I need help! I purchased old A8 last fall and over the winter, I bought new Aerotwin Bosch wipers at Napa Autopart. Employee said they were OEM so I had to wait a few days which i did. Remove old ones and replaced with new ones. Wipers were not exactly the same length (about 10 mm shorter on the top) and the bracket clip was slightly different but considering age of car, the fit seemed good.

Surprise: blade was not pressed flat against the glass so no wiping effect. To fix that, i pressed the bracket tightly into the arm.

Surprise 2: wiper does not remain flat on the return. Parts of it leave the glass altogether, leaving a spot un-wiped. Wiper flattens again on the forward motion, only to do the same thing on way back.

I removed both wipers, WD40 and oiled the hub onto which the wiper clips (it was corroded). No difference, possibly worst. Wiper assembly seems tight in the arm but i can't see how that plays a role. The spring tension is high and it does not appear to be adjustable.

Can anyone shed light on this problem? I know that Bosch is the OPM to Audi but could there be a dealer-only part number?

 

BOSCH is not the wiper OEM, it is SWF.
The originals are curved for exact fit, the Aerotwins are universal with the wedged fitting added. Just return them. Sometimes they are cheaper if the dealer fits them (menu pricing) rather than purchased as spare parts!

 

The Bosch version is also curved, in fact, the curve is too pronounced and I think this is what causes it to lift when the wiper reaches the end of its course.

Regardless, I will get them replaced.

Can't return the old ones as I bought them under duress in another country.

Thanks for quick reply.

 

UPDATE

I kept putting off getting OEM wipers and had to drive into heavy rain. Using a Dremmel tool, I milled down both BOSCH wipers in the clip area. In total, I removed about 1.5 mm of thickness. Placed back on car, both wipers moved freely. Performance in rain was fantastic.

Bottom line: the actual attachment point is standard but the width of the arm is narrower on that A8 model year, preventing the cheaper Bosch wiper from moving freely. Milling down is a hack for sure but it made my trip 100% safer.