1st Gen R50 Cooper Heated front windscreen

have never heard of one installed outside of Canada!!
There it was an option....helped to keep the glass warm in extreme cold, made it more flexible, but less likely to crack....but was $$$ to replace...so was not a US option...
bet there are some additional parts to prevent overheating....
aircraft use a similar system...just putting in raw voltage will, i'm pretty sure overheat it under most cases, burning it out....

 

Windshield heating button? - Page 2 - North American Motoring

from a gen2 thread...but i think the cycle is similar...


Moss Europe has a kit that MIGHT work...single or dual zone...made for a classic...but maybe...
http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/wiring-kit-heated-windscreen-dual-zone.html
http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/wiring-kit-heated-screen.html

 

Hummmm do you get a lot of snow in Costa Rica?

 

It's for making grilled cheese samichs at the service area. :wink:

 

Know it was not an option in the US..some folks wanted to retrofit it, but the dealers are not allowed to order parts..thinking it might be a certification issue...maybe the windshields, etc were not safety tested or something to US rules...
That having been said, there is a DAMM good reason why MOST mid-priced cars and above up in Canada has it...bey most of the NON-us cars in cold climates get it...guess we must loose some 'Features' to get the lower $$$ in the US.
I find it interesting that the body shop got you a heated piece of glass.....I'd bet $$ they are MUCH more $$$ to make with the impeded wiring between the layers....bet about 2x the costs or more...

 

I have see a few of the big Benz 600's with the front and rear heated glass in the US but not that many.

I had to remove window tint from one back in the day because no one would touch it because they were scared of the very thin wires on the glass. I said they are "in" the glass not "on" it and cut a corner out to show them. Duh....

FYI was able to peel the rest off by "sweating" the glue back to liquid with some water, black trash bag and a heat gun. :ihih: This process leaves no glue on the glass to remove when you are done peeling it off. See I did learn something in Science class back in the day.

 

I'm resurrecting an old thread. I have one of these (a heated windshield) in the US. Well... it was a Canadian car that was later imported to the US. I wonder if I'm going to be able to find replacement glass when / if the time comes...

The current windshield is quite old... very stone pitted and a chip that I've sealed up. The car lives in the garage during the winter, so I haven't had the chance to give it a try yet.

 

Can you order one from a Canadian glass supplier?

 

That may be the only solution. I haven't dug deep into it as (knock on wood) my windshield is in OK shape. It's pitted and has a chip (that I've sealed), but it is crack free and holding on. I'm going to try polishing out the glass again soon and applying a new sealant... hopefully it will cut down on some of the visual effect of the pits.

 

You should be able to get them, given the number of broken MINI windshields. My experience with MINI is that they can usually get parts in within a week, even if that part has to come from Germany. If there is no aftermarket one locally available, it won't be cheap though. In fact, for some of the really hard-to-find parts, the aftermarket part may be more expensive than the MINI one. If you get on the good side of your local MINI dealership, they may offer you a discount program. MINI dealerships have been giving discounts if your car is past the warranty period and you are the original owner or if you part of the local MINI car club or whatever excuse they can think of that will bring in steady business.



Good luck.

 

This is why I have a standing “Dave’s cost” discount at my local MINI / BMW Dealership with the parts manager and GM.

 

That would be nice. Odds are my incident a few years back (yelling "Did I fucking stutter?" in the showroom when they used parts on a job that I explicitly told them not to use) didn't win me any customer of the year awards at my local dealership. I got a discount on the work, but the idiots never seemed to get the point that they were wrong.

 

Given that, why not simply replace it with a standard non-heated windshield?