Driver's Window Replacement

My wife was driving the car home from work the other day on the local interstate, and an object from what she thinks was the oncoming side of traffic hit her driver's side window.  It shattered the glass.  Only the tint held the glass in place.  Luckily the window was up and luckily the glass didn't shatter inwards onto her.

South Carolina insurance covers all vehicle windows with zero deductible and even covers OEM glass.  So, the glass was replaced with a new piece of OEM BMW.  The local company who did the work was called Clear View Glass, and the service guy (owner?) who did the work was named Jason.  He was a total professional.  He was able to carefully remove the glass almost in one piece, once the door panel was removed from the inside.

Later the same day, my wife had the aftermarket window tint replaced with new.  Theoretically, maybe I could have tried to get insurance to pay for the tint, and they probably would have, but I didn't try.  We had a bad experience with the original tint person we used, so we would never go back there (or recommend him for any work, ever).  So instead, Jason from Clear View suggested the best tint shop in town, Palmetto Tint Shop.  Palmetto doesn't carry the Llumar film we had on the car.  Instead, they sell Huper Optik.  The color match was right on the money and they installed it onto the new window without issue or drama.  Supposedly the Huper Optik is more durable than Llumar and it rejects heat better.  They had a heat lamp demonstration in the showroom and it was obviously better at insulating from heat.  If you go to Palmetto, ask for Brian and tell him X5nut sent you!

Total cost of this mod = $100
Total investment in vehicle to date = $4286.00

Second Opticoat Video

Blogger would only let me upload one video per post.  Here is a second one showing the Opticoat during a washing.

Youtube Link to Opticoat Pro Plus on X5

Tool Kit

I went back and forth on what tool kit to put into the car.  BMW does sell some decent tool kits (see part number 82292151462, for example) but their kit isn’t very comprehensive for what you get.  Instead, I bought a Proxxon (German made) tool kit.  I had bought Proxxon before from Ride West BMW Motorcycles when we lived in Seattle.  Really nice stuff, on par with Facom or Snap-On.  This time, bought from Amazon.  The kit is kit number “Proxxon 23080 36 Piece Socket Set with 1/4 inch Square Drive” and I paid $64.60 shipped for it from Germany.  The kit doesn’t have everything… I’d like to add a pair of larger pliars (bigger than the Leatherman ones already in the car) and also an adjustable wrench, but it’s a good start.  Fits nicely into the area on the left side of the car near the rear tail light.

Total cost of this mod = $64.60
Total investment in vehicle to date = $4186.00

More Paint Protection Film and Opticoat Paint Coating

After about 15,400 miles, I wasn’t happy with the rock chips on the hood.  So, we took the car back to Chris Arthur at Arthur’s detailing and added clear paint protection film on the whole hood (no lines) and also small pieces on the front fenders.  Chris installed the film then re-applied Opticoat Pro Plus on top of the film.  I should have done the whole hood when we took the car in the first time.

Total cost of this mod = $400
Total investment in vehicle to date = $4121.40

Here is one of 2 videos of the Opticoat shedding water.  It is amazingly hydrophobic.  Water just sheets off the car and the car seems to stay cleaner longer than anything I have ever seen.  The whole car has Opticoat Pro Plus on it.  Even the black plastic unpainted trim and the wheels and door jambs.  This post was just to show you the hood.