A moment with Chris Thompson

Had some trouble with the rain this weekend, my wipers weren’t cutting it anymore and needed to be replaced. Another good opportunity to do a BMW X3 wiper replacement tech tip.

First, I tried calling around to some local auto stores, but in my area wipers for a BMW X3 need to be special ordered. I figured if that’s the case, try the dealership also. Stevens Creek BMW wanted over $140 for the front driver and passenger wipers alone – that sounded exorbitant to someone cost sensitive like me. I tried a few more local shops and found the front set for under $100 but still a bit high. I ended up doing much better than that.



Ultimately, I found some Bosch wiper refills (Bosch 43722 Wiper Refill Pr & Bosch 43720 Wiper Refill Pr) that did the trick. The driver side wiper uses 22 inch while the passenger side uses 20 inch. The refills come in sets of two, so you could use sturdy wire clippers and cut the second 43722 refill down to fit the passenger side wiper. Instead, I suggest just getting the 20 inch set as well, and keep the spares handy for your next wiper change. Here are some more handy tips and photos to help with the entire replacement procedure – driver passenger & rear window.
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Last year I sold my 2001 Corvette for $15,500. The price we agreed on was within the amount stated for private party Blue Book value in 2010, so why bother writing an article about this? Well, there are a few reasons. First, even though the car was was in great condition with no issues, I wasn’t getting any serious offers. Second, I discovered some effective ways to demonstrate value online. I found out it takes more than throwing my listing on Craigslist and renewing it weekly, let me explain my suggestions on how to sell your car.



The minimum to sell your car…
My plan was to create a better than average Craigslist ad, and highlight the features I thought would help the car sell. I gave the car a thorough cleaning inside and out, and took dozens of pictures. The best ones I uploaded to Photobucket and labeled with titles and descriptions. I then put together an HTML page that I could copy into Craigslist and re-list every week. Here’s what my Craiglist ad looked like when I started. I had listed the car for $16k, which was slightly above good Kelly Blue book value at the time, but as you can see in the photos the car was pretty clean.

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