Replacing windshield wipers correctly

If the wipers are dirty or heavily worn, visibility can become increasingly poor in rain, snow or even when there’s a high pollen count. This also limits how soon signs, road layouts, other road users and even traffic lights can be identified. This can – in the worst case scenario – lead to an accident. If you’ve already tried cleaning the wipers and there’s still no improvement, there’s only one thing that can help in case of doubt: replacing the wipers. But not everyone knows when or how to change windscreen wipers.

How often do you need to change wipers?

There’s no general rule for when new wiper’s need to be replaced. Rather, it depends on how often you use your vehicle – or its wipers – in which weather conditions and whether you take good care of the wiper blades. When it comes to how long do wipers last, a period of two years is often given as a rough guide. However, the time for fitting new wiper blades to your vehicle may come after just a few months or only after several years. We recommend that you check your wipers together with your lights annually before the start of autumn. If the wiper blades are already worn out, you should replace the windscreen wiper rubber immediately. This will make you well prepared for the dark and wet season.

Streaks forming during the wiping process are a good indication of wear. In an ideal scenario, no streaks will form on the windscreen. But you can continue to use the wipers for some time with a clear conscience even if a maximum of three narrow lasting stripes form in the outer field of vision, or a maximum of one stripe forms in the central field of vision. You should replace the wipers as soon as possible if there’s more severe streaking in the outer field of vision, if there’s a large number of streaks spread over the entire windscreen for a short period of time, or even if there’s a regular water surface on the windscreen or rear window.

Clear fogging, or "chatter marks", and/or large amounts of water remaining on the windscreen are clear indications that the wiper blades need to be changed immediately. You should also change the wiper blades as soon as possible if the wiper rubbers are porous.

Instructions for changing wiper blades

Changing a wiper rubber on the windscreen wiper arm or rear window wiper arm is relatively easy:

1. Before changing your wiper arm, first take a look at your car's manual, because the wiper arms can't be easily folded up on all vehicles. Sometimes the maintenance mode must be activated beforehand.
2. To prevent the wiper arms from springing back, we recommend that you only fold them up when changing them and otherwise always return them to their original position. Nevertheless, lay a towel or blanket on the windscreen to prevent possible cracks in the windscreen if you do forget to do this and the wiper arm springs back when you change it.
3. Once you’ve found the correct windscreen wipers for your car, read the packaging to find out whether they need to be inserted or clamped during installation. Then remove the worn blades in the appropriate way and dispose of the old windscreen wipers.
4. Then insert or clamp the new blades onto the wiper arms and let them engage audibly. This is important so that the new wiper blades don’t come loose while driving. As the installation methods of the windscreen wipers differ depending on the vehicle make and model, each of our packages comes with the relevant instructions. For some of our products, we also have installation videos available to help you change your wipers.

These instructions are transferable to the rear wipers. Remember that these wiper blades should also work well.

Fitting a new wiper motor

If your wipers no longer move at all, run at different speeds or make unusual noises, you may also need to change the wiper motor as it may be defective. It’s best not to change it yourself, but to have it changed in a professional workshop. Otherwise, improper installation will, in the worst case, result in the new motor breaking down again soon. As a rule, wiper motors have a long lifetime.