Jr. and others who keep their style#5 (or any other) wheels clean...

[Jason]

whats your secret for removing brake dust? I had to replace one of my wheels with a used one and its pretty dirty, I've used some armor all wheel cleaner, but it was not as effective as i hoped it would be. I usually hit mine once a week after the car wash with a rag, so they are pretty clean, but this one wheel is pain. any suggestions?

[George M]

...no silver bullet. The key is buy brake pads that don't dust much and clean your wheels frequently. I use carwash soap and water with a rag and it isn't my favorite job :-) Baked on dust due to heat really etchs into the clear coat on your no.5's....best to remove it as soon as possible. Personally I use no wheel cleaner on my 15" BBS Cross-spokes because it is caustic to clear coat....its downside. If you do use it, be sure to heed the directions which put a time element on its application and also a cavaet about applying it with the wheels cool.
George

[scott540]

I don't have th #5s but I keep a couple of coats of wax on the wheels. It's a pain to wax them but it makes them easier to clean.

[KurtM]

a tooth brush to clean my Style 5's. Prior to replacing the front rotors and pads w/a almost dustless pad, the old Basketweavers were cleaned twice a week. Now I only need to clean once a week.
I purchased a used set of Style 5's cheap that were in pretty bad shape. Figured with the price paid for wheels and approx. $150 per to refinish I would still be money ahead and couldn't pass up.
They were staight but had some curb rash and caked on brake dust. It took 4 days to clean with soap, water and Flitz (alum polish). I now totally clean and wax 2 times a year.
I would not use wheel cleaner for the same reason George says.

Kurt
95 525ia

[Hector]

That stuff is pretty acidic and does not clean as well as advertised.

I bought a bottle of the stuff from BAS and haven't used it anymore after the first try.

I also use the wheel scrubber brush at the car wash. The brush bristles are not too hard, and not too soft. Then I top it off with chrome cleaner to get that sparkling luster from the chrome basketweaves.

[Jason]

a tooth brush to clean my Style 5's. Prior to replacing the front rotors and pads w/a almost dustless pad, the old Basketweavers were cleaned twice a week. Now I only need to clean once a week.
I purchased a used set of Style 5's cheap that were in pretty bad shape. Figured with the price paid for wheels and approx. $150 per to refinish I would still be money ahead and couldn't pass up.
They were staight but had some curb rash and caked on brake dust. It took 4 days to clean with soap, water and Flitz (alum polish). I now totally clean and wax 2 times a year.
I would not use wheel cleaner for the same reason George says.

Kurt
95 525ia

[Jason]

I let it stay on for no longer than a minute, probably less. I will have to just take the wheel off and go all out on it. Wheel wax is a good idea though, i'm not too familiar with it, can I use any old wax i find at the local auto-zone or is one significantly better than the others?

[George M]

any conventional car wax will do nicely for your wheels. The coating on your wheels is not dissimilar to the clear coat on your car...likely a urethane enamel. I just use a garden variety carnuba on my wheels....like a Mother's or whatever is on hand. Scott540's suggestion to wax your wheels is a real good one.
George

[DueyT]

1. Raybestos QS ceramic pads to minimize dust.

2. A good coat of wax once a month after a thorough cleaning.

3. No harsh cleaners - sopa only, no SimpleGreen, Eagle1, etc...

4. Several soft brushes including a toothbrush :D and a special long, soft brush I got from Canadian Tire (Canuck version of Pep Boys/Autozone) specially made for wheels.

5. Hard work.

6. Oh yeah, hard work.


But it's definitely worth it in the end!


Cheers,
Duey

http://www3.sympatico.ca/dnatown/540drvwy.jpg
http://www3.sympatico.ca/dnatown/540whl-1.JPG

[Jr ///M5]

https://home.insightbb.com/~england31/Dscn1300.jpg

Purists, don't read this....=)

Ever since I've had these wheels, almost 5 years now, I've used Eagle 1 wheel cleaner. I don't wash the wheels at home, I take it to the local spritzer and wash the entire car. When I do use the Eagle 1 spray, and it's not very often, I lightly spray the entire wheel and tire, and I mean lightly. Each wheel is misted with the cleaner with a circular sweeping motion. As soon as all the wheels are sprayed, the quarters go in the machine and I begin to wash off the Eagle 1 with the high pressure rinse cycle quickly doing each wheel. Once the suds are gone, then the rest of the car is sprayed and etc, etc, until the spot free rinse cycle. With the Spot free rinse, I spray hell out of each wheel making sure there is not any residual Eagle 1 left.

One thing that helps, twice a year, remove your wheels and scrub the backsides good. Take advantage of this and flush your brake fluid while the wheel is off. The build up on the back side will leak over to the front if not cleaned once in a while.

My wheels haven't shown any caustic effects yet, but that doesn't mean that in the next 5 years the titanium studs will still be there...=)

On a wheel that the brake dust is caked on, you can bet it has probably eaten through the finish. Wrap a pencil in a terry cloth towel and spray cleaner directly onto it and rub like hell. It'll come clean, stay away from toothbrushes, unless you plan to repaint, they will scratch the finish and give something for the brake dust to hold onto.

Jr

[Scott H]

it just sits in the garage looking nice. I think that's a key factor to your wheel cleanliness LOL ;)

[George M]

have to say...Duey...don't recall your suspension set up but your car sits perfectly and looks stunning with those no.5's. Jr your car makes me sick it is so perfect...
should by my garage queen...lol.
The no.5's have to be one of the nicest wheels for these cars. Gordon must still be hibernating.
;-)
George

[Jason]

I had seen... when i was picking wheels, it was between the ///M parallel or the 5's and while i still think that parallel is great looking, gordon's car sold me.

[Jason]

I really need to get behind the wheels too...


https://home.insightbb.com/~england31/Dscn1300.jpg

Purists, don't read this....=)

Ever since I've had these wheels, almost 5 years now, I've used Eagle 1 wheel cleaner. I don't wash the wheels at home, I take it to the local spritzer and wash the entire car. When I do use the Eagle 1 spray, and it's not very often, I lightly spray the entire wheel and tire, and I mean lightly. Each wheel is misted with the cleaner with a circular sweeping motion. As soon as all the wheels are sprayed, the quarters go in the machine and I begin to wash off the Eagle 1 with the high pressure rinse cycle quickly doing each wheel. Once the suds are gone, then the rest of the car is sprayed and etc, etc, until the spot free rinse cycle. With the Spot free rinse, I spray hell out of each wheel making sure there is not any residual Eagle 1 left.

One thing that helps, twice a year, remove your wheels and scrub the backsides good. Take advantage of this and flush your brake fluid while the wheel is off. The build up on the back side will leak over to the front if not cleaned once in a while.

My wheels haven't shown any caustic effects yet, but that doesn't mean that in the next 5 years the titanium studs will still be there...=)

On a wheel that the brake dust is caked on, you can bet it has probably eaten through the finish. Wrap a pencil in a terry cloth towel and spray cleaner directly onto it and rub like hell. It'll come clean, stay away from toothbrushes, unless you plan to repaint, they will scratch the finish and give something for the brake dust to hold onto.

Jr

[Unregistered]

I have been using this stuff for years ( with a tooth brush) and it is recomended by BBS and clear coat safe.

http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog.jsp?L1=L1_1000&L2=L2_1002&SKU=11106

WHEEL CLEANER IS SAFE FOR YOUR VEHICLE AND SAFE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
This wheel cleaner is made from premium biodegradable ingredients and is safe for all types of wheels. Unique penetrants allow far less effort when cleaning wheels. The high concentrate allows the cleaner to hang on the wheel longer to clean stubborn brake dust, road oils and other deposits. A superior product with no expense spared toward the ingredients. BBS manufactures the finest wheels for most of the top automotive manufacturers in the world: Ferrari, Lotus, Porsche, BMW, Toyota, Audi, Volkswagen, Daimler Chrysler, Jaguar, Mazda, Volvo, Mitsubishi, Subaru, AMG, Citroen, Opel, Pininfarina, Saab, Peugeot, and Alpina. I am proud to say that BBS has approved Griot's Garage Wheel Cleaner for all of their wheels.

[ronn227]

what about 18" style 5's? what does everyone think of 18's on e34's? easy to bend?

[DueyT]

Jason, before I put the summers back on, I gave the backside a thorough cleaning, including a careful zip on the mounting surface with my grinder and a wire wheel to get all the gunk off of them. I did the same to the rotor's mounting surface as well, then applied a nice thin layer of anti-seize compound on the mating surfaces. She's now as smooth as silk at...er...repsectable and safe velocities.

Ahhh....did I forget to mention that these E34's are beautiful vehilces? :D

Cheers,
Duey

p.s. George, thanks for the kind words...I love the way the car looks! BTW, I understand from the previous owner that it was lowered by the dealer upon delivery to the first owner. I don't know what that makes the gear, but from reading Bruno's site, it sounds like RD springs (1.5" front/1" rear) with Bilstein Sports. Does anyone know what markings to look for on the springs and how to identify shocks?