I've heard of a few shattering - Usually from spraying cold water on it after a long hard run.

I think one other shattered when he closed the hatch too hard.

So it does happen, but yours sounds strange...Days after driving it just explodes? Strange.

 

Do you have children? = Guilty.

If not.

Do you have a wife or GF? = Guilty.

If you have both wife and GF = You've been punished by one of them.



Just trying to help. I doubt a neighbor broke in just to break the bonnet.

 

Hahaha. Thats funny!


Sorry...The post not your bonnet exploding. That sucks bro. Hopefully the glass breakage coverage from your insurance will cover it.

 

Sucks big time. Very weird too!

I remember reading about how much lambo tested to make sure the glass was up to snuff for the heat cycling, vibrations, impacts, etc. And then it spontaneously explodes.

I think there's something on lamboweb.com on using a sheet of polycarbonate to replace the glass. Basically the SL version of it. Lighter and stronger, and a whole lot cheaper.

Good luck!

 

THe water wud make sense even slamming this no clue at all... Last night it was fine. Garage is attached to the house as well so no reason cold shud of been a problem. It never gets below 45 even in dead of winter. Also I lived in Milan Italy it does get cold so I can't imagine that wud of done it.

Days later Thgh ? Very unusual. I think it was defective to start off with n gave out. Only 1500 miles was bout to call for first service to. I'm gonns assume it's warranty

 

"Spontaneous Bonnet Combustion" crazy.

 

Yeah well girlfriend wasn't near it at all even though they are jealous of each other haha... No but seriously very weird indeed n to hear they made sure to test it well this one slipped by quality control.

Why would I use my insurance it should be covered by the warranty no? It's brand new picked her up in June.

 

If the car is new I would definitely try warranty, and have a hissy fit if they don't cover it.

I had a windshield just snap on my M3 with huge cracks about 10 inches long emanating from where the rain sensor/rear view mirror was mounted. it was obviously under stress there and just gave up.

Service manager tried to tell me it was clearly a rock chip (I was going about 5-10mph when it happened) as he was poking his pen into the center of it. Basically HE made a small hole with his pen and then was telling me that was were the rock must have hit. I asked to borrow his pen and basically used it like an ice pick and stabbed the hell out of the windshield non stop for about 20 seconds (this drew quite a crowd). Not so much as a chip, so obviously foot long cracks were not caused by a rock. He lost that argument. Free windshield thank you very much!

 

I also remember (in the past) hearing that several other glass engine bonnets just shattered into 'tons' of small glass marbles when the hatch was closed sharply. If I remember correctly; the conclusion was that, for some reasons, the engine cover glass is under a moderate amount of stress, and some of them just fractured impromptu. Also, there were a few that cracked because the car was washed while the glass was still rather warm from driving.

 

...Also, there were a few that cracked because the car was washed while the glass was still rather warm from driving.

Well this is a ridiculous issue if it is in fact the reason for the "glass explosion"! You would think this would happen to Ferraris too. As a former Ferrari owner, and member of the Ferrari online forum, I have never heard of 360's and 430's having that problem with the engine glass cover. I used to wash my 360 when the engine was still super hot, with no issues. Not to offend any Ferrari owners but I would think this would happen in a Ferrari before it would happen in a Lambo.

So if you drive the G to a hand car wash place, you should wait for the engine to cool down before you can have them start washing your car?! You could sit there for a good hour or more for that to happen!

 

Any pics of the aftermath?

 

sounds like a perfect time to install the polycarbonate ones that comes in the SL And you have a great reasoning for doing do so!

 

> sounds like a perfect time to install the polycarbonate ones that comes in the SL

Fwiw, my SL poly started to deteriorate this summer. You know how it has
that black outer edge? At the rear edge the top layer is coming off -- you
can both see and feel it. And no, the CPO warranty doesn't cover that. (It
is considered wear rather than a manufacturing flaw.)

The 2008 SL part is ~4.5k.
The 2011 SL part is ~2.5k.
The Technocraft aftermarket part is ~1k.

 

thats strange, is the blacked out edge laminated to the poly? maybe heat?

 

glass is easy to shatter when place horizontally. is your engine cover secure and not rattle at all when closed? there are some rubber bumpers that absorb impact in the engine bay. make sure they are making good contact with the engine cover.

even door windows and moonroof on regular cars shatter. manufacturer defect for sure.

 

glass is easy to shatter when place horizontally. is your engine cover secure and not rattle at all when closed? there are some rubber bumpers that absorb impact in the engine bay. make sure they are making good contact with the engine cover.

even door windows and moonroof on regular cars shatter[./b]. manufacturer defect for sure.

This is true, I think. Two years ago I was sleeping sitting up in the back/window seat of a small SUV while on the highway. Out of nowhere my window literally exploded all over me and the inside of the car. Quite a way to wake up. Anyways, it was a fairly new car (also a rental!) and what I overheard from some conversations was that the window was over-tensioned or a screw was too tight. Not sure if that explanation makes any sense though.

Aren't windows covered without a deductible by your insurance if your warranty doesn't? I know my GF just had her window replaced for free with insurance after someone broke into her car.

 

sorry to hear. and to think i used to wish the bonnet was an option on the spyder....

 

> thats strange, is the blacked out edge laminated to the poly?

The black itself is still there -- it literally is as if a layer of clear coat on top of it is flaking off.

> maybe heat?

Yeah, heat is the most likely culprit.

 

FWIW - During one of my visits to the dealer they gave me a tour of the service shop.

There was Lambo there getting its glass bonnet replaced. Of course, I asked the question: “What caused that?”. The answer: “Improperly installed aftermarket exhaust system.”

There theory was that the after market exhaust system generated more heat in the engine bay.

 

^^ I doubt that. As long as heat shield is in place, there shouldn't be a difference with a more free flowing exhaust. car makers will always blame on aftermarket items.

 

Uh huh. If anything a more freeflowing exhaust will put off less heat since it's all flowing out the back faster.

 

> There was Lambo there getting its glass bonnet replaced. Of course, I
> asked the question: “What caused that?”. The answer: “Improperly
> installed aftermarket exhaust system.”

Definitely not a factor in my case -- my SL is all stock back there.

 

My car is stock

 

> Fwiw, my SL poly started to deteriorate this summer. You know how it has
> that black outer edge? At the rear edge the top layer is coming off -- you
> can both see and feel it. And no, the CPO warranty doesn't cover that. (It
> is considered wear rather than a manufacturing flaw.)
>
> [pic]

Good news!

A replacement has arrived, and will get installed in ~2 weeks, when I go in
for 37.5k service. I'll try to take some pics during the swap.

 

Damn that sucks and how odd to have the bonnet shatter just like that? Hopefully if I get a Lambo this misfortune never happens to me.