Window wipers blur again after a few uses.

Every rainy season I will change the wipers with a generic brand. I use them a couple times only to find that the rainy season have just passed. I drive around with brand new wipers for ten months without any rains.

When it begins to rain again (at the end of the ten months period) they do not work normally. They create a blur. I try squirting soapy solutions on the windsheild and they don't work. I just get it change again. Is it normal to change wipers every year?

TIA, Tibur; BMW 318ti `96

Reply to
Tibur Waltson
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Reply to
Mike Behnke

Yes, and it's also normal to read the directions on the windshield wipers' packaging or on your service schedule.

Dave

Reply to
Dave C.

Two things to help. Wipe the dirt off your blades every couple of weeks. If you don't, they will just drag the dirt across your windshield and cause streaks. The dirt can also cause scratches in your windshield. The other thing is to use Rain-X. It really helps.

-------------- Alex

Reply to
Alex Rodriguez

Yeah, good idea, buy cheap wiper blades and risk a bimmer.

Pour water on your windshield once a week. Or use your washer.

Wiper blades don't last.

However the rubber in wipers is exposed to deterioration from the sun and air pollution. Which tends to harden the wiping surface. You might be able to revive them a bit by wiping then with 600 grit or finer wet or dry sandpaper, or a bit of powdered cleanser on a rag. Or just buy new wiper blades every year which is far safer than risking not seeing.

Even the silicon wiper blades deteriorate and are good for no more than 2-3 years depending on local weather. They do seem to revive a bit better with a mild abrasive and are available in colors from places like J.C. Whitney ...

Reply to
L0nD0t.$t0we11

If you are having troubles with the wiper blades, it is either the blade themselves or something in the environment, either way it is not a problem with the car, per se.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

Or oftener on an older car. Old windshields have been sandblasted by tiny particles and are thus slightly pitted and abrasive. They will never wipe quite as clean as a new windshield and they wear out wiper blades faster.

Reply to
John Ings

First, - use BMW original wiper blades. They perform better and last longer than a generic.

Second, - if you take your car through the car wash you will have a build-up of wax on your windshield. Wash this off with with a good window cleaner solution.

WB

Reply to
WB

Just keep two sets of blades. Buy some really good ones and swap them in before the rainy season. When the rains have gone take them off and put them back in the box until next year. For the other 10 months, keep an old pair on. When your decent ones start to wear after a few years, make them your "old" pair.

Easy!

Reply to
Scott M

Sure; if you want to pay through the nose for a Bosch blade you can pick up for 1/3 the price at any Wal Mart or Auto Zone store.

A good idea and totally unnecessary if you use RainX. Of course, anyone using RainX properly won't be using (or complaining) about their wiper blades much ...

-- C.R. Krieger (Been there; done that)

Reply to
C.R. Krieger

snipped-for-privacy@hi.com

Helps what, make more streaks? I find that is exactly what RainX does. I do use it but the advantage is that you then don't have to use your wipers at all. The rain just slides right off the windshield, at least when the car is underway. But when you *do* need to use the wipers, RainX makes it a smeary mess compared to a clean window.

YMMV, Fred W

Reply to
Fred W.

I've never had that problem in all the time I have been using it. I do make sure my windows are clean before I apply it.

--------------- Alex

Reply to
Alex Rodriguez

UV radiation from the sun has probably damaged the rubber.

Try keeping a spare set of old wipers for the dry season, and put on the good ones when it gets rainy. Keep the good ones in a plastic bag to protect them from ozone.

Reply to
R

...and more prone to retaining dirt.

Wiper blade inserts have a hard life; don't be afraid to change them annually or even more often if need be.

I seldom find that I have to change the actual blade -- just the insert -- but then, I don't live up north where you're using the wipers to heave snow and ice around three or four months of the year. As long as it keeps nice even pressure across its length, as indicated by results, I'm happy with it.

Those of us who have forsaken the Rust Belt for the Three Digit Temperature and Single-Digit Humidity Belt, of course, find that the rubber insert doesn't live very long. A summer rainstorm in the desert, in particular, seems to catch a lot of people with last year's wipers, now next to useless.

As for Rain-X, I've used the stuff on all my cars for years. (The stuff for the outside of the glass. I don't much care for the equivalent anti-fog compound for the inside.) But once you decide to use it, you do have to keep up with it, or your wipers will stutter around quite irritatingly when it is partly worn off. It's hardly any trouble to apply and can be a big help at speed (doesn't do as much for you with the lesser airflow in city driving).

Cheers,

--Joe

Reply to
Ad absurdum per aspera

The Bosch refills are available in Canada..

WB

Reply to
WB

windshield.

I've used rain-x for years and never had that problem. I change my wiper blades whenever I feel they aren't wiping cleanly. Gritty crud laden old deteriorated blades will wipe like a rake every time.

Stan C

Reply to
Stan Chang

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