starbrite

I know, another wiper blade thread, Yawn ! However, even most counter parts guys get this one wrong. How do I know? (besides the fact that it happenned to me) Just look at any of the '03 and '04 preowned cars on your dealer's lot. Many have the wrong blade installed on the earlier MY's. There is a different wiper arm and blade combo on '03-mid'04 211's.

Photo # 1 is the earlier combo, note the tip of the arm and the hub of the blade. This arm takes blade PN 211-820-14-45

Photo # 2 is MY mid '04 to present. Note the thinner arm tip and curvature and the thinner hub of the blade.
This arm takes blade PN 211-820-07-45.

And yes, there is a price difference as well. The earlier blade is $4.00 more.

Randy B

My 9/02 build 2003 E500 has the second picture blades and wiper arms.

Go figure.

Randy B

starbrite

Actually Randy, I believe it is accurate. You're the 2nd owner and the first may very well have complained
about wiper chatter and the dealer ended up updating the arms as well as the blades.

Certainly another good reason to check your style before taking home the replacement blade(s).

Randy B

Well I have the full history from MB from the in service date to when I picked it up and no window arm or inserts replaced before I bought the car. So instead of guessing what is correct and making a statement, why don't you check into it factually and then display the results.

The parts manager at my local dealer stated MB had two suppliers for the arms from 02 build through 04. Some cars had one style, other's had the second. Depended on who supplied the parts at the factory. Remember these cars were out a full year ahead of ours in Germany as 2002 models. This is why they have several part numbers in the computer and can readily get either wiper blade today.

Randy B

starbrite

Easy there Randy, don't lose the spirit of the forum...the reason I made the OP was because there is confusion re this. My parts manager told me exactly what I posted. After all, isn't that the purpose of this forum ? Whether it's a mixed supply during that time period or a changeover isn't the issue. The point was that there were, in fact, 2 different types of arm/blade combos and most parts guys only supply the newer one when asked for a blade replacement. I beleived that the info would help other members. If not you, then that's OK.

I was only suggesting, thus the word "may", that yours may have been updated.

Benz-O-Rama

Starbrite,

You have been relegated to only responding to posts, you can no longer start topics. See what happens when you do?

And for the record, I have no friggin idea which style mine use. When I got a set from my parts dept, he said that there were 2 styles and he needed my VIN to determine which set I needed. Oh, and they were the low, low price of 100.00. But we've talked about that before.

starbrite

Amen, Benz-O !

LAZARU5

My E500 has nearly 60K miles. I do almost all of my own maintenance. Other than a few minor warranty repairs and wheel alignments the history on my car is blank. My point is that just because the maintenance record indicates that the wiper arms were not changed does not mean that the first owner did not have the change done at an independent or in his own garage. Although, based upon the posts that followed yours, the blades and arms on your car are probably factory original.