Any sunroof explosions in your driving History?
If you've got an XE with a moonroof, then you've got a sunblind beneath it as well. All the US 2016/17 edition XE's came with them as default (I LUUUV moonroofs), and I know I'm going to give mine plenty of action this coming season.

But while the modern cars seemed to have fully solved the leaking problems that older sunroof-vehicles had, the modern sunroof has also experienced some spontaneous explosion incidents.

At lawsuit time:
The glass Engineers theorize it's due to the demand for thinner glass panels, which are affected by extreme temperature exposure much more than the heavier thicker panels of the past. (I tend to accept that.)

The analysts theorize it's due to impact from a rock or similar object that struck from outside (Engineers say no typical object will do that to tempered glass...and I happen to agree with the engineers, since I see glass designs in my construction work---tempered glass is WOW).

The analysts theorize that the combinations of temperatures "trapped" between the roof and the sunblind, and the "twisting or racking" of the car in motion, can put enough steady or buffeting pressure on the glass to make it shatter upward. (This theory bothers me).

The last theory hits home to me, since I know the XE is a bolted (not welded) body, and MAY give and creak a bit more willingly than someone's BMW or Merc.
I DON'T believe in feeling afraid of things as a means of protection--but DO believe in doing a minor adjustment here or there to improve my "guarantee" of a life without incidents.

Have any of you heard of it happening to an Jaguar, XE or otherwise?
Have any of you had a friend or neighbor experience a sunroof blow-out?

 

About a year before I picked up my XK8, I had a 2006 Dodge Magnum with a sun roof. Riding into work on the interstate, I heard a loud pop, thought I had blown a tire and pulled over - no issues with tires so kept on to work. When I got to work - I went to set my coffee cup on the roof and found the sun roof had exploded

luckily - it was replaced at no cost to me as SC requires insurance companies to replace all vehicle safety glass at no cost if you have full coverage

 

That does looks like your sunroof "exploded", but then again, not that much of a surprise considering Chrysler's build quality.

I believe XE has highest torsional rigidity than any Jaguar sedan, it is over 25% stiffer than XF so I would eliminate the chances of significant body twist.

Also I have noticed that the moonroof glass on XE is quite thick

 

Theoretically speaking thinner glass panels should be affected less by extreme temperature exposures.

This thing is that the glass "explodes" when there is an uneven heat expansion of outer glass layer and the inner layer. This way the glass is expended unevenly and it breaks. So the thicker the glass (to a degree of course) the bigger the expansion difference between the outer and the inner walls.

Similarly the thicker glass cups break more frequently when you put a boiling water in it.

Just my 2 cents.

 

Our XE sunroof was hit by a rock thrown up from a truck, we think. My wife heard the bang but didnt think much of it, I saw it a few days later when I slid back the cover and there was a star and big crack running down one side. Over the next week (waiting for the repair) and with more driving the crack spread along the other side as well (making a "L" shape then later a "U" shape), so the cracks we pretty much through the whole thing. I'm pretty sure you couldnt feel the crack from the inside, so it probably just affected the outside layer and was getting a bit of thermal stress.

Warranty replacement, it only took them about an hour or so.

In my first ('08) XF there ended up being a crack in the roof next to the sunroof. That was apparently a known issue with the first year or so of the model, essentially the metal fractured in the short part toward the front of the sunroof. The point being that this was probably due to flex in the car, but the sunroof was fine - only the metal broke.

 

Great topic, I had a 2010 Nissan Maxima and my sunroof exploded outward on the highway 1 cold rainy morning with al the windows closed and the heat on high. It took some talking to get Nissan to replace it back then as they said there is no warranty on glass even though I showed them the pics of it blown outward like a pressure bomb.

I have been nervous about this happening again never since and hope my XE doesn't have this issue ever!

 

Wife had an Audi A6 roof explode. Open road, no other vehicles, exploded outwards. Audi replaced it under warranty.