Windshield leak is insidious and you may not know that damage is occuring because of the thick carpeting with foam layer. This reminds me to continue development of the moisture alarm I was working on.

As for windshield replacement, I had Safelite do the first one one on my 83 300D which was botched due to using the wrong procedure (roped in without the trim) and it leaked. They tried multiple times to seal the leak with urethane unsuccessfully. The second windshield (rear glass with the defroster) I did myself following factory procedure with a used Mecedes glass and the same (old) gasket came out perfect, no leaks.

A month ago I had 2 VW windshields done at home (fully covered by insurance) by a local glass shop and both came out perfect. One was a rope in the other a glue in. I can tell this guy was good, He was happy to explain what he was doing and answer my questions. He has 25 years experience working for the same shop. I told him about my experience with Safelite and he says those guys with 1 or 2 years experience gets $12 an hour and once they get more experience, they leave for higher paying jobs. I don't know if that's true or not but experience is what counts in my book. You may luck out and get someone good from Safelite but my advice is do your research and find a local shop with long term employees. He also told me Safelite have their own line of glass and gaskets and they are inferior to many competing replacement parts out there.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 167,870 July 2025
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked