Replacing Rear Quarter Window Glass

[sina]

Hi all, some asshole decided to take his anger out on my car, so I wanted to see if anyone has any advice or experience, they could share with replacing the glass on the rear windows.



BMW dealer quoted me $230 for the glass, and $800 for the for parts + labor. The handful of local glass shops I called either weren’t helpful or didn’t inspire any confidence. It seems like a pretty easy job so I figured I’d give it a try.

I assume if I buy the glass it won’t have any hardware or mechanisms included with it. Is there any reason to believe that I can’t just transfer what was already on the car? Looks like there are two bolts on the inside edge of the glass, these are the two that I could see being fixed. Anyone who has maybe bought the glass from BMW have any definitive answer?

Pulled some pics from an eBay ad to help explain what I'm talking about:



Thanks

[sapote]

Get a used OEM one from ebay. I would rather have broken glass than a dented body.

[Lukem3]

Google rear quarter panel trim or rear window trim replacement. Most of the diys remove the glass, it's pretty easy and u shouldn't need any additional hardware

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[tcp]

Yep, it's pretty easy. This is from memory, but I did it recently so it should be mostly correct.

1. Extend the window arm all the way out.
2. Pop the ball and socket joint on the rear end of the window so that the window can swing freely. You probably don't need this step.
3. Remove the rear seat bottom so you can do step 4.
4. Loosen the arm rest panel (don't remember the proper name) so you can do step 5.
5. Remove the B-pillar trim piece. It has two pop rivets at the bottom which you can get to after removing the arm rest panel. After that it just slides down and out.
6. Remove the two plastic caps on the B-pillar so you can access the bolts holding the window to the B pillar.
7. Remove the bolts... This is the only tricky/scary part. The bolts are recessed in a cavity where you could easily drop them. The bolts are angled down so gravity should keep them in the socket when you take them off, but a magnetic socket would be really comforting for this part. You also might want an assistant or some tape holding whatever part of the window is attached to the B-pillar so it doesn't fall.

[sina]

Thanks for the advice guys. Going to scour some local junk yards over the next day, otherwise go with eBay. From the research I've done on the actual labor I am almost curious to see how the dealer gets it up $550. Looks like a 15 minute job at most.

[Andrew 06M3Cab]

Just a thought - Wouldn't insurance cover this, without a deductible if it was a random act of violence? My car was damaged a few years ago while in a parking spot, and the driver took off (cops later got him though 😀 through video camera surveillance). Insurance paid, with no deductible, and no fault on record.

[sina]

Just a thought - Wouldn't insurance cover this, without a deductible if it was a random act of violence? My car was damaged a few years ago while in a parking spot, and the driver took off (cops later got him though through video camera surveillance). Insurance paid, with no deductible, and no fault on record.

Good looking out, but unfortunately no. I reported it to insurance as vandalism, but they said I still need to pay the deductible.

And unfortunately not much hope of anyone being found responsible for this, cops in this town are useless - unless of course I'm going 5 over then they are ready to pounce.

[R1pilot]

Its not difficult at all.

I also recommend a junkyard trip so you can practice on someone else’s car.