Wheel Well Materials & Advice??

zkeeper

zkeeper

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Back from China, after extended trip and finally getting to winterizing the new BMW 128...I know, I know it's January, but I have a heated garage now. As I got pulling wheels to paint calipers, I wanted to clean/protect wheel arches. Front?? no problem--it's plastic ABS material. The REAR? It's a "fabric" kind of material, soft, and seem porous. Have never seen this. I assume it will stand the rigors of St.Louis winters, but does ANYone know what is best to protect, or seal, or build any kind of barrier on it? It cleaned up nice and quick, but am at a loss on what and how to bring any protection to it. Thanks for anyone who can shed some light on this issue....bests. ML
 
It did seem like most wheelwells were plastic but now these newer fabric type products are more widely found. I believe it has more to do with sound absorbtion. It could certainly make cleaning harder in order to keep it intact.
 
My wife's Camry Hybrid has the same thing and I just soak it with simple green degreaser and then hit it with the power washer and it cleans up good. Not sure I would put a brush to it.
 
zkeeper said:
Back from China, after extended trip and finally getting to winterizing the new BMW 128...I know, I know it's January, but I have a heated garage now. As I got pulling wheels to paint calipers, I wanted to clean/protect wheel arches. Front?? no problem--it's plastic ABS material. The REAR? It's a "fabric" kind of material, soft, and seem porous. Have never seen this. I assume it will stand the rigors of St.Louis winters, but does ANYone know what is best to protect, or seal, or build any kind of barrier on it? It cleaned up nice and quick, but am at a loss on what and how to bring any protection to it. Thanks for anyone who can shed some light on this issue....bests. ML
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Greetings

After you get them scrubed, vacumed and cleaned. Apply a heavy coat of Scotchgaurd :props:
 
treat it like a regular well. soak it with something like optimum power clean (rear well would probably only need 5:1-10:1), spray it down well, then dress with hyperdressing at the dilution of your choice.

no need to do anything special apart from what you would normally do with wells. it'll be fine.
 
builthatch said:
treat it like a regular well. soak it with something like optimum power clean (rear well would probably only need 5:1-10:1), spray it down well, then dress with hyperdressing at the dilution of your choice.

no need to do anything special apart from what you would normally do with wells. it'll be fine.
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Are you saying to use hyperdressing on fabric (carpet)?
 
my mini has those fabric type front AND back, it's pretty annoying to clean, takes longer to scrub and stuff
after cleaning I applied 303 fabric guard and let it cure overnight, then water actually beads :props:
 
This is where a steamer comes in handy.
 
Thanks everyone..I washed as normal. Sprayed it with the RaggTopp conditioner, as it works wonders on the Z4 rag top we have...beads water and lasts. After letting it dry, I hit with the Scotchguard [hey a little overkill doesn't hurt under there I thot] and I will see how it does on water and snow sticking but the dirty water/street mud?? Well, that will probably end up hanging on be like the fronts. At least perhaps, the "fabric-like" material will be a bit more protected now. I will make some note here to update later. It seems others have this same material there--hoefully these steps will build a sacrifice barrier...thanks again,
 
builthatch said:
treat it like a regular well. soak it with something like optimum power clean (rear well would probably only need 5:1-10:1), spray it down well, then dress with hyperdressing at the dilution of your choice.

no need to do anything special apart from what you would normally do with wells. it'll be fine.
Click to expand...
Hyperdressing???


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07 z-oh-6 said:
But not on fabric/carpet ;)
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sure! i'll hit the whole well with it. if it's anything like the audi and merc dark wheel well material, it makes it all uniform when it dries. all i'm saying is there is no need to treat it differently than the rest of the well or other wells, IMO.
 
builthatch said:
sure! i'll hit the whole well with it. if it's anything like the audi and merc dark wheel well material, it makes it all uniform when it dries. all i'm saying is there is no need to treat it differently than the rest of the well or other wells, IMO.
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HD for plastics, but not for fabric/carpet, IMO
 
fieldysnutz said:
Maybe some scotchguard or 303 Fabric Guard, just a guess.
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builthatch said:
treat it like a regular well. soak it with something like optimum power clean (rear well would probably only need 5:1-10:1),
no need to do anything special apart from what you would normally do with wells. it'll be fine.
Click to expand...

Rsurfer said:
This is where a steamer comes in handy.
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:iagree::iagree::iagree:

You want it to look new and stay looking "new".
1) Steam
2) Optimum Clean 5:1
3) 303 Fabric Guard

This combo is what I used when dealing with the sound resistant material.
 
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