Hey folks,

It's the year 2025, tensions are high, the Dow Jones is down, solar flares are active and the R53 is still the best hatch on the road.

I need a new rear wiper blade refill. After spending 45 minutes searching and reading people argue on this forum over the last 20 years, and also trying to cross reference P/Ns on four BMW/Mini parts sites, I have come away with only a little knowledge. It appears that cars before 06/2004 took one thing, and cars after 07/2004 took another. There is much debate about how many mm is needed, and width. But nothing definitive. Let's add to the confusion, some part sites you search seem to think 2006 and 2007 are both either R53 or R56. I'm looking for a GEN ONE COOPER part. BMWs P/N might end in 678 but that's as far as I've got, it's like trying to find this part 20 years later is equivalent to searching for the Ark of the Covenant.

If anyone has a P/N or substitute that will fit a 2006 R53 I would buy you the best beer in town if you could hit me with some knowledge so I can replace my decroded rear wiper rubber. Thanks.

 

Part number is 61627129280 and I'm pretty sure the wiper is 290mm.

The difference between pre and lci is because of a different wiper arm because the wipermotor attachment point is a bit different.
The lci assembly has a cone shape, pre is just flat. To add to the confusion the part number for both wipermotor assemblies is the same. But if you look at the wipermotor assembly sticker itself the lci has an -04 added the part number. (which is not show on real oem)
How do I know? I had both wipermotor assemblies in my hand today to replace one with another but failed because of the differences.

Never a dull moment with these first gen Mini's

 

You sir are the light at the end of the tunnel, the anchor in the storm, the wizard on the path of truth. Thank you! Would you happen to know the BMW/Mini P/N for just the rubber refill/insert only rather than the entire blade w/refill?

 

I don’t remember there ever being inserts available. I do seem to recall a discussion years ago where people were using the break-to-fit Trico inserts.

By the way, the Bosch H840 fits the rear wiper.

Also, side-note: BMW never called the facelift cars “LCI.”

 

Apparently #10 is only for pre facelift but truth to be told, I have never seen it.


I did not know that. Is this just for first gen Mini's or all Mini's?

 

I recall looking into this about four years ago. I was unable to find a rear wiper refill for my 2003. OE supplier Valeo makes refills for the front wipers—though those have become more difficult to find— but on their website they list a 10” blade for the rear, be the yesr 2003 or 2006. https://valeo.autocaredata.com/home I did not see a refill.

Note too that the profile of the front refill is different than the rear, so you can’t just cut down a front refill. I found this out the hard way.

 

That’s about 11-3/8”. Seems too long. I’ll check…
Edit: 11-3/8” is in fact what I have on my R53

 

Thanks much gentlemen, just ordered x2 Bosch H840s, free returns via Amazon if it doesn't fit, and they confirm it does.

Lukas - that's what I came to believe, adding to my confusion.

Bottom line, for facelift cars you need to either (1) order the whole wiper + blade or (2) order a refill that is the correct width and cut to length.

Just drove my car after a few weeks in storage, I love this thing!

 

Just first gen Minis as far as I can tell, though I don’t really pay much attention to later models. You never see the LCI language in literature until the R56 pops up.

 

The Bosch H840 is 11-38" and fits the later style rear wipers

 

buy #9 from vendor with lifetime warranty. swap for new as needed

 

Don’t the Lifetime Warranty vendors exclude consumables?

 

Duplicate. Sorry.

 

no sir, fcp will take used motor oil back. i think ecu will do the same. you can send back anything. you only buy it once.

you buy the new part, install it, put the old part in the box, and send it back. you get a full refund.

 

I don’t know about FCP policy on this, but if you are right, I don’t know how that policy can last. ECS Tuning expressly excludes motor oil. https://www.ecstuning.com/LifetimeRe...t-isnt-covered

To me, unless they specifically call out that you get lifetime consumables, returning used consumables seems like an abuse of the policy. That’s just my old-school take.


Edit/Note: this FCPEuro blog post explicitly states they are willing to take back used oil, a consumable, under their lifetime replacement policy. https://www.fcpeuro.com/blog/oil-service-kit-options

 

i'm old school also, but that does not keep me from using them

 

As noted, the plastic wiper blade (part 9) just pops off the carrier arm (5). You can then go to any auto parts store and purchase any wiper blade of the correct length and just remove and use the new rubber wiper insert.

I just bend the retaining clips of the newly purchased wiper, slide out the blade and slide it into the OEM blade housing. The way it's made, it retains the new rubber insert just fine. You could even replace without removing the wiper blade at all. It's just easier if you pop it off to work with it.

Jose

 

Closing the loop, the product mentioned above fits my 2006 R53, install takes exactly 7 seconds, no trip to the store, no trimming, measuring, super simple and OEM level quality.

Here's a link:

https://a.co/d/408NX4L

 

justjeff is correct on the part number for facelift minis except it takes me 10 seconds because I am old