I need new wipers because the rubbers are shot. I'd like to keep the original blades and just replace the rubbers but I'm having a tough time
finding ones to fit. Most on the market fit square claw blades and apparently we have trapezoidal shaped claws. I assume I have OEM blades
on the car as the driver's side blade (the short one) has an air spoiler built in. Replacement ones don't have this.

Surely one of you folks has done this.

What refill did you use and where did you find it?

 

The claws that hold the refill are parallel to the glass on the OEM ones I have had. They are designated trapezoidal claws. I had an '04 from new and the ones on my '05 are the same. I put refills in both at some point. Yours is an '05 so they must have had the blades replaced at some point, maybe the whole assembly. Rubber does not last long even on low mileage cars, it just gets old and rots.
The refills were rubbish so now I replaced the assembly with Bosch Icons, no spoiler but I will keep looking for replacement blades. Someone here said that BMW sold replacement refills that fit.

 

I never looked for the refills to fit the OEM built in air spoiler unit but kept it in a box for the past 8 years anyway.
I have replaced mine using several different refills with no complaints though

 

If onehundred80 is correct, I may not have the OEM blades on the car.
If not, then I'm banging my head against the wall.

Just to the left of the hook attachment on the driver blade with the air
foil is a diamond with "SWF" in it.
Are these original?

 

Measure and get the entire blade assembly at Costco. They sell Goodyear blades and they fit pretty much all applications. Replaced on my 2004, perfect fit.

 

I think you're talking about replacing the assembly, not just the rubber.

 

Yes I am. Seems much easier!

 

Agreed, brother.
Beginning to look like the way I'll have to go.

 

Are these original? The bottom one is the driver's with the air foil. It has
"SWF" in the small diamond to the left of the center hook attach point.

 

As I remember it, both sides affix the same way. One is longer than the other, thinking driver's side, a very easy application

 

I haven't seen just a refill in a long time. They want you to buy the whole blade. They make more money that way.

 

That's it, SWF on my OEM drivers side 20" long wiper.
Passenger side is 22" long.
So you do have OEM ones.
The refills are hard to find, I used cheap ones as that was all I could find, they lasted a couple of years max and I do use them too much.

 

THANK YOU!
First priority is to find the refill so I can keep the OEM blade.
Can anyone point me toward that hard-to-find refill?
Please.

 

Here is my experience replacing wiper blade (refills) and retaining the OEM wiper arms: I brought the entire driver side wiper blade into an O'Reilly Auto Parts store for assistance. I did this after several attempts to find the wiper blade refill with no success. The very helpful counter person located a Traco blade (I'm fairly certain it was Traco) that had the same style blade/rubber trapezoidal claw twin wiper blade. So I purchased the entire wiper arm and dismantled/removed the rubber blade from the new blades to only use the rubber blades and rails in the OEM CF wiper arms and tossed the Traco arms. I have some notes in my CF file that indicate a Traco "Exact Fit" 46 series "narrow" blade. Not sure if the notes are accurate but are what I saved after the wiper arm purchase adventure. I recall the swap was not easy. I have only replaced the rubber wiper blades one time in 3 years owning the CF. The entire process was time consuming but was achievable to keep the OEM wiper arms, especially the driver side that has the "spoiler". The wiper arms were not that expensive so none of this will break the bank, but WAS time consuming. What else is new with the CF. Oh yes, I called Mercedes parts and used a VIN number from from an SLK 320. The price of the blades were ridiculous but I only made that call to see what the shortest route may be to obtain new blades. The Traco 46 narrow series fit the OEM arm (if my notes are accurate). I'm sure my blades may need to be replaced in the spring so I'll be doing this all over again. Look for Traco and prove me correct. Hope this helps!

 

Up here in Canada we have the make TRICO, there was a plant near Hamilton at one time. I believe the trapezoidal in the name refers to the shape of the blade.
TRICO is still going I find now.
I found the refills in Canadian Tire up here, you cut them to length as required, you want the narrow width - 5mm?. I am not to sure they were there last time, I purchased Bosch Icons, sadly the whole assembly.

On looking I find that SWF is a European maker of windshield wipers and they fall under the Valeo owned company's. CLICK
Look down the page and find our Windspoiler design.

 

My apologies for the typo. Thanks for the info and clarification. Traco is a window company that make aluminum double pane commercial windows that I have dealt with in the past for parts so this name must be engrained in my hard drive. You are correct, Trico is the wiper blade and yes, they still are around. I searched their website and came up with 13 styles/model names of blades for the Crossfire (2007). You'll have to physically match the twin rail rubber blade to fit the OEM wiper arm from the CF. This took some time at the part store. Unfortunately, I did not save the packaging when I replaced the blades so I don't have the info for the exact wiper model name that matched up. You can find your wiper blade size and 13 model name blades at this address; Find Your Wiper Size | TRICO® Windshield Wipers

 

I have found replacements at Advanced Auto, but this last summer the ones around here no longer carried them. I ended up finding some at AutoZone but they told me that when their supply was gone they would not be getting more. You may be lucky enough to find a store with some still in stock.

 

Out of curiosity, I visited the O'Rielly Auto Parts store yesterday and looked at the Trico blades. I did not see the "narrow" blades labeled at all but also did not compare side by side with the Crossfire OEM blade. Many of the wiper arms seem "oversize", very bulky lots of rubber and not the twin blade design. In the midwest, we need heavy duty blades. There was at least one design but not "narrow" that had twin rail blades. I wish I kept the package from the original purchase a couple years ago. I imagine that something out there would fit the OEM CF wiper arms but as last time, it took some time to find a match. I did notice that rear wiper arms had more twin blades but were nowhere near the 20" and 22 ". Worst case scenario, you could order the Valeo spoiler design (thanks 180 for the resource) for the driver side and a replacement wiper arm for the passenger side- worst case scenario. I'll be testing this pursuit in the spring if my blades show any sign of wear, but last I recall, still working fine!

 

Thank you for the valuable input. Based on your experience I'm in for a test finding new rubber for
the OEM blades. At least I don't have to try to find the twin blade design. Don't need 'em in the South.
Thank you again!

 

Thanks for the info on SWF.
As usual, you are a valuable resource.