Having trouble finding Bosch wiper blade refills
 

I've going around the local car part stores looking for refills for my OEM Bosch wipers '85 300 D and no one seems to carry them. They carry the entire Bosch blade arms (@$12.99 ea!) but no refills. Trico's come in the right size but don't have the clips that would lock them in place. Are there any alternatives?
Buying an entire blade arm for just the rubber blade is absurd.

I'm sure Phil here at fastlane
has them.
Give him a call.

Louis.

I had the same problem... I wanted refillable Bosch wiper blades and refills. Looked everywhere with no luck. Tried getting them at fastlane, even those were the permanently crimped kind, so if I ever wanted to change the rubber Id have to change the whole blade sertup.

Pep boys had bosch refills about threeyears ago, havent seen them since...

Fastlane does carry refills... But I dont know if theyre bosch. Anyone know where to find the refillable bosch blades?

JMH

what size are the wiper blades ??? i have a 240D

thanks

I believe 20, or maybe 20 and 19? Narrow size if I recall correctly.

JMH

Bought them at Pep Boys four months ago, not really happy with them; they squeak, good that I live in LA.

I don't think I can wait to for a mail order set. I live in the rainy NW and I need to find a store that carries some blades that I can simply slip in soon. I found Trico's that were the right size at Sch(m)ucks but they don't have any clips to keep them from slipping off the arms. They were a size 40-200 if that is any help. Are there any other brands out there? The Trico's were $6.99 for the pair, the Bosch's were $12.99 for each arm. There's no way I'm going to pay that much for something that'll only last through the season.
What a PIA just to find wiper refills!:mad:
I don't have any trouble for my GM's!

I don't think bosch makes or sells just the rubber squeege itself, I think they only make and sell the whole blade with frame included, they do that cause they say the frame wears out to, I just like em cause it takes 10 seconds to change them, sure there extra $ but it's cheaper than replacing that pitted windshield.

I bought Bosch Mirco Edge wipers at AutoZone. It has been a little while now, so I don't recall if they sell just the refills or not.

Just checked out their website for it:
BOSCH
MICRO EDGE 43320 $5.99
FITS EITHER SIDE
BOSCH REFILLS INTENDED TO FIT BOSCH WIPER BLADES ONLY.
It also has a symbol that it is special order though. :rolleyes:

One thing which I always use is Rain-X. Apply it every time I wax my car or maybe a couple times between waxes depending on how much I use the wipers. It is superb at sheating off water at any speeds over 40mph. In a huge downpour you never have the problem of not being able to see. In the winter it limits the adhesion ice has on your windshield. It also reduces friction on the wipers which make them last longer. However it will make your wipers streak a little bit all of the time. Also don't use the washer fluid kind, I've heard of that damaging paint, do the direct application.

Try GI Joe. I used to get Bosch refills there.

Fastlane has both the bosch wiper blade insert (the rubber part) and the whole blade assembly (looks like, at least, no picture). At least for my 300E, the blade insert does not come with the metal spring pieces, so you'll need those if you want to use the oem insert (if you don't still have them, then either get the trico-made MB inserts from the dealer, which don't need them, or an aftermarket from a mcparts store).

Sometimes wiping old blades with a clean tissue, moistened with rubbing alcohol, may help restore performance.

I know www.************************
sells the inserts also.
$15.70/pr + $7.95SH Part#82-064

If you order 3 sets($46.20+$10.95 S&H),they'll
last the whole year,
One order and alway inserts at your finger tips.

Louis.

the problem with the bosch blades found on these sites is that they are not refillable... The ends are tightly crimped onto the squeege, so when its time to replace, the whole thing needs to go.
Wish I could find refillable bosch blades...

I dont think Id get bosch squeeges, thoguh, they do squeak... But their blade parts are better than others, which sometimes cause inconsistent contact across the blade length.

JMH

Just buy the whole thing...here is a link where they are for 7 bucks...
 

Hey,

Just buy the whole wiper assembly... This site sells them for 7.19 each plus shipping of 6.95 ( I think that is a great deal and it will save you a ton of time)...Just my .02 cents :)

http://www.autobarn.net/bosmicedwipb.html

Agree: Re: Just buy the whole thing...here is a link where they are for 7 bucks...
 

Hello everyone
I agree: buy from Fast lane, help support the website.
A few cents either way makes us all look like Scrooge, and we all have reason to thank them for a great website.:D
I like the idea of not hunting parts, do enough of that at work.
Have a great day.

I dont see the necessity to replace windshield wipers so often... i replaced mine two years ago, and theyve served well and still do to this day.

I am on the road 100 miles a day, and so when it rains, sleets, snows, etc. I get my fair share of usage. But changing blades twice a year or whatever is reccomended seems like a ripoff.

That said, the bosch blades that are sold everywhere (with non-replacable squeeges), which I complain a lot about are seemingly worthwhile if they can be bought for $7 or so. But I still prefer to be able to change my squeeges without replacing the whole darn thing. Maybe its better to gett he entire new blade? I dont know... But Im not sure that Ill get bosch again, since the refills on my BMW's REFILLABLE bosch blades are K-mart rallye inserts, and clear just as good in all conditions, and chatter less than these bosch non-refillable ones.

that said, the bosch blades actually seem to be getting better with age.

JMH

The PO apparently replaced the refill only since the rest of the wiper looks very original. I have no way to get a hold of the PO to find out where he bought them since he moved to CA soon after selling me the car. I'll try the suggestions that were replied here in the post.
Thanks!

BTW: I've tried Rain-X before and it made my wipers "chatter" real bad when I really needed to use them.

My 1984 300SD has original Bosch wipers. The rubber from the assembly is removable. The easiest way to take the blade off is to take the whole assembly off the arm and remove the rubber off the car. The Bosch blades are hard to get off of the assembly, but, with determination, you can get them off. The wipers I use are the K-mart Rally Ultra Vision. These have the stainless steel backing. The refills easily slide in and click.

The wipers are standard for Bosch. You can buy any brand as long as it has a stainless steel backing. The plastic backing will not wipe the windshield. I tried the plastic ones and found that out.

JMH.


Click this link and you'll see that it is an insert
and not the whole blade.


http://www.************************/ProductPage.aspx?productname=Wiper+Insert&productType=40&productid=106896

Price is for the pair.

It says 83 300 turbodiesel because that is what I
have.

Louis.

buy the wiper assembly
 

It takes forever to just replace the rubber inserts in the assembly. I replaced them last time and they were such a PITA that I vowed to just buy the wiper assembly next time.

FastLane sells just the inserts or the whole blade. The inserts are replaceable you just have to pull out and retain the thin metal slat on each side. Once you have installed the refill then you reinsert the slats and you are good to go. The whole blade is also a good deal if your plastic catch is starting to get loose or has infact broken. My passenger side didn't fully engage when I installed the inserts before heading to Michigan. Once there the weight of the snow being pushed by the wiper did the catch in and I noticed the passenger side blade would wobble as during the stroke. I replaced both blades with the twofer deal (something like $50 for the set v. $27 a piece) and kept my recently replaced inserts.

mike do you mean you replaced both wiper arms the part that is bolted to the car or am I missing something. I was at pep boys today and bought new bosch refils, frame and squgee, the whole package, and they were 9.99 each, I don't know what you mean by ''twofer deal'' maybe A diferent brand your talking about? if you were indeed buying the bosch refils IE the whole package for $50 dollars maybe you should look elsewhere next time for A better price. just trying to help:D

What you (or what I) bought is different than what Mike bought. We have Bosch Microedge wipers (general part), Mike bought the OE Bosch wipers. The blade is a little thicker I believe.

Guys, the wiper inserts are easy to take out, I know, I've looked them over and even took them out. The problem is the Bosch inserts have a special groove that the arm tab locks into. So any other brand won't work unless they have the old style locking pin that need to insert at the end of the wiper blade which none of the refills seem to have anymore. $50 bucks for blades?!? If I had to pay that much for wipers I'd put up my car for sale tomorrow morning!:eek:

Well FastLane wants $42 for both wiper blades. Don't be to suprised!

Well, I just got "one" Bosch wiper insert for $12 (for 83 SD). I thought the price should be for "one pair" when I clicked the item on the menu, guess I'm wrong. It is quite a PITA to swap.

This became a problem in the last six months, up untill then autozone and advance carried the entire wiper and the refills for the excell and microedge, I've used them both exclusivly on my VW's for many years, as my night vision is crapy, and worse in the rain. Every other wiper I've ever used has not been as good or as long lasting. It's a real ***** the local shops quit carrying the refills, and I think there's probibly some good reason being that I know AZ and advance both droped them at about the same time. What that reason is, I don't know.

Till I get around to ordering refills in bulk I'll dish out the money two or three times a year for the while arm. Wipers are right up there with brakes to me, as in not something one skimps on.

At those prices I'm just going make the Trico 40-200's work if I have to use tie-wire to keep them from flying off. $6.99 for the pair at Sch(m)ucks.

According to autozone's site they still carry them, they just don't choose to stock them. It'd just take an extra trip to the store to get them.

BoostnBenz, thanks for the Autozone tip. There is one in my area and I'll check their website and try to order there and see if I can pick them up on the way to town. I could not believe the hassle that it has been until now to try to locate some simple wiper refills at a reasonable cost.

I am just wondering as to why everyone is still looking for Bosch refills? Maybe there is something I don't know about??

I listed the link to the whole Bosch wiper assembly which only costs 7.19 for each blade..........

Why are you guys willing to pay more for refills.....?........ are they just better or something ?

I'm one who is not willing to pay more for refills. The only reason I am looking for Bosch refils is that the original wiper assemblies are Bosch and apparently no other types will fit them right. I would have even considered switching to another brand of wiper blade assembly to not have the problems of locating refills in the future but no other wiper blade assembly will fit the unusual wiper arms to my knowledge.
I can find wiper refills easier for my '51 Cadillac than I can for my '85 300D.

The Bosch refills I was refering to were the Bosch MicroEdge that Autozone sells, I'm not sure if those refills would fit the Bosch OE wipers. I have either one of those Boschs and use the MircoEdge blades, so that means either the MicroEdge refills work on the OE Bosch assemblies or the aftermarket Bosch blades fit our arms.

Refills normally come in pairs right?! $5.99 as quoted from autozone's site. If one blade is $7.19 vs two refills for $5.99, costs 58% less. Call me a tree hugger but I don't replace parts that aren't bad for no reason, especially if they cost me more money.

$5.99 looks like a price I wouldn't complain a bit about at all. I live in the rainy NW and we use our wipers here so often that they don't last very long. When I lived in sunny CA, I had wipers last for many years!

I just went to the Autozone website and found the Bosch refills for $5.99. The only thing I'm confused about now is it doesn't say if this is for a pair because it says,"FITS EITHER SIDE". Looks like I have to call their 800# to find out.

I suppose anything is possible but I've never seen refills sold in singles. They must be trying to imply that it'll work for both sides but said it wrong. It might be a good idea if you can get somebody to answer that but it seems most parts places only reiterate what their site says which is pretty well worthless.

BoostnBenz, I haven't called Autozone yet to see what they would say but I'm sure you're right. I'll wait and see if someone in our forum can give me an answer before I'll try.

Nice subscript by the way.... :D

I didn't replace the arms just the blade assemblies. I bought the OEM parts rather than generics "fits these models" type, hence the cost. I figure that the originals lasted what...18 years with only inserts...that I could spring the cost of replacing with original equipment. Same thing for the refill inserts...the ones you get at PepBoys/AutoZone/McParts are a generic fit with those little clampy things at the end, no idea what the blade arms are like. Replacing OEM inserts isn't brain surgery you just have to take a couple extra steps in the process.

Also, the inserts are the same size and suitable for either side but the blade assemblies aren't. One side is a few MM's longer than the other and the baldes are marked to denote which side they are mounted...IIRC the longer blade goes on the passenger side (LHD). Also the '72 still has the original blade arms, but had generic inserts when I bought it. Careful scrounging at the breaker found a handful of useable 16" slats to restore the wiper inserts to OEM.