How to use almost any windshield wiper on an e39 for almost no money

[rao]

Windshield wipers are potentially dangerous so be careful, you can damage your car, yourself and everybody else.


Proceed at our own risk and I am not responsible for whatever may happen.


If you don’t like my approach or solution to this issue, I really don’t care so telling me won’t make any difference


By now everybody knows that e39 windshield wipers are proprietary and that BMW stopped recently selling the cheap replacement inserts. Making consumables proprietary is a big no-no (see Michelin TRX tires). Besides, I prefer beam style blades, which are much better in the winter.


I have the Goodrain wipers from eBay and they are excellent – you will see some pics of them below. Unfortunately the inserts are also proprietary and the distribution channel is a little on the slow side –when you need a replacement on a road trip and you are in, say Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, having the ability to replace the blade at any auto parts store would be handy.


This issue has always bothered me and I considered the e60 wiper swap – on the plus side welding is involved, on the minus side you are exchanging one proprietary wiper design for another .


Once I removed the stock wiper assembly I noticed that holes that the stock wipers and the Goodrain wipers attach to are the same size as the old school pin style wipers that have been around since the invention of wipers themselves. I next took a measurement of the same inside of the arm, and wouldn’t you know it the size is the same as the width of basically every wiper sold in the stores. Virtually all wipers sold can fit on a pin style arm so just about any wiper will fit in the arm, now I just needed a way to attach it. It turns out that there is a large variety of binding posts that arer the same size and the necessary length – they come in plastic, aluminum, stainless steel and regular steel for those of you who like rust – I choose plastic. MCMaster.com part 90249A340 arrived a day later and I had a hundred posts for under $15, enough for 50 e39s


The only “trick” is to choose a wiper that has NO protrusions on the mounting pad, any protrusions and it will not fit into the BMW arm, at least not without modification to the arm. From there just pick the style you like (as mentioned I like the beam type), one 22” and one 26” and off you go.


Inside width of the arm (not super precise, just for reference):





Outside width of the blade (again not super precise, just for reference):







Comparing the Goodrain blade to the replacement blade:










Bag of posts:



Post and cap:







The blade slipped into the e39 wiper arm:





Post installed:





Blade Installed:











There can be no doubt that the Goodrain arm has a “cleaner” look, but the binding post method looks very similar to how arms look on most other cars. I have included a couple of pics for refnerence.








So there you have it, another option for wiper blades on an e39. The blades work fine and they can be replaced easily and quickly at any parts store.


Enjoy

[whiteghost1]

Brilliant, thanks for sharing!

[240sxguy]

Thanks a ton for this, I need to do wipers and have been putting it off due to the proprietary BS.

- - - Updated - - -

Also, your PN is incorrect for the plastic hardware.

[rao]

Part number typo corrected.

[1BADBM]

Nice work!

[pleiades]

wRaowww, thanks for this!

[mattschnecke]

I'm glad theres another option. I just replaced my whole wiper assembly a few months ago and the stock blades I put on sucked from the get go and havent gotten much better.

[tinius]

Rockauto still has Trico 2111 and 2611 wiper blades on sale for $3.20 each, that's about 90% off list. They're an exact replacement for the BMW blades I removed. I bought a half dozen of each and should be set for several years. I've been happy with the blades so far, but I'm an old man who just needs to see to the end of the hood.

Regards,

[RVAE34]

Well done, Rob.

[AusE39er]

Nice work. Can still get the Tridon ones here for $15, but not easy to come by. This might be up my ally in the future.

[Guam135i]

I bought these from ebay AU (http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-5-SERIES...60e4e2&vxp=mtr) saying that they fit the E39. Today I tried to install them and with all the adapters included it seems like it will not work. Any ideas?

[Guam135i]

I just ordered those posts because I could not return the wiper blades. Thanks for the info I hope it works

[Guam135i]

I just got mine to work I had to grind the hole on the wiper blade I got but it works great

[pizzaman09]

Nicely done. I will keep this in mind.

[pleiades]

Anyone that decided to try these, how well are the plastic binding posts holding up?

[edjack]

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...lmost-no-money

Bosch 539 work well, too.