The nose job: lights and wipers

[Brianna]

My rv came with two broken wiper nozzles on the front cap and two absent sprayer nozzles on the wiper arms.
I'm sure you guys all know this stuff, but incase this might help someone, here is what I did:

The bottom nozzles on the front cap are generic and easy to find. Just search "rv sprayer nozzles".
Just open the front cap and reach up behind the wipers to locate the old hose and pull it off. Remove old nut and remove old broken nozzle.

The matching sprayer nozzles for the Dyna wiper arms, are online as 200955. Often shown as Dyna (old style). They are only a couple dollars each.

There are many places selling replacement blades. I got mine from Wipers123. They specified Trico 68-281 for my 2000 alpine. They are about 28".
I don't see why you couldn't go up a couple of inches if you wanted to.

Adjusting the vertical blade angle is easy with the two adjusting screws....I would like to move the passenger side wiper over one notch, but I'm not sure how to pull it (without breaking it).

So while I was standing in the "generator room" I noticed that half the headlight bolts no longer had nuts on them. So I removed the lights, polished them with a mother's kit from advanced auto, soaked them with 303 UV protectant and put them back in with new stainless bolts and lock nuts. After 20 years, there's a limit to how much improvement you can get.

If anyone is planning on replacing their 1999--2003 headlights, I learned that they were Hella, originally made for the BMW 528i. There are many aftermarket replacements available in several trim options (chrome, black, led halo, etc). The basic category is E39. You can even just buy a new front half and use your old back half.
It seems that specifying WRV Alpine returns higher prices than searching for BMW---go figure.

[Brianna]

More pics

[Brianna]

I did it.
I don't have a puller, so I used WD40 and eased the arm off with a hammer claw and a screwdriver.
Now the wipers are symmetrical. Yaay.

[96Bounder1st]

Nice work, good write up with part numbers.

Front of coach looks very clean.


Terry

[Alpine36]

Looks great, and thanks for the wiper blade part numbers.
I replaced ours with the wrong type of Tricos and had to adapt them to fit, but they fit somewhat sloppy.
If you want new replacement lenses for your headlights and retain the original Hella housings I am very pleased with these from ECS Tuning, a BMW performance outlet. The price, fit and finish of these are as good as originals at a fraction of the cost.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-bremmen-...3128375301kt1/

[Dave Fernandez]

You can also use the following 28” Wiper Blades on the Alpine Split Window,

Tru Vision TV6-28 and
NAPA HD 6-2856

[Hayduke]

your lenses buffed out nice. I thought about trying that on mine, but I can see that the discoloration goes deep into the plastic. BTW, the coach looks creepy with her eyes missing

[Brianna]

Hayduke,
Although the outside of my lenses are now shiny, and probably the headlights are brighter, the plastic itself is full of a billion tiny fractures from being 20 years old.
If you do it, I highly recommend taking the fixture out* so you can lay it across your kitchen sink and stand upright for the wet sanding. Probably takes the same amount of time as carefully masking off the rv paint. But as I and 36 pointed out, we are all lucky that there are also a ton of aftermarket bmw replacement/mods available. Alpine could have made some now- unavailable proprietary fixtures.

* I know our Alpine's are really well made, but the way the headlights just "sort of fit" in the holes and are "sort of secure" between two flimsy fiberglass tabs is kind of cheesy.

[Old Scout]

So how many RV manufacturers do you think make their own head/tail light assemblies? I suspect not many! Fact is, with the exception of side walls, roofs and caps, and cabinets, almost everything else is off the shelf from the automotive, trucking, and residential housing industries. WRV used the same mold for all the front caps [perhaps not 98/99s]. Interestingly, the driver's side radius matches the assemblies, while the passenger side is slightly off. So go ahead, spend a few $$$$ and get you a nice set of after-market assemblies--I really like some of the LED "eye-brow" and halo designs--add some high performance bulbs while you are at it--very modern look....
PS--doubt luck has much to do with this --BMW build 100,000s if not millions of 5- series cars from 98-2003..so lots of after market stuff for these popular vehicles.

[GSPx2]

I just went to the link at ecs tuning and estimated ship, January of 2021 ?

[Sco70ttie]

Here is a link on ebay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-1996-20...53.m2749.l2649

[Alpine36]

Originally Posted by GSPx2

I just went to the link at ecs tuning and estimated ship, January of 2021 ?

I suspect, like everything else from China, the supply chain is disrupted. I bought ours pre Covid.

[GSPx2]

Do you know if the ones in the eBay link are plug and play ?
If not, how difficult is the conversion ?

[Tom and Patty]

Originally Posted by Brianna

More pics

I am very...um...anal. So glad you fixed your wipers. Had to replace the wiper nozzles on the Alpine too.


The first thing I did when I got the Blue Bird home was take off the wipers, paint them a satin black and reinstall symmetrical.



The Alpine looks good!!!