[Sam Nelson]

Has anyone else noticed sparkles in or on their windshield?

It's only visible in direct sunlight, quite distracting, but with overhead light it's not an issue. It looks like thousands of flecks of glitter or glass, like it's trying to be a super fancy windshield. It's pretty much all over it. I can't discern a pattern. There are online posts saying it's intended to reduce glare...?

I've had it about five weeks and done very little highway driving, so I don't think it got sandblasted. Plus, why would the damage only appear on the windshield and none of the surrounding paint? I'll see if I can capture a photo of it.

 

[lockem]

Do you have the optional infrared windshield?

 

[FNM]

you've got stars in your eyes!

 

[EricVonHa]

Mine had some contaminant on the outside that only noticeable in bright sunlight and only when viewing through the glass from side to side. When looking straight out, I never saw it. Only when looking hard right from the drivers side toward and through the passenger side.

I used glass cleaner and it would not go away.

Ended up clay-barring the glass and that took care of it.

My guess is that wherever the glass was stored, there must have been some overspray or something from some painting or adhesion process. There were areas that we're symmetrically not affected and were clean. Though, the contamination was more toward the passenger side.

 

[Dave43]

My wife's car looked the same way, to the point that it was distracting driving into the sun. It too looked like it was sand blasted. Washing the car didn't help, neither did using glass cleaner. Clay bar was the next step, but then I tried bug and tar remover - I couldn't believe the difference. Evidently our windshields get peppered with thousands of tiny bugs we never see. It also could have been minute droplets of tree sap.

 

[Sam Nelson]

Do you have the optional infrared windshield?

I have pretty much every option but haven't heard of infrared. Is that part of an assistance package?

I'll try goo gone and clay bar on a portion of it. I'm going to call the dealer on Monday just in case.

 

[lockem]

Infrared windshield is a listed feature of the driver assistance Dynamic package. It is not clear from the description what an "infrared windshield" is.

 

[Chuck 2.0 Q4]

Bought my Q4 off the lot and I didn't realize it had this feature. Dealer didn't know about it either. I guess they are popular in Europe?

 

[jwq2]

in europe it's part of the "climate" pack. It's a heat-reflecting front windscreen.

Climate pack consists of:

Air Quality System (AQS) & Cooled Glove Box
Athermic Windshield
Rear air vents
Cooled glove box
Front USB Port
Rear USB Port

 

[hkfears]

I have the same problem and yes I do have the optional infrared windshield. With 30,000 miles on my car, I never noticed it until a few months ago. I have tried cleaning it multiple times without success. I will now try goo gone and report back.

 

[lockem]

I have the same problem and yes I do have the optional infrared windshield. With 30,000 miles on my car, I never noticed it until a few months ago. I have tried cleaning it multiple times without success. I will now try goo gone and report back.

I strongly suspect that it is characteristic of the infrared windshield. Without the infrared coating you run the risk of overheating the modules in the windshield pod.

 

[hkfears]

Goo gone didn’t solve the problem. I will try using a clay bar next.

 

[hkfears]

I tried various things to clean the windshield. It appears to be a characteristic of the infrared windshield. It just seems odd to me that I started noticing it a few months ago. I hope it doesn't get worse!