Bmw rims packed with brake dust

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spitshine1

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Hi Everyone,

I had a detail job yesterday.
The rims on this car was totally packed with brake dust. BLACK all around. Used brushes.
I used Megs apc, 50/50 solution, water.
Had to clean them twice, I then used car wash soap.
After that I worked on them some more with mothers foam cone, with megs 105.
Rims came out ok, but still there was pitting and some residue.
wiped them out with a microfiber towel, and put a coat of wax on them.

I heard using sea sponges work well?
I spent a good hour and a half on these neglected rims.
anybody have any suggestions? I am starting to get some jobs on high end cars.

I cant spend that kind of time on the rims, its going to kill my profits.

Thank you much in advance.
 
For wheels that bad you might need something more like Meg Wheel Brightener. But if the wheels are pitted there is not much you can do about that. Happen to have any pictures?
 
I have a picture of the vehicle but, it does not show the wheels well.
 
I would try an iron remover like Iron X paste. I work at a BMW dealer and every service car gets washed. Wheel brightener barely makes an impact on wheels with years of brake dust.
 
You should get a wheel cleaner instead of just APC. I prefer something like Meguiar's DUB or Sonax's Full Effect to things like wheel acids, but either are going to be better than APC.

Meguiars Wheel Brightener is really affordable and works well so that's what I'd suggest if you don't wanna pay the money for Sonax (definitely not cheap stuff).
 
I wash my wheels so often that I just use regular soap and water. Otherwise I would use Sonax and if there is any stubborn brake dust, I use Iron X.
 
I usually would use something Sonax Full effect with a variety of brushes and a power washer.
 
Once the build-up has set, it takes a bit of work to get rid of it. Several months back, I was bored and I cleaned a set of BMW wheels that was sitting in garage for a while.

I used a combination of D140 and Trix to get from this ...

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to this...

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Here is the write up I did...

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/tricks-tips-techniques/92497-cleaning-barrels-wheels.html
 
I only clean wheels with a dedicated wheel cleaner. Why you are using apc is beyond me.
 
Nice work Peter. :xyxthumbs:

psnt1ol said:
Once the build-up has set, it takes a bit of work to get rid of it. Several months back, I was bored and I cleaned a set of BMW wheels that was sitting in garage for a while.

I used a combination of D140 and Trix...

Here is the write up I did...

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/tricks-tips-techniques/92497-cleaning-barrels-wheels.html
Click to expand...


As Peter mentioned, you are going to need a dedicated product for removing stubborn brake dust. APC is not going to cut it.
 
d33p said:
I only clean wheels with a dedicated wheel cleaner. Why you are using apc is beyond me.
Click to expand...

Why shouldn't he? Once your wheels are cleaned to the point where your just maintaining them, what's wrong with apc or soap n water??
 
I have used a few, but the distributor no longer services my area. I only use brake off now for the really bad ones.
 
Hoytman said:
Mike,
Do you like any other products by Malco? I've used their soaps, apc, and plum crazy, but it was quite some time ago.
Click to expand...

Good luck buying anything from Malco. They have a terrible business model and if there is no distributor near you they pretty much tell you sorry we don't want your money. A lot of products on their website are available to distributors only. Needless to say I was disappointed but it's their loss. I found tons of other companies that are glad to sell me their products. They blew me off pretty hard and didn't even reply to emails after the first one.
 
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