My wife is the primary driver, so it was too late when I noticed the paint shop had put the wrong wiper blades back on the car.
I go to Autozone today and look up the wiper length and it gives me 18" for driver and 19" for passenger. I pick up a set of double bladed Pilots.
To make a short story long, when the driver side wiper comes to rest, the inboard edge rests over the windshield moulding and onto the chrome strip. Are the wipers too long or did the factory wipers attach at an angle to prevent this from happening?

BTW I'm not under warranty anymore and the paint shop can't account for/reimburse the original blades.

 

Anybody?
Need time for research?
Need time to walk outside and look at your wipers?

 

On my wife's UK Mini Cooper S - the passenger is 17.5 inches, the drivers side is one inch longer at 18.5 inches (remember it's a UK car) does seem to indicate passenger/driver side are different lengths, do you need to simply swap over the blades? have they accidentally been put back on the wrong sides? Kind regards, yt.

 

just use refills .

If they are a bit long thread them on drivers (left to right as sitting in the car, pass (right to left as sitting in the car)

 

I'd guess that your paint shop had the wiper arms off the car. When they were put back on they weren't put quite in the correct position. Take it back to the body shop & have them reposition the wayward arm.

 

I guess I worded it wrong. The paint shop took the wiper arms off and replaced them with the $2 WalMart variety. I need new arms with blades, not just blades.

 

the stock wiper arm on the driver side has a piece connected that isnt on aftermarket arms which allows the blade to rest completely on the windshield...try getting a new set from your mini dealer and next time they need to be replaced just get new inserts...hope that helps

 

Thank you catar452.

 

here's a picture to help show what im talking about...

 

Your picture is showing the complete item. In the uk we just bought the complete pair (driver and passenger) from the BMW main dealer for US$30. Seemed an absolute bargain.

 

$30 US? I was under the impression they were closer to $50 US a piece. I've got to order a brake guide bolt, I'll check the price on the wiper arms. If what my gut tells me is true, the dealership is going to want a human arm in trade for a wiper arm.

 

Just my $.02 but, wiper refills are more of a pain than its worth. There are several different mount styles and unless you know, it's a crap shoot. IMO, go to a parts store and find Bosch Icon wipers. They are actually spring loaded in a soft body to help the wiper fit the contour of the windshield. Have had them for months and will not go back to anything else. IT IS WORTH THE $20-25 EACH!!!!!

www.boschautoparts.com/products/wiperblades/icon

 

Its amazing what you can accomplish with just a little farting around and a lot of frustration. After much toiling, looking for something to adjust, trying to make things adjust that shouldn't, and turning the wipers on and off, I finally ended the wiper fiasco.
At my wit's end (not very far... I'm not a car mechanic) I decided to pull on the wiper arm in the direction of up travel. Something happened that felt like a bump or almost a ratchet in the base of the arm. Voila. The wiper now rests on the windshield instead of the moulding around it. And I'm free to spend as much or as little as I please on new wipers. No need for magical MINI brand wipers.

 

I just wanted to confirm that we bought the complete pair of wipers arms at the main BMW Mini dealer at a cost of £18 - I think this is about US$30 - not to worry. Kind regards.

 

I have been thinking about the Icons for my GP, but their catalog doesn't list the Icon for Minis at all. I noticed that the blades come in "A" and "B" variants, as well as lengths. Which ones did you order? Also, does the passenger side wiper sit on the glass all the way to its end because the windshield curves pretty radically there? Advice appreciated!

 

I went to Bosch Icons. Worth the $.

 

The Icons do not touch the glass on the outside (passenger side). I went with the "A" variants. I tried 18" and 19" blades and found 18" to be sufficient. The Michelin version of these will save you $5 per blade and probably work just as well.

 

Since your wiper arm went "clunk" it was probably not either tightened down or centered on the splines properly - you'll want to check tightness now that it's "clunked" its way onto the splines and centered itself. You don't want the wiper arm coming adrift in a storm...

Speaking of which, PPG's Glass Treatment Rain Repellent is EXCELLENT. Better than RainX, no smears wherre the wiper blades stop, and it lasts months longer than RainX. Easier to put on as well. It can save you if your blades quit, or if you pass a truck in the rain. You can actually pass a truck in the rain with your wipers OFF and see FAR better than untreated glass with wipers on high. Seriously.

 

I bought the 18 and 19. Just buy the A in for the driver, B for passenger, but only on certain vehicles. Mine I used an A and B. It has to do with how the spring is aligned in the arm itself. On the passenger side, it dosen't hang off, but the outer maybe 1/5 inch rides above the windshield. That dosen't really bother me. Having the spring loaded arm actually helps as it swipes because of the bubbly-ness of the window.

 

Anyone have any brands they recommend? Here's my deal. Last spring a Valeo sales rep gave me a set of Valeo Flexblades, very good blades with the modern low profile blade design. I read on here that the Bosch blades don't make full contact so I tried some of the new RainX flexblades, same deal, they do not match the curve of the windshield. Last weekend I bought a singe Michelin blade to try and again same deal, it does not make full contact. I like these modern, low profile designs, but only the Valeo seemed to have enough flex to match the windshields curvature. Valeo does have a website, but they don't seem to be selling the blades on the site.

 

I believe that TireRack sells the Valeo blades.

 

I have the Valeos, I like them for winter (don't ise up as badly as OE)
BUT
- they don't touch on the outside passenger side
- The aerodynamics are such that they drag a little water from the DS of the windshield when they change direction, right where the blade attaches to the arm

I'll be putting the OE ones back on in Spring, but the Valeos are nice for winter. They don't look orthopedic like most winter blades, and their aerodynamics are far better than traditional "hooded" winter blades.

 

Currently have the Bosch Icon wipers on and they do miss a little bit on passenger side top. I played around with them bending and tweaking till they almost wipe clean at the top. Will leave them on for the winter because they catch less ice and snow.
I don't think anything beats the OEM arm though and will put them back on in Spring with new Trico inserts. The OEM arm was designed for this windshield so it's going to have the best contact. I suggest anyone interested go out to Trico's web site and have a look.

DixonL2, "PPG's Glass Treatment Rain Repellent is EXCELLENT. Better than RainX" Thanks will have to check that out. I gave up on the RainX a long time ago.

An interesting did you know;
In 1928 Trico developed an early version of a winter blade (called Sleet Wand) which was made of rock salt wrapped in cheesecloth and mounted onto a wiper arm.