Wiper Blades Revisited
 

So awhile back, someone did mention about what wiper blades ya'll preferred.
Having had the X for a lil over 2 year & stock blades ....I would be somehwhat familiar with the blades...I've had them replaced at least 2-3X already.

Anyhow to be fair, I did have the dealer put on new blades.
Prior to this, I cleaned the windshield with Autoglym Glass Polish and then followed up with a coat of Aquapel. Aqualpel is PPG's version of RainX.

With the new blades, it still always left a haze on the windshield with each pass. The winter season is just around the corner, so $40 later, I've got a set of Bosch Ikon blades. These look similiar to the Valeo blades at around $22-24 per blade. The Bosch # for the Ikon series that you will need is 422A and 424A.

The passenger side does not follow the curve as a perfect match. About 1 inch does not sit on the windshield in the resting position. HOWEVER, the blades are truely a night & day difference between the OEM ones as far as haze/streaking in concerned. It looks nicer to boot also....

Sorry no pics fellas. Maybe this evening.

It was me who posted the Q about the blades!! I'm still in search of the ultimate ones however, I'm probably going to get the OEM inserts since one member mentioned they cost $11 for the set. where did you get the Bosch ones from? what about the rear window?

I got the Valeos and they did not work on my 2002 X5 at all. I got them for my ML and my M3 and they were amazing , the fitment on the drivers side was so off and it made one great pass but on the pass down it left water on the pass down. I returned them to tirerack.

I just got new inserts on the oem's for now, I will try piaa next.

The wipers should be covered unless you're out of warranty ????


Anyhow, I picked them up from a local autoparts store - Autozone.
I do like the *looks* of it since it's a single piece. I did the test fit on the fronts first. They don't have a listed wiper in their book for the rear, so I plan to just buy a 18" and make just it fits....

"the fitment on the drivers side was so off and it made one great pass but on the pass down it left water on the pass down"

I had the same problem with both Valeos and Icons. In Germany some X5ers are installing Visioflex/Aerotwins and been reporting good results. I may try this in the spring. For now I'm staying with the SWF wipers.

visioflex and aerotwins where do you get them and also SWF what's that stand for?

SWF stands for(not single white female) but Spezial Werkzeugfabrik Feuerback, aka Southwestern German Broadcasting Corporation. They are a subsidiary of Valeo and make the Visioflex wiper. Both the Visioflex and Aerotwin can be ordered from ebay: (Bosch)http://stores.ebay.ch/AUTOTEILE-DIREKT-DER-SHOP. (Visioflex)stores.ebay.de/newie922. The aerotwins for the X5 would be made up from two sets: A601S(Renault Scenic I) and A550S(Audi A6) The visioflex come as one set (#28) I have not used these myself so I cannot speak from personal experience as to how well they work but some other X5ers have tried this and say the wipers work well. Hope this helps.

One more thing, the SWF wipers I have on my car are the OEM, not the visioflex flatblade.

Careful using RainX - You need RainX wipers as regular wipers will fall apart within a few months - Been there, done that on my GMC van.

Just ordered a set from Amazon.com

Good price and free shipping!