E46 wipers

thepharcyde

thepharcyde

thepharcyde

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17 Mar 2004
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The drivers side wiper smears the window, which during the day is fine but driving tonight with headlights makes it quite dangerous. At the weekend I visited the local Halfords and purchased some Bosch wipers which already had the clip to affix to the stalk. I consulted the Halfords carp book and proceeded to try and fit. No go, even trying to swap the clip with the original, but the bar it affixes too was too narrow on the new wiper.

Went back in and consulted the helpful staff for a change but nothing was compatible which was also the case with my Mini!

Anyone know apart from going to BMW and getting an inferior expensive wiper. Any E46 owners recommend somewhere online which have compatible clips etc.

I had a set of PIAA on my focus and would like to use them, are there any compatable?

Thank you :)
 
I got a pair of Bosch wipers from my dealer for £32 IIRC. Halfords didn't have the right size.

I believe you can also just buy the rubber bits from BMW for £10 if you're up for the task of rethreading the blade :)
 
Had a set of Bosche on the Mondeo thinking they were great - month later, smear-central.

This time I went for some Valeo ones for £25 from Halfords. And when I took off the OEM fit wipers I noticed that they were absolutely identical - even the screws were in the same places - as my Valeo ones..
 
My wipers judder a tiny bit so are on their way soon! I still think wipers are rip-off central, you can pay loads for manufacturer ones and they are cack yet you can pay less for good ones which end up being cack months down the line.

How are the valeo ones after several months? do you have a part or model number for them? I need to get some soon too I think if they're decent :)
 
But Halfords do em for 25 according to Fox or is that the nonflat ones there ?
 
My local halfords the valeo Flat blades, and they did not fit. I am going to drive to london to where I got my Piaa from a specialist Jap shop on Monday. They aint blades just standard ones, but the best IMO.
 
You know the flat ones, are they the type commonly found on new cars like the new Fords for example? it's like a long flat strip of rubber mounted on a solid bar? they look much more professional than normal wipers but I doubt it matters on wiper wands on bmw cars since the wand casing covers the whole wiper blade pretty much. Hmmm need to take a trip to nearby Halfords I think.
 
Had no end of trouble with smeared windscreens on mine. Would love to know the best solution available as too often I'm concentrating on a smear that's right on my eyeline instead of the road..
 
BillHicksRIP said:
Had no end of trouble with smeared windscreens on mine. Would love to know the best solution available as too often I'm concentrating on a smear that's right on my eyeline instead of the road..
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good forum name, he was a legend.

If I can get PIAA for mine I will let you know, because they are the best period. You get a couple of silicon wipes to apply. Then when this wears off, you switch you wipers on dry which then recoats the windscreen from the wipers. Driving on the motorway nearly is possible without them on.
 
Bosch ones were not great for me.

But cheapo ones from Lidl are great much smoother. They even came in a mixed pack with different sizes for each side.
 
thepharcyde said:
good forum name, he was a legend.

If I can get PIAA for mine I will let you know, because they are the best period. You get a couple of silicon wipes to apply. Then when this wears off, you switch you wipers on dry which then recoats the windscreen from the wipers. Driving on the motorway nearly is possible without them on.
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If you can find PIAA Silicone wipers for the E46, drop me a message! The wipers I bought from my BMW dealer are, however, very good.
 
[TW]Fox said:
Nonflat.
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I bought a pair of those yesterday from Halfords to try and evenn though they listed my car as compatible the brackey that came with it did not fit accurately enough on the wiper arm nor tdid the original bracket fit onto this wiper as the hook it clips onto is much smaller than standard sized clip bars! I had to return it because even after manually fitting it when wipers were activated the drivers side blade would get stuck on the arms blade holder on the outer side :/
 
mrk said:
I bought a pair of those yesterday from Halfords to try and evenn though they listed my car as compatible the brackey that came with it did not fit accurately enough on the wiper arm nor tdid the original bracket fit onto this wiper as the hook it clips onto is much smaller than standard sized clip bars! I had to return it because even after manually fitting it when wipers were activated the drivers side blade would get stuck on the arms blade holder on the outer side :/
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I did say this earlier! Halfords do not stock compatible blades
 
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