Smearing on Side Windows

[hmp10]

My 2008 R8 picked up an oily smear on the inside of the side windows any time the car got wet (rain, carwash) unless I waited hours before lowering the windows.

Has that problem been rectified with the current production cars? (I've got a V10 being built this week.)

Thanks.

[MikeB]

It's better but not a lot

[Garyhun]

It's horrible on mine

[R84ME]

Has that problem been rectified with the current production cars? (I've got a V10 being built this week.)

Thanks.

If it does, your dealer can easily remedy the problem by cleaning the inside rubber/felt guides. I had my dealer do this at the first service and I have not had any problems since.

[Whirlinturbin]

Happens to me.

[Whirlinturbin]

Forgot to add -- I have a 2010.

[hmp10]

If it does, your dealer can easily remedy the problem by cleaning the inside rubber/felt guides. I had my dealer do this at the first service and I have not had any problems since.

On my 2008, the dealer said it would dissipate with time. It never did, and he never mentioned cleaning the guides as an option.

Maybe this time I will ask the dealer to try that before I pick the car up.

[KfabR8]

Mine ('08) does it on both sides. I think the window tinting tends to make it worse too. It's not as slick as the surface of the glass.

[hmp10]

Ugh, great. I am having the side windows tinted on the new car, as it's going to Florida.

At least down there, I won't have to lower the windows for parking garage gates. I'd have to get the car washed at least a full day ahead of taking it to work in Chicago unless I wanted to carry window cleaning fluid and towels to get the oily smear off the glass after I entered or left my parking garage. I tried a few times to open the door and reach around the glass to activate the gate, but the R8 door is too long.

What also drove me crazy, especially when the R8 was still a new model, was when someone would pull up alongside me at a traffic light and agitatedly signal for me to let the window down so he could ask about the car. (For some reason in the midwest, that usually included a blunt question about how much I paid.) Since I was compulsive about keeping the car clean, that usually meant the window was going to have an oily smear on it when I raised it again -- without being able to clean it in the middle of traffic.

Jeez . . . I shouldn't have started this thread. It's reminding me how annoying this problem was back when I had the V8.

[rmicroys]

Happens to my V10. The felt smudges with windows up as soon as they are moist - one has to nearly wait a few days after washing the car to not smudge up the windows when opening them.