jimbo1mcm

Just put 2 coats of Poor Boys Wheel Wax on my new snow/ wheels. Supposed to help with the brake dust. Comments on Poor Boy wheel wax? Will report back later.

CE750

Please do... I've been basically (daily) pulling the car into the driveway, spraying it down with Prestone-Wheel cleaner, and hosing off... the weekly, I wipe down the inside of the rim with shop towels (a dirty job) but they look great!

BudC

A couple of coats of Zaino on the wheels and the dust wipes right off. Just do the wheels when you Zaino the rest of the car

CE750

I've got the whole Zaino system, I just need to get motivated to do my car one day.. I'll try to keep this wax layer as long as I can, and do it before it gets hot out here. Problem is it' still to warm for me to do it.. these mid 80's aren't cutting it for November!

BudC

Actually, Zaino cures faster when it's warm but so will you

CE750

Plus humidity is the one that hurts in that dept the most, and I'll be damned if I'll be out polishing the car on one of those rare (but miserable) humid Phoenix days!

benzdetailer

PB's Wheel Sealant is by far the best product on the market for the specific purpose of wheel maintenance. I've used all kinds of sealants on wheels over the years, and yes, any sealant is better then no sealant. That said, paint sealants just aren't made to withstand the abuses that wheels deal with. PB's wheel sealant is made to tolerate much more, and therefore lasts much longer. Believe it or not, your 2 layers will probably last through the winter... I tested the prototype and my first 2 layers lasted through 7 months of winter rains and summer heat, and still repelled dust and wiped clean with no effort. The production product is even better.

MBE55AMG

That sounds excellent. Any retail stores that you know of carry PB's Sealant, or is it only obtainable online?

benzdetailer

It really is excellent... Poorboys knocked a grand slam with their wheel sealant. On PBs site there is a list of distributors, or you can order direct. I see you're in FL, and I can highly recommend Premium Auto Care in Sarasota. Below are links to both... enjoy!

Poorboy's World

Premium Auto Care

jimbo1mcm

Started to clean up a set of reasonably dirty(brake dust) wheels to put my second set of snow tires on. Tried the following:

1. Griots Wheel Cleaner - Good for the wheels, but only slightly good at dissolving the brake dust.

2. I then progressed to Simple Green.( I know it ain't great for the wheels ). That also was only moderately successful. I used a decent brush after letting it sit about 10 minutes.

3. I tried Dupont Tar and Bug remover, not any good.

4. I then went to a very slight abrasive polish, Griots Fine Hand Polish, and it didn't really work.

5. I then used Mother's Mag and Aluminum polish, and it really cleaned the wheels up! It took all the little and big black brake dust residue off. I know it must have some abrasive in it, and I am aware that the wheels are clear coated, but it didn't seem to leave any scratches and it does get the brake dust off.

6. Comments?

mbnj

Why isn't Simple Green good for wheels?

Turtle Wax Bug and Tar remover is one step better than nothing.

No idea if this is bad for wheels but it is the best tar remover I've ever used-Dupont Adhesive and Wax remover (cheap at Walmart). You squirt that on any tar spot and it melts before you can get your towel to it. I've never tried it on wheels because I've never heard it OK'd for that use.

mleskovar

Not appropriate for clear coated rims....which most are, even the polished aluminum rims. Sure it removed the brake dust residue...along with a good part of the protective clear coat if not all. I use Klasse AIO to clean and protect my rims...works well.

MBE55AMG

Thank you, sir.

MBE55AMG

Supposedly it eats the clearcoat and any bare metal like aluminum will becoem corroded once in contact with the Simple Green solution. I'm not sure if this is true, but I wouldn't touch my wheels with anything but the trusty Eagle One All Wheel cleaner.

mbnj

Correction to earlier post, It's 3M that makes the excellent adhesive remover that works well on tar and bugs.

CE750

you must really allow your wheels to get VERY dirty if you have to go thru all of that to clean them!

I'm a bit more **** in that I'll clean them off daily after driving the car home. I spray on the cleaner, and hose it off...

To this day, even the inside of my wheels looks new.

HELL ONA HARLEY

A simple coat of any cheap wax every two months works great for me... Wipes away like an egg on a teflon frying pan....

RJC

If you don't let the wheels get black as night the dust comes off with ease when washing the car with just car wash soap and water. In the interim, I keep a spray bottle with 1/8th windex and 7/8th water in the garage, I just spray the wheels (when cool) and wipe with towels (paper or cloth) the dirt wipes away in seconds. Our Touareg probably emits the most brake dust of any vehicle I've ever owned and that too comes right off with the treatments mentioned above. You should not need any rim cleaners at all and rim cleaners remove any wax that's been put on the rims.

pa28pilot

I've been using it but I haven't seen an impact on the clearcoat yet.

I can speak to the aluminum issue a little though. There were quite a few aircraft owners who used Simple Green to wash their planes. I was occasionally one. Word got out that the U.S. Department of Defense (I think it was the Army, but I'd have to check my mail archives.) issued a memo forbidding the use of Simple Green for aircraft washing.

The reason is that corrosion studies on aircraft aluminum showed that Simple Green aggressively attacked the test surfaces and can contribute to hydrogen embrittlement of certain high-strength aircraft alloys.

Simple Green has since formulated a new product for aircraft, called "Simple Green Extreme" that meets the Mil-spec corrosion standards. (I think it's triethanolamine based as opposed to butyl cellosolve.)

They were nice enough to send me a sample, but I haven't tried it yet. (My plane's belly is FILTHY.)

I'm no materials scientist, but I've spent a fair amount of time with some. Given a clearcoat, I wouldn't worry too much about corrosion to automobile wheels from original Simple Green, as used for wheel cleaning. I don't know what repeated use will do to that clearcoat though.

jimbo1mcm

Just tried a new product, Eagle One All Wheel and Tire Cleaner. Part# 1020626. Got it at Napa. WalMart is also supposed to have it. It is absolutely fantastic. It is the best product I have tried for brake dust in 25 years of maintaining Benz's. You spray it on, wait 30 seconds, then just brush it a little if it is really dirty, then hose it off. They got this product right. Beats anything else on the market.

CE750

I have that, and it does work well, but I found the Prestone to work as well, and cost a lot less.. as it sprays on better, and you get more volume per $..

Most of those wheel cleaners work the same... the Prestone claims to also repel the dust, but I don't know how well it works, since I never let more than 1 day's worth accumulate on my wheels.

JimPurdy

I have been using the Michelin Brake Dust Repellant with mixed feelings. It doesn't "repel" the brake dust but it does make it easier to remove. I haven't seen any brake system that doesn't leave some dust. The best performance pads may be worse than anything - note the Audi R8 front wheels turn black in only a couple of laps and the Ferrari F1 blows clouds of black dust when braking. I guess that making it easier to remove is the best we can do.

mleskovar

Partially true. Some aftermarket pads have better high temp characterisitics, better wear factor, and produce WAY less dust. Don't know if they are available for the W211 but it's worth looking. Porterfield pads did the trick for me. Even Pep Boys makes an excellent ceramic pad that I would buy for my MB if they made it. You don't have to put up with the dust. It bothered me so much I changed the original pads before they were 1/2 worn.

GGM

I agree. I spray it on before going through the car wash and the dust comes right off. Just did both cars tonight. Also use Michelin dust repellant. Seems to help the dust come off easier. I like the Eagle One All Wheel and Tire because it is safe for ALL wheels, the chrome ones on the 300C and the clearcoat ones on the C240.

GGM

cdiken

I just go to coin-operated car wash, or use my pressure washer (carefully).

Spray on, hose off with high pressure jet. Keeps wheels like new.

Wax with regular car wax every now and then.

Every 3K or so, I dismount the wheels and clean the insides, same technique.

I know, its obsessive, but I consider it "therapy." I just love the look of wheels with pristine insides, through and through.

KB