Wheel Cleaner - Brake Dust/Grease

I haven't had much luck cleaning my front wheels of new 5 Series. Regular soap using a brush doesn't seem to get the brake dust/grease off. I also tried some other wheel cleaners but they also don't seem to work. The back ones are fine and easy to clean but haven't been able to get the front ones clean. Has anyone used P21S wheel cleaner (gel or regular)? Are there any other products that have worked well?

Thanks!

Don't count on the chemicals, it's only 1 part of the solution. The other parts are tools and technique.
F10 Cleaning Wheels Tires and Wheel Wells.
Tire & Wheel Detailing Tools

I use Megs Wheel Brightener 4:1
Megs Super Degreaser (tires) 4:1

Both varieties of P21S work fine. But an even more cost effective solution is the BMW Wheel Cleaner (either gel or liquid). With your BMWCCA discount, it's a very good deal.

BTW what type of wheel brush are you using? I'd be leery of scratching up the clear coat paint on the wheels.

If you just recently took delivery of your car, I'm guessing you are experiencing the issue where they used a silicone type spray to get the tire rubber to shine. Typically they overspray onto the wheels and this acts as a powerful dust magnet. It takes about 6 normal washings to get the silicone off the wheels. My 535i is almost one year old and I've never done any specific wheel cleaning. Once the tire spray was removed, I wash the car and wheels about every week, maybe 2 weeks max and the accumulated brake dust is easily removed with my normal car wash solution. I do have P21S wheel cleaning gel but have not had to use it to this point.

Mark153,
When u wash the tires, do you apply tire shine to the wheels. If you do, how do you apply?

I meant do u apply tire shine to the tires, not wheels

I have heard good things about royal brown wheel cleaners, very cheap too. But I havent tried myself.

Like stated above, if you have any silicone type shine on the wheel surface, the dust will stick to it. I only use regular car wash with one of those blue long handle brushed like you get from Advance Auto Parts. I always like to cut a piece of cardboard the size of my wheel and put a nut and bolt through the middle to use as a wheel protector when I'm applying silicone.

Originally Posted by markl53

My 535i is almost one year old and I've never done any specific wheel cleaning. Once the tire spray was removed, I wash the car and wheels about every week, maybe 2 weeks max and the accumulated brake dust is easily removed with my normal car wash solution. I do have P21S wheel cleaning gel but have not had to use it to this point.

Same here - I wash my car every 1-2 weeks and the wheels easily come clean with my normal car wash solution and a sponge. Winter muck requires a little more elbow grease, but not to the point where I've ever needed additional product or gear.

All the sprays, gels, and brushes...oh my! Use windex and a roll of paper towels. It takes about 2 minutes a wheel. The brake dust disolves as soon as you spray it on. I clean my rims every weekend with this approach. Works great!

Yeah I did the Windex / paper towel thing for years but it left my hands pretty dirty and would leave small traces of brake dust building up in the corners which would harden and become nearly impossible to remove over time.

The single best acquisition to my wash repertoire has been a long round wheel spoke brush which makes it easy to get inside the small spoke crevices and works fine with regular car wash soap.

Also the Armour All Wheel protectorant product applied to the wheels when they are perfectly clean and dry lets the wheels shed brake dust and allows you to just hose off the wheels if in a hurry.

Credit goes to TJPark for anything I've learned about wheel cleaning

I haven't had any problems with my M-Sport regarding brake dust and I use a tire shine once or twice a week. Brake dust was a real problem on my E60, but I've been pleasantly surprised on my M-Sport. What dust there is easily washes off with car wash soap. I notice these wheels have what looks to be a tin shield around the rotors. Maybe that is also helping or maybe BMW went to another material for the pad.

Originally Posted by Crmgr

I haven't had any problems with my M-Sport regarding brake dust and I use a tire shine once or twice a week. Brake dust was a real problem on my E60, but I've been pleasantly surprised on my M-Sport. What dust there is easily washes off with car wash soap. I notice these wheels have what looks to be a tin shield around the rotors. Maybe that is also helping or maybe BMW went to another material for the pad.

The brake dust is really bad in the beginning, but gets less worse as time goes on. It's still really bad, but this is endemic to all German cars. The shield you mention is just that, a shield to protect inner portion of the rotors from debris, there is a small air channel from the lower front lip of the car that directs air to the brakes. I doubt it affects brake dust accumulation.

Originally Posted by laser

Also the Armour All Wheel protectorant product applied to the wheels when they are perfectly clean and dry lets the wheels shed brake dust and allows you to just hose off the wheels if in a hurry.

I love this product. I also just applied their tire gel this weekend to see how it does.

Originally Posted by TJPark01

The brake dust is really bad in the beginning, but gets less worse as time goes on. It's still really bad, but this is endemic to all German cars. The shield you mention is just that, a shield to protect inner portion of the rotors from debris, there is a small air channel from the lower front lip of the car that directs air to the brakes. I doubt it affects brake dust accumulation.

I find my f10 to be the least dust generating German car I have ever owned. After two weeks of moderate driving the rims are no more dirty than the car itself. The dirt on the rims will wipe right off...