have yet to do so), but seeking advise.

Any update on this? Or did you replace with an OEM unit?

If you do get an OE unit, Try and get the solarized Euro one!

[IamFODI]

If you do get an OE unit, Try and get the solarized Euro one!

Do you have the PN?

[derbo]

Do you have the PN?

51317203857 is the E90 one. I do believe here in the states there are 0 in stock. They do have a few in stock in Germany but I am not sure if you are able to get it. St Gobain does sell a climate OE Equivalent without the BMW logo and SafeLite is able to get it as a friend of mine was able to get a climate comfort windshield for his 335is year or two ago.

One caveat is that this windshield does have issues with radars and transponders but there is an area near the rearview mirror mount that is not covered by the glazing to allow that to work.