does any body know how to remove the front wiper cowl and assembly on a 1st gen. xB? I have to change out the air filter but the strut bar is in the way. I read several posts that talked about installing or removing strut bar without removing the wiper cowl and assembly but I'm not having any success with them. Any information is deeply appreciated!

 

Your strutbar doesn't allow air filter removal??? How strange. The box should tilt upward enough to pull the filter out. It did with my DC CS2 bar anyway.
No need to remove cowling tho. Just remove the strutbar by placing the front end up on jackstands. It allows the struts to drop down enough so the nuts can be removed completely. If you need more room just push down on the tire.
If it is this hard to change out the airfilter you should either get different strut bar or lose the stock airbox in favor of CAI or short ram intake. New bar would be cheapest tho. Good luck, if you have additional questions don't hessitate to ask. That's why we are here.

 

don't know why you would need to remove it, but here you go.

pop off the tabs at the base of the wiper, undo nut, wiggle the wiper arm off, take all the little plastic clips off that run the length of the cowl, the top plastic part should come off, then under there you will see the wiper motor, and nuts at random places all along the the bottom metal part of the cowl, I do believe there is a nut behind the wiper motor so you will need to unbolt that as well, to access it. an that should be about it.