The original was replaced with a Pilkington windshield. I hated it.
The original factory windshield was also a Pilkington windshield. Pilkington is the sole OE (factory) supplier for Sprinter (and nearly all Mercedes) windshields. One out of every three windshields world-wide are made by Pilnkington actually, including dealer and aftermarket brands (Safevue is the most prevalent aftermarket brand manufactured by Pilkington). Pilkington is an OE supplier for Toyota, GM, Ford, Daimler, VW, Renault/Nissan, PSA Peugeot Citroen, Honda and BMW.
For the 06 an earlier North American Sprinters, the original was manufactured most likely in either Austria or Poland, but could have been made in Romania or Argentina depending on the year. OEM replacements are made in lots of places, including China, India and South Africa, but most here in North America are imported from the same places that make the factory originals. Regardless of where they are made, they're all made to the same exact specs.
Got scratched on the inside by wiping it with paper towels.
You sure the towels were made of paper? Even really uber dirt cheap glass is harder than paper.
I was going to take it in for a warranty replacement, but got a crack from a rock before I had time to take it in. Then it got replaced with a Guardian windshield. Good glass until it got hit by another rock. Then it got replaced with a PPG windshield. Been perfect for about 2 years now. In the future, if I have a choice, I will stay away from Pilkington (china made).
Both Guardian and PPG makes windshields in China. Guardian (Auburn Hills, MI) makes windshields in 25 different countries. It all depends on that DOT number on the windshield. It could even say "Made in China" and not actually be made in China. I currently have a PGW (Pittsburgh Glass Works) windshield (PGW also makes Aquapel, like RainX, only way better). They're out of Pittsburgh (and Poland), but the DOT number is for Shenzhen Automotive Glass, which is who made it for PGW. The one thing to keep in mind is, regardless of who made it or where it was made, if it's OEM glass then it's identical to the original.
There are basically three types of windshield glass:
Dealer Glass (Original Equipment or OE)
Original Equipment Manufactured (OEM)
Aftermarket Glass
Dealer Glass (OE) and Factory Glass are the same thing, it's the original factory glass made by the same company that made the original.
OEM Glass has been manufactured to specifications and guidelines set by the automaker by a distributor which has been certified by the automaker. While it may or may not not be the exact company that made the original windshield, it meets every criteria set by the automaker and is treated as indistinguishable and identical in in every significant way. The sole difference between OE and OEM are the logos and other markings on the windshield.
An Aftermarket Windshield, or Original Equipment Equivalent (OEE), is made by any company that has not been certified by the automaker to do so. While aftermarket auto glass sold in the United States must pass minimum safety standards, they are often thinner than OEM glass and almost always vary in some significant ways. One of the largest manufacturers of aftermarket auto glass in America is Safelite, but there are many others.
Fortunately, Safelite does not yet manufacture OEE glass for Sprinters, but alway request OEM glass just to be sure, regardless of who replaces the windshield. If you get OEM glass, the manufacturer is irrelevant.
