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I am SICK of brake dust!!!

11K views 61 replies 37 participants last post by  SilvrZHP 
#1 ·
Every Saturday I spend $6.99 at Advance Auto for Aluminum Wheel Cleaner and $8 at the local car wash. 80% of my time is spent spraying off my wheels. I am SO SICK of brake dust. Look at the amount of dust I get from Saturday to today. I didn't even DRIVE my car yesterday!!!!

There has got to be a lower dust pad that performs the way I like. I can't afford this anymore!!!

HELP!
 

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#2 ·
Holy crap, Smolckie !
Do you wash your wheels every day ? You`re burning through a lot of wheel cleaner ! I`ve found that those cheapie disposable foam paint brushes work great on 135s, they fit perfectly between the spokes, and allow you to bang out a wheel pretty quickly....
 
#4 ·
Holy crap, Smolckie !
Do you wash your wheels every day ? You`re burning through a lot of wheel cleaner
I use 3/4 of a bottle per washing (once a week). When you let it accumulate for 1 week, it takes that much to get them clean.
 
#3 ·
IN before obligatory "Read the Wiki" post from Fast Bob :lol:

seriously though, I'm paying attention to this thread, as I will be due for new pads in the coming months, and would like less dust then OEM. I don't drive it hard, so I definitely don't need anything rediculously high performance, plus I like the OEM feel...
 
#5 ·
Brake pads are always a compromise....in most cases, reduced dust equals reduced feel with less grip on cold stops. What you like about the OEM pads is exctly what makes them generate so much dust. I`ve never heard of any pads that cover all the bases equally well....
 
#18 ·
Pads

I'm in the same boat, except I have to do something about it soon, as my brake sensor has tripped. I'm considering the kit from Turner with Zimmerman rotors, PBR XBG pads, sensors and Ate Super Blue brake fluid, all for $317. Of course shipping will add another $60, but its still a good deal. Supposedly, these pads are an improvement over stock, but with much less dust. Smolk, for your car it'd be $419 + shipping. If I do get this kit, I'll let you know how it feels ASAP.

BTW, my dealer quoted me $1200, and Strictly quoted 1000. No friggin way.



Mal, which PBR pad are you using? And when you talk about bite, are you talking "rolling up to the stoplight first thing in the morning" bite, or "flogging it down Angeles Crest Highway and stomping the brakes to the edge of lock-up" bite?.
 
#10 ·
That will come back and bite you in the long run....
The surfactants in dish detergent are not good for the clear coat on alloy wheels.
 
#12 ·
"Rejex" is one fairly popular brand of wheel-specific wax. When my E39 was brand-new, I spent a whole day putting about 5 coats of Carnuba wax on my wheels. I guess it made a little difference for a while, but it`s not something I`d care to do on a regular basis....:tsk:
 
#16 ·
I agree. But see, unless you own a car with the wonderful looking and ridiculously hard to clean style 135 wheels, you can't understand the hassle. I find if I do it weekly, I can get them almost spotless by hosing them down with Eagle One Aluminum wheel cleaner, let sit, hit em one more time around, then use the high pressure rinse to get them clean. I HATE scrubbing them by hand, takes FOREVER!

Akebono Euro pads have zero dust and great stopping power. Use coupon code COLUMBUS10 for 10% off and free shipping at FCPEURO.com. Cheapest price for these brakes.
Never been impressed by Akebono, tried them before. Maybe it's just me. I use my brakes HARD a lot.
 
#17 ·
my rims are just as bad as yours. I feel like its always covered in brake dust. Thinking about painting the rims black so its less noticeable.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Have you seen the 135 style wheels.

The last time I did my brakes, I installed PBR Axxis Deluxe Plus. They generate less dust, but I think you give up a little stopping power as compared with the OEM.

You gotta make a choice, between dust and performance. My wheels always look dirty, no matter how often I clean them, its never enough.
 
#31 ·
Try SONAX Wheel Cleaner Full Effect. Pros in my area (and elsewhere) are raving about this stuff. I won a bottle as a door prize a few months back and found it really, really, really works. Yes, it is expensive compared to parts-store crap but you won't go through gallons of it to get results, either. Spray on, let it dwell until fully reacted (complete color change) and hose off--a narrow-jet garden hose nozzle helps. Resist the urge to scrub, wipe or brush it while it's reacting--it will significantly reduce the effectiveness.

Even with the E90's low-dust pads, my wheel barrels get pretty grungy from rotor dust. I reach most of them with a brush through the spokes, but because there isn't enough clearance between caliper and barrel I would have to roll the car a few feet to clean that area. Since I started using the Sonax cleaner I haven't had to do that--it does all the work with just a spray & rinse. The wheels only need a quick brushing once a month or so to deal with accumulated road film.

IIRC the half-liter bottle lasted for about two months of weekly cleanings.
 
#37 ·
I could hardly tell a difference in stopping power (although I don't punish my brakes)
Maybe I'll try these and just push the brake pedal down harder to get the stopping power......:eeps:
 
#38 ·
I had the E60 M5 rims before and didn't have it in black and spent the past few years trying to keep the rims shiny. I had to even use a chopstick with a cloth to ease the dirt off the gaps in the spokes. So now i got smarter I guess. I got black matt rims =P I can still see the dust but i am not bothered anymore =)

But that also means I spend less time detailing the rims =) less bonding =P
 
#41 ·
I hated as well. My rims are 7-spoke. Definitely much better to handle comparing to what smolck has but I still got irritated and changed all the OEM pads and rotors when it was time. I used centric premium rotors and possi quiet ceramic pads from zeckhausen. After the brake job, I had zero dust. Yes not reduced dust. Almost zero amount of dust. I forgot the last time I cleaned my wheels. BUT I lost about 30% of braking power. I still miss my original powerful brakes (not the dust)...

I later heard much better ceramic pads. I am pretty sure none of them are as good as the dusty OEM ones (there's gotta be a trade off.)
Even if it is dustfree, I would NOT recommend the above combo I used. My brakes never felt like BMW brakes since then...
 
#42 ·
I was as frustrated as you are with brake dust but I loved the cold bite and stopping characteristics of the BMW pad so it took me a while to pull the trigger on aftermarket pads. I settled with the StopTech Street Performance pads and I'm very happy so far. IMO, they are 80-90% similar to BMW pads in stopping power but have 80-90% less dust. rockauto has the best prices.
 
#46 · (Edited)
I use the same on my car. I've been quite happy with them for the year that I've used them. My car gets dirty before my wheels do and I can stop stop hard enough to launch snot out of everyone's nose. I can do it 10 more times from 60mph to 10mph and fully clear my passenger's noses. Doing it another 2-4 times the brains start to noodle out...not a good idea but there is no brake fade on these babies. :D

This is a full spoke finger scoop when I did some brake pad/rotor bedding before cleaning the wheels: LOL
 
#47 ·
Yeah, right....good luck with that. Brake dust adheres to wheels agressively, and will actually etch into the paint if left long enough. Cleaning your wheels weekly, using wheel cleaner and car-washing detergent, is the best plan of attack....
 
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