W211 windscreen wiper

[E55BOF]

Evening all. The LHS windscreen wiper on my '03 W211 leaves a little wedge of unwiped screen in front of the passenger. The driver's side is fine. The blades are nearly new Bosch Aeros, and I have tried swapping them over, but it makes no difference.

I can't see a possible bodge, so I presume the only solution is a new wiper arm?

 

[mickday]

Have you tried OEM MB blades, they are not particularly expensive, may be worth a try.

 

[E55BOF]

Thank you for the thought, but I rather think Bosch are the OE supplier, and they certainly enjoy a good reputation. As swapping the blades over does not make a difference, I suspect it's not a blade issue anyway.

 

[Major774]

Is the wedge directly in front of the passenger or to the left (where the tax disc used to be)?

 

[Druk]

Check the flat part of the arm is parallel to the screen. If it's twisted slightly it lifts the blade off at the ends of its travel. A small adjustable is good for correction.

 

[E55BOF]

Is the wedge directly in front of the passenger or to the left (where the tax disc used to be)?

Directly in front of the passenger

Check the flat part of the arm is parallel to the screen. If it's twisted slightly it lifts the blade off at the ends of its travel. A small adjustable is good for correction.

It is flat to the screen. I notice, though, that if I lift the centres of the blades off the screen half-an-inch or so and release them, the passenger's side 'bounces' back a little more than the driver's side. Could it be that the spring has lost some of it's tension, which, after 140K miles and 12 years, is perhaps to be expected?

Thank you for your replies. I don't suppose that the spring is available separately, so: Anybody know how much a new wiper arm is?

 

[Major774]

Could be the spring, you could grab another arm from another W211... Should be easy to get one from a scrapyard.

 

[E55BOF]

True, but that might be the same...

 

[E55BOF]

Had to have the screen replaced, and that has solved the problem. I still don't know what caused it, but I just hope it doesn't come back.