Windshield Wiper Chatter
 

Anyone had an issue with the Windshield Wiper chattering on the e300?
When driving in the rain, with wipers on, the windshield wiper makes unbearable chattering noise. Using the windshield washer fluid it makes it better for a minute or so but then it comes back in full force. I cleaned the Windshield and wipers, no difference.
Also, I did mention this to the Service Advisory and they told me they changed the wiper blade and adjusted/checked the angles of the blade and both are fine. It actual seemed to have made it worse, not better. I brought the car in again and mentioned it again to the Service Adviser and he told me that this is normal with the new wiper blades and I should clean the windshield with fine steel wool..... Really? That seems just wrong on multiple levels.
For a Mercedes Benz this is _very_ disappointing. My FIAT 500 that costs not even a fraction, does wipe the Windshield smooth and clean......

No issue on my E300. How long was the car on the dealer lot before you purchased it?

I've used Girot's Garage Glass Polish with much success on past cars. This will remove surface deposits and make the glass incredibly smooth. The chatter will stop.

yeah I dont have a problem with mine at all. No noise. Im surprised the dealership didn't change out the blades. Its not like its an expensive part for them

This issue is widespread across many model lines and several years. My W204 has this issue, as did a loaner 2016 W212 and a loaner 2016 W205 (with 100 miles on the odometer). My service advisor showed me that even new W222s have the problem. If you search "mercedes wiper chatter" you'll get a ton of hits.

My dealer has tried everything. New blades, adjusting angles repeatedly, cleaning and using clay bar on the glass.. nothing works.

I personally believe it is the glass itself. If you get a cloth and wipe across the windshield in my car, there are spots of resistance even after the windshield was clayed.

Windshield wiper blade chatter
 

In general the older type of blade frames with multiple attachments tend to have less chatter or no chatter at all. The newer blade frames with one attachement in the center tend to chatter. I tried the newer blade frames on one of my vehicles recently and it chattered so much I switched back the the old traditional style.


See attached photo of the older style.


My new 2017 E300 with the newer style blade frame does not chatter at all and works great.

Also, when I took delivery, I treated all the glass with Rain X, Maybe that helps the chatter with the new blade frame design.

It's a 50/50 mix of responses. Some say Rain-X helps, others say it makes it much worse.

Mercedes official stance is not to put it on the car.

Mercedes says don't use Rain X washer fluid if I recall reading somewhere. Theoretically, the original Rain X makes the glass smoother and logically less likely to make wipers chatter.

Mercedes recently issued a note saying not to use Rain-X or any sort of wax on the windshields. This came from my service advisor and she said the directive was recent and related to tons of complaints of chattering wipers. I think it is just a way to try to make excuses.. wax or no wax, my wipers suck.

My C 400's wipers chattered terribly after I applied Aquapel which is a semipermanent polymer similar to rain X. Think of it as rain X on steroids. It had never caused any problems with any of my previous vehicles. But it is simply completely incompatible with MB wipers/ glass. To remove it I had to buff it off with glass polish and a mechanical buffer. After buffing it off it still took about 6mths for it to completely weather away. My wipers are now back to normal. The moral of the story is simple, MB wipers are meant to work on plain glass, any sort of wax, hydrophobic polymer, etc., will make them chatter. Simply use soap and water. Don't forget, most automatic washers will spray some sort of wax as part of the washing process, avoid that too or make sure you use only the "base" program which doesn't include waxing. Is till use Aquapel on every other glass surface of the car it keeps them clean and beading for years. :y

I have no treatment on the windshield, the skipping and chattering was very pronounced. I brought the car in and asked for a new blade, the issue remains the same. I thought it was just my luck (MB has changed the center console, window trims, clock face, trunk closing button, repaired the light...) until now.

Mercedes benz uses the cheapest rubber they can buy for there wiper blades. Crap on crap out. Replace the rubber on your MB blades with Bosch icon blades. The chatter will stop. The MB wiper arms are fine it is just the cheap rubber they use.

Tried this, it did not work for my car. Not only that, but I can put the whole Icon assembly on my car and it has the same result.

Wow sorry You are the first I heard that it did not work. I will stop recommending it. Sorry thanks

I think its the glass itself, after my glass treatment issue all wiper blades I tried chattered.. Mine chattered so bad they on some sweeps they wouldn't sweep the entire windshield!

Sometimes if the glass is actually too clean (all oils stripped away) this occurs...after several washes with a shampoo that contains wax may be enough to lubricate the glass enough to diminish the chatter by allowing the blades to glide across the glass vs grabbing against it. The constant use of wiper/washer fluid which has detergents can exacerbate this problem. There is also some glass wax/polish you can try but make sure it is not abrasive as MB glass is rather soft.

Dealership blamed wax for the chatter and stripped it to bare glass. This helped.. for a day. So far, no wax, wax, new wipers, Icons, adjusted blade angles.. still no luck.

Try Rain X, it certainly did not hurt my wipers and glass. They work great in the rain.

I thought that MB issued a note for people to avoid Rain-X. The problem was not the windshield, but rather the washer sensor failing.

Most likely it was the Rain X brand of washer fluid with a chemical in it that was not compatible with the washer fluid system, pumps, lines, etc.

Yup, something about a chemical in it that coats the sensor so it can't get a reading. Obviously rain X wiper blades (as I think you were suggesting) would not cause an issue with wiper fluid sensor.

I doubt there was any wax left on your windshield after the repeated windshield washer fluid usage.

I've found with the several MBs I've had over the last 20 years that the wipers start out noisy, but improve after a fair amount of use.

So far, we have tried everything except windshield replacement. Been working on this issue for 7 months. Nothing has worked and I'm mostly living with it.

thefisch:
I was referring to the original RainX spray on glass treatment NOT the RainX wiper blades. Sorry for the confusion.