Glass rear screen ?

What is the consensus on glass rear windows please ? I have to replace the hood on the 135 and have been offered either a standard hood or one with a glass rear screen. There is a £ 120 price difference between the two.

Is a glass screen noticeably better to use so would justify the extra ?

Is there any downside to a glass screen ?

Does having a glass rear screen need a lot more care when raising and lowering the hood and does it get that much more complicated when it's time to put the hard top on ?

I have had both and would always go for a glass screen. It needs next to no care. Just drop it down and lift it up. Plastic ones can go opaque, crease or faff about unzipping them first. If you are the hardy type and take the roof down in winter there is a chance of cracking the plastic window, and when it's up you can not see out of it for frost or condensation. Glass one is heated.

If you go for glass, the wiring for heated rear screen is there as standard but you will need to fit HRW switch and relay.

The only possible issue is if you have a high windbreaker the glass way rub on it when lowering I have heard. I have a Mike Satur glass windbreaker with a glass rear screen and no problems

I also have fitted both OEM hardtop and Heritage hardtop, no issues.

The glass screen is smaller & it can restrict the type of “roll hoops” you can use & even with suitable hoops care should be taken, especially when you lift the back of the hood to gain access to the engine. The heating screen is useful on those damp days, but it’s a dear do for the odd day. In all probability I would choose the plastic screen if I were to have the chance to choose again. Shortly after changing to the glass screen with its more restricted view, I failed to see a stump, reversing into it & ending up having to replace the bumper. If I still had the original set up I could have saved a chunk of money.
M

Some good food for thought there. If I do end up going for the glass one I will be sure to get reversing sensors.

As you can see there are valid points in both camps, now you have to distill the pros & cons but which ever side you fall on I would seriously consider reversing sensors. My fitting of the sensors after the horse had comprehensively buggered off & all you could make out is a wisp of dust on the distant horizon was the only glimmer of light in a saga almost entirely of my own making.
One recommendation if you are going to fit sensors is to cut the sensor wire & solder a right angled 3.5mm jack to the sensor end & fit matching 3.5 sockets to the rear panel appropriate to the sensor position. You then solder the plug end to your socket. This makes the whole business of refitting the bumper after you complete the job & any subsequent removals straight forward. Chose reasonable quality plugs & sockets for those & you should experience little or no problems.
Mine has been on for at least five years & it still alerts me when I’m manoeuvring & reversing into the garage. It has been nothing other than 100% reliable.
M

First I would point out that fitting a glass HRW normally comes in at more than the £120 difference you quoted so if you decide to change later you will kick yourself.
I sourced one SH and they don't come up often, sell quickly and are expensive but on the plus side are relatively easy to retro fit. I love mine because I just got fed up with it steaming up in bad weather something I hadn't experienced for years since I owned a Stag and it pi***d me off then.
It's just a case of horses for courses, one mans mod is another mans transgression.

It is a tidy 2nd hand one. I'd asked Darren to look me out a hood for the 135 a few weeks ago and felt lucky to be offered one with a glass screen given they dont come up very often.

Its tough choice between restricted visibility on a steamed up plastic screen that isnt easy to clear or reduced visibility on a glass one due to it's smaller size. My first thoughts were

A steamed up plastic screen is more difficult when reversing out into traffic.= Danger of accident with moving traffic. whilst

A smaller glass screen is more difficult when parking = Danger of parking bumps and grazes.

Im currently thinking Airportable's suggestion of reversing sensors should mitigate the latter.

I would go for the glass screen, even if it has reduced rear vision. I judge rear distances from my side mirrors and really use my rear view mirror! Although I do have experience of van and lorry driving which necessitates side mirror use!

I too have experience of trucks & the use of side mirrors, still laughingly referred to as wing mirrors in some old truckers circles. Using them is a skill of paramount importance when you’re hitching a trailer when driving a tractor unit with a blind back, feeling the pin engage, ramp up & lock is the first part of the prep for your trip & once the susies are home & a lamp test done your off.
But no matter what your used to driving if you can’t see it & you’ve no idea that an obstacle is there you’re going to reverse into it.

Airportable, yes that's true. The faster you reverse the more damage you do! As my daughter found out after missing a turning in a country lane and reversed into a field entrance at speed as she was annoyed that she had missed a turning! She was even more annoyed when she hit a tree stump in long grass. I was then super annoyed when it was dad can you fix it!

Every aspect of that scenario is played out daily in every corner of the kingdom, even down to the dad can you fix it. The other morning heralded a panic call from my daughter, her car wouldn’t start. So with a bag of tools I guessed I might need, I went to rescue. On arrival I was handed a pristine key & fob, not at all like the tatty offering last time I bailed her out, “how long have you had this new fob & has the car worked since you got it”. The other day & no was the answer, having recovered the dilapidated old fob from the bottom the bin & installed the coded security chip into the new fob the car cracked up first pull & has worked fine since.
There are so many aspects to that tale including writing the car off, to being monumentally ripped off, but dads win again.
M