Distortion in rear window?

I'm trying to figure out if a distortion issue I have when looking out my rear window is normal or I have a defective rear glass.

With my seat adjusted correctly (I'm 6' 1") when looking out the rear window (mostly via rear view mirror), I've got some distortion all the way across the glass about 2/3rds of the way up. Basically makes cars look compressed and you can't tell what kind of car they are.

If this is just one of those things with the X6, then so be it - but if nobody else has it, then I guess I need to bring it in (not loving the idea of yanking the rear window).

We've had our X-6 for 3 weeks and have the same issue. Our salesman said to bring it in, but we haven't gotten around to it yet.

I'll post when we take it in.

yes, you're right. I've got the same problem."Basically makes cars look compressed....."

I think due to the large and sized glass, so will coz some kind problems like this, i think that's normal..

Do you both have 2012s? What month were they produced? Any chance you have the 3 person rear seat?

Others with older X6s are not reporting this problem - so I wonder if it is a 2012 issue?

I had an '09 without this problem, and have a new '12 that's distorted. Drives me crazy - how am I supposed to tell if it's a cop car behind me? ;p

I have a 2012 without this problem....I checked yesterday. I do however find that cars get smaller quickly after I hit the accelerator.

Mine's a 2012 built the first week of July. It does not have the three person rear seat.

I do have the bench back seat. It was built in May.

My wife went to the dealer last week and every X-6 on the lot had the same distortion.

Originally Posted by motime

My wife went to the dealer last week and every X-6 on the lot had the same distortion.

Stopped by my dealer as well - same thing.

I have a 2011 and do not have the problem.

I have exactly the same problem on my 2012 X6 - built towards end of May (with rear bench). Going to bring in for service to take a look, but good to know others are seeing the same thing. I would find it hard to believe this is 'normal' on any new car, other than maybe a $3K Tata Nano. It feels like you are looking into a fun house mirror when your focus crosses the 'wave' line across the window. Very hard to clearly see details on vehicles behind you.

Originally Posted by texgator

I have exactly the same problem on my 2012 X6 - built towards end of May (with rear bench). Going to bring in for service to take a look, but good to know others are seeing the same thing. I would find it hard to believe this is 'normal' on any new car, other than maybe a $3K Tata Nano. It feels like you are looking into a fun house mirror when your focus crosses the 'wave' line across the window. Very hard to clearly see details on vehicles behind you.

Amazing!

Slight correction - my build was late *June* (around 22nd iirc), not late May. I've been driving my new X6 so much it feels like I've had it a lot longer than I actually have.

Originally Posted by texgator

Slight correction - my build was late *June* (around 22nd iirc), not late May. I've been driving my new X6 so much it feels like I've had it a lot longer than I actually have.

Hmmm, right around the time mine was built! Have an appt with the dealer and the regional BMW rep next Friday.

Did anyone have any luck getting BMW to fix this problem? While the guys at my service center could definitely see what I was complaining about, they were not able to get authorization from BMW to fix it. Sounded like they were asked to see if my window looked like another on the lot, and since that one looked just as bad, there wasn't a problem. Guess BMW's philosophy is 'if they're all broke, don't fix it'. Or maybe they just don't have a fix yet or are waiting to see if they really need one. Either way, I'll be escalating this, as I still believe this is an engineering/manufacturing flaw that deserves attention due to its impact on both aesthetics and safety.

Sorry for the late reply - I don't get notifications about new posts from here.

Patrick BMW got it changed out for me. BMW actually came out to see the car and the rep thought it was a lot worse than Patrick did (even so the service manager says they replace distorted glass all the time). So the good news is that I have a new rear window (They actually painted my hatch as well, but that's another story).

The bad news is that the new window also has distortion in it. Not as bad and lower than the first one - going to decide if I can live with it (they left glue all over my car so I'm not thrilled about having it done again). It was most annoying on the highway and I'll give that a try now that I've cleaned the window (was totally dusty from the body shop).

Anyway, in short, they should replace it. Just send a letter to BMW - they were VERY responsive IMHO.

Originally Posted by doug_999

I'm trying to figure out if a distortion issue I have when looking out my rear window is normal or I have a defective rear glass.

With my seat adjusted correctly (I'm 6' 1") when looking out the rear window (mostly via rear view mirror), I've got some distortion all the way across the glass about 2/3rds of the way up. Basically makes cars look compressed and you can't tell what kind of car they are.

If this is just one of those things with the X6, then so be it - but if nobody else has it, then I guess I need to bring it in (not loving the idea of yanking the rear window).

Doug:

I had been reading about the conversation regarding the rear glass..I have found that the distoration is from the heating elements applied to the glass. I havre gotten use to it. You can make out the police cars! Living in Washington DC I have alot of them and can always spot them! It is not an issue with me!

Mine has the distortion too. I have read threads on the distortion in three different forums going back three or four months. I have seen a few that have actually gotten their glass replaced like doug_999 did, but none that have had the same distortion in the new glass.

Mine is actually kinda bad along the edges. However, you can't see much road around the edge anyway; that's at the point where my side mirrors take over. Since the rear-view mirror is bordering on useless (well, not quite, but you ALL know what I mean), I figured that it wasn't such a big deal. Sure, I would like it to be perfect, but not enough to risk them screwing something else up when attempting to fix the problem. And not having my car YET AGAIN for who knows how long.

I think that I'll use it when they're reluctant to fix something else that I want them to ... "Now look at that back window ... I didn't make you fix that did I? Now be nice and fix this thing over here."

I have some distortion as well, but it's neither here nor there, I can see where all vehicles are regardless. Maybe some glass was forged differently than others and some X6's have more distortion than others.

Any pictures of your overly distorted view?

Originally Posted by brianraysmith

Doug:

I had been reading about the conversation regarding the rear glass..I have found that the distoration is from the heating elements applied to the glass. I havre gotten use to it. You can make out the police cars! Living in Washington DC I have alot of them and can always spot them! It is not an issue with me!

No, it is not from the heating elements. It is in the glass - in fact, I don't think there are/were any heating elements where the distortion was originally? As noted, it is better. Perfect? No way, but livable now and since there is glue all over my newly painted hatch, I won't be having it replaced again. But I am going to let BMW know (strangely enough they just called last week when I was out of town).