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BMW Sunroof problems part 2
By Gary Becker
Last week we published an article on problems several BMW owners were having with the sunroofs on their cars. The reports included three local television station reports as well as several posts we had found in BMW forums.
As a result of our article we received another report of a problem with a sunroof on a BMW. A New England reader wrote:
"On my way home this afternoon (12/31/11), my 3 month old BMW X5 sunroof cracked into thousands of pieces. I, too, heard a loud "explosion" and slowly opened the interior sunroof and several pieces fell in to the car. I drove carefully home and further inspected it, and, it too, appeared to have exploded outward as it is buckled upward."
Unfortunately, we have not been able to contact this reader so we do not have any follow up information.
We did contact BMW and received this reply:
"Vehicle (including BMW) side windows, rear windows and glass sunroof panels are normally manufactured from tempered glass. Tempered glass has a much higher strength than non tempered glass and when broken, tempered glass breaks into small pieces that are not dangerous shards. Tempered glass also has the advantage that it can be quickly and safely cleared by rescue crews to aid passenger extrication in the event of a crash.
The cause of tempered glass failure is typically from a scratch that occurred on the surface often long before the failure. Temperature changes, vibrations, or just time can lead to a total failure of the tempered plate. Any product manufactured with tempered glass can have a total failure if damaged.”
Thomas J. Plucinsky
Product & Technology Communications Manager
BMW of North America, LLC
We will continue to publish updates as warranted. Again, there is no evidence of any wide spread problem with the sunroofs on BMW's although there has seemed to be a short but interesting string of occurrences.
More reading on this subject
BMW Sunroof problems seem to keep falling in
01/05/12
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