Brake dust revisited

Originally Posted by deznium

Hi,

I would like to know if there's a method or compound that I can use to remove the bonded/caked brake dust..

Does the oven cleaner work? Is it recommended?

I use my trusty pressure washer when it gets that bad.

I tried Zymol wheel protectant and I also tried high temp wax. Neither of them did much,

I recently triued Armoral Wheel Protectant (a brand new product). I was surprised at how effective it was.

CA

I also use Armorall Wheel Protectant. Works very well.

i just try and wash wheels even if car doesnt need washing that all i came up with keeping dust damage down.

I used Rim-Ice. I purchased it at BMW of South Atlanta. The stuff works great. Keeps them clean for weeks. I found the website, www.Rim-Ice.com, it's weak, but the stuff works.

Did you find an answer? Got the same problem...

Hey the Rim-Ice works great, It took me about 45 seconds per wheel. Fast ! When I drive in the rain, it washes of the brake dust. I guess the stuff just do not stick anymore.

I am a GI in Germany with brand new 535i I have had for four months; I was recently using sonax wheel cleaner which is a great product but 18 euro a bottle; i recently start using a product call Brown Royal which has been working great here is Germany with all the salt on the road combine with the brake dust; its is a con acid wheel cleaner and not real expensive; i have tested its against the sonx wheel cleaner and the Brown Royal is by far a better product and its also cleans your tires and leave a nice coat on you wheel that sheens off the brake dust; give this a try I think you will like it. This stuff is spray on and spray off the best product I have use so far and I want only the best product for my new Ride



















i

At first I was floored about the brake dust on my E91. Nothing off the shelf worked, it was like my second job keeping clean.

In a roundabout way, I came across this:

http://www.ultraluster.com/products.php

My buddy lost his job and started selling it. Hands down, amazing. After you use this stuff your fingers will feel like they are coated in slippery teflon. I like what it does to the car, but its even better on the rims.

Get'em clean, spray on and let haze, then buff off. I now just hose down my rims and dry normal. Every so often I need to hit it with a soft brush, but I'm telling you the dust just flys off, its too slippery.

I use the Luster about 4x per year. Only concern is any of this stuff on the brake itself will be bad, so I'm careful when applying.

Originally Posted by CWolfey

I usually use the griots for the wheels, but I ordered the SG today curious to see the difference. I dont think that I will ever have a problem with stained wheels or baked on brake dust since I have the easiest BMW wheels to clean and I take them off the car every month to clean them inside and out.
Gave it 1 more griots shine today before I trying the new stuff and took some pics also.

The wheelsa on my X5d looked like these on "Day One" 8 months ago. And, then again last weekend when I removed them & spent hours cleaning them after replacing the lousy OE pads with Porterfield Carbon Kevlars. Still not as dustless as my wife's E350, but, 1,000% better already.

I've tried various waxes & Meguiar's Ultimate seems pretty good. And, it's easy to apply.

Originally Posted by richaaard

i also use armorall wheel protectant. Works very well.

+1

My LSP is actually, armor all wheel protectant. I hate all things armor all, but it works.
The Sealants,waxes,etc, don't work. Yes they keep the paint on the wheels protected and makes them easier to clean, no denying that. What makes the Armor All different is that you spray it on like an aerosol; so you can get to almost every crack and crevice of the wheel. Secondly it REPELS, anything trying to stick to it. Waxes and sealants don't do this.

I treated the wheels of my new 528i with ResistAll Exterior Paint Sealant about three weeks ago and so far it's made a big difference. The car has been through a couple of rains at high speeds and by now the wheels would otherwise be filthy. They still look great. I highly recommend this product. Below is a link to the website. I also treated the entire car suface and I can go longer in between car washes. The product somehow makes the surface resistent to dirt and dust. I was skeptical, but so far it appears to be working.

http://www.ctpc.com/Professional/pro1.asp

Ok, what am I missing here? Yesterday I washed the car, ran some errands (including picking up some Armor All Wheel Protectant), went home, cleaned any new brake dust off the wheels and then sprayed them all with the Armor All. I let the car sit for at least 5 hours before I drove it again late last night. When I looked at the wheels this morning in the daylight, the wheels are covered with brake dust like I'd never even cleaned them!

I followed the directions to the letter, I thought. Any input from any pros out there? What did I do wrong??

You need to make sure the wheels are completely dry. I think the instructions included that bit, so if you followed them to the letter, I am at a loss. Many of us like to do multiple light coats, though I've never done more than two myself. I give them say 15 min or so in between applications.

This stuff doesn't cure brake dust, it just makes it better. I haven't watched the included vids above, but I know people have done half a wheel, and after however many days, they says it's almost like black vs white. I suppose you could try a similar test, and perhaps you might be satisfied knowing it at least helps out. (We would be curious if it didn't.)

The only other thing I've used is Rejex, but I find AA to work better, and with much, much less effort. Some folks start with the Rejex, and then on to AA layers on top. I believe Rejex says 12 hours should be a full cure.

I would like to try some Opti-Coat one day, maybe on lights too besides the wheel, but it's a pretty penny at $60 for a little syringe or something.

You might look towards ceramic pads in the future, when they need changing (or even prematurely). A track instructor here said that ceramics have just as much initial stopping power, for something like a couple of panic stops. It's just after repeated hard braking that they lose performance; they are compromised by higher temperatures and thus will not be found on race tracks. For people like us, they could be a welcome product.

Originally Posted by X3MD80

Ok, what am I missing here? Yesterday I washed the car, ran some errands (including picking up some Armor All Wheel Protectant), went home, cleaned any new brake dust off the wheels and then sprayed them all with the Armor All. I let the car sit for at least 5 hours before I drove it again late last night. When I looked at the wheels this morning in the daylight, the wheels are covered with brake dust like I'd never even cleaned them!

I followed the directions to the letter, I thought. Any input from any pros out there? What did I do wrong??

Hmm not sure. You need to apply it to a clean,cool , dry wheel. 5 hr cure time is more than enough. I've gone months
This is what you used correct?

Yep, that's exactly what I bought. The wheels were dry but they were probably also hot. I had run a bunch of errands and parked the car outside the garage, applied the Armor All WP and then pulled the car in the garage (about 8 feet of movement) and then the car sat in the garage for over 5 hours. Maybe I put too much on? I watch the Bentley guy's video and he said to definitely make sure all sides of the wheels were covered.

The car is only three weeks old so maybe the pads are still braking in? Just spit-ballin' here...

I'll keep trying! I was just so excited to find a product that would keep the wheels clean...!

Thanks!

Originally Posted by X3MD80

Yep, that's exactly what I bought. The wheels were dry but they were probably also hot. I had run a bunch of errands and parked the car outside the garage, applied the Armor All WP and then pulled the car in the garage (about 8 feet of movement) and then the car sat in the garage for over 5 hours. Maybe I put too much on? I watch the Bentley guy's video and he said to definitely make sure all sides of the wheels were covered.

The car is only three weeks old so maybe the pads are still braking in? Just spit-ballin' here...

I'll keep trying! I was just so excited to find a product that would keep the wheels clean...!

Thanks!

you definitely want to put on a lot. That's not the issue. If the wheels were hot, then the product probably didn't cure properly.

Cool! I'll try again with clean, dry and cool wheels!

Hey all,

Thought I'd share this since I've been doing it for a few weeks now and it it seems to be working really well.

I have about 1/2 bottle of Klasse Sealant Glaze that sat on the shelf for ages, since even though it's a a classic, it's ease of use leaves a bit to be desired.

Anyway, I usually wax or seal my wheels with whatever sealant I use on the car. Between LSP treatments, the wheels just get a thorough wash.

Remembering that Klasse All-in-One has been used by some successfully as a QD when diluted, I searched and found a couple threads about doing the same thing with the SG. So I figured I'd give it a shot.

For the last 3 weeks, after a wash (including the wheels), I just spray down the wheel with the diluted 10% (1:9, SG:water) solution when I dry the wheel.

It's working great. Brake dust comes off almost completely using just the hose, and seems to not build up as quickly. And the wheels look good and feel slicker than they used to.

Anyway, I was pleased to find a use for a product that likely would have just sat around growing old and thought I'd share....

Andrew

Where can I purchase the Klasse Sealant Glaze? I use sonax to clean the rims and synthetic Meguires wax to seal the rims. Any hot brake material that has pitted the rim, well, i use a plastic credit card to remove the black dust that has stuck to the rim. then I apply 4 coats of the wax and it works.

+1 on ArmorAll protectant. It absolutely improves the situation. It's not expensive. I usually pay about $7 a can, which lasts 2 applications to all four wheels.

I just tried the Sonax. It is incredible. It removed caked on brake dust that, in the past, I had tried like heck to get off with a variety of cleaners, brushes and arduous work. I'm sure I did some damage to the clear coat along the way. I'm trading my car in a couple weeks, and I plan to use Sonax on my new ride. I also saw something online called Iron-X, which seems to operate along a similar principle, dissolving the brake dust.

I'm convinced the best bang for my buck, to keep my wheels looking good, will be to clean with Sonax, blow dry with the vacuum and apply two or more coats of Armor All.

So, you perform all this hard work to apply X number of coats of Klasse and it looks great.

What do you do next week/month when it comes time to wash your car again? Do you scrub your rims with soap? no soap? use bristle brush? micro fiber towel? i guess you just start with the least aggressive method first and work your way up unit you are satisfied with how clean they are.

I don't want to unintentionally remove the Klasse sealant after all the hard work that was put into apply the Klasse.