A silver Vauxhall VX220 on track
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Wiper blades and arms: which fits, and the early arm problem

The VX220 came with two styles of wiper arm, and the early one won’t take a normal blade. What owners did about it (Elise S2 arm, a drilled generic blade, or just new rubber), the usual 24 inch size, and which blades they liked.

Applies to: VX220 and Speedster, NA, TurboDifficulty: Time: A few minutes for a blade, about 5 minutes for an arm

Parts

  • Wiper blade, 24 inch (600 mm), for the hook-type arm (Owners used blades listed for the Zafira, Opel Movano and Vivaro, or an Elise S2 blade. Check the fit on your arm)
  • Elise S2 wiper arm and blade (for the early arm) (£25 to £31 from Lotus dealers in 2010 and 2013, and cheaper from one specialist. We haven’t seen a part number)

Tools

  • Small screwdriver or pin punch, to push the pin out of an early arm
Look at your arm first. If a normal blade from a shop won't clip on, you almost certainly have the early arm. The threads agree there were two types, but nobody could say which cars have which.

The two arm types

  • Later arm: the hook type. A standard hook, so standard blades fit. This is the same as the Elise S2 arm, and what Elise Parts and Lotus supply.
  • Early arm: a flat arm with a big plastic block ("blob") and a pin. The blade is held by a pin through the block, with a clip. One owner compared it to a radio-controlled car body clip and pin. It is the Elise S1 style.
  • Which cars? One owner with a 2001 car had the early arm, but another with a Y-registration car (2001) had the hook type, and it was said to be "luck of the draw on 2001 models". Another owner with a 2005 car asked about it, so we can't say when it changed. A 2020 post says a Speedster uses the early pin system, which is one report.
Help wanted
We don't know which build numbers have which arm. If you have an early arm, please tell us your build number and year, and send a photo of the arm.

Send us details or photos →

If you have the early arm

A dealer would charge over £30 for the original-style blade in 2011 and 2013, and one owner found the Vauxhall blade supplier had changed and the replacement was poor for £20 or more. The options owners used:

  1. Just replace the rubber. Slide the old rubber out of your blade and slide a new one in. Called the easiest and cheapest option (2011 and 2013).
  2. Fit an Elise S2 arm and blade. About the same cost as the original-style blade on its own, and then ordinary blades are cheap (a Lotus replacement blade was under £10, 2013). Prices quoted: about £27 (2010), £31 including VAT (2010, about 5 minutes to fit), and under £30 for a full arm and wiper from Elise Parts (2006). One owner said a specialist was cheaper than the Lotus dealer and had it in stock (2010).
  3. Adapt a generic blade. Several owners modified a standard blade:
    • Drill out the centre pin where the hook should attach (one owner, 2013).
    • A Bosch SP23 was reported in 2020 for an early-arm Speedster. The hole in it is the same diameter as the arm's pin. You may need to drill the centre pin out of the blade (it is rivet-like, a few turns of the drill) and then push the arm pin through.
    • An aero blade for a Mercedes: push the metal pin out of its plastic connector and put the VX pin through (2010).

Is it worth swapping to the later arm? One owner who fitted the S2 arm said the blade covers more of the screen and stays closer to the glass. Another said the longer Lotus blade does a better job than the original. Both are opinions.

Sizes and blades owners used

  • 24 inch (600 mm) was the commonly quoted size on a hook arm, and it is said to be the same as the Elise S2 blade. Blades listed for the Vauxhall Zafira, Movano and Vivaro were all reported to fit, and one owner got a 24 inch Zafira blade cheaply.
  • 22 inch was suggested for a screen with a sunstrip, and for a curved blade. One owner recommended a PIAA 22 inch silicone curved blade as the best fit.
  • Cheap flat or aero blades (about £7 at a supermarket or online) work. Several owners said you may need to bend them slightly by hand to match the curved screen. One owner found a supermarket one not that good.
  • PIAA silicone: one owner had one for four years and said it was still going strong. Another called them a waste of money that need the screen cleaned by hand to work properly.
  • Prices in 2011: one owner paid about £8 to £9 each for Bosch blades at a motor factor. A national chain was £16 for its own brand and about £30 for an original-style blade.
  • If the screen is streaky or greasy, it may be the blade. One owner cleaned screen and blade over and over until a new blade fixed it. A screen repellent was suggested by another owner.
If the blade keeps coming off. One owner's 24 inch Zafira blade had a plastic clip that kept popping open while wiping, and the blade came off. Check the clip is closed and that the blade really suits your arm. Another owner said his blade has two tiny plastic latches that snap down over the end of the arm, which were awkward until he realised that was how it works.

Taking a blade off an early arm

An owner in 2018 asked how the early arm comes apart. The answer: there is a clip on the pin from the wiper, so push the pin out and the blade comes off. We don't have a working photo of this. If you have one, please send it.

Sunstrip and the MOT

If your screen has a tinted sunstrip, a full length blade sweeps across it. Owners disagreed about what matters. One kept a short blade for the MOT. Another said an inside tint was accepted by a testing station because the original wiper went past the factory tint anyway. A third said the swept area of a full size wiper has to cover the strip for the MOT. We haven't seen an MOT manual reference, so check with your test station.

Wash-wipe blades

For blades with a built-in spray bar, and the Citroën-style bar that clips on, see windscreen washer and spray bar upgrade. If the wipers themselves stop working, see wiper motor failure.

Help wanted
There are no photos of either arm, no part numbers for the Elise S2 arm and blade, and no confirmation of which cars have which arm. If you have any of these, please tell us.

Send us details or photos →

Sources & credit

Written up from these owners' original posts. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

Last updated 2026-10-16