If you have melted and frozen snow or ice of any type gluing your wipers to the windshield it would be best to run the defrosters until they are melted loose.

 

Flip the wipers up in the air when you park. Got funny looks at work the first time we had freezing rain a few years back. Next time half the parking lot did too.

 

^^^^^^^^^^Very common practice around here.

 

Here too. Granted they are then covered in solid ice, but at least they won't rip when you hit them with the scraper.

 

On my E99 mine won't wipe the last 5-6 inches of up travel, next to the top edge of the windshield. They travel there, just miss the windshield. Put new wipers and arms on and same thing. Only thing I can think of is the bracket they connect to at the cowl is bent somehow, but both? Since it is out of the field of vision, kind of, I just ignore it but would be nice to get it fixed. Does the E99 have a different shaped window that requires different WW's?

 

Must be something wrong with your set up. All I ever saw is wiper blades by the inch, never seen them make or model specific (Imagine that, a standard item) and my E99 doesn't have any issues in that respect.

 

Jim, have the wiper ARMS been replaced at some point in time? Could be that they need to be rotated a notch or two on the wiper arm shaft as long as they don't block the view at the bottom of the stroke.

 

I had Rain-X brand on originally, 20 inch. Used the computer thing at parts store where you put truck specifics and it indicated 20 inch. Purchased another band, 20 inch and the problem was a bit worse.

They seem to park correctly. It's possible somebody put the wrong ARMS on though. Think if I went with 24 inch blades I would be swiping air at the top of the windshield. Once it gets light and the windshield thaws a bit I re-check and take some measurements. Specifically from the connection point at the cowl to center of the wiper blade connector.

 

How are the blades pivoting on the arms? Are they swinging freely or are the blades hitting the arm? Are the arms bent at all?

 

I use only excessively priced Bosch Icons because I can use them for a year. RainX has not worked, nor has any cheaper options I've tried. The Southern son is brutal on wiper blades. I also run either 22's or 24's for a larger wiping area (can;t remember which, but I think they're both 24's, and yes, the PS tip hangs out in the air when "at rest", but I get a full swipe when they are in use.

 

Mark, all looks good in that area. Nothing binding, arms could be bent but both look the same and both do the same thing. They both have plenty of pressure downward on the windshield at rest. It's just that upper corner where the end of the blades seem to lose contact with the windshield, both sides.

Here is a picture of the drivers side with it extended up. I measured the length of the arm from the lower pivot point to the center assembly where the blade mechanism attaches. It was 17 inches. From the lower pivot point to the wiper motor connection thing is about 3.5 inches. Can't find any specs or pictures what the ARM should look like. I should be able to find a SD around here locally and check it out. Actually I did see one down at Home Depot today but messing around with another s guys truck without permission is not a good idea in this area.

 

Here's what mine look like. In the top pic it shows how the arm has a zig in it. That is not an in or out it is a lateral, if that makes sense. Then the second pic shows the blade against the windshield. You can see plenty of gap between the lower half of the blade and the wiper arm. There is plenty of room for that blade to pivot and not hit the arm. Do you have enough pivot room there?

 

It would cost me $18/day in fuel to defrost my windshield on many days here LOL.

 

Hi Mark, thanks for the picture. Mine also has the lateral zig in it also so pretty sure they are the correct ARMS. I think the problem is too much downward pressure on the blades themselves so when at max travel the tips of the wipers miss the edge of the window where the most curve is, blades are flattened out. Just gotta figure figure out which way to realign the arm. I'll figure it out eventually.

 

And if you forget to do this, cheap vodka at room temperature (or heated from storage next to the furnace) is helpful. Used to do this when I lived in a higly regulated homeowners association community that did not allow salt on the concrete sidewalks or lead-walks. The association left it to the residents to clear the walks up to their houses, but fined anybody who used salt.