This spring, before a 10,000 mile roadtrip, I replaced the OEM wiper blades with a Bosch ICON set (18" and 19"). BIG MISTAKE!

Though Bosch also supplied the original wipers to MINI, their retail version is not the same. The difference is in the bracket hardware that attaches the blade to the wiper arm.

During the trip, one replacement wiper bracket cracked and the wiper flew off over the roof. I taped the bare end of the wiper arm to keep it from scratching the windshield and bought a replacement the following day.

A week ago, returning from Chicago, I accidently hit the wiper stalk and both new blades flew over the roof--apparently both brackets cracked from the extra friction on a dry windshield.

The Bosch replacements are not fit for purpose, and Bosch tech support has been notified. Luckily, I had saved the original blades in the spare tire well and was able to get home through intermittent thunderstorms. New OEM blades were ordered from a San Francisco Mini dealer who sells them through mail-order last week. They arrived promptly and were identical to the original equipment which performed without a hitch for almost five years.