I've seen several on our cars: the monoblade, tandem, etc. I've always liked the monoblade on my two "gassers". Now that I'm driving a Jetta, I'm back to the tandem system. Though I assumed I wouldn't be as happy with it, I actually find it's better, in my opinion, than the mono-blade on my Mercedes.

Yes, it's completely subjective. But I'd like to hear others' opinions.

Here is a description of some of the wiper systems in use now. The full article is here:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/wiper2.htm

Pivot Points
Most cars have pretty much the same wiper design: Two blades move together to clean the windshield. One of the blades pivots from a point close to the driver's side of the car, and the other blade pivots from near the middle of the windshield. This is the Tandem System in the figure below. This design clears most of the windshield that is in the driver's field of view.

Some of the different wiper blade schemes used by various cars

There are a couple of other designs on some cars. Mercedes uses a single wiper arm that extends and retracts as it sweeps across the window -- Single Arm (Controlled) in the figure above. This design also provides good coverage, but is more complicated than the standard dual-wiper systems. Some cars use wiper blades that are mounted on opposite sides of the windshield and move in the opposite direction, and some vehicles have a single wiper mounted in the middle. These systems don't provide as much coverage for the driver as the standard two-blade system.

...the amount of water hitting the windshield changes as your car speeds up and slows down. It can require almost constant attention to keep the wipers operating properly. Carmakers may finally have conquered this problem with the holy grail of wiper technology -- the rain-sensing wiper.

__________________

Current:
2014 VW Tiguan SEL 4Motion 43,000 miles.

2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (wife's).

Past:
2006 Jetta TDI 135,970 miles. Sold Nov. '13.
1995 E-320 Special Edition. 220,200 miles. Sold Sept. '07.
1987 190-E 16 valve. 153,000 miles. Sold Feb. '06.
1980 300-D 225,000 miles. Donated to the National Kidney Foundation.
1980 240-D manual, 297,500 miles. Totaled by inattentive driver.

I prefer the tandem, two bladed system myself for this simple reason: if something happens to one of the blades you have a back up until you can get it repaired. Then there is that romantic rhythm of the wiper blades slapping back and forth as your drive down the road in the rain....

__________________
"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

I've got the rain-sensing monoblade on my E430. Love it. Much faster and smoother than the mono on my old 300E. The Bosch wiper blade is a must!

__________________
Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

The wiper system on my '97 S320 is , in my opinion, better than the mono-blade system on my 300E. There are two blades, but the driver side is articulated just like the mono-blade system. Why is it better? I just think it streaks less, and it doesn't have to travel as far across the windshield.

I happen to dislike the rain-sensor system on the S320. It works, but as with other automated systems, most of the time it gets it wrong. So I find myself switching the wipers on an off to clear the windshield. I would much prefer a simple delay setting like my 300E. Actually I would like to have a manually adjustable delay system, but that's not going to happen. I'm old enough to remember when wiper delay was introduced. You bought the thing from Radio Shack and wired it in. A simple rotary dial gave you complete control over the delay.

Steve

So far, I like the monoblade system better. Too bad they switched to the tandem. In any case, I have had rain sensor on my 99 C280 and don't have it on my 99 E300. I can tell you that I miss it. It got things right. I never had to switch to manual mode to get things wiped even in a car wash.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Most folks seem to prefer the conventional, two blade system. This seems especially true of places where it really, really rains - e.g. Florida. Here in Dallas it hardly matters if you have functioning wipers.

I always assumed the monoblade was an attempt by DB to reduce cost because it could be used on both right-hand and left-hand drive cars without any changes. With conventional two blade systems you need to implement mirror-image systems for right-hand and left-hand drive. The additional parts variety and manufacturing complexity drives up costs.

I assume the recent trend of placing instruments in the center of the dashboard by some manufacturers is for the same basic reason.

- JimY

My Jetta also has the newer type of flexible blade. No more six-point contact. The entire blade has even contact with the glass and flexes easily to break off snow and ice. I like these a lot more than the older types.

__________________

Current:
2014 VW Tiguan SEL 4Motion 43,000 miles.

2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (wife's).

Past:
2006 Jetta TDI 135,970 miles. Sold Nov. '13.
1995 E-320 Special Edition. 220,200 miles. Sold Sept. '07.
1987 190-E 16 valve. 153,000 miles. Sold Feb. '06.
1980 300-D 225,000 miles. Donated to the National Kidney Foundation.
1980 240-D manual, 297,500 miles. Totaled by inattentive driver.

I like the system on my 116, where they both park to the same side. Even in the heaviest rains they work well.

__________________
1959 Gravely LI, 1963 Gravely L8, 1973 Gravely C12
1982 380SL
1978 450 SEL 6.9 euro restoration at 63% and climbing
1987 300 D
2005 CDI European Delivery
2006 CDI Handed down to daughter
2007 GL CDI. Wifes

I like my two blade system (where they follow each other) on my 1989 V126.

Clears the rain fast without obscuring the view.

W126:
Tandem - Bosch micro edge wipers. Worked well; the positioning of the arms themselves freaked the hell out of me - both are mounted passenger side. only two wiper speed selections (fast and faster)


W124:
Monowiper
Love it. Bosch ICON blade. Heated fluid tank, hell of a pattern on the nozzles. Also more speed selections (although, still not relay controlled/variable)

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-1983 VW Rabbit LS Diesel (5speed, VNT/Giles build)

I have an E55 with the single blade system and a CL600 with the dual blades. The single wiper on the E55 sucks compared to the dual wiper system on the CL.

That's the one! Awesome blade. Can't believe the difference it makes.

__________________
Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

They don't list one for the wife's 99 E300 but I have them on the truck and it works way better.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

I like the way Mercedes does it on the S class. The W126 has the two wipers and the second one plays follow the leader. Works pretty good seems to get as much as the windsheild as possible. The only thing I dislike about this system is it lacks a variable speed. So when its a light rain you are always turning it on and off.

The W140 has a similer system that uses the mono blade of the W210 with a second normal blade playing follow the leader. Seems to work well, also the spoiler on the wiper arm looks cool.

Their is nothing wrong with a mono wiper system like in the W210/124, I just prefer the way they do it in the S.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

The W221 S-Class has the coolest setup I've ever seen. Two blades, each driven by it's own motor. Sensors, serial data bus, real neat.