audi40

On my '14 A6, when the sun hit the windshield the right way or the glass fogged up, you could see the imprint of a factory/manufacturer sticker (probably 8"x6") in the center of the windshield (interior side of glass) - no matter how many times I tried to clean the windshield with glass cleaner and a glass scraper, I could not remove it. Apparently it's a not uncommon problem as mentioned in the following thread:

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/sho...9&postcount=23

When I mentioned it to my service advisor, he said he'd seen this before and that Audi had no fix for it, but he'd discuss with the service manager - within an hour, he called back and said they'd been authorized to replace the windshield with an aftermarket glass (Safelite) at no charge. After giving it some brief thought, I declined the offer because of replacement windshield horror stories that I've read about. When I mentioned this issue to an engineer that I work with, he suggested that it was simply due to some kind of "molecular bonding issue with the adhesive" and said I should try some VERY fine [water-soluble] diamond abrasive compound, which he just happened to have for glass cleaning. Sure enough, after a good 10-15 minute polishing with the compound, I can no longer see any evidence of the sticker that was there. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this straight-forward solution, and extremely surprised that my dealer so readily got the OK to replace the windshield for what apparently is a common issue that Audi has no fix for (can't believe that some German engineer couldn't figure this out).

Anyway, for those of you who might have this issue, the product I used was Diamond Innovations compound #DMSY SJK-5 0-0.50 MWS 18.

gatorguy7

S4thrills

Awesome! Thanks for posting the follow up.

Any issues with possible scratching of the glass using that compound?

audi40

None that I can see. The engineer who recommended it told me that the compound was similar to toothpaste, but with even finer "grit"....he said he used it to repair scratched eyeglasses.

S4thrills

Can't figure out where to buy this stuff. Can you ask him?

audi40

Knowing him, it was probably a special order product, but I'll ask him tomorrow. In lieu thereof, you might also want to try a using a dab of toothpaste on a small section of the windshield.

S4thrills

Whitening toothpaste? Haha!

I cannot try it until the weekend, but I will.

tenspeed

I found diamond compound on eBay for $5 shipped. If you use it or toothpaste, test it on something to see if it leaves scratches before using it on your windshield.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160917087681...84.m1438.l2649

uberwgn

You might just try a glass polish. Far less likely to cause any problems. Griots has a couple and I have several in my supplies including one from Autoglym which has been outstanding on exterior glass. You'll be shocked how dirty your "clean" glass is after using this stuff

I had several ghost impressions on my car's (exterior) windshield from the huge suction cups they use when installing windshields. They've slowly disappeared over time.

NVThs1

Let us know what happens. With the suns position this time of year for me, I now see the same marks.