2020 BMW X3: sunroof shattered

Filed May 5, 2026 · NY

While stopped at a red light, my front sunroof panel exploded/shattered. My brother and I heard a loud bang. No object hit the sunroof. It was visible that the glass was bubbled outward. And, the 4 corners had cracking. Lucky the roof liner was closed and no glass hit us.

Filed Oct 19, 2025 · Body · CO

So this just happened today - I was driving my 2020 BMW X3 on the freeway, cruising around 80 mph. No cars around me, no rocks, nothing hit the car… and suddenly, BANG! It sounded like a gunshot or small explosion. The sunroof shattered outward - completely blown out. Luckily, I had my interior sunshade closed, so all the glass shards were caught there instead of raining down on me. I pulled over immediately to check - there’s no sign of impact or debris. It just seems like the glass literally exploded on its own. Looks like BMWs have a defective sunroof coz there are thousands of reports on sunroofs exploding on various forums. The only reason I want to report this is because this is huge safety issue based on my experience when it happened and god forbid someone loses their life if they get all the glass into their eyes when their sunroof explodes while driving on freeway at this speed without any warning!

Filed Jul 1, 2023 · Visibility · MA

When we closed the front driver seat of the car while the car was parked, the back moonroof glass exploded, meaning the glass shattered into a ton of little pieces. Those glass pieces fell all over the back seat. There was no external cause such as something falling on the glass, etc. This happened at the same time as when we closed the front driver door. There were no seen issues with the glass prior to it breaking such as cracks or otherwise, and we had just bought the car BMW certified 2 months prior. BMW has indicated they are not taking responsibility, as they "can't rule out external forces" (although there are clearly none) and told me to reach out to my insurance for coverage. Glass falling all over the back seat is clearly a safety issue.

Filed May 27, 2022 · SC

While driving on the highway, without warning, there was an explosion from the roof of the car which startled me and almost caused me to lose control of the vehicle. I pulled over and found that the panoramic sunroof had exploded. Luckily, we had the sunroof shade closed underneath it, so the glass did not rain down on us. However, cars and a motorcycle behind us swerved to avoid the glass flying off of the car and almost crashed into each other. I drove directly to the BMW dealership in Smithtown, NY and they are evaluating the event. They said that a special team from BMW may come to look at the car. They have not yet agreed to cover the repair even though the car is still under warranty.

Filed Feb 19, 2021 · 11,680 miles · MS

While driving, sunroof exploded