Wheel cleaner...

[equ]

Waking up this dormant forum...

Made a relatively huge mistake when washing the m3 today. Was out of bmw wheel cleaner (the nasty smelling stuff that turns red) and too lazy to go to a dealer 15-20mi away, went for Mother's wheel foam.

What I normally do is spray a minute or two before the car goes into a car wash.

Holy crap... Wheels have cloudy marks on them that don't come off. This s**t hurt the clearcoat in minutes. Ugh. Lesson learned. :mad:

Now it is possible that OEM clearcoat would have survived it. I had the wheels done last year. :ack:

[kognito]

Wheels were cold? haven't read label on Mothers, but some cleaners don't like warm/hot metal. Or maybe that is the other way around, some hot metals don't like cleaner applied to them :dunno:

[equ]

I don't know if they were hot or cold. I'd driven 2 miles to autozone and another 1.5 miles to the wash on a sunny 70F day. I guess warm?

Oh well, learned something. If you don't know what you're doing, stick to OEM. Even if it is branded nonsense. I'd been using bmw cleaner with no issues for over a decade. I'm thinking of returning the bug spray as well (not yet used).

[Nick M3]

Sonax Wheel Cleaner kicks ass.

But in a pinch, Spray Nine is great.

In an emergency (when it's a matter of sand blasting, or giving up), I've had great luck with muriatic acid. It saved my OZs.

[Josh (PA)]

I don't know if they were hot or cold. I'd driven 2 miles to autozone and another 1.5 miles to the wash on a sunny 70F day. I guess warm?

Oh well, learned something. If you don't know what you're doing, stick to OEM. Even if it is branded nonsense. I'd been using bmw cleaner with no issues for over a decade. I'm thinking of returning the bug spray as well (not yet used).

No clue how I posted in here. I do like Sonax, but it doesn't seem to touch the burned on stuff. Nick, are you saying Spray Nine is more agressive? I have some stains on my 1 series wheels that seem to be really embedded (or overheated) clearcoat.

[FC]

Sonax Wheel Cleaner kicks ass.



:+1

[Nick M3]

Hmm. Come to think of it, if it's foul smelling and turns red, it's either Sonax or Iron-X or a similar formulation.

(Iron-X is brilliant on regular paint.)

[clyde]

I used Sonax for the first time a few weeks ago. O.M.G. I finally understood Wonger's Facebook photo love album for it.

OTOH, I was a little disappointed that it didn't do anything about some cone juice and leftover adhesive from tape that was on the wheels for way too long.

[blee]

+5 on Sonax. It actually does what it says it does, and what I want it to do.

[Alan]

Which sonax are you guys using ...there seems to be a few choices, wheel plus, full effect, etc. I'd like to give it a try.

I just use dish soap or regular car wash soap though I have used Meguers hot wheels on the cars I usually never wash by hand to get the baked in brake dust off of.

[Alan]

Waking up this dormant forum...

Made a relatively huge mistake when washing the m3 today. Was out of bmw wheel cleaner (the nasty smelling stuff that turns red) and too lazy to go to a dealer 15-20mi away, went for Mother's wheel foam.

What I normally do is spray a minute or two before the car goes into a car wash.

Holy crap... Wheels have cloudy marks on them that don't come off. This s**t hurt the clearcoat in minutes. Ugh. Lesson learned. :mad:

Now it is possible that OEM clearcoat would have survived it. I had the wheels done last year. :ack:


Maybe it time to powder coat them black ... I did this to my 911 and it looks really good. I know a lot of people here don't like the look but it is a nice change.

What color is the M3 ?

[JST]

The thread on wheel cleaner is interesting. Maybe I am just lucky, but I've never had any trouble getting brake dust off just using the same Meguiars Gold Class soap I use on the rest of the car.

[clyde]

The thread on wheel cleaner is interesting. Maybe I am just lucky, but I've never had any trouble getting brake dust off just using the same Meguiars Gold Class soap I use on the rest of the car.

The regular Gold Class car wash stuff is what I use half the time. When I do wheels with it, it's kind of an involved process that takes some effort and requires filling/emptying/rinsing an extra bucket. The results are nice...it just takes effort to get there.

Sonax? Spray it on. Wait a few minutes. Rinse with hose. Maybe touch up some crevices with a rag, depending on wheels. Done.

[clyde]

Which sonax are you guys using ...there seems to be a few choices, wheel plus, full effect, etc. I'd like to give it a try.

I just use dish soap or regular car wash soap though I have used Meguers hot wheels on the cars I usually never wash by hand to get the baked in brake dust off of.

Not sure which Sonax I'm using. Whatever was on sale at detailersdomain.com on Black Friday a couple years ago. I can check after I get home tomorrow.

[Nick M3]

Plus is an upgrade to Full Effect.

[Pinecone]

I have used Mequiar's Hot Wheels cleaners on all our cars without any issues.

Other than if you get the spray on your shirt, it will bleach little dots. :)