how can you remove the Water-Repellent coating from the side windows
 

Maybe Dawn dish soap?

That's a unique request. Usually we comment on what NOT to do in order to preserve the factory glass coating.

Dawn dish soap will do absolutely nothing, don't even try it. The factory coating is built into the make-up of the glass so you would have to mechanically and abrasively strip it with something.

Every manufacturer is different, I don't have any first hand knowledge on how deep into the glass the coating goes. It might be mixed into the entire glass structure or be a simple thin "top" layer that can be somewhat simply removed via machine or hand polishing with the right product. If the coating is mixed into the whole glass composition, than you're never going to get it off.

I have polished coated glass on numerous occasions to remove wiper trails and scratches on customer's cars with good success. The customer was fully aware that the polishing might remove the hydrophobic layer of the glass. Typically even a non glass specific polish should work like M205 or M100 with a coarse foam pad (my favorite one for glass is the coarse green foam Rupes pad). Depending on the scenario I might use Ceriglass polish or mix my own cerium oxide polish if I need something super aggressive to use with a rotary and glass specific pads (not recommended for beginners as this may cause permanent damage without proper care).

So my suggestion is try the least aggressive method possible as with all things. Try a mild polish like M205 with a foam cutting pad of your choice. If no results are produced, go to a more aggressive polish like M100. And if that doesn't work try Ceriglass. You can do away without a machine also it's just going to be very labor intensive and time consuming

Absolutely no sandpaper or scuff pads of any kind.

That makes sense. I thought it was just a coating like rain x or something.

I'd try to live with it, but if you can't, maybe try applying a hydrophilic coating on top of the factory hydrophobic coating. A hydrophilic coating would cause the water to sheet rather than bead.

thanks for the ideas - going to try a hydrophilic coating first then if no luck maybe try some of the polishing scenarios list! Sheeting is what I'm looking for, just no beading! Interesting, where the windshield wipers travel the coating is gone and the water sheets!

of what I'd like to have.

The above video doesn't even look like it's sheeting at all. It just looks like nothing is there. Like a bare glass that's never been treated with anything.

You may want to check this company out as well. I have never used them, I just found out about them at a car meet.

https://www.glassparency.com/

<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/137606066" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe>

Since we are no longer talking about only the option of stripping the old OEM coating, you might want to look at ADDING something on top of your film as was already suggested.

However, another option to hydrophilic coating is maybe a Clearplex window film?

https://www.clearplex.com/

It's essentially PPF for the windshield but can be custom cut and done on the entire car if needed. Our neighbor by my work has done a few cars and it's a pretty good solution.

I would locate an installer near you and discuss this option and I recommend to schedule a time to stop by their shop when they have a vehicle or two present that have had the film installed so you can personally see how it looks. A good installer should be able to put it on there where you don't/barely see it at all if looked at very closely. Plus you're not only solving the hydrophobic problem but also protecting the windshield from chips and pitting.

I wish I had more knowledge on Clearplex, but I don't know all the facts. I would ask if it's self-healing or resistant to wiper trails and typical chemicals that you would use to remove bug splatter and so forth. I imagine they designed the product to be resistant to these things but worth asking.

I thought it is to protect screen...