Help my beautiful chrome wheels are peeling. What is the best way to clean these up?
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 15
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From: Perrysburg, OHIO
SLK230
Help my beautiful chrome wheels are peeling. What is the best way to clean these up?
Hello all! I need some help.
I have a 2001 SLK 230 Kompressor in Glacier White with upgraded wheels/rims. They are the polished chrome type- see picture. Anyhow, I recently moved from California to Ohio- my first winter and my car's first winter. The car is NOT garaged. There has been quite a bit of snow this winter and if you are familiar with snowy winters, you know they put salt on the roads to help the conditions. Well, apparently that salt does not mix well with chrome and thus, the chrome on my wheels is peeling and chipping and starting to corrode the actual metal!
I was just washing the car and giving special attention to the dirty rims when I noticed they are suddenly peeling and corroding.
Does anyone have recommendations on the best way to take care/clean of the wheels that are peeling? Someone mentioned steel wool and WD-40? to get all the peeling pieces off, then to wash with soap and water. But this sounds harsh.
There is also alot of black brake dust that is harder than heck to remove due to the salt I believe?! Ugh. Any help is appreciated!! Thanks so much!
Here's some pics of my car and the rims of what they DID look like prior to salt!
PLEASE HELP!!
I have a 2001 SLK 230 Kompressor in Glacier White with upgraded wheels/rims. They are the polished chrome type- see picture. Anyhow, I recently moved from California to Ohio- my first winter and my car's first winter. The car is NOT garaged. There has been quite a bit of snow this winter and if you are familiar with snowy winters, you know they put salt on the roads to help the conditions. Well, apparently that salt does not mix well with chrome and thus, the chrome on my wheels is peeling and chipping and starting to corrode the actual metal!
I was just washing the car and giving special attention to the dirty rims when I noticed they are suddenly peeling and corroding.
Does anyone have recommendations on the best way to take care/clean of the wheels that are peeling? Someone mentioned steel wool and WD-40? to get all the peeling pieces off, then to wash with soap and water. But this sounds harsh.
There is also alot of black brake dust that is harder than heck to remove due to the salt I believe?! Ugh. Any help is appreciated!! Thanks so much!
Here's some pics of my car and the rims of what they DID look like prior to salt!
PLEASE HELP!!
Last edited by DaisyRae; Apr 2, 2008 at 11:41 AM.
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
From: Perrysburg, OHIO
SLK230
Any responses are appreciated.....this is killing me, the wheels WERE so nice. These are the AMG I Alloy Wheels in Silver Chrome. I washed and polished as much as possible, but this is what they look like, with 1 of the four being in TERRIBLE condition, you can see the salt eating away at the metal alloy that is underneath where the chrome USED to be. See pics here...
Last edited by DaisyRae; Apr 2, 2008 at 11:40 AM.
Member
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 141
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From: Grosse Pointe, Michigan
2002 S430 Sport Pkg
I am up here in Michigan and I can relate to the snow and the salty roads. I am sorry to say that I have a few friends who either have chrome factory or aftermarket rims. The best way to save your rims is to buy a winter set or a second set of rims mounted with snow tires. As far as I know there really isn't an easy repair for chipping chrome. You would have to find a chromer to strip the wheel and re-chrome the entire wheel. Sorry for the bad news! How long ago did you have the rims chromed?
