Wipers?????
 

:confused: Hi... Quick Question... My wipers are good.. they wipe clean.. no streaks or anything like that but every time they are on they are noisey.. When they reach to the drivers side they make a rubbing, skipping noise... What can i do.. I have wiped them off when i cleaned the truck because, i thought it might have been oil or something... but it didnt help... Any Ideas... Thanks Guys..:confused:

Bosch Icons :thumbup: Only recommended for the front only(curved glass) - I have not figured out what to do with the rear wiper(flat glass) :dunno:

welcome to my world. it drives me nuts.
almost to the point where i don't use them
until absolutely necessary.:mad:

i haven't tried the bosch icons yet though.

2 ideas- you may have road grime on the glass- try washing the windshield with a household dry cleanser WITHOUT ABRASIVES!! I can't remember the brand, but there is one out there. Also, this may sound crazy, but try flipping the wiper blade over- that is take it off the arm and turn it around. Sometimes this settles down a skip or noise related to how te wiper took a "set" when parked.

Second that, best blades made!

The wipers on my '01 have exhibited the same symptom, twice; both times I had the Stlr look at them and the work order said they were "adjusted", (under warr or maint, free). I did not get to see them doing the fix, but the SA said they did some adjustment to the arm/spring fwiw. It may be one of those deals where a new set of blades refreshes the situ for awhile and/or a $20 fix at the stlr is worth the grief.
GL,md

When my wipers start to do this I reapply RainX and it stops the problem

Agree with cleaning the glass first. Also, assume you have decent (fairly new) wiper blades installed.

Then, check if the noise (chattering?) happens in both directions of wiping. If it does, that indicates the problem is the blade or the cleanliness of the glass. However, if the wiper only chatters in one direction and not the other, the problem is due to the angle of attack of the blade.

This can be related to the blade taking a set (see the post above from Mackskibum), but it can also be related to the wiper arm itself twisting over time. The adjustment that the dealer does in this case most likely consists of taking a crescent wrench, and twisting the arm very slightly, just before the attachment point for the blade assembly.

A further diagnostic check is to look at the wiper blade rubber from the end of the blade, when it is at the top of the wipe stroke (turn off the key and the arms will stay up). If the blade has a lot of trail in one direction, and a sharp angle of attack in the other direction, that can cause the chatter. You are twisting the wiper arm to make it essentially even in both directions. That may all seem confusing, but take a look and it may be apparent that the blade has a set, either from the rubber being old or the arm being twisted slightly.

Good luck.

Yes. Chatter problems on a Volvo and a Touareg were solved this way for me.

Cleaning both windsheild and wipers with "Bon-Ami" powdered cleanser will usualy help. Check out this info http://www.garageboy.com/bmw/bonami.html

Dennis

Here's a weird response for you. A work friend bought a Honda Euro and had, what sounds like, a similar problem. Honda ended up replacing the windscreen, claiming the screen glass was faulty.

I don't know where your from so hopefully these products will mean something to you.

You got to trust me on this one as it works.

Get a small sponge load it up with "Fairy Liquid" washing up liquid takes all the grime off the windscreen and wiper blades apply to windscreen remember don't miss any bits rinse the windscreen down dry the windscreen then get the "meths" out apply all over windscreen and the wiper blades dry windscreen with paper towels or newspaper whatever.

[QUOTE=burkleymh]Bosch Icons :thumbup: Only recommended for the front only(curved glass) - I have not figured out what to do with the rear wiper(flat glass) :dunno:[/QUOTE

I have the same pb, where can i buy these Bosch icons wipers?

I always wax my windshield when I wax my cars. Carnubawax is great, just wipe on a clean windshield and wha lah.

[quote=tijanaw]Tijinaw: AutoZone for sure...prob. PepBoys, Advance Auto Parts, et al. In metro DC there must be a half dozen, diff. chain auto parts joints.
BR,md

Fiona,
I don't think we have Fairy Liquid here in the colonies...
(then again, :rofl: )

Hiya Fiona (aka Scottie) and everyone else. Thanks for your tips on cleaning the glass and wipers. I am from NZ (New Zealand incase you haven't travelled or turned on the TV for 5 years) but originally was born in Aussie.

Yep - we have 'Fairy Liquid'. Its a beastly dish washing up product and I stopped using it years ago. But, I trust your advise.

I must admit I have never gone to the extremes as suggested in this thread. Polishing the glass using the cloth that was used to polish the car is good advice and one I have followed for many a year.

My X5 (or my wifes) was bought last year so that we could become a 1 car family. Its one-hell-of-a-ve-hicle and the envy of many of my friends.

Anyways, the X5s wipers do not wipe as they should and I will be taking the blades off this weekend to find out if they are old, dirty or whatever.

I posted the comment regarding the replacement windscreen (Honda not BMW) to see if any-one else has heard of this unusual event. 'Faulty glass' seems a stretch to me.

You will be hearing from me often. Firstly, I love X5 world as it has my juices going regarding car mods. Secondly, its just great to be able to diagnose problems without having to call on Jerry Clayton BMW who charge NZ$108 per hour.

cheers, Brett (aka Bart)

[QUOTE=motordavid]Thanks MD!:thumbup:

There are also minor niggles with the control arm which houses the wiper blade, these can be replaced or bent (literally by hand) to be slightly more concave, exerting greater force of the rubber blade and thus "fitting" the windscreen curvature better. My driverside blade tends to skip the last 1/5 th when returning downwards.

Cheers,

[/QUOTE
I have the same pb, where can i buy these Bosch icons wipers?[/QUOTE]

Autozone - you may have to ask for them as they may not display them with the regular wipers, at least that was my case. They work fantastic compared to OEM. Autozone even installed them for me, but I think this is more a case of where I live rather than company policy.