Why you should avoid Non-OEM windshields?
A windshield is an important safety component in your car. If your car windshield needs replacement you should be very careful while selecting a new car windshield. There are many car glass brands that offer windshields for all makes and models. But all the car windscreens are not the same. Especially if you own a luxury car or any premium sports car, the selection of your car windshield brand is crucial for your safety.
There are two options available either you can opt for the original/OEM windshield or you can go for an aftermarket brand. Luxury car windshield has many specific characteristics that normal aftermarket windshields don’t have. So you should only opt for the OEM windshield part for replacement.
Let’s check out some special features of OEM windshields.
OEM Luxury car windshield has special color tints
As you know most car windshields are green in color. But Luxury and premium cars have different tints like grey, blue, brown, and some specific coatings. You can observe this kind of windshield in many premium cars like Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Range Rover Evoque, etc. These shades help to control the car cabin temperature without restricting light. Only Original (OEM) Mercedes-Benz windshields come with these tints. If you opt for an aftermarket brand, it will probably have only a green tint which you can usually see in low-end car models.
Luxury car windshield has Defrosting or heating elements for Wipers
Most of the premium car brands offer heating windshields for defrosting in winter and rainy seasons. You may have observed golden defogging lines in most of the car’s rear windshields. But luxury car manufacturers offer front car windshield with heating elements to defrost the car wipers during the snow. You can observe these heating elements at the lower side of the windshield where wipers are placed. All Mercedes-Benz car windshields have such defrosting elements. Aftermarket car windshields may have or may not have a defrosting element.
Fully Heated car windshields
Some premium car manufacturers also offer special windshields that have heating elements mesh available in the whole of the windshield. You can notice Jaguar Land Rover sports and luxury cars like Jaguar XF, XJL, and Range Rover Sports. Porsche sports coupe models like Porsche Carrera, and Porsche Panamera also have a heating element that is embedded in the complete windshield. These windshields avoid any type of mist or snow on the windshield and provide the best possible view.
But such Heating technologies are limited to the OEM car glass manufacturers only. Aftermarket brands don’t provide fully heated windshields. So while choosing a car windshield brand you must ensure that your car windshield has all the necessary characteristics as recommended by your car manufacturer.
Acoustic and soundproof windshields
Since there is a lot of noise in the ambient, to give you wonderful driving pleasure most of the premium car brands offer Acoustic windshields in their luxury and sports cars. If you look at your car windshield logo, you may notice Acoustic is mentioned in the logo itself or there is a marking in the shape of an ear. Most Audi car windshields have acoustic features. This feature decreases your car cabin noise level considerably.
Solar Windshield
Some luxury car windshield doesn’t have special tint or color, yet they manage to decrease the car cabin temperature using special coatings. These specially coated windshields are called Solar Windshields. A Solar windshield can decrease cabin temperature up to 2 degrees Celcius and hence increase car fuel efficiency by decreasing the use of car AC.
Integrated ADAS sensors
For basic car models, car windshields may only have rain and light sensors. But if you own a luxury car, your car windscreen can have many other mounted sensors, which support car’s ADAS system. These sensors can include lane-departure systems, lane-keeping camera systems, IR and Infrared forward-looking cameras, de-vapor sensors, etc. These sensor mounts are OEM products and are available with OEM manufacturers only. If you opt for an aftermarket windshield brand, chances are that your car technician has to use an old sensor mount. If he manually reuses older mounts there is a very high probability that these sensor brackets are not fixed correctly and can affect your car’s ADAS system. It can be fatal in an accident.
Quality Standards
Luxury car manufacturers have very stringent quality standards and every car part supplier needs to comply with these standards. Your car glass manufacturer needs to pass all these quality checks to become an OEM part supplier for these premium car manufacturers like Bentley, Lamborghini, Porsche or BMW. Any car windshield supplied to the car manufacturer needs to be thoroughly checked against required quality checkpoints before it can be fitted in your car. So for an OEM windshield that has your car brand logo, you can be assured of its quality and safety.
The same manufacturer offers different car windshield for the same car model
Yes, it may be confusing but it’s true. Two different windshields from the same supplier can have different characteristics. For example, PGW offers 2 different brands Solar Green and Sungate for Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Both fit well in the car but have different characteristics and features. PGW Sungate has a brown tint and is more effective to control heat than the PGW Solar Green. That’s why the Sungate windshield comes at almost twice the price of the Solar Green windshield. So, when you go for a windshield replacement it is very necessary that you choose the correct OEM part as per your car VIN number.
Expert Advice: If you own a luxury car or a premium sports car and need a car windshield replacement don’t use an aftermarket windshield brand. If your replacement car windshield doesn’t have your car brand logo it is not an OEM/Original part and you should avoid it for your own safety. You should ask your car manufacturer for your OEM windshield part number and use the same part for replacement.
Here at Auto Glass Masters we only use OEM / Original car windshields for replacement. We stock more than 1200 OEM luxury car windshields in our warehouse to fulfill customer requirements. For any additional information regarding the original luxury car windshield, call us at +91-9278783578.