Wheel cleaner for weekly use?

2

2005GTPinMD

New member
I recently replaced my GTP with a BMW:bounce. While I love my new car, I am really getting sick of the trademark BMW brake dust. Since I have three year free maitenance I don't want to change the pads.



Right now I am washing my car weekly and spending an insane amount of time trying to keep the wheels cleans (about 30 minutes). I use my car wash to clean the wheels along with brushes and microfiber mit. Is there any better cleaner I could use routinely without harming the finish on the wheel. I also put a good coast of Klasse AOI on the wheels. I was thinking Meguire's Wheel Brightner or perhaps a good APC or PS1 wheel gel. Anyone have any ideas?
 
Had an M3so I feel your pain! I used P21S weel gel but in all actuality, if you was weekly Mix 2 oz of your car was soap in a 32 oz spray bottle, wet dry, cool wheel and soap it up with the mixture. Nothing is going to allow you to hose off the BMW dust to a perfect shine. Comp[are that witht he P21S gel and i think you will agree, it about ther same and the car wash soap is much cheaper!
 
I have an 08 335i and the brake dust is ridiculous on BMW's.



I use diluted Simple Green to clean them up and then seal them up with Wheel Wax or Poorboy's Wheel Sealant.
 
The dilemma with wheels is always that if you use harsh cleaners it removes any wax/sealant which just makes them more difficult to clean...if you don't have any etched in dust, or if you're going to remove that with acid wheel cleaner, I would say something like P21 or Griot's would be a better weekly cleaner. Periodically you may need to use an acid to remove buildup. Just this past weekend I finally got to try my Valugard Custom Wheel Cleaner which is a non-hydroflouric acid-based cleaner, and it seemed to work great on the back of the spokes of a family member's car. http://www.valugard.net/cms/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=9veboNYtmXs=&tabid=70&mid=397
 
just wash with soft wheel brush and regular car soap and dry with a squirt of DG Aqua Wax.that is if you're just talking weekly and they are cleaned GOOD every month or so.
 
Cleaning with a regular car wash soap on BMW rims can be sort of a PITA, even when the rims are sealed,it takes a lot of agitation and it is easy to miss spots.



A product like WB would be bad for both the rims and your health in the long term, I only use it on really nasty rims. It does do a nice job of removing staining that would of otherwise required a paint cleaner or polish to remove, though.



A product I like is Mother's Wheel Mist All Wheel Cleaner (or something like that), it smells absolutely terrible, but you don't need to use much, it lathers/foams up nice, and does a very nice job on moderate brake dust (think 2 weeks of Bimmer daily driving sans a wash). P21S is a bit pricey for weekly use, IMO, although I would still like to try it.



Get yourself a Swissvax wheel brush, and an EZ Brush, neither are particularly cheap (especially the latter), but they make relatively quick work of dirty rims.
 
I currently have P21S wheel cleaner and its great, but one thing I've noticed is (maybe its me) you don't need a fancy wheel cleaner if your rims aren't very dirty all you need is regular car wash or an all purpose cleaner. I used an All purpose cleaner on my rims and it did the same thing as my P21S wheel cleaner. What a sham!! :p
 
rx7_FD said:
I currently have P21S wheel cleaner and its great, but one thing I've noticed is (maybe its me) you don't need a fancy wheel cleaner if your rims aren't very dirty all you need is regular car wash or an all purpose cleaner. I used an All purpose cleaner on my rims and it did the same thing as my P21S wheel cleaner. What a sham!! :p
Click to expand...



I dunno if I'd go so far as to call it a sham :think:



The APCs I use are different from both regular shampoos and wheel cleaners, most notably in the sense of lubricity (APCs simply don't have any) and encapsulaton (APCs don't do it much).



Also, I think that if you ph-tested wheel cleaners like P21s/Griot's you'd find that they're closer to neutral than many (most?) APCs.



Do the above matter? I dunno...but I don't want to find out on *my* wheels :D I'm always reminded of the guy here (who *was* it :confused: This was a few years ago and I just can't remember) who used Simple Green on his VW's wheels for years-"great stuff, works super.." he was really happy with it until he noticed that the fnish on his wheels was just a little cloudy compared to some other guy's VW wheels...the Simple Green had permanently messed up their finish, did it so gradually he didn't notice until it was too late.



Having driven a *LOT* of wheel-dust-issue German cars (including track days), I just use shampoo on the LSPed ones and Griot's on the not-LSPed ones. I dunno, it's time consuming but it never seems all that bad :nixweiss Only time I use APCs for this is on the back sides of wheels that haven't been cleaned for years (e.g., when I buy a used car). Might try that ValuGard stuff next time (thanks for the link, Setec Astronomy).
 
I got a tip a while back, use 4 oz of CG's Citrus Wash and Gloss in a quart spray bottle - use a foaming sprayer if you have one. I tried it and it works great for weekly washes. I try it first on cars I do for customers and only go to my APC if I have to.
 
I have a 2003 bimmer. I have used Megs all purpose wheel cleaner since the beginning. I have used S100 wheel cleaner, same as P21S gel but cheaper, from time to time if I found it on sale, but I have not notice any adverse reactions to using Megs. The wheels still look great. No problems with the CC fading or dulling. It is truly a spry on and hose off wheel cleaner.
 
Please do not compromise your wheels with APC! As mentioned it has low lube and low encapsulation. You just end up with micromarring on wheels, which means they look less bright and the clearcoat fills with tiny brakedust particals and they look dull. Wheels are key to a good looking detail.



Seriously, all you need is 1 good wheel cleaner for regular, 3-4 months cleanings. After that clay, cleanse and seal and your good to go for with just shampoo and water for the next few months!



As for products you see like Bilberry over on DW. Not so good either, i was just posting on my regular forum. A decent cleaner on the fronts, needs to be in foam form to acutally work. Foam gets on the car, it doesnt cling to well and isnt very good for inners.



Cant beat a one off investment in P21s or similar.



Geoff
 
JSFM35X said:
Wheel cleaner for weekly use?
Click to expand...





If you want to keep the wheels looking new for a long, long time, get yourself the P21S product (regular is fine) or Griot's wheel cleaner. While the P21S has slightly better cleaning properties, the Griot's is a fraction of the price and nearly as good. You could also get the P21S gel and dilute to 50% strength.



The problem with these cars, whether VW, Audi, BMW or Benz, they all require wheels to be cleaned weekly if you wish to keep the finish looking new.



Enjoy the car :2thumbs:
 
I use WB once every 6 months probably on my wheels....if they get really bad i use CG Citrus Blue Wheel Cleaner....but i also always have a DG501/topped with 105/topped with Collinite 845 combo on there and literally i can use car wash soap, my EZ brush and a Swissvax brush to clean to dang near perfection, but i wash religiously once a week.
 
Tom P. - Didn't you find you generally do better with a dedicated wheel cleaner than with a shampoo on a LSPed wheel?



Oh, and I often dilute P21s/Griot's Wheel Cleaners. Diluted a bit, they still work better than shampoo mix.



steelwind101 said:
... clay, cleanse and seal and your good to go for with just shampoo and water for the next few months!
Click to expand...



I *usually* do that, but on some vehicles/types of wheels I gotta admit I just leave 'em "bare" and wash with Griot's Wheel Cleaner. BBS-style wheels are such a PIA and they always seem to be on vehicles with major dusting; I just use wheel cleaners on that type of wheel.



..[with improper cleaning you]...just end up with micromarring on wheels, which means they look less bright and the clearcoat fills with tiny brakedust particals and they look dull..
Click to expand...



That's a great point! The brake dust does build up a lot worse on wheels that don't have a nice smooth finish, and every little bit of marring is a place for that dust to gain a toehold.
 
I agree that BMW wheels are a PITA. On my wife's 325i I use Meguiar's Wheel Brightener if they are really bad, but normally I use Purple Power diluted with about two parts water. I spray the diluted Purple Power with an Ace Hardware pump sprayer and then agitate with the EZ Detail Brush. I spend probably around 15 minutes cleaning the wheels this way. I've tried sealing the clean wheels with Klasse AIO, but it seems like a waste of time if I'm going to hit them with strong cleaning products within a week.
 
I just use car wash solution on my BMW's wheels when cleaning about every 2 weeks. I seal them with Klasse SG every couple washes, and clay/lightly polish them off the car when the tires get rotated. This seems to help with ease of cleaning, although they aren't too bad anyway being a five-spoke open design.
 
From the above suggestions/comments, it is clear that there is no silver bullet. No matter what, weekly or more frequent washes are necessary with the amount of dust produced by these brake pad compositions (and the miles accumulated). But this is Autopia right? IME, sealing the wheel can work wonders. The WOWO products are appealing from an application standpoint but don't seem to offer the slickness and dirt shedding capabilities of a product like FK 1000P. For the most part, with 1000P, it is almost good enough to spray off with a power washer but typically cleaning with auto shampoo and drying with a spritz of 425 works wonders. Leaves the wheels very clean with significant durability (for wheels).
 
just save your time and get the Axis deluxe brake pads....u'll proabably break even in the end considering what u've spent on products and u're time...the axis deluxe pads worked great on both my bmws......



Also just get your rims chromed...polished wheels are a pain to take care off...here are my last set of chromed bmw rims



b4.jpg
[/IMG]
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top