[RPM]

I installed the RAINX wipers a few months back. They work well, much better than the standard Bosch wipers I had used for years.

But...

1. They are extremely expensive. More than $40 for the pair. Not sure they are that good.

2. 19" is the right length for the driver's side, but I wish I had gone with 18" for the passenger side. The 19 hangs off the windshield curve and as a result the swept edge is ragged and the wiper moves around a bit at speed.

3. Installation was tricky. They do not positively 'click' in place as easily the Bosch. I didn't get them seated properly the first time and had to reinstall.

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[flash]

i'll check it out this afternoon when i'm back from the swap meet - i have both here and can give it a whirl

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[ds968]

I have the Icons, they look great / a very low profile, updated look to the car and they function extremely well ( recently tested in both light and heavy rain ). But I should have also bought the passenger side in the 1" shorter version - the tip goes underneath the hood edge, and lucky it does just barely clear it by maybe 2 mm, it just bugs me from an aesthetics stanpoint .

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[RPM]

So the 19" ICON fits - despite any official 'fitment' from Bosch?

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[Sho968]

This is something that drove me nuts a while ago (I even back-dated my Audi from 2003 arm to 2001 arm in order to avoid "dealer only" SWF blade nonsense), so here's what I can add to our knowledge about Bosch Icon:

1) Curvature: "A" and "B" for Icon P/N signify two different pre-formed curvature, as unlike traditional wuffle tree arrangement which automatically evens out the contact pressure over wide range of windshields , Icon relies on the curvature of the spring plate (and aerodynamic force at speed) for even contact with windshield. This could be the reason behind some cars are not on Bosch's application list (but who cares it you test it and it works?). What I don't know is which one has tighter radius, as you'll have to take it out of the box to see the unstrained curvature. The ratailers now have to double their stock for each length, though.

2) Performance: You guys probably know better, but I'm testing one of each on my Audi, and so far Icon seems to work at least equal to the conventional one (Bosch Micro Edge with refillable insert, not Excel).

3) Refillability: I don't like the idea of filling our land with good blades/bad rubber, so I keep replacing refillable inserts untill the blade joints wears out, etc. What bugs me is that Micro Edge/Excel cost around $15 a piece, and Icon costs over $20 a piece.
If you are an engineer like me, you can easilly see the production cost of these blades. It should cost a lot more to produce conventional blades (Both Excel and Icon are manufactured in China today).
So at first I thought Icon may be a marketing gimmick (lower cost + higher retail price = happy shareholders) from otherwise a reputable company, at the expense of consumers and retailers. But since it seems to work, the remaining
question for me is refillability (I don't want to spend $40 everytime a pair of rubber dies). It turns out Icons are refillable (by 'hacking', there are many posts on this on YouTube). Bear in mind that this refillability may not apply to other Icon-TYPE blade sold by others (SWF, Michelin, etc.). OEM SWF, for example, uses rubber that is integral to the spoiler portion (not refillable unless you can get such refill).

So I'm using either MicroEdge or Icon on all of my German cars (4+), hoping that those 6mm refills continue to be available for a very sensible reason in this not so sensible age... (who wants to bother selling $5 refills when you can push the new $20 blade, right?)

Just my two cents,

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[PorscheDude]

I just use rain-x on the windshield. Next to use for the wipers.
I just run the regular Bosch blades courtesy of Many, Moe and Mike.

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[RPM]

In heavy rain this morning the RainEx driver's side blade left an unswept spot at the base of the windshield. I'm going to fiddle with it tonight, but my endoresement (for whatever that is worth...) is officially withdrawn.

It is sometimes hard to build a better mousetrap.

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