one thing i don't like about the 240d is the blacked out trim, including the side mouldings and wiper cowls, and wiper arms. actually it would have been kinda cool, if you made your 240d into a hot rod and shaved all the chrome, but with 67hp, the 240d isn't anything like a hot rod--but enough bashing. on the higher w123 models, they gave it a chrome treatment, which looks ok if it's in good condition (i've got some dings and chips on my side mouldings, so it looks like azz).

now, almost everyone's chrome cowls are flaking a bit, including mine--waiting to find a good set at the junkyard is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. so to divert attention from my flaking chrome cowls, and to dress up the car a bit, I decided to ditch my ugly black 240d-inspired stock windsheild wipers (really, benz should have carried the brushed steel onto the w123 chassis if you ask me) in favor of w116 and older style wiper arms and blade holders, which as you know are brushed stainless steel.

at first i tried w116 wiper arms, but they are too long, and needed to be bent with an english wheel to shorten them--not fun or cheap. so i started looking into older chassis. i got a w108 wiper arm, but not quite the right length. finally, i found that w114/w115 wiper arms are almost the exact length of the w123 wiper arms. the only problem is these criss-cross, meaning the driver's side wiper arm faces towards the passenger side, and the passenger side faces the driver's side (whether you've got a LHD or RHD auto).

what i need are two driver's side arms off a LHD car, since my car is LHD. i finally found them at the junkyard--two of them in good condition with no scratches on teh surface, and including the original bosch wiper blade holders. the blades were toast, but who cares.

the only problem is these arms are not the correct shape for a w123. i had to bend the arms manually, towards the glass, but only after i tightened the bolt that holds the wiper arm in place (i tightened the bolt, then erected the wiper arms to be perpendicular to the glass, then did my bending). the result, on the driver's side is too much curvature (i'll have to revisit the curving of this side when it actually rains in my area--until then i don't mind). the passenger side required little bending. i will need to adjust the angle of the blades a bit to be perfectly horizontal, but this was just a test-fit.

so, here are some pics which show you a side by side, and what it looks like from various angles after the wipers are installed. i think it looks nice, when you compare them to the black original w123 wiper arms, which tend to rust at the hinge where the plastic cover covers the nut.


http://img522.imageshack.us/i/dscn0009y.jpg/

http://img522.imageshack.us/i/dscn0010c.jpg/

http://img75.imageshack.us/i/dscn0011m.jpg/

http://img524.imageshack.us/i/dscn0012v.jpg/

http://img522.imageshack.us/i/dscn0013q.jpg/

http://img527.imageshack.us/i/dscn0028s.jpg/

http://img232.imageshack.us/i/dscn0029s.jpg/

http://img527.imageshack.us/i/dscn0030d.jpg/

Those wiper arms don't look right on the W123. The W116 wiper arms were originally positioned to sweep over the entire windshield and were stacked on top of one another. You can see the obvious design difference in this photo and it really stands out.

__________________
'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.

but these wiper arms are off a w114-w115, not w116--those were too long.

actually the wiper arms that i installed to replace the stock w123 ones--are exactly the same shape, and cover the same area as the stock ones, if i was to get larger wiper blades ( about 2 inches longer than the metal blade holder overall).

so, i gotta disagree with you. this is one nice pair