How do I keep my wheels clean?

[buh_buh]

I've never had a problem with keeping wheels clean until this set. The lip always seems to have brake dust on it, and they'll only be clean for the first day after I drive the car, and that's after scrubbing them for a few minutes per wheel after piling on the wheel cleaner at the car wash. Normally with other wheels, I could get away with just spraying it with presoak or product and rinsing it off, but these wheels take a lot of elbow grease to get them looking decent.

Last winter I took them off and spent a few hours cleaning, polishing and waxing and got them looking pretty good, but after the first car wash the wheels were back to being permacakedusted. What can I use so the brake dust will come off easier?

[forkdork]

After you have done a fresh clean, wax them (w/ regular car wax). This will make the dust come off easier, but I find they get dustier quicker.

Other than that, if your wheels are polished but non-clear coated, you are pretty much stuck with polishing them up every so often.

[BlkMaxima]

I think you can get different brake pads that make less dust. Which would mean you don't need to clean your wheels as often.

[Neil4Speed]

Try spraying a Rag with WD-40 and coating your wheel with it. That worked well for me for a few months. I will tell you right now, do not spray your wheel with WD-40, it could get on the brakes which doesn't sound very good

[^SkylinE^]

What are you driving now? For example... Stock STI brake pads create ALOT of brake dust and my wheels where always dirty. Just upgraded and got low dust brake pads and has made a huge difference in how fast the wheels get dirty! Also you can use a nutural ( not basic or acidic ) wheel cleaner... spray it on and wait a bit then was. Also wax helps too!

[Mr_ET]

Are the wheels white?

[88CRX]

Mine do the same thing... they're clean for all of half a day. Then the lips full of dirt, dust and brake dust. And if they get wet then they need to be scrubbed like dirty whore to get clean again.

I usually scrub them down in the driveway with some highly concentrated car soap w/ wax additives.

Car wash pre-soak and soap doesn't even come close to cleaning them

[tirebob]

I am now carrying a really good brand called "Wheel Wax". So far it seems to work exceptionally well and I am very optimistic about it's overall success!

http://www.bimmian.ca/product.htm?veh=Z4&item=WWB

It doesn't break down the same in heat as normal carnuba wax does so it lasts much longer. It not only makes clean-up easier, it helps repel brake dust so you are not having to clean as often...

[E46..sTyLez]

I use Mcguires (sp?) wheel shine (comes in a purple see-through bottle). It's the best shit ever, I have never seen such a powerful cleaner for a rim. It takes off brake dust in 2 minutes by itself. I spray it on right before the wash and when i get to the wheels the brake dust is all in a puddle in the dish. Just spray the puddle out and your done.

P.S. This will not prevent brake dust, just thought I'd let you know how to get it off easily.

[benyl]

BMWs just produce a lot of brake dust. That is why I went with hyperblack wheels (wanted gunmetal). They look the same with or without dust.

The only solution I found was to get pads that don't create dust in the first place.

[Inzane]

Originally posted by E46..sTyLez
I use Mcguires (sp?) wheel shine (comes in a purple see-through bottle). It's the best shit ever,

I wouldn't touch that shit with a 10ft pole. No offense.

That particular wheel cleaner failed the acid etch test in the big guru-report's tire & wheel cleaner test a couple years back. And I know a couple people locally who have had their brake calipers permanently discolored from that stuff. (one was a 03 Altima, and I forget what the other vehicle was).

If you want a good off the shelf wheel cleaner, try Eagle One's A2Z. Way better than Meguiars, IMO. And safer too. (It's not acidic, if anything it's slightly basic).

[rc2002]

Originally posted by Neil4Speed
Try spraying a Rag with WD-40 and coating your wheel with it. That worked well for me for a few months. I will tell you right now, do not spray your wheel with WD-40, it could get on the brakes which doesn't sound very good

I'd think WD40 would cause the dust to stick to the wheel. Everytime I've used it to lubricate something, dust accumulates like crazy.



I haven't found any good solution other than washing often so that the dust doesn't cake onto the wheels.

[E46..sTyLez]

Originally posted by Inzane


I wouldn't touch that shit with a 10ft pole. No offense.

That particular wheel cleaner failed the acid etch test in the big guru-report's tire & wheel cleaner test a couple years back. And I know a couple people locally who have had their brake calipers permanently discolored from that stuff. (one was a 03 Altima, and I forget what the other vehicle was).

If you want a good off the shelf wheel cleaner, try Eagle One's A2Z. Way better than Meguiars, IMO. And safer too. (It's not acidic, if anything it's slightly basic).

That's a fair post ^^^ but i've been using it for 3years on 4 different vehicles (Civic, Teg, Navigator, BMW) with no issues what-so-ever, I guess I don't spray my calipers though haha.

Also, Not only does it clean the rims, they shine like nothing else I have tried...almost blinding....seriously.

I will agree that it is potent though...I inhailed some fumes by accident and coughed my ass off.

[buh_buh]

Originally posted by forkdork
After you have done a fresh clean, wax them (w/ regular car wax). This will make the dust come off easier, but I find they get dustier quicker.

that's what I did last winter when I had the wheels off, but even after the first wash, it was like I never polished and waxed them at all. Even water stains take a bit of scrubbing to get off.

Originally posted by Mr_ET
Are the wheels white?

no theyre gunmetal, but the polished lip is what I'm having difficulties with.

Originally posted by Inzane

If you want a good off the shelf wheel cleaner, try Eagle One's A2Z. Way better than Meguiars, IMO. And safer too. (It's not acidic, if anything it's slightly basic).

I'm already using the Eagle One cleaner, and it still takes a lot of elbow grease to get everything off. Even if I do a half assed job of scrubbing after I spray that stuff on, the wheels look like they haven't been cleaned at all.

I guess its not the brake dust I'm concerned about, its more the cleaning process. I don't mind brake dust, I just hate that it takes me an extra 10 minutes of scrubbing just to get the crap off my wheels, regardless of its brake dust or water spots or whatever is on them. I'm guessing its because there's no clearcoat on them? Would it help if I got the lips cleared?

[D'z Nutz]

I used to use Simple Green on my rims when I had my bimmer (like benyl said, BMWs produce a lot of brake dust). The instructions say to mix it 1:1 with water, but I just sprayed it straight on and let it degrease the dust for a few minutes and then I'd power hose it off. It always seem to do the job just fine. I'd still have to wipe down a bit of the really bad build ups between the spokes, but at least Simple Green loosened it up enough that it wasn't grunt work.

It's like $10 at Parts Source and comes in a spray bottle.

[clem24]

It's pointless.. Just get new brake pads as mentioned. It's such a losing battle.

[Impreza]

Originally posted by tirebob
I am now carrying a really good brand called "Wheel Wax". So far it seems to work exceptionally well and I am very optimistic about it's overall success!

http://www.bimmian.ca/product.htm?veh=Z4&item=WWB

It doesn't break down the same in heat as normal carnuba wax does so it lasts much longer. It not only makes clean-up easier, it helps repel brake dust so you are not having to clean as often...

That's awesome! Great to know that finallly someone locally is carrying this stuff. Do you have it in stock?

[Ferio_vti]

Originally posted by BlkMaxima
I think you can get different brake pads that make less dust. Which would mean you don't need to clean your wheels as often.

Ceramic pads are supposed to be low dust and better performance. Anyone every try ceramic pads??

[GTS Jeff]

Well I'll help you cut through all the bad posts on here and narrow it down:

1. Your problem is that the metal isn't clear coated. You can clear it if you want...Duplicolor has a wheel clear coat - not sure how well it works on polished lips, but that's an option.

2. After you get the lip cleared, wheel wax works to actively repel brake dust.

So yeah, unless you want to clear coat, you're kinda boned.

[buh_buh]

So I guess this winter its clean, polish, clear.

Is ghetto clearing in my garage safe or am I better off bringing it to a shop to do it? I've painted wheels before, but these were on wheels I didn't really car that much about going on my 2002, and I don't want to ruin these wheels.