I dunno--it's always strange when one person prefers one item or brand over another. There are always going to be dissenters.

Take for example, the blue vs. orange fans. It doesn't freeze here so I use blue.

Or automatic wipers. Some love 'em; some hate 'em. I love mine.

And now, the various wiper blade fans. I got my OEM wipers changed out free for more OEM wipers at around the 7 month point. That was about 5 months ago. Not ready for new ones. What's the difference between us? Temperature? Amount of rain? Or some other factor I'm not thinking of?

If anything, I should be using more wipers since I'm in the hot rubber-melting south where it rains a lot, too.

Then again, there were people complaining about various problems throughout the year, like the leaky washer nozzles, when I didn't have any of them. And I have a week 3 build, which theoretically should have more problems, not less. I wish someone could figure it out. Maybe the production line workers thought they were building the company president's MINI, rather than the one for lil' ol' me.

I like to look out just as much as the next person. Maybe more, because down here we get LOTS of bugs. (Love Bug season will be here very shortly. No Texan looks forward to that 2-week period of the year! )

P.S. Not pickin' on ya--just trying to solve a mystery of life.

 

Yes, thanks!

 

The oem stuff smells good.

 

Things like the kind of rain, etc. you get. If it rains hard when it rains, but is otherwise dry, you get a different effect than if you are often driving in misty rain. What I find most annoying about some wipers is their performance in light rain/mist, when I get road dirt streaks and patches across the windshield. Also when snow/ice cakes into certain flex points, preventing the wipers from fully following the contours of the windshield. And, yes, the Mini's windshield does have contours, subtle as they are. On the other paw, hard rains tend to allow the wipers to function fully and remove road grime/oil from the windshield.

 

Exactly - these are the problems I'm seeing with the oem wipers.

I also happen to just be the type of person that usually believes the oem equipment can usually be replaced with something 'better' (that is entirely subjective of course), especially when it comes to stuff like stock tires and wipers.

My last car came with the worst oem tires I have ever driven on and they were not even cheap to replace (goodyears). They just performed super poorly on that car. They were replaced by cheaper but better performing tires and it made an extreme world of difference. Even though the stock tires on my mini are pretty good they are not 100% up to my 'expectations' for how I want/expect my car to perform, so they will be replaced soon enough with non-runflats (gotta love tire rack!) Same deal with the wipers..

 

Yeah. It should be considered that often, but not always, OEM items are made to spec by the suppliers. Thus a Goodyear OEM tire installed at the factory may not necessarily be compounded exactly the same as the "same" Goodyear tire bought on the market. For example, OEM Michelin tires supplied to Mercedes were (at least at the time I bought the Benz's) compounded softer than the "same" ones available on the market.

 

I had excellent results with my BMW OEM wipers / inserts for the five years I owned my 325 wagon. They were also really cheap, about $4-$5 per insert, and I changed them once a year. I'll see how the MINI wipers / inserts hold up, but if they're the same quality as on the wagon, I'll be very pleased.

 

There's been a lot of complaints about the OEM wipers on the R56; I've not had a problem, and no smearing either. Why do some think they're awful, and others don't? Just a guess: multiple wiper suppliers, perhaps?

 

Or that some people can't stand a dirty windshield and others don't turn their wipers on until it monsoons.

 

Has anybody tried the PIAA Wipers?? I've seen them at Joe's just wondering if they would be something to look at once MY Molly gets here.

 

Had them on my last car and really liked them but can't recall if they were substantially better than the Bosch Icons that replaced them.

I'm actually thinking of picking up a pair for the MINI, i'm just wondering if there will be even coverage. I'll report my findings if i do get them.

 

haha

Can someone tell me what OEM stands for?

 

Original Equipment Manufacturer.

 

Good to know. I'm sure it'll come in handy sometime soon.

 

In other words, LUCK219, the same as what your car had when it came off the truck.

 

Gotcha

 

I've read that the PIAA wipers that fit the MINI are better than OEM and unlike the uniform design on Michelin, Bosch ICONs, etc. this is of the traditional design so there's no spot that it misses on the passenger's side.

 

anyone use the green preston bug remover windshield fluid? Does it harm your wax or your car? thanks!

 

If you're planning on getting the issue fixed before winter time, just use plain water. It's not going to be as abrasive to those bugs, but it won't stain your car, for sure. I personally only keep water in mine until it gets to a temp where I have to worry about freezing. As long as you juice the bugs right when they hit your windshield, water will take them right up..

That's definitely not true. A little 3M rubbing compound follwed by polishing compound followed by wax will pull those stripes right off your paint. Just don't get too over zealous, otherwise you'll burn right through your paint.. Any detailer will be able to do this for you. I've been detailing cars for years on the side, you'd be amazed at what comes up...

 

Are we talking about the same thing? I was referring to stains ON the stripes, caused by the old weeping washers problem--not about taking the stripes themselves off. (That post was over 3 months ago.)

 

ehh. I didn't look at the month, this showed up on the top of the list, so I thought it was a newer topic.

But yes, stains on the stripes can come off too. I was referring to stains on the paint, but you can pull stains off the stripes too, but with different methods.

 

I have been able to remove some of the stain with 3M Imperial Hand Glaze. But I have to rub quite hard and some of the stripe color (black) actually comes off with it. Sometimes it takes 2 or 3 applications.

My car is a little over a year old now and I got to say the OEM stripes no longer look that great. There are some marks that just won't come out.

 

Put grain alcohol in the rear washer dispenser and attach a sparker from a gas grill, and you'll never have tailgaters again!

 

speaking of windshield washer drips, I just noticed that my rear wiper drips occasionally...