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How to buy BMW E39 wiper blade refills

127K views 271 replies 98 participants last post by  haolibird 
#1 · (Edited)
What do you use when you need to replace your E39 wiper blade rubber inserts?

Went to the AutoZone near me but they didn't carry the 25" drivers side nor the 22" passenger side Trico or Anco wiper blades for my E39.

Looked 'em up on realoem to find the E39 wiper set of to be
- SET OF WIPER BLADES 61619070579 $50.78

But confusingly, the drivers side replacement part numbers are listed as
- WIPER BLADE RIGHT 61618209746 $30.13 +core
- WIPER BLADES 61618217711 $13.95

With the passenger side wiper part numbers just as confusingly listed as
- WIPER BLADE LEFT 61618209745 $30.13
- WIPER BLADES 61618217711 $13.95

Looking at the realoem picture below, I can't tell what the difference is between the various part numbers.

Can you edify me as to the answer to these questions?
1. What rubber refills (part number?) do YOU buy for your E39?
2. What is the difference between WIPER BLADE LEFT ($30) & WIPER BLADES ($14)?
3. Why does only the right side require a core charge and not the left side?


PS: It should be but I don't know why the title isn't "How to buy E39 25" driver side & 22" passenger side wiper refills"
 

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#41 ·
I think I know what bluebee is going thru. I try not to go to the dealer and ask for parts right on the counter. my experience with dealerships is 10 out of 10 the phone price is cheaper than the just-show-up price. thats why he takes the time to call and ask for a quote before heading out

what I did in my case was I just took down my wipers and went to a store. got a set of michelin wiper refills and it fit perfectly. no cutting, no mending. total time 30minutes (incl driving time to and fro)
 
#42 ·
Dealers must vary greatly in customer service. I don't visit the Charlottesville, VA dealer very often, but they actually seem to be quite capable, even in the part dept. Never a hassle, always a good price (unless you have them do actual work, then it's pricier, but isn't that always the case?). One time they did some minor work on my old e36, and I was going to wait at the shop. It was taking too long due to some problems on other vehicles causing a delay, and we were up against a weekend. They gladly threw me the keys to a brand new X5 on the lot and told me to come back Monday if I could. Now THAT'S customer service--3-day nice loaner for a $100 service visit.
 
#44 ·
I just got them from Pelicanparts
The part#: 61-61-8-217-711-M78 and is 5 bux. Is listed as OEM, and you have to cut it for your length (so it can be used for left or right).
I did not went into all that hanal disection, just typed wiper blades refill, and bingo, the info you need is right there, and that's I what I needed & wanted. End of story.
You did an awsome job with the brake ranting post(s), Blue, but c'mon now.
Imagine you need a screw or a nut...........
 
#49 ·
I wish we could just trust any BMW dealer to support their product and help us when we need it.

Hmmm? OH, ahem,...ack, phht...excuse me, must have been dreamin' there a bit.

Well, hell, that's why we have Bimmerfest isn't it?!

Okay, back to :drink:
 
#50 ·
hmmm, ask the dealer for the wrong part numbers and get quoted a price different then what you expect. :confused:

This may help in the future....
step 1 walk in with part
step 2 ask how much
step 3 make decision to purchase or not
step 4 buy

Alternate steps*
ask for part number
install blades

So easy a cave man can do it :thumbup:
 
#51 ·
If you can't go into a BMW dealership parts dept. and say "I'd like rubber wiper insert refills for my e39" and get the right part for the right price, then I would meet with the dealership manager and/or report them to BMWNA. That is not acceptable.
 
#52 ·
Hi guys,
I can't vouch for anyone else's calls but I provided full and complete data, as always.

When there is a descrepancy in data, and, when all the data is laid out in the open, you have only two choices.

- Throw out the bad datapoint
- Run another test

Since I already called the BMW of Mountainview dealership twice, I called again, just now, got Jesus again, told him to be accurate, and asked again, and he repeated the same price (actually, his $25 went to $25.50 but that's a minor descrepancy).

I have to believe rivercity gave us a bad datapoint and move on with my life.

I still would like to know if the fraudulent Stevenscreek BMW, if they'd ever answer their phone, might have the "441" at the right price.
 
#53 ·
I had to destroy the old wiper to remove it

Just to wrap up this thread, I replaced my BMW E39 wiper rubber inserts and metal stiffening plates.

Now that I've done it twice, it will be easy the third time (if I remember the tricks).

What I did on the first wiper insert was cut the rubber out; then the metal strips fell out on their own (after the rubber was destroyed).

On the second wiper insert, I used pliars to bend the metal tabs inward; then the metal strips fell out on their own along with the rubber insert (after the metal tab was destroyed).

My question is: Was there any way to remove the old wiper rubber and metal insert without destroying either the rubber or the metal strips?

 

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#54 · (Edited)
My question is... Was there any way to remove the old wiper rubber and metal insert without destroying either the rubber or the metal strips?

No, if you still had the "original" wiper blade...it has to be cut out (like you did)

Now that you have refills inserted that were "clicked" into place as your final act of securing them...the next time you replace the blade arm with a refill...just take those nice needle nose pliers I see in your pic and squeeze the metal clip together. This will allow you the securing clip end to be pulled out from the little (bent) arms on the wiper blade arm.

Merry Christmas Bluebee.
 
#57 ·
When replacing wipers, watch out for the fragile wiper guides

OK. Well, my mistake then. I apologize if I hurt your feelings. As you can tell from all my posts, I always provide enough information for anyone to reproduce in full. Sorry if I offended you.

For those of you doing this simple wiper R&R procedure, be careful that you don't break the U-shaped plastic "WIPER BLADE GUIDE".

Mine broke off at some point before I even noticed it was there. I'm not sure if it was broken beforehand, but, it probably wasn't broken. Somehow as I attempted to wrest the wiper blade from the clutches of the wiper arm, the "L" wiper blade guide (i.e., driver's side blade guide) fell off, broken and useless.

Luckily that's an easily replaced BMW part number 61-61-8-162-982.

 

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#59 ·
One thing that should be in any BMW wiper DIY is the fact that you can't just slip the metal rods out because they have fishhooks in them that cause them to be stuck to the rubber.

See the sharp barbs in the picture below to get an idea of what I mean.

Once they are in embedded in the rubber strip, they're not coming out easily if you don't know about them ahead of time. They're hidden, so you'd only know about them if you already knew about them.

 

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#60 ·
Hint: Ask if you'll get just rubber or rubber + metal slats

Just a word of caution. A friend of mine picked up the wiper inserts from StevensCreek last week, paying far more than I did by mail order, even with the shipping and tax, and he only got the rubber part even though he specified the same part number I did.

So, lesson learned ...

ASK if they are shipping just the rubber (like he got) or both the rubber and the metal slats (like I got).
 
#64 ·
Based on a suggestion from Mark at EACTuning I did a quick lookup on buying wiper refills from him and they seem reasonable at $7 a set (I suppose there is additional tax and shipping) if you're in the market for BMW wiper blade rubber insert refills.
 

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#65 ·
Caveat emptor (4 of 'em) for how to buy BMW wiper blade refills

For cross reference, these caveats may apply ... when buying wiper refills ...
 

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#66 ·
Ok... Need some help here... I order some wiper refills from pelican parts and they are only rubber inserts.... no metal in the refills.... so I went to my car.. and removed the wiper arm and tried to remove the rubber inserts.that has the metal clips in them.. and it does not budge... I read that you guys have to destroy it inorder to get the metal clips out so that I can slide it in the new rubber inserts ?

please help......having trouble with it because I had never replaced rubber refills... thanks
 
#70 ·
Need some help here... tried to remove the rubber inserts.that has the metal clips in them.. and it does not budge... I read that you guys have to destroy it inorder to get the metal clips out so that I can slide it in the new rubber inserts ? please help
Some people seem to get metal inserts with barbs; others just have a cutout.

If yours does not budge, I'd guess you have the barbs (which I had).

IIRC, I destroyed the rubber itself (not the metal strips!). Cutting the rubber out was easy. Once the rubber was gone, it was then that I noticed the barbs were what was holding the rubber inserts in place.

I think you're at that same point that I was. Once you destroy the rubber, the barbs will be clear; and you can use needlenose pliars to remove them such that you can reuse them (since your inserts didn't come with the metal bars).

 
#67 ·
I just take a pair of pliers and squeeze the ends of the metal stiffner (mine don't have those little barbs, they just have a rectangular cutout) together (on the end that engages the wiper holder) and pull. They usually pop right out of the holder. To reinstall, I just do the reverse. Insert the wiper blade with the metal stiffners until you get to that last half inch that engages and locks into the blade holder. Squeeze the metal ends together and push them into place.
 
#69 ·
Gheez, way too much information about who won't answer their phone and how long is the blade really and core charges. Just take a tape measure out and measure! Order from any one of a dozen great BMW dealers (Tischer). Install them. BMW seems to use very good quality rubber as most have said. If they are too long, cut them. Let's not over-analyze why some try to rip people off and why real oem has some information we can intuit is false. :thumbup:

P.S. no animals were harmed in the making of this epic thread.
 
#73 ·
I'm glad this thread is helping some folks but one question that is related to the title.

I'm sure I 'meant' to type "How to buy E39 25" driver side & 22" passenger side wiper refills" instead of just "How to buy" because that's the first line of the first post.

Something obviously went wrong.

But, how does one change the TITLE of a post after the fact?
FROM: How to buy
TO: How to buy E39 25" driver side and 22" passenger side wiper refills?
 
#76 ·
OMG! thank you SO much for this thread! I'm finally getting around to changing my wiper blades, and am so glad I googled upon this site. I used to take my car to Mountain View BMW, but stopped once my 4 yr plan ran out. Thank you for your detailed research re. this topic. I, for one, truly appreciate the extensive information outlined here. You just saved me ALOT of time. My questions are:
1. Does anyone know of a reputable online place that will sell OEM wiper blade rubber refills WITH METAL guides for relatively cheap? since it seems most of the south bay dealers are still living in the dot com bubble and have forgotten that there's a RECESSION going on!

2. Amazon sells a set of Bosch complete wiper replacements for around $30 (well, under $40). Good reviews, and looks much easier to replace than the rubber part. Anyone gone that route, and any issues with it? I've read about how 1 person replaced the blades and ended up scratching the windshield! I figure, for $30, maybe it's a better way to go.

TIA for all your help!
 
#80 ·
Threading the new wiper blade in was a big PITA IIRC, so if you can get the Bosch assemblies for that price I'd go that route.
 
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