How to buy BMW E39 wiper blade refills

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.

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.

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?

Originally Posted by bluebee

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.

Originally Posted by QSilver7

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.

When I look at the photographs I took, in the rain, while replacing the wipers, here in less-than-sunny wintry northern California, I don't really see any difference between the old wiper tabs and the new wiper tabs.

It's not a big deal, to destroy the tabs, but, they look the same.

I did notice one tab on each side had a semi-circular end, but, I noticed that too late because I accidentally mixed up the four tabs, putting two square ends on one wiper and putting two semi-circular ends on the other wiper. I don't know if it matters (so you?).

Merry Christmas to you, and all!

It has been a great year!

Originally Posted by bluebee

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

Actually I didn't, I asked for the parts department manager, which gave me the price

I suppose next time, I won't call several dealerships to help you out.

Maybe you can create a five page thread on how to put gas in your car......

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.

Someone should just put a DIY together for this.

Following this is too complicated

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.

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).

Originally Posted by Waveho

+++Dealer. I would almost never suggest going to the dealer for ANYTHING. But wiper blades, definitely yes. And don't worry about the size--you will need to cut them at the perforation notches to fit. First blade may take you about 8 minutes to install. The second one in about 2 minutes, once you get the idea.

and as we found out in the last thread i started the fender liners are cheap at the dealer too

Originally Posted by mosearch

Just bought those 2 parts myself. They are cheap enough from the dealer; about $20.00 each, that it does not make sense to order them from Pelican...unless that's more convenient for you. For a year 2000 528i, they are part numbers 51-71-8-159-425 and 51-71-8-159-426. Your numbers for your later model 5 series might be different. They are called Fender liners; lower left and lower right.... Pelican does list them; about $15 each.

This is one of those rare times you really need to go to the dealership

Originally Posted by QSilver7

Just curious...did they sell you a different wiper refill for the rear wiper? My dealer sold me 61 61 0 154 440 for the rear...and 61 61 0 154 441 for the front.

Hi Q! Sorry, just saw your question. So long now I don't recall as I purchased them with a few other items. I think there were all the same as it was a line item QTY (3).

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.

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

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

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.

by the way.. my original metal stiffners are straight and do not have those sharp edges... so just get a pair of pillers and squeeze the 2 metal stiffners together and pull it out of the blade ?

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.

P.S. no animals were harmed in the making of this epic thread.

Originally Posted by flyboyy

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).

Originally Posted by 540iman

/...../
P.S. no animals were harmed in the making of this epic thread.

Not even a bee???

mw

I just changed out my refills...got the 441 ones for $3/each. It was pretty simple to change...even for me. My wipers were the original ones and I did manage to get the metal out without damaging the rubber...but not going to reuse it.

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?

I just got mines at Reeves bmw in Tampa $20bucks installed.

My new wipers, put on during the start of the rainy season a year ago, are still going strong.

How often do you guys replace your wipers anyway?