With the sun changing position, I have just noticed this odd phenomenon of 'glitter' in the windshield (MY2017 Premium) when sunlight is directly ahead of me. I first thought it was bugs or tree sap, so carefully cleaned and wiped the windshield to attempt to remove it. No such luck. I googled this and found MANY other owners' postings for different vehicles on the same thing. In reading their posts, it was not apparent if it was damage from the outside (blowing dust, dirt or sand) or something that happened within the layers of glass. I found a description of the problem and a way to address it on the Maxima forum, but wanted to check here first to see how others have dealt with it.

1) Spray some glass cleaner or whatever you have onto the windshield.
2) Take a clean new razorblade and slightly angle it with the curve of the windshield.
3) Lightly scrape the entire windshield making sure there is plenty of fluid beneath it.
4) Dry with a towel
5) Use a clay bar and some soapy water and spray that all over the glass again.
6) This time use the clay bar over the entire surface and once again dry it.
7) Use some chrome polish such as "Mothers Chrome Polish) and apply over your entire windshield.
8) Let it dry to haze making sure you do not get any on the rubber stripping because it will stain!
9) Buff off with a microfiber towel and there you have it.

This took a lot of that so called sparkle out and left the window perfectly clean

 

I have been using this for many years to clean my windshield. I had an airline pilot recommend this to me.
https://www.1010tires.com/Accessorie...-Polish/G15308

 

I've noticed this effect after wiping the windshield with new(ish) microfiber towels. Tiny flecks from the towels stick to the glass. More noticeable on newer windshields that don't already have lots of sand pits...

 

Also worth noting if you have the heated windshield you also get a glittering effect from the wires in certain light conditions. Of course not much you can do about that...

 

or, depending on where you live and drive the car, those little sparkles could be very well be minute pieces of road debris being kicked up on your cars windshield and scratching it. I live in the NE section of the USA and "tar and chipping" of roads is relatively common to supposedly "preserve" the integrity of the roads (and beat the crap out of your cars finish and the front windshield). The debris is so small you can't actually feel or hear the fine stuff hitting the car in the spots I mentioned, but when the sun is low on the horizon you can see the little sand blasted cracks or spots on the front windshield. Hate it, really hate it!

 

Heated windshield

 

Wow, a lot of enthusiastic suggestions...
I have to give praise to the newspaper method. But I don't think it's very effective anymore. One theory was that the newsprint of the past was made with very natural paper, and the ink that was used in presses back then were default impregnated with a gummy alcohol-like fluid that not only gripped the dirt right off glass, but also made it impossible for germs to cling to your fingers (hence finding a wall-street business man with the flu was very rare). But that was with the newsprint from our grandparents and fathers' time, and I just don't feel today's news"paper" or the ink retains those classic properties nearly as much as back then.

Also, depending on the leather, color and age of your cabin interior, smelly vinegars, and stringent cleaners can drip accidentally, and just a drop could leave a smell or discoloration that's more annoying the the smudges you had on your glass.

I had my front windscreen replaced by the dealership once. The new glass was "spotless clean", but any time it was cold outside, or misty first thing in the morning, these ghostly martian moonlanding rings and circles would show up on the inside of the windscreen---frustrating as hell. It was obviously from whatever suction-clamp mechanical arms they used to lift the glass into position during install.
The glass needed a POLISH. Not a cleaning, or alcohol rub, no chemical fluid. Only a dedicated glass-polish grabs up fine films and residue using a rubbery-like abrasion (much like grandad's newspaper ink did), and leaves bare glass behind. Because it goes on like a paste, not a liquid, and dries for you to easily towel it off, there's no funny smell or drips on your leathers.

I use Griot's Fine Glass Polish, and a terry towel or Microfiber towel to rub it off. Don't bother with any "polish" that says it's also also good on "other" surfaces. A true GLASS polish is gentle enough that its clay ingredients give you that super-gentle rubber-eraser effect on precious glass.

Once your insides are clean, keep them that way by rubbing down each window once a month or so, with a pure clean cotton undershirt (or your kid's balled-up cotton underpants out of the clean drawer---don't let the wife see you steal them). No cleaners on the undershirt---simple DRY cotton on glass. It lifts off all tiny invisible finger imprints and moisture before they congeal into the visible hazy grease marks you're seeing now.

On the outside of my glass I'm willing to use whatever kind of cleaners, waterspot removers, chemicals... On the inside, only the clay-based glass polish twice a year, and the cotton undershirt twice a month.
And spank your wife if you catch her putting her make-up covered fingertips on your glass during your next drive.

 

Depending on the wife, it may be more of a threat if you threaten not to spank her.

 

I had a lot of very tiny drops of tree sap on my windshield and paint after parking in the shade. At first I thought it was pitting to the glass. The sap washed off the paint quite easily, I'm attributing that to the efficacy of the Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions Graphene wax on the paint. But the glass was another story. I had heard that using a clay bar was a good technique to deep clean a windshield. I didn't have any clay bars handy but then remembered this gizmo that I bought, tried once and then put it in a box with all the other car care items that were tried once and I wasn't that impressed with.

https://mothers.com/products/speed-clay-2-17240

It did a good job on the glass and can be cleaned and used again. I like traditional clay bars for doing the paint on a car a lot better but this device from Mothers is good for glass. I'm glad I didn't throw it away.

 

FWIW, I asked the service writer to check in this "glitter" in the windshield. With sun at the 11 oclock (time wise) through 2 pm height, it was noticeable. Did all the finger checks and did not think it was physical damage. The JLR response was that is the "heated" windshield".

 

Nothing like putting a heated windshield on a car that comes with tires that shouldn't be driven below freezing.

 

Yes, got those Summer Onlys off and put good ol' Continental DWSs on. It's possible that the 'heated' windshield also works to alleviate that occasional 'fog' when moving a car from a cooler/de-humidified garage out into a hot, moist setting.

 

The only "glitter" I've noticed on either of the F-Types of mine is the same glitter I see when I use microfiber cloths on any glass surface: the specks of fibers left behind from the cloths themselves.
My solution is to use a 100% cotton cloth (in my case a baby diaper) to vigorously buff the glass as the last step to remove the glitter.

 

From top to bottom, wipe the window using a microfiber cloth. After that, clean and degrease the window using an isopropyl alcohol solution and a microfiber cloth. Spray a microfiber cloth liberally with cleaning solution. After wiping up and down, move to the right and then left. You can also use Vinegar to clean windows.

 

Checked with the dealer and supposedly it is the methodology for clearing the windshield from snow/ice and in some vehicles described as an "infrared windshield" and part of a "driver assistance package". No opinion on my part, just reporting what I've found since originally posting.

 

This is the one option I wish my car didn’t come with…but I’m def not changing out the windshield lol

 

AAhhhhh, that may be the OTHER issue about the front windscreens, that you're talking about. Valerie, if you've done the stringent cleaning/scrape process you mentioned earlier in this thread, and you're still seeing what can be described as "glitter" effect, it may be THIS: 2017 was the time when a spanking new feature was introduced to XEs and XFs primarily, and later to F-Paces. A heating element was sealed inside the laminated sandwich of glass in the front windscreen. NOT like the rear windscreen, which has a combined heater stripping and reception antenna pasted on the inside of the glass.
The initial version of this heating element windscreen got annoying criticism from SOME owners---it created a permanent machine-like pattern across the glass that you could see when sunlight or headlights lit the windscreen from outside---VERY annoying for those of us who value un-spotted vision through the glass. Blacks18 is right. I personally hated it when I experience it in loaner Jaguars, and was thankful I never asked for that front-heated windscreen when I ordered my car back in 2017.

The clarity of the heated windscreen in the 2020 and 2022 models has greatly improved, but if you've got excellent eyesight, you can still see the pattern right away----it has not reached the level of simple clear windscreen glass yet.
Valerie, you've got GOOD eyes!

 

I have a 2019 E pace that I see the heating grid in it. I do not have good night vision and it definitely reduces clarity and increases glare from the headlights. My daughter noticed it when she used the car at night. My 2017 F type is a Florida and I do not believe it has the heated windshield in it. It is much better driving at night.