BMW 1 Series Coupe Forum / 1 Series Convertible Forum (1M / tii / 135i / 128i / Coupe / Cabrio / Hatchback) (BMW E82 E88 128i 130i 135i)
 





 

Post Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
      08-12-2012, 09:14 PM   #1
1speedbike
Brigadier General
1speedbike's Avatar
728
Rep
3,270
Posts

Drives: 2022 X4 M40i, 2008 135i
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: MKE

iTrader: (15)

Why is my one wheel harder to clean than the others?

I bought a set of four wheels from a fellow forum member a few months ago. Three of them are fine... but the fourth is... well.. it's retarded.

Compared to the other three, which have none or maybe one chip, this one has dozens. Also, when I spray the other wheels with water, a quick detailer spray, or a wheel cleaner, and wipe them with a microfiber or brush them with a wheel brush, they get clean. This one doesn't. The brake dust just smears around and doesn't come off. I've tried using tarminator and dish soap to try and strip off anything that might be coating the wheel and causing this, but it hasn't really helped. Every other wheel comes out looking shiny on the silver lip and dark black on the center part (the wheels are Miro STP-3). This one just ends up with brown smudges where it should be black, and the lip is never shiny because it just ends up looking dull and dirty.

What on earth could be causing this? The other three wheels are absolutely perfect. This one is just embarrassing at this point because the brake just just builds up more and more. Sure, some wipes off, but I can never get it actually clean like the other wheels. Just a big smear of brown coating the wheel. What is going on!? And is it related to the wheel's propensity to chip more than the other wheels?
__________________
Scruffy's gonna die the way he lived... Mmhm.


Appreciate 0
      08-27-2012, 08:50 AM   #2
froop
Colonel
froop's Avatar
Australia
171
Rep
2,682
Posts

Drives: 08 AW 6MT E82
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Sydney, Australia

iTrader: (3)

I'm just taking a stab in the dark but maybe the other 3 wheels have been repainted and that one still has the original coat which has been corroded by brake dust. That would explain the lack of rock chips on the other 3 wheels.

I didn't take enough care of my OEM wheels and they looked horrible with all this baked on brake dust. No matter how hard I tried I could not remove it. Someone crashed into me and I had one wheel repainted and I found that the repainted wheel was much easier to clean because the paint on it was fresh.

I've now since painted them all flat black and last weekend I took them off and nano sealed them with Gtechniq C5 Wheel Armor. Hopefully that'll keep them nice and shiny and stop that pesky brake dust from eating into the coat.
__________________
Appreciate 0
      08-27-2012, 01:14 PM   #3
Blue Bottle
Lieutenant
Blue Bottle's Avatar
United Kingdom
10
Rep
533
Posts

Drives: X1 x Drive 2.0L D
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Swindon

iTrader: (0)

Does the wheel armor stuff work ?
Appreciate 0
      08-27-2012, 02:05 PM   #4
1speedbike
Brigadier General
1speedbike's Avatar
728
Rep
3,270
Posts

Drives: 2022 X4 M40i, 2008 135i
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: MKE

iTrader: (15)

Quote:
Originally Posted by froop View Post
I'm just taking a stab in the dark but maybe the other 3 wheels have been repainted and that one still has the original coat which has been corroded by brake dust. That would explain the lack of rock chips on the other 3 wheels.

I didn't take enough care of my OEM wheels and they looked horrible with all this baked on brake dust. No matter how hard I tried I could not remove it. Someone crashed into me and I had one wheel repainted and I found that the repainted wheel was much easier to clean because the paint on it was fresh.

I've now since painted them all flat black and last weekend I took them off and nano sealed them with Gtechniq C5 Wheel Armor. Hopefully that'll keep them nice and shiny and stop that pesky brake dust from eating into the coat.
Hmm that's an interesting theory. However, I recently replaced one wheel with a brand new wheel (slight bend in the old one). The new one has no issues at all. It's the single wheel that's the problem. I don't know if the brake dust is caked in, or what, because when I try to wash the wheels, the brake dust smears around and doesnt adhere to any cloth or brush that I try to use, and doesn't really come off with just the water. But I do see that there are shiner spots where it's less smeared... But you're probably right. I just don't know why the wheels chips way more than the others. On the lip (which is pretty big/deep) there are dozens of small chips where the polished finish came off and it's shinier underneath. It almost looks like the chipped areas are what the wheel is SUPPOSED to look like (shiny, silver), and the other areas are just dull. Do you think maybe something was wrong with this wheel and the previous owner did a shitty paint job on it, and now the dust adheres to that crappy paint?


Quote:
Originally Posted by Blue Bottle View Post
Does the wheel armor stuff work ?
I'm honestly afraid to use any armor/sealing product because I'm worried it'll just seal the layer of dust underneath and it'll really be trapped there forever.
__________________
Scruffy's gonna die the way he lived... Mmhm.


Appreciate 0
      08-27-2012, 09:54 PM   #5
froop
Colonel
froop's Avatar
Australia
171
Rep
2,682
Posts

Drives: 08 AW 6MT E82
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Sydney, Australia

iTrader: (3)

To be honest I haven't washed it since I applied the wheel armor as I've only driven it once.

Apparently once you apply it you can just high pressure hose off the brake dust or wipe it off much easier, but what it is supposed to do is make it much harder for the brakedust to adhere to the wheel. If you are able to clean the wheels very often then you shouldn't need it, but it will mean less scrubbing and risk of damaging the wheels.

1speedbike, what it possibly could be, is that rather having the other 3 wheels painted, it might be that the dodgy wheel is the painted one. You will find that painted wheels generally chip much more, though that might be more to do with the quality of the paint job and paint used etc. It was definitely something that I noticed when my wheel was repaired. I never noticed any chips at all on my OEM wheels. Maybe it was a bodgy job and that's why the brake dust is smearing as well as why it's chipping so much.

I think what you may need to do is just get that particular wheel resprayed. I'm not sure what it costs in the US but over here it cost me AUD$100 per wheel. I'm sure you can probably find places that are cheaper and places that are much more expensive but as the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.
__________________
Appreciate 0
      09-09-2012, 10:43 PM   #6
AntonV
Lieutenant
AntonV's Avatar
37
Rep
524
Posts

Drives: Sedona/Savanna 135i
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Long Island, NY

iTrader: (0)

My passenger side front wheel is always dirtier than the other wheels....on all of my cars. I'm guessing it's my driving style??
__________________
2009 135i Coupe - Sedona Red Metallic - Savanna Beige - 6MT- ///M Sports Package - Boston Leather - Power/Heated Seats

2005 BMW F650 GS - Mandarin Yellow - Farkled
Appreciate 0
      10-17-2012, 11:31 PM   #7
faze
2 Legit 2 Quit
faze's Avatar
United_States
0
Rep
13
Posts

Drives: 98 M3, 09 128i
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: A2, MI

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by AntonV View Post
My passenger side front wheel is always dirtier than the other wheels....on all of my cars. I'm guessing it's my driving style??
I am the same way. My M3 and my 128i are the same... that passenger front wheel gets nasty!
Appreciate 0
Post Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:22 AM.




1addicts
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
1Addicts.com, BIMMERPOST.com, E90Post.com, F30Post.com, M3Post.com, ZPost.com, 5Post.com, 6Post.com, 7Post.com, XBimmers.com logo and trademark are properties of BIMMERPOST