Windshield wiper aerfoils/spoilers and lengths
I have always wondered why the wiper blade on the passenger side of my car has the airfoil on it. I reasoned that if it was to keep the blade on the screen for safety then the driver should be the one seeing any danger ahead rather than getting the news second hand from the passenger who could see it coming.
Searching the Forum I saw that some had the airfoil on the driver’s side, others had it on the passenger’s side, others had one on each side and others did not have one at all, no help there.
Switching wiper arms would not work as they are different and switching blades would put the 20” blade on to my driver’s side. My guess is that what went on was the part that came out of that particular wiper bin during the assembly of my car. The manual has a diagram (pg 8R-33) which shows an airfoil on the drivers side, go figure.
There was another subject that had differing opinions; some said the 22” wiper was to go onto the passenger side. This compounds the airfoil problem as some of those who said they had it on a particular side could have the wrong length blade in that position.
The manual says that the 22” (600mm) blade is for the driver side and that the 20” (550mm) blade goes onto the passenger side. This works fine for me. The cheapest way to replace the wiper is to just replace the element (rubber portion) it may be harder to find but on the Forum it is mentioned that BMW sells these and you cut it to length to suit you application, $10 for two approximately.
A lot of reading and it all appears to come down to the luck of the draw from the parts bin.
Keep you screen clean.
Edit Studying the parts list available on this Forum I see that the drivers side wiper blade is listed as being 20" long and the passenger side is listed as being 22" long. This is the opposite of what is stated in the shop manual. I shall switch mine and see if it makes any difference.
( Note to self; get a life)
Last edited by onehundred80; Mar 28, 2009 at 05:57 PM.
Reason: New info on lengths