F31 340i wiper blades

[J3PTF]

Any recommendations for best to go for? Front pair from BMW are over £60 but can't work out who the OEM equivalent are to buy elsewhere.

Or any other recommendations that are any good?

[d_a_n1979]

Get the part number off www.realoem.com and put that into eBay

I did that for my F31 and got all 3 Bosch blades for £36!

OR, measure them and use those for the relevant Bosch blades etc

[bigdom]

https://www.c3bmw.co.uk/wiper-blade-set-front-f30-...

[MarkJS]

OEM is - Valeo 577829 Silencio VF829

[J3PTF]

Thanks!

MarkJS said:

OEM is - Valeo 577829 Silencio VF829

Thanks this is helpful - but are you sure it is the VF829? Just looked them up on ECP and it suggests VF371 instead. Ebay says the VF829 is mainly for 4 series!

[MarkJS]

J3PTF said:

Thanks!

MarkJS said:

OEM is - Valeo 577829 Silencio VF829

Thanks this is helpful - but are you sure it is the VF829? Just looked them up on ECP and it suggests VF371 instead. Ebay says the VF829 is mainly for 4 series!

Whoops. My apologies - that is for a 4 Series which I have. I assumed they were the same. But, if you get the 3 Series size, they are excellent.

[Aluminati]

Halfords.

[J3PTF]

MarkJS said:

Whoops. My apologies - that is for a 4 Series which I have. I assumed they were the same. But, if you get the 3 Series size, they are excellent.

Great - just found them from Amazon for £22 which is cheaper than most of the alternatives!

[MarkJS]

J3PTF said:

MarkJS said:

Whoops. My apologies - that is for a 4 Series which I have. I assumed they were the same. But, if you get the 3 Series size, they are excellent.

Great - just found them from Amazon for £22 which is cheaper than most of the alternatives!

Excellent.

[helix402]

Genuine BMW. Cost more. Last longer and work better. This includes the well known names such as Bosch and Valeo.

[MarkJS]

helix402 said:

Genuine BMW. Cost more. Last longer and work better. This includes the well known names such as Bosch and Valeo.

The genuine ones are made by Valeo.

[helix402]

MarkJS said:

The genuine ones are made by Valeo.

I don’t doubt it, however I still find gen. BMW ones work better and last longer.

[JakeT]

helix402 said:

Genuine BMW. Cost more. Last longer and work better. This includes the well known names such as Bosch and Valeo.

I agree. I found Bosch ones crap, and Valero decent, but the genuine BMW ones have outlasted both.

[rottenegg]

JakeT said:

helix402 said:

Genuine BMW. Cost more. Last longer and work better. This includes the well known names such as Bosch and Valeo.

I agree. I found Bosch ones crap, and Valero decent, but the genuine BMW ones have outlasted both.

Yep. I fitted Bosch ones from Halfords 4 months ago and they are juddering already.

The Valeo ones from the dealer have a stainless hinge pin, whereas the Valeo aftermarket OE equivalent uses a plastic hinge, which is an immediate clue they're not the same. If they skimped on the hinge quality, it's highly likely the rubber quality is sub par as well.

It was the same with my VWs as well. Dealer sourced blades, no problem, last 2 years easily. Halfords Bosch, a year, tops.

I've heard so many times over the years "Yeah but X, Y, Z make them for BMW/VW/Audi et al so they are exactly the same". Yes, correct, they do, but does that mean it's EXACTLY the same quality? I've owned German cars for over 30 years and used OE and OE equivalent parts and I can tell you, they are most definitely not the same.

Yes the branding is shaved off the retail parts because of licensing I suspect, but also they are not the latest revision parts. The parts used on the production line have to meet higher quality standards and the specs can change at short notice. The stuff in the aftermarket is likely the older spec parts which have been superseded X amount of times since.

[MarkJS]

rottenegg said:

JakeT said:

helix402 said:

Genuine BMW. Cost more. Last longer and work better. This includes the well known names such as Bosch and Valeo.

I agree. I found Bosch ones crap, and Valero decent, but the genuine BMW ones have outlasted both.

Yep. I fitted Bosch ones from Halfords 4 months ago and they are juddering already.

The Valeo ones from the dealer have a stainless hinge pin, whereas the Valeo aftermarket OE equivalent uses a plastic hinge, which is an immediate clue they're not the same. If they skimped on the hinge quality, it's highly likely the rubber quality is sub par as well.

It was the same with my VWs as well. Dealer sourced blades, no problem, last 2 years easily. Halfords Bosch, a year, tops.

I've heard so many times over the years "Yeah but X, Y, Z make them for BMW/VW/Audi et al so they are exactly the same". Yes, correct, they do, but does that mean it's EXACTLY the same quality? I've owned German cars for over 30 years and used OE and OE equivalent parts and I can tell you, they are most definitely not the same.

Yes the branding is shaved off the retail parts because of licensing I suspect, but also they are not the latest revision parts. The parts used on the production line have to meet higher quality standards and the specs can change at short notice. The stuff in the aftermarket is likely the older spec parts which have been superseded X amount of times since.

I must be extremely lucky then because my ‘OEM’ Valeo blades are EXACTLY the same as the old ones which were fitted in Munich.