Windshield OEM BMW or Pilkington

The last was a Pilkington and has lasted twice as long as all the OEM combined!

Go aftermarket. Pilkington if you have a choice, but any aftermarket will likely be better than OEM (Carlex). Zero issues with eyesight.

For manufacturers, Pilkington and PGW (Pittsburgh Glass Works) make the best.

Aftermarket all the way. It's more durable than OEM. If you have an option, Pilkington seems to be the best through various user reports. I went through 3 replacements with my '19 Legacy and aftermarket is definitely better.

Do not replace your windshield with Factory Glass. Get aftermarket glass, preferably Pilkington Glass.

It varies/depends. There are some cheap replacement windshields out there, but in my case, I found one who uses Pilkington glass for my Camry (the OEM supplier), came in at less than half the dealer’s quote, and looks identical to the glass that was on before.

That sounds reasonable. I just had the windshield on my wife’s 2021 Santa Fe Calligraphy replaced (because it failed NH state inspection due to a rock chip in the driver’s line of sight ????). Thompson Auto Glass, the company who handled the replacement and calibration, said the glass itself was $685 and then $250 charge for the calibration. The windshield was made by Pilkington, which is a premium auto glass manufacturer (the OEM replacement windshield on my 2001 BMW M5 is a Pilkington brand).

Note, I've replaced it with OEM glass, the installer said something from BMW that's the issue, they don't use enough silicon to give the windshield some flex.

i called bmw for a new windshield on my e60. 1400 in labor and 1400 for the windshield.

I would rather buy the original BMW/Pilkington windshield from the junkyard and get it installed than get one replacement Chinese sh*t from insurance coverage. Replacements are not as thick, they are wavy and yep in general - crap.