XSeries-forum

My windscreen seems to have some kind of stain across the drivers side..

Its not easy to see in normal conditions but when wet or dark they are very noticeable almost like grease stains running down the window..

i have tried the following to try and remove:
Screenwash
Vinegar
Fairy liquid
Farecla G3 compound by hand and by electric polisher
isopropanol (had some lying around!!)
wheelcleaner sprayed on a cloth

can anybody suggest anything else to remove my stains??

:/

Does water run off them, or do they smear? Just wondered if it's an anti-water treatment like Rain-X that's gone wrong. Could be some form of silicone overspray that's got onto the glass. Being a constituent of glass, they can be a bugger to remove.

Is it the OEM Screen (it should have the BMW Logo on it and be made by Semperit if it is). If neither are present then it's a replacement screen and may be actually faulty.

About the only solvents you have left to try are methylated sprits or possibly white spirit and then petrol. It goes without saying that all of those need to be used with care and kept away from the edges in case they dissolve the glue holding the glass in.

Beyond that, may be a trip into a windscreen specialist and ask them if they have any ideas.

Or the real abrasive glass polish:Cerium Oxide

I think the idea is to see better, not add frosted glass...

Car glass is funny stuff....stuff I can't get my head round

Take the front windscreen for example. The wipers wipe the screen over the same bit over and over. Which bit is the least contaminated...the bit that's not swept or the bit that is. I say this because when I wash my windscreen the 2 areas are different when wet. Is this because I cleaned it with autoglym body wash, rinsed it and then used fast glass on it. Looks perfect but the differences are still there. I had blade lines too, not scratches but lines or fine trails after the blade passed.

My rear screen has splodges just under the rear spoiler at the top.....as if they're the result of drips. Again the same was method and when dry not seen....but when it rains they appear......

I think I had a mini success on the front windscreen lines with autosol metal polish. I hada wee go in a corner to see what it would do and saw no scratches so rubbed some over where the lines were....and they're gone


goodness knows what the spoldges are on the rear but the polish might come out again to try remove whatever it is

I summary....
do car wash cleaning/fast glass products clean or make it worse
do wipers remove washing/fast glass contaminents are are they the cause

thsi is frome someone who wont use de-cer if at all possible

i think it could be some kind of rain-x or silicone type stain..

i did try silicone remover too but that didnt help..

i was going to try some kind of acid.. i have read that muriatic (sp) acid may work but havent found it in any shops..

[quote=""redz""]i think it could be some kind of rain-x or silicone type stain..

i did try silicone remover too but that didnt help..

i was going to try some kind of acid.. i have read that muriatic (sp) acid may work but havent found it in any shops..[/quote]

that tar remover that autolglym sells was magic on my under side of the doors....what chemical is in that?

ps clayed it afterwords and polish applied

[quote=""storminmike""]Car glass is funny stuff....stuff I can't get my head round

goodness knows what the spoldges are on the rear but the polish might come out again to try remove whatever it is

I summary....
do car wash cleaning/fast glass products clean or make it worse
do wipers remove washing/fast glass contaminents are are they the cause

thsi is frome someone who wont use de-cer if at all possible[/quote]

Are you near any factories that produce anything acidic/alkali or corrosive (now or in the past) that might etch the glass, or even settle on the glass in raindrops (like cement?).

I'd be very surprised if any glass cleaning products made things worse if used properly.

If you think how long the wipers are used for in this country and that there are in all likelihood microfine particulates in the rainwater - especially in spray - the glass will get covered with microscopic scratches which you can see after a while. A microscope image would probably be quite interesting at the border between swept and non-swept areas. I've seen the same on every car I've owned, and the older they got the more apparent it became. It doesn't affect vision though. It's probably a good reason for changing wiper blades frequently - once every 18 months at least. I do mine annually regardless of condition.

Try newspaper...

It worked to get 'rain X gone wrong' off my VX220 window believe it or not!

[quote=""X5Sport""][quote=""storminmike""]Car glass is funny stuff....stuff I can't get my head round

goodness knows what the spoldges are on the rear but the polish might come out again to try remove whatever it is

I summary....
do car wash cleaning/fast glass products clean or make it worse
do wipers remove washing/fast glass contaminents are are they the cause

thsi is frome someone who wont use de-cer if at all possible[/quote]

Are you near any factories that produce anything acidic/alkali or corrosive (now or in the past) that might etch the glass, or even settle on the glass in raindrops (like cement?).

I'd be very surprised if any glass cleaning products made things worse if used properly.

If you think how long the wipers are used for in this country and that there are in all likelihood microfine particulates in the rainwater - especially in spray - the glass will get covered with microscopic scratches which you can see after a while. A microscope image would probably be quite interesting at the border between swept and non-swept areas. I've seen the same on every car I've owned, and the older they got the more apparent it became. It doesn't affect vision though. It's probably a good reason for changing wiper blades frequently - once every 18 months at least. I do mine annually regardless of condition.[/quote]

Well I park in normal areas....certainly not industrial. The rear blotches are is if some substance has dribbled off the spoiler...splodged onto the screen then ever so lighly run an inch or so

I don't clean the roof as often as I should and if I did id don't get polish up there Imagine if you will someone putting washing up liquid on the spoiler then it dropping off....that would see the consitancy of what dripped onto the glass....perhaps the blade (after what fell onto it has soaked) may have wiped it a little more across the top edge hence the poor cleaning when wiped with the wiper

maybe someone (before I bought it) put some silcone up there to fix summat or as a cheap detail

I think a scrub with autosol is in order....tis a wee abrasive I guess


wiper blades...i've always bought bosch.....about a year old. They're now noisy and cr@p IMO despite the so called pedigree. Might try aero next if they're easy to fit and reasonable price and quality

[quote=""n1k85""]Try newspaper...

It worked to get 'rain X gone wrong' off my VX220 window believe it or not![/quote]

right....i'lll get the newspaper,,,,,have a sit down and a brew...and get the other half to scrub the glass whilst I read the sport pages

seriously....i've heard of this before in the old wifes how to tales section....got to be worth a try

I still have the "suction cup" marks from when the factory fitted the rear screen when it steams up !! That is after I don't know how many washes in 6.5 years.

[quote=""pvr""]I still have the "suction cup" marks from when the factory fitted the rear screen when it steams up !! That is after I don't know how many washes in 6.5 years.[/quote]

a forcep delivery X5 seriosuly....that's bad....especially how these invisble marks become visble when water applied