Wiper Blades - OEM Vs Aftermarket

[Bobby Dazzler]

I used Rain-X on an Mrs D's previous car. The next morning we drove 200 motorway and dual carriageway miles in heavy rain. Excellent visibility and without using the wipers once. Brilliant!!

When you're not travelling fast enough for the water to clear itself, you have no choice but to use the wipers, at which point it becomes a nightmare with smears and dazzle - I can see why some say it's so dangerous!!

So if you only ever drive on the motorway it's great!!

 

[Adam230K]

I wont buy an aero wiper again... it misses an inch and my clip on the wiper doesn't even close on it for some reason.

 

[kwakdonut]

I've used Rain-X for many years without any problems. In fact, SWMBO always asks if I've Rain-X'd her windscreen after I've cleaned the car (yes, I clean HER car!)

Also use it on my motorcycle helmet visor as I am not a fair-weather biker! No problems there either.

Strange how it is a bit of a 'marmite' product!

 

[Sp!ke]

Strange how it is a bit of a 'marmite' product!

Maybe its to do with the type of driving people do?

If you live in a city and do lots of stop start driving its rubbish and if you live in the country and get to use fast open roads, it works better.... maybe.

Try using furniture polish (pledge) on your visor and you find its much better than Rain-x btw.

 

[Shude]

I found rain-x turned into a milky, smeary mess after a short while so chucked it.

Strange how it is a bit of a 'marmite' product!

I read that the toast forum prefer to spread marmite rather than rain-x so it's universally disliked!

 

[MPG]

My local dealer wanted £46 + VAT (EACH!!) for the blades for my W126. Needless to say, at those prices I went elsewhere....

 

[mirras]

My local dealer wanted £46 + VAT (EACH!!) for the blades for my W126. Needless to say, at those prices I went elsewhere....

I paid £27.44 including VAT for a pair for my R230 yesterday. £46 + VAT each sounds a wee bit steep to me!!!

 

[mirras]

Just checked Inchcape and they quote £47+VAT each for w126, heavens!!!

 

[ecossebev]

You really shouldnt assume that others are incapable of following instructions on the back of the bottle.

I never assumed that those who thought Rain x was rubbish were stupid enough not to follow a few simple instructions on the back of the bottle. My point I was trying to make was that a microfibre cloth was far more effective than kitchen roll, paper towel etc. in removing the smearing issue. I was merely offering advice to those who had problems, which I thought the forum was all about.

 

[NuisanceValue]

Deffo aftermarket for me and I'm thirfty any way.
Another forum member recomended these, 10/10.
cheap cheap cheap

E Class w210 '95-03 SINGLE Flat Wiper Blade Mercedes 24 on eBay (end time 16-Jul-09 01:56:52 BST)

I bought one of these after the Bosch one on the SL didn't last very long. Think it was about £20 iirc. Anyway, it is superb, easily the best wiper blade I've ever had on any car.

But, it took a bit longer to fit as none of the plastic grommet things supplied with it fitted my wiper arm. The old Bosch one didn't fit the locating pin on the blade (too small a hole) A bit of messing about with various size drill bits (5.4mm I think) and I drilled out the hole on the Bosch grommet to fit the new blade and bingo.

Secondly, they are measured and sold in inches (24" for a R129 SL) this is about 9mm too long as it should be 600mm long. They cannot be cut down so you might have to live with an occasional tapping sound as it brushes the black windscreen fillet.

I'll know for next time, but a little heads up for everyone else.

 

[stevesey]

I fitted a Neoform NF600 single blade (aero type) a few months ago - excellent smooth wipe, no issues - even with cheap screenwash.

 

[welland99]

Deffo aftermarket for me and I'm thirfty any way.
Another forum member recomended these, 10/10.
cheap cheap cheap

E Class w210 '95-03 SINGLE Flat Wiper Blade Mercedes 24 on eBay (end time 16-Jul-09 01:56:52 BST)

I'm thrifty too! (some would say tight!)

Is it possible to fit standard replacement rubbers in the 25" W210 single front wiper? I haven't found any on the web that are long enough yet. I'd be expecting that if they were available and would fit, the price would be about half that of the ones that Aandyy is recommending.

Can anybody recommend a supplier?

 

[AANDYY]

I did that to the Bosch head that was on mine but the recomended ones are better, go on splash out the extra £1.50ish .

 

[welland99]

I did that to the Bosch head that was on mine but the recomended ones are better, go on splash out the extra £1.50ish .

When you say recommended ones, do you mean the ones you recommended or do you mean MB recommended?

When I said I'd expect standard refills to be about half the price, I should have said half the price for a two pack! That would make them about a quarter the price, each!

How do you find the longevity of the single flat blade compared to standard blades? Similar?

I am a bit confused about what the problem is with the current blade. It is not split, and it appears to touch the screen all the way around. But it does not wipe well at all. Sometimes it leaves water behind in a way that suggests it is not touching the screen all the way around, but it looks like it is touching. Sometimes it just seems to smear all over. To look at the old blade, it looks brand new (was on the car when i bought it at Easter). I have cleaned the screen and the blade thoroughly with washing up liquid on a nylon scouring pad, and used glass cleaner, but none of this made any difference.

 

[AANDYY]

The blade I'm recomending is the cheap ebay one I posted.
White viniger is a good glass cleaner, I use it everytime I clean the car.
I generally change my wiper 1 to 2 times a year any way, so as a longevety test I can't say.

I've just ordered another, so I have a spare.

 

[redspecial2000]

Could not believe this!

When I was in the Edinburgh dealership today I asked for a price for blades for my R171 and the guys mouth dropped open when it quoted me.... wait for it... £14 for a pair. Full OEM blades. I bought a couple and off I happily marched... He did say that this could be an error, but Im chuffed!

 

[welland99]

Yes, the main dealers sometimes seem unexpectedly reasonable. What size blades are on your R171?

 

[willy]

The problem with rainex is that it smears when used on a windscreen that uses a wiper blade. Its fine (although pretty pointless) on other windows.

Just dont put it on your windscreen.

had similar problems with rain x but can highly recommend

Nano Tech Windscreen Rain Repellent as its superior to rain x and one treatment lasts for 12 months

 

[ecossebev]

I have stopped using Rain X as I prefer to use my wipers at alll times now. Trying out these wipers for a while. Don't know if they work or were an option on Mercedes though

 

[redspecial2000]

Yes, the main dealers sometimes seem unexpectedly reasonable. What size blades are on your R171?

22" for both sides if I recall....