OceanView

The single wiper blade on our W210 is so cool!

I have always thought that the single wiper was so unique.
Haven't seen too many other manufacturers using it except MB.
Our cars are now getting dated but I still like our wiper better than the new 2 bladed W211.

Anyone else think the same?

stemags

I'll be honest,,for wiping I believe the 2 blade cleans better,but for asthetics the single is nice.Ive found you have to clean it more often so as not to get streaking.Keeping bugs guts off the glass,or other grit is a must. My.02$

OceanView

Really?

Actually, I found my blade to work well.
I change my blade insert every year and also use Rain X on the window.
You might want to do the same and see if it makes any difference.

Whitey

It depends also on whether your car is parked in a dusty place. If I haven't washed my car for a while and it starts drizzingly......streaks from the dirt gathered on the blade, Rain X or not.

I think the rain sensor is also very useful but dang, I hate it when I forget to turn the wiper off in an undercovered carpark and it starts wiping on dry glass when I start my car the next time

007

didnt know we have rain sensor,,,mine is 97, do i have one, and what lever position is it..
all this time, only using intermittent and low or high.....HHHHmmmmmmmmmm

Whitey

Not sure about 97. The sensor is on that black patch on the windscreen surrounding the interior rear view mirror - if you have it, you should see a spot on the outside. Also, it should be on intermittant, when the rain stops, the wiper stops, when the rain weakens, it slows, when your car stops, it stops (which is annoying sometimes when a drenched hot chick in a white shirt walks by... )....etc.

raymond g-

I don't know this for sure, but it is possible to have the patch/grid on the windshield and *not* have the intermittent sensor option. I arrived at this stunning, knee jerk conclusion by observiing several E320s with the patch: one had the option, whereas the other two were not functional. Of course, the two could have simply needed repair. ?! Being lazy, I concluded that the option was a black box plug-in within the bowels of the dash.

Whitey

Just checked the W211 brochure, it is standard equipment for the W211 but it might have been an optional extra back in those days. Mine is an Advantgarde which has many of those things as part of the package.

Maybe if you look inside the spot on the widescreen you might see differences - mine has a sort of lense inside.

Ray, are you talking about the black patch or a distinct spot in the corner of that patch? All our cars have the patch. Chances are, there will be a hole in that patch for the sensor on all cars cuz they may not make different windscreens for different options.

stemags

Yes,Ive done the rain-x,and what Ive noticed is,once it starts to wear off,and its raining,you'll get streaks that will actually prevent you from seeing a damn thing.Pretty scary one time,so now I just make sure the glass is clean,and like you say,the blade gets changed.
The sensor on mine is a plastic pyramid purpleish thing at the base of the center of the windshield.One click on the stalk,and it runs once when you startthe car, like Dave says.

007

i have the black patch and the pyramid...put it onintermittent today and still doing the usual thing...mind u i did have some specks of rain,,,here is the test, gonna turn it on when i drive home today with no rain..and see what happens..

rkwjr

The one armed wiper is one of my least favorite features on the car. Maybe it is just me, but the single blade does not seem as efficient as dual blade wipers.

My wife use to have a 190 that had the single blade. I used Rain X on it and it did help, but you should not have to use after market products just to get your wipers to function properly. I have not used it on her E class.

Whitey

Be careful, if you don't have it, the wiper will be gliding on dry glass! Also, with the intermittant on (wiper should not move if you have it), pour some water over the sensor....that should tell you

007

dont have that option, tried it last nite and nothing done.

MB AMG

I don't like the rain sensing wipers. I think it's cool but if a little water trickels down the center of the glass, it wipes against the dry glass!!

F1Fan

Enjoy that mono blade design on the W210. If you look carefully, Lexus tried to copy the design of the MB wiper but instead of using a mechanical motor to move the blade up and down, they used a simple two pivot design that looks simpler mechanically. Well now it looks like MB copied Lexus when designing the wiper on the W211 series since the newer W211 have the two pivot design now.

Note: I am not talking about the motor that moves the blade from left to right. I'm talking about how the wiper arm moves up towards the far corners when it goes from left to right. This allows the arm to cover more of the windshield. Both the W124 and W210 have this design. The W211 has the cost-effective design. I think both work well but the cool factor definitely goes with the previous generations.

OceanView

Yeah, I know what your talking about. I do notice the blade extending when moving towards the far right and left side of the wipe.

I fear that MB is doing alot of things to cut costs on the newer models.
Shouldn't their selling price reflect their lower quality? That's another topic entirely.

Whitey

Interesting comment. I'm speaking with reference to Asian prices but aren't the W211s today a little less, if not similar in price to the price of the W210's back in the late 90's, now loaded with more standard equipment that was considered optional in the W210 days? I've never figured out why this is so, particularly when taking inflation into consideration, but I guess its savings in other areas. So technically, the prices do reflect the lower quality equipment

BlownV8

I agree 100%. The single wiper is not as effective as the dual wiper system on my 126. At higher wipe speeds and driving speeds, the single blade wiper tends to lift slightly off the glass and causes streaking. Not to mention, you can feel the wiper blade move the car a little when it swings.

Whitey

Agreed! The shake in the car is very noticeable, I thought I was imagining it when I first got the car. So would adding those aftermarket "spoilers" for the wiper help with the steaking from the lifting problem I wonder.........

OceanView

Yes I do notice the shake when it does move but I am in Sunny California and we don't use the wiper that often here. so I don't mind it.

As far as the pricing goes, I think MB stream lined their manufacturing process along with other cost cutting strategies which helped lowered overall costs.

Whitey

Um, so what's the title of this thread??? lol

Dema

It's obvious, every rain for us is a big surprise.

F1Fan

You would expect it to, however current exchange rates between the Euro and the Dollar make it difficult for MB to make much profit out of their cars these days. The weak dollar and/or the strong Euro is not helping any European automobile manufacturer that is trying to sell their stuff in the US right now. Funny thing is that Asian imports into Europe are at a record high right now.

Whitey

Good pointI was thinking that too but wasn't sure how the Euro/USD FX moved over the past 3-4 years.

Asian imports into Euro maybe high cuz there's a preference for small, economical cars in the market, but I still see lots Euro cars there and the Europeans are working hard at producing value-for-money, fuel economical runners like the Renault Clio, Peugeot 206/306's, not to mention the A-Klasse, C-coupes, Smart, Mini's, BMW 3-series compacts, Audi A2/3's, VW Golf, Polo and Jettas to compete. I've driven a few of these on my trips there and they are up there with the Jap's, for that class. I was particularly impressed by the Peugeot 206 which is a very solid car and comes equipt with everything my Benz has and more - not bad for the price.

stemags

He Dave,,that white CL is the beast of your sig man.Im sure the gas prices they pay in europe have a lot to do with the size and class car most widely seen,correct?