does anyone else think the windshield wipers are TERRIBLE in the winter. Ice up and dont clear window well. Max defrost bakes you in the car!!. No other wipers are available to purchase that would be better. anyone have any thoughts.
Unfortunately live in winter wonderland!!

 

Don't feel bad since they are not the greatest in FL winters either!

 

Doc:
You can try Rain Ex blades.
They may do a better job in the cold, ice and snow.

Regards

Jerry

 

I was planning to change out my wiper blades this week when I saw your post, and checked my OE blades. Clearly, MB has advanced the automobile industry by at least 40 years by inventing yet another wiper blade attachment mechanism that's incompatible with the aftermarket brands -- and Tesla thinks it's on the leading edge of technology. It's already annoying that every aftermarket brand comes with a bag full of plastic adapters that gets trashed when they're not needed to fit the half dozen existing mechanisms, but it's even more irritating that none of them fit MB. The only maintenance procedure described in the owner's manual is wiper blade replacement because the blades have to be purchased from MB. I plan to 3D print some adapters.

 

I also have problems with wipers, just before winter install new blades and now when winter is come its make terrible noice when work on wet glass, I now trying to coat windshield glass and use windshield washer for coated glass, will see how its work

 

I picked up a set of Rain-X Endura Silicone blades, as the package listed 9 different wiper arm attachment mechanisms as compatible, including the "narrow PTB". Unfortunately MB's wiper arm mechanism is a 10th type that's not included. There are "narrow PTB" and "extra-narrow PTB" arms, and apparently MB is in the last category. So none of the provided adapters work out-of-the-box as described in he instructions. However, there is a way to adapt this Rain-X blade to the G's wiper arm.
The Rain-X blade comes with the J-hook adapter installed and 2 alternate adapters embossed with "A" and "B". The A and B adapters are 2-piece assemblies. Pry either one of these apart, and there's a part embossed (curiously enough) with an "M", and this is the part you want to use. This "M" part has a small shoulder on its hinging hole, and with a file or box knife, this shoulder needs to be removed.
On the removed MB OE blade, there's a plastic saddle piece attached to the blade with a steel pin. Remove this steel pin using a nail and small hammer (it's a press-fit that comes apart easily). With this saddle removed, you can see the OE blade mount and the Rain-X "M" part are nearly identical. The OE blade saddle and pin fit the Rain-X M part, and securely mounts the Rain-X blade to the wiper arm in the same way as the OE. The steel pin is held in place by the wiper arm once installed so it won't fall out. The Rain-X blades don't have an asymmetrical airfoil as do the MB OE blades, so orientation doesn't seem to be critical, but you might want to ensure the blade mounts in the direction it would if the A or B adapter was being used.


In the photo above, the OE blade with the saddle and pin removed is shown on the left, and the Rain-X blade and disassembled A and M adapters are on the right. The second photo shows the assembled Rain-X blade with the M adapter and OE saddle and pin.
These Endura blades cost about the same as the MB OE's but are more easily available and the silicone edge might be better at reducing blade chatter that others have complained about elsewhere on this forum.

 

Forgot to mention the blade dimension -- 17" is the correct size, not 16" that some cross-references list. The MB OE replacement blade, p/n 463 820 04 07, lists the size on the box as "425mm/17". And, the adapter hack I described in my post above adapts only the Rain-X blade to the G-wagon's wiper arm. This doesn't provide a universal adapter so that any aftermarket blade can be used.

 

Lets us know how they work. If they work well, you may need to post a video on this procedure.

 

Not sure this warrants a video but if anyone wants more information, I can post a detailed procedure with some photo close-ups. One difference between the OE wiper and the Rain-X is that the former has a metal spine, whereas the latter is entirely polymer. Snow, ice and freezing rain tend to accumulate more readily to metal parts than to plastics, so I'm expecting this Rain-X blade should shed buildup better than the OE. The only downside to the Rain-X blade is that its primary saddle is larger than the OE blade because it has to accommodate all 3 main adapter devices. I've mounted one of each blade on my G and am now awaiting a snowstorm to see how they perform comparatively. I'll post a followup with "official" test results. The MB OE blade arm attachment mechanism design isn't all that bad -- replacement blades slip in and out easily without breaking fingernails (as does the Rain-X blade adapted as described in my post). It's just annoying that MB's design is likely tied up with patents that prevents aftermarket suppliers from offering plug-n-play alternatives.

 

Well your snow storm should have arrived by now.

When you get the adapter process refined you should send it to Rain-X so they can add yet another connector to their package.

Regards

 

Unfortunately (and embarrassingly), Colorado has not been getting much snow this season. Today is a typical bright blue sky and sunny 40F winter day here. Not even cold enough to take the G to the car wash and try out the wipers on freezing water. Maybe some precip by the end of this week though. I think the MB wiper attachment mechanism is patented by Bosch, and this prevents Rain-X from providing an out of the box adapter. I haven't had a chance to check out Bosch wipers to see if they provide an adapter that fits MB, but have this on my to-do list. Stay tuned.

 

I stopped by Autozone yesterday, which carries 5 or 6 varieties of Bosch wiper blades. MY2019+ G's don't appear in any of the wiper blade cross references, so it was a guessing game trying to choose one of the Bosch blades that might fit or be adaptable. Of course all the packaging is non-resealable and the reflective plastic envelope makes seeing inside nearly impossible. I could see the Bosch Envision (~$30/each) has a single pin pivot, so I bought a couple. When I opened the package and removed the factory installed adapter to reveal the base pivot flange (permanently attached to the blade spine), I was disappointed to find that, while similar, the flange seems to have been designed specifically, intentionally and with the single purpose of being incompatible with and nearly non-adaptable to the MB saddle and pin (see my earlier post). The photos below illustrate side and top views comparing the MB OEM blade (left), the Rain-X Endura blade (center) and the Bosch Envision blade (right). The Rain-X blade flange requires merely trimming a small collar off the pivot hole, while the Bosch blade will require removal of quite a bit of plastic from both side of the flange in order to allow the MB saddle and pin to fit. All things considered, this is not worth the effort. Still waiting for some snow to test the performance of the OE and Rain-X blade.

 

I was in Walmart a couple days ago, and noticed a new windshield wiper cross reference index had been installed. Surprisingly, MY2019 G550 and G63 appeared in the MB listing. The cross reference specified 16" and several varieties of Michellin brand wipers as being compatible. MY2019+ G's use 17" blades, the listed MIchellin blades were all "J-hook" style. So save yourself a trip to the returns counter, and don't rely on this cross reference.
This is what is so annoying about the automobile industry. The engineers and marketeers dream up hundreds and thousands of varieties of common replacement parts -- wipers, filters, fluids, etc. -- and then aftermarket suppliers are so confused, that cross references (when you can locate them) are laced with inaccuracies.

 

I was shocked how bad is oem whipers in heavy winter is. This year very much snow and ice so I cant see nothing, and also don’t understand why car like G class that designed to ride in any whether dont have heated whipers or heated windshield even small area on windshield wipers heat... turn in windshield heater its loud and hard to breathe

 

Are you finding that the blade doesn't clear the glass effectively, or is snow and ice clumping on the blade first which then prevents effective windscreen clearing?

 

@streborx thanks for the details on the mods needed to make these fit. Guess the rear will have to be OE replacement.