Cleaning BMW Wheels

[richardb]

What products do you guys use to conquer brake dust? Any favorite tire dressing products, or do you go without? Made this quick video this morning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6JLBNbV-Ig

[Ricky Bobby]

In my opinion, here is my wheel cleaning regimen:

-Every 3 months or so, decontaminate the wheels of baked on brake dust and grime with a wheel cleaner like Adam's or Sonax, etc
-Wheel Woolies for the barrels, Boars hair brush for faces, etc on every wash, separate bucket for wheel/tire use
-Put a good coat of sealant on the wheels (I have quite a few, but Sonax Polymer Netshield, Adam's Liquid Paint sealant, both good) and your wheels will not have anything sticking to them for a good 2 months or more, sure the brake dust will accumulate, but you can maintain with just a bucket of soap and the brushes/woolies for maintenance in between

Repeat the decon/seal regimen every 3 months for optimal protection - I've found a 6 month paint sealant lasts approx 50% of the lifespan on wheels because of the heat and the pounding they take from the road.

For tires, find a good strong APC and scrub with a stiff bristled brush, then dress with something water based. I use Adam's VRT and have been for years, great natural look with no high shine. It also lasts a few weeks per application and subsequent applications take less product.

My 50cents...


EDIT: Just watched your video - SuperClean is a pretty harsh cleaner, I would use it on tires, with a stiff bristle brush, not the same one that you clean wheels with. If you use it every wash my problem is that you are never leaving protection on wheels.

My wheels get brake dust like yours (especially the fronts) but come clean like yours in between "deep clean" sessions with just brushes and a bucket of pH neutral car soap.

If anything I'd stick with Simple Green as its a bit gentler, but it will strip any protection off the wheels. Get the Wheel Woolies too, especially with those wheels, I've had mine for years and they hold up great and will pay for themselves in 2-3 cleanings.

[StephenVA]

I am a big Griot's user and have been for many years as they deliver what is needed when it is needed.
The acid IRON removal is a great step and I was shocked on how much was there was after cleaning with normal products.

I pull the wheels 2x a year and clean even after washing and detailing weekly. I am a little extreme on cleanliness but it is the way I am programmed. Dirty car = dirty/disorganized life (or kids).

My standard process is I use Griots wheel cleaner, rubber cleaner, dawn dish detergent, and lots of water. followed up with Best in show wax or Wheel wax. If I have pulled them I always clay them before waxing and using a little Fine Hand Polish to get ride of any marks, road trash, tar, etc. I also use 3MM Adhesive Remover for the tar splats. Griots has what I would call a whole bunch of tools to clean wheels. I own most of them. Love the wheel well brush.
Wheels & Metal Accessories - Griot's Garage

After drying I use Griots Long Lasting Tire Shine on the daily drivers.

There are lots of sources for other products that may or may or not do a similar job. The key here is to use the damn things frequently and with devotion.

[richardb]

Great tips! Going to try the Sonax and wheel woolies for future cleanings. Will review soon.

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by richardb

Great tips! Going to try the Sonax and wheel woolies for future cleanings. Will review soon.

Have you ordered it yet? I said Sonax because its a popular cleaner - but there are other wheel cleaners which are a LOT more pleasant smelling, and you can also use them on paint to do iron decontamination (basically cutting your claybar time in half) - I personally also don't like the sprayer on the bottles the Sonax comes in

Adam's Wheel Cleaner (adamspolishes.com)
Iron-X (CarPro)

Both are better at masking the scent of the wheel cleaner IMO - the active ingredient in these wheel cleaners smells subtly of the chemicals used to do perm's at the womens salon - so its not nice at all.

[jsoto]

Out of all the wheel iron cleaners out there, I use Sonax for heavy cleaning BUT my go to is 1Z Colourtec. There is some foaming to the cleaner....I like this alot

[Ricky Bobby]

^^1Z Colourtec is another great wheel cleaner!

[jsoto]

Favorite Tire Dressing - TufShine. It's a bit too sh1ney for me but the longevity is well worth it. Got tons of water based favorites, but they're only as good as till it get's wet...

Invest in a pressure washer if u don't want to in products.
Wheels stay a ton cleaner, even without needing soap or harsh chemicals.
Just be careful around the wheel weights

[D Unit]

That's insane StephenA. My x5 wheels are too far gone for me to even attempt something like that.

But, for my refurbished set of wheels, I used CarPro Cquartz to coat them and top them off with CarPro Reload. For cleaning, I use CarPro Iron X and reapply CarPro Reload for protection again.

For tire dressing, nothing beats CarPro PERL. It doesn't look too wet and doesn't fling off the other stuff. I like to pour into a squeezable ketchup bottle and apply it using a tire sponge applicator.

[Ricky Bobby]

CarPro makes phenomenal products :thumb up: