The windshield on my '85 300td has some hairline scratches from years of dirty wipers slowly abrading the screen. I seem to remember seeing somewhere a way to buff these very minor scratches out. Has anyone ever had this done and if so would you recommend it? I may end up just replacing the whole screen because it also has some pitting. Anyone know how much it costs to get the whole screen replaced? Of course I could just leave it parked next to the local driving range and hope for the best....
Any input would be appreciated.

LRG

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LRG
1987 300D Turbo 175K
2006 Toyota Prius, efficent but no soul
1985 300 TDT(130K miles of trouble free motoring)now sold

Hit it with a ball peen hammer, and claim it on your insurance!

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1984 300TD Wagon, 407,800 mi (current daily driver)
1985 300DT Sedan, 330,000 mi (gone to that great autobahn in the sky)

Reminds me of a story. Had an acquaintance who was an auto insurance adjuster here in Dallas. One day a tiny little old lady brought her car in with a hail damage claim. She had her young grandson in tow.

The adjuster looked at the car for a bit - something seemed not quite right, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was. While totaling the repair estimate it came to him. All the hail dings were along the perimeter of the car - near the edges of the hood and trunk, tops of the fenders, and along the edges of the roof. So he mentioned it to the owner - "it's odd how there's no damage in the center of the panels." At which the young grandson piped right up and stated "that's because she couldn't reach any further with the hammer!"

Nuf said. BTW, breaking the windshield and claiming insurance is fraud, a felony in all states.

I had the windshield replaced in my 123. The glass was only $135, plus a new gasket and installation. Don't think it cost more thant $225 all told.

- Jim

Should we bother to get into the whole OEM or non-OEM glass debate or have we beat that one to death?

As far as I am aware, there is no way to buff pits out of glass, not even with toothpaste.

Jcyuhn, I doubt that $225 was for OE glass.

Has anyone physically checked the hardness of OEM glass vs. someone like Autolite?

I guess we are really comparing Sekurit glass to SMC brand glass.
Anybody out there work for either company?

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'06 E320 CDI 51K miles
'02 VW Jetta GLS TDi 120k miles
'99 Ford E350 7.3L Powerstroke 200k miles -sold
'84 Euro 300D 5 spd manual 317k miles - sold

I have no interest in trying to scam the insurance company. The pitting, while fairly uniform over the glass, isn't reason enough to replace the whole thing. The issue is mainly the very slight scratches that happen to be right about at my line of sight. The damage doesn't hurt the view, it's just annoying sometimes when the light hits it. It also doesn't bother my wife because see's shorter.

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LRG
1987 300D Turbo 175K
2006 Toyota Prius, efficent but no soul
1985 300 TDT(130K miles of trouble free motoring)now sold

The $135 windshield was definately not OEM. I can't remember for sure who made it - I think it carried a PPG brand. It was optically perfect, certainly the equal of the OEM windshield. The only slight complaint was that it had a tinted band across the top, like most US made cars. Didn't care for the tint, just because MB doesn't have it.

My point is that even the least expensive new windshield is a vast improvement over a badly scratched and pitted OEM windshield. In my case the 15 year old gasket was leaking as well, so the original had to come out anyway. Marginal cost to replace the glass was the cost of the glass and nothing more.

- Jim

Jcyuhn,

I too, am thinking about replacing my windshield because it has been pitted with about 215k miles of abuse. It has two cracks that I can't see behind my rearview mirror. I keep hoping one of these Cleveland winters will finish it off, so I have no qualms about paying good money to fix it. When the sun hist the windshield at the right angle heading east in the morning, it is almost opaque.

Personally, I can't see myself paying an MB dealer $1000 for new OEM glass when I can get a new one installed by a 1-hour place for $250. I don't think they will replace the gasket though. I will have to check. Anyway, I am not going to have a guy come to me and do it in one hour. I have learned that the senior installers are the ones that don't have to travel like the newer employees. While in the glass shop, the senior guy can take his sweet time with warm hands and do the job right for the same price as if I had someone do it while I was at my place of business.

Just my $.02

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'06 E320 CDI 51K miles
'02 VW Jetta GLS TDi 120k miles
'99 Ford E350 7.3L Powerstroke 200k miles -sold
'84 Euro 300D 5 spd manual 317k miles - sold

Mine was darn near opaque when driving into the sun low on the horizon. Lots of glare at night as well, due to all the pitting. Between that an a leak which was starting to develop it was definately time. I think the car had about 225K at the time.

Changing out to a nice, new windshield made it amazingly nicer to drive. Didn't have to concentrate so hard to focus out through the windshield. Pretty good bang-for-the-buck on that repair.

Just arrange to take a gasket with you to the windshield place if they don't normally replace. I t can probably be ordered here It's due to start leaking anytime, so may as well replace it while the windshield is out.

- Jim

The only real issue with aftermarket glass is the thickness -- most aftermarkets are thinner (hence less costly), but this will prevent them sealing correctly in the OEM seal on a W123. Aftermarket seals are usually cut and glued, and also usually leak immediately.

Bought MB glass for the 300TE this spring after a "near miss" my sister had (someone rear-ended a pickup on the other side of a twolane and she got hit by flying debris) -- $325 for the glass, Mom paid for the installation so I don't know what that was.

Have a care, the place tried to cheat us out of the MB glass (had gotten an aftermarket even though I supplied the glass separately....!)

Peter

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1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!