Hard Water spots on Expensive Polished Chrome rims...

[Nevervana]

I was appalled today when I picked my 6 series up from its quarterly detail job.

I have cleaned my own $7,000 HRE Polished Chrome rims myself many times, without incident, but today they looked like hell, after paying $350 and leaving it with Detail Works for the entire day to be cleaned.

I mention the rim cost because after spending that much money, the Detail Works guys tell me they can not get out the "Hard Water Spots" that are now apparently embedded into the chrome. In addition to this, there seemed to be about 5 to 10 pinhead sized rust spots on the wheels as well in the "lip" area. I ran my hand over them and they were either indentations or bumps.

The "Hard Water Spots" have left streaks on various parts of the wheel and it looks like hell. They told me they even tried using the buffer to get them out, but had no luck.

I haven't had a chance to try anything yet, but I find it hard to believe hard water can completely ruin a set of polished chrome wheels. Anyone have experience with them?

Nobody, including HRE after they custom built them, told me I needed to rinse any water off the wheels immediately or risk permanent damage.

-N-

[93LE]

Did they use some type of harsh cleaner for the rims and left it on too long?

[dboy11]

I was appalled today when I picked my 6 series up from its quarterly detail job.

I have cleaned my own $7,000 HRE Polished Chrome rims myself many times, without incident, but today they looked like hell, after paying $350 and leaving it with Detail Works for the entire day to be cleaned.

I mention the rim cost because after spending that much money, the Detail Works guys tell me they can not get out the "Hard Water Spots" that are now apparently embedded into the chrome. In addition to this, there seemed to be about 5 to 10 pinhead sized rust spots on the wheels as well in the "lip" area. I ran my hand over them and they were either indentations or bumps.

The "Hard Water Spots" have left streaks on various parts of the wheel and it looks like hell. They told me they even tried using the buffer to get them out, but had no luck.

I haven't had a chance to try anything yet, but I find it hard to believe hard water can completely ruin a set of polished chrome wheels. Anyone have experience with them?

Nobody, including HRE after they custom built them, told me I needed to rinse any water off the wheels immediately or risk permanent damage.

-N-

Hard water on the chrome I would start with a mixture of white wine vinegar and water mixed 50/50 this is very effect for removing water spots on paint....Clay would be the next step you can get that at any auto parts store in a kit....lastly polishing is next...a chemical based one is what you should be looking for....Zephyr pro-40 or Poorboys World Pro-polish....you do not want to use a aggressive product on the metal as you can scratch the metal

[Nevervana]

Im not sure if they left something on the wheels. They were pretty dirty beforehand, but I also found several spots where the "polish" was not wiped off. Ill give the white wine vinegar a try.

-N-

[TOGWT]

I would try something along the lines of Klasse AIO (a mild chemical based, very slightly abrasive (think Kaolin (talc) before you use an acidic (vinegar) just in-case they have use an acidic cleaner as you'll add to the acid that may already be there.

If they were my HSE wheels I'd use the ABC decontamination system first (to neutralize any acid) and then Klasse AIO folloed by a polymer selant