Broke my M3 glass roof while installing the Tesla roof rack

[cw1024]

TL/DR: My advice: when tightening the fasteners on the roof rack, pay attention to the portion of rubber feet above the glass. If they touch the glass, stop tightening and back up a little.


I have a 2020 M3. Love the car. Happy that I can use it to transport bicycles. I like the OEM roof rack. Do not love the installation instructions.

I screwed up the second time I installed it. The first time I was super cautious and was successful - carried a bike successfully and everything. I had to remove the rack for some reason. The second time I installed, I decided to use a torque wrench that I have for bicycle work. I recall seeing instructions to tighten to 5 or 6 N*m. "Perfect! I have 5 N*m torque wrench - I'll use that!" Bad call on my part. Either my torque wrench is defective or the instructions are. Maybe I only imagined those instructions. Anyway, I get to spend ~$1300 on fixing the roof.

 

[cw1024]

I seem unable to include images in my post. I suspect it is a security mechanism because my account is relatively new. Sorry.

 

[Dmagyar]

I seem unable to include images in my post. I suspect it is a security mechanism because my account is relatively new. Sorry.

Sorry for your learning experience...our appointment for the top glass’s replacement is Thursday... get the top on order via your phone app, set up a repair appointment.

 

[N54TT]

TL/DR: My advice: when tightening the fasteners on the roof rack, pay attention to the portion of rubber feet above the glass. If they touch the glass, stop tightening and back up a little.


I have a 2020 M3. Love the car. Happy that I can use it to transport bicycles. I like the OEM roof rack. Do not love the installation instructions.

I screwed up the second time I installed it. The first time I was super cautious and was successful - carried a bike successfully and everything. I had to remove the rack for some reason. The second time I installed, I decided to use a torque wrench that I have for bicycle work. I recall seeing instructions to tighten to 5 or 6 N*m. "Perfect! I have 5 N*m torque wrench - I'll use that!" Bad call on my part. Either my torque wrench is defective or the instructions are. Maybe I only imagined those instructions. Anyway, I get to spend ~$1300 on fixing the roof.

Sorry to hear. BTW Tesla has updated the torque specs to 2.5-3.5Nm

https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/downloads/model-3-roof-rack-owners-manual-en-us.pdf

if anyone hasn’t seen it I’ve posted pics of what the J bolt hooks into under the glass...give you an idea on how the rack works....in this thread

OEM TESLA roof racks Crack Glass

 

[kpedraja]

I was super freaked out when I installed mine. Was terrified I would do the same thing. And, not to mention, the whole rack (and whatever goes on it) being supported by 4 very small metal pins.

 

[Resist]

Just another reason why I'm not a fan of glass roofs. I already have nicks in mine, just from normal driving.

 

[cw1024]

Sorry for your learning experience...our appointment for the top glass’s replacement is Thursday... get the top on order via your phone app, set up a repair appointment.

Thanks for the advice. I had set up an appointment within two hours of cracking the glass

 

[cw1024]

Sorry to hear. BTW Tesla has updated the torque specs to 2.5-3.5Nm

https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/downloads/model-3-roof-rack-owners-manual-en-us.pdf

if anyone hasn’t seen it I’ve posted pics of what the J bolt hooks into under the glass...give you an idea on how the rack works....in this thread

OEM TESLA roof racks Crack Glass

Those are useful links. Thanks! Nice to know that I'm not the only person to have done this. For me, the placement of the j-bolts wasn't the problem, just the amount of torque when fastening.

 

[Resist]

Thanks for the advice. I had set up an appointment within two hours of cracking the glass

You know they are going to say it was your fault and not cover it. So get ready for an out of pocket expense.

 

[GreenMtnM3]

This is too bad. I'm sure that most of the roof rack installations work fine, but there have been at least 3 contributors on this forum that have had their glass roof crack as a result of the Tesla roof rack, including one that used the Service Center to do the installation. The glass roof in the Tesla looks really cool, but unfortunately makes mounting a roof rack difficult. The Tesla rack is elegant (minimal disruption to the car when the racks are not mounted), but is not a robust engineering solution. By this I mean that if the location of the feet is incorrect, if the clip is not fully inserted, or the torque on the bolts is incorrect, there is a good probability that you will crack the roof glass. I've had racks on just about every vehicle I've owned going back to the 1980's, but decided not to install them on the Model 3. I used a hitch rack instead, which comes with its own compromises. A disappointment in an otherwise terrific car.

 

[N54TT]

This is too bad. I'm sure that most of the roof rack installations work fine, but there have been at least 3 contributors on this forum that have had their glass roof crack as a result of the Tesla roof rack, including one that used the Service Center to do the installation. The glass roof in the Tesla looks really cool, but unfortunately makes mounting a roof rack difficult. The Tesla rack is elegant (minimal disruption to the car when the racks are not mounted), but is not a robust engineering solution. By this I mean that if the location of the feet is incorrect, if the clip is not fully inserted, or the torque on the bolts is incorrect, there is a good probability that you will crack the roof glass. I've had racks on just about every vehicle I've owned going back to the 1980's, but decided not to install them on the Model 3. I used a hitch rack instead, which comes with its own compromises. A disappointment in an otherwise terrific car.

Very true that if you don’t install correctly, that the glass is likely to break. But imo it’s not that difficult to install properly. Just need to know what your doing and pay attention to alignment. Unfortunately not all the techs at Tesla even know what they’re doing. If you’re talking about this post regarding the cracked roof by a service center....it was absolutely installation error.

OEM TESLA roof racks Crack Glass

 

[Ctuna]

The original model S Racks mounted on the metal portion of the roof frame.
Glass Roof has aesthetic value but from the standpoint of longevity and heat
not such a good idea.

 

[Jeff Davlt]

This entire process terrifies me. Will Tesla or someone else take my money and install it for me?

 

[MJP.P3D-]

This is very interesting—I ordered and received my OEM Tesla Model 3 bars in June 2020 and installed them (thankfully without incident) to spec as written in the accompanying instructions which stated 5-6 N.m — when did this change? Clearly Tesla has altered the instructions likely due to so many failures. I actually documented my installation with ~50 pics in case the glass cracked and I needed to make a claim. The attached photo shows my torque wrench set to 5 N.m, again, per the written and included instructions.

 

[silentcorp]

This entire process terrifies me. Will Tesla or someone else take my money and install it for me?

Tesla installed mine in 2019 for free.

 

[Dmagyar]

Update on my post #3...still waiting on replacement top glass to arrive, new appointment next week...fingers crossed .

 

[house9]

This entire process terrifies me. Will Tesla or someone else take my money and install it for me?

Yes, Telsa will install it for you, my bill for labor was for ~$58 USD

I had to order the rack online, have it delivered to my house and then make an appointment using the app.

Normally they would have had me go to the SC (12 miles from my home) for the install but due to COVID they sent out mobile service. Took them less than an hour to install.

 

[Reborn]

Update on my post #3...still waiting on replacement top glass to arrive, new appointment next week...fingers crossed .

You should try to see if your car insurance would cover it

 

[Dmagyar]

Fairly certain they'll cover it, but just fixed today, so sending receipt in for reimbursement.

 

[MP3Mike]

You should try to see if your car insurance would cover it

Someone else tried and they were told that their insurance didn't cover it. (I forget the exact wording they reported, I'll look to see if I can find it.)

Found it:

1) insurance won't cover this! Learned a new term "negligent service" - that's what effing up your vehicle is called, not covered.