550 Sport Wheels

Looking for helpful hints from forum members. I have the 08 550i with the M-sport wheels. Love the look of the wheels.... when they're clean. Just wondering if you guys will share any secrets to clean these wheels and keep them reasonably clean. (The brake pads put out an extreme amount of dust.) Any suggestions are appreciated.

Simple green works well, will not spot your wheels and you can buy a huge container of it at Home Depot. You can also cut it with a little water to dilute the mixture in a spray bottle.

Change your brake pads

Originally Posted by gcvt

Change your brake pads

I agree, ceramic is the way to go. Some say the braking is not as good, but I haven't noticed a difference and I drive fairly aggressively.

I use Armor All Wheel Protectant. Spray it on your wheels after you have cleaned them. It cuts down on a huge amount of the brake dust, and what does collect is easily rinsed off with water. I apply it to the wheel about every third wash or so (I wash my car every weekend).

Keith

Originally Posted by gcvt

Change your brake pads

I do plan to at least do that when the current set wears. Went with the ceramics on my Corvette -- made a huge difference.

Originally Posted by Campfamily

I use Armor All Wheel Protectant. Spray it on your wheels after you have cleaned them. It cuts down on a huge amount of the brake dust, and what does collect is easily rinsed off with water. I apply it to the wheel about every third wash or so (I wash my car every weekend).

Keith

Thanks. That's what I'm looking for. I did try synthetic wax on them; will know in a day or so if that helps, but will also try the wheel protectant. Is it also a form of wax?

Originally Posted by Bad Debt

I agree, ceramic is the way to go. Some say the braking is not as good, but I haven't noticed a difference and I drive fairly aggressively.

X2000
changing the pads was the best thing I've done. Not only was the dust on the wheels, it was all over the back of the car. Pissed me off when I would brush against the car in my garage and get that crap all over my clothes...

Originally Posted by batmbl

Thanks. That's what I'm looking for. I did try synthetic wax on them; will know in a day or so if that helps, but will also try the wheel protectant. Is it also a form of wax?

I don't have any idea what is in it, it is a spray that you apply to the wheel and then let dry. A can costs about $7.50 at WalMart, and I can get four or five applications (all four wheels) out of one can.

Keith

Originally Posted by Campfamily

I don't have any idea what is in it, it is a spray that you apply to the wheel and then let dry. A can costs about $7.50 at WalMart, and I can get four or five applications (all four wheels) out of one can.

Keith

Wow! I got ripped! Picked up a can of the Armorall stuff at Auto Zone. They hit me up for $16.00!! At any rate, I'll give it a try this weekend after washing the beast (So far the paste synthetic wax I tried two days ago seems to be an improvement.)

same here
cleaned it for the first time and it was a pain

Applied the Armorall Wheel protection today. Will watch closely to see how much of a difference it makes as far as brake dust goes. I must say that the application of the synthetic paste wax was an improvement over the previously unprotected wheels. I hope this new stuff works... I hate brake dust.

I have a 550 Sport as well and HATE cleaning the wheels. Please keep us updated on the results.

I use the PosiQuiet Ceramic pads, and what use to be two days of dust can now stretch to a week.

I solved my issue with the 172's by selling them and getting new wheels

Originally Posted by jcbryant6

I have a 550 Sport as well and HATE cleaning the wheels. Please keep us updated on the results.

I've been using the ArmorAll product for over a year. It works great. If you doubt it, only treat one side, and leave the other side unprotected. You WILL see a huge difference. I did this inadvertently one time, I forgot to treat the wheels until I'd put the car back in the garage. So, I treated just the driver side wheels, and made a mental note to do the other two wheels the next time I pulled the car out of the garage. Then, I promptly forgot (senior moment). The next weekend, when it came time to do the weekly car wash, it was amazing how different it was; the passenger side wheels (untreated) had far more brake dust on them than the driver's side wheels (treated).

Originally Posted by batmbl

Wow! I got ripped! Picked up a can of the Armorall stuff at Auto Zone. They hit me up for $16.00!! At any rate, I'll give it a try this weekend after washing the beast (So far the paste synthetic wax I tried two days ago seems to be an improvement.)

Made a trip to Wally World today and found that the size they sell is only half the size of the one Auto zone sells. Felt better about that plus the fact that my wheels are still fairly clean after one day of driving

Some of you may also find useful: I needed something in addition to all the cleaning/protection liquids -- those little foam paint brushes fit perfectly in the spaces in the spokes of the Msport wheels. Prior to finding these I had to fold the Absorber or the microfiber towel to fit/clean each individual groove. Now a quick swipe with the "brush" cleans each groove so much faster, which means a lot less strain on my 60+ year old back

Bought some yesterday because of this thread. Sprayed it on in my garage last night. So far so good with only about 20 miles.

Found Cali wheel duster on Amazon. Works very well to keep wheels clean between washings.


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