Setec Astronomy
Well-known member
- Aug 31, 2010
- 17,057
- 1,354
If that brake cleaner says it's flammable, then it's acetone, if not it's perchlor, although I think CRC is making a third formulation that has methanol (also would be marked as flammable).
IME acetone is going to be very likely to remove any coatings, and be very likely to affect the plastic, the perchlor less likely to remove the coating and less likely to affect the plastic. The methanol won't do much to either.
You can get mineral spirits in the paint dept of Lowes or Home Depot or should be Wal-Mart too. Did you get anywhere on the BMW forums with this? Cuz it seems some other BMW owners here said this sounds familiar so maybe it's a factory coating as some have suggested. I just know for a fact that used car places would spray some sort of coating that later would flake off the rubber parts, this was back in the day when there weren't many plastic covers in the engine compartment so mostly it was sprayed on the hoses to make them shiny.
IME acetone is going to be very likely to remove any coatings, and be very likely to affect the plastic, the perchlor less likely to remove the coating and less likely to affect the plastic. The methanol won't do much to either.
You can get mineral spirits in the paint dept of Lowes or Home Depot or should be Wal-Mart too. Did you get anywhere on the BMW forums with this? Cuz it seems some other BMW owners here said this sounds familiar so maybe it's a factory coating as some have suggested. I just know for a fact that used car places would spray some sort of coating that later would flake off the rubber parts, this was back in the day when there weren't many plastic covers in the engine compartment so mostly it was sprayed on the hoses to make them shiny.