Removing heavy brake dust deposits

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Will

Hardcore MB Enthusiast
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Jan 21, 2003
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Location
Surrey
Car
GL63 AMG / 190E 2.5-16 / Porsche 911
The new 190E has original MB 8-hole alloys. I suspect they've never been refurbed before (18 years old) and have a lot of brake dust build up in the holes.

I gave them a quick wash down, then used a little TFR that I had hanging about, pressure washer etc. Doesn't seem to have budged it hardly at all.

They could ideally do with a refurb, but on this particularly car the costs of a proper refurb wouldn't be justified.

Can anyone recommend a product that will work? I don't mind spending a few quid on something that will definately do the job, but otherwise I'm probably better off giving them a quick rub down with some wet/dry and then respraying them at some point.

Have heard of stuff like Iron-X - is this going to be useful for really baked-on thick dust?

Cheers,

Will
 
Hi,try good old WD40,wrap the wheels in bandage/old rags then give it a good soak.The rags stop run off.
 
Wonder wheels will shift it after one of two applications I should think. Work well into the grime using an old tooth brush.

I would have gone down the TFR route first as well and scrubbed with a pot brush to remove.
 
Your safe options would be Iron-X and Clay but claying can take a long, long time on alloy wheels if they're bad. Acid works but its acid, and works best to remove stubborn bits when used with some brute force and a cloth and not just using a brush. It's only ever used when its clear the wheels havn't been cleaned in a long time to remove the orange tarnish or a thick brown layer of brake dust.

Try the Iron-X and then if no use try clay.

Wonder wheels is a good acidic cleaner.

Got a picture?
 
Quick pic:

DSC06751.jpg


They ideally could do with a refurb, but would look 10x better just by getting them being silver again :eek:

It's only for an older car, so they don't need to be perfect - I just want them looking tidy again :)
 
Go buy some wonder wheels or if you've already got a strong wheel cleaner then give that ago. Or try a stronger TFR mix.

Rinse the wheel, spray on your cleaner then spend a few minutes with a brush. If no good then try a damp cloth and some force, it may take a few goes but they should come up eventually.

I just had to do an E class and the wheels were like yours, stained brown. TFR and a brush barely touched it but using a cloth worked.
 
Last edited:
Cheers Adam :thumb:

I've got the engine in bits at the moment, and a few other jobs to do as well. I might even remove the wheels one at a time and do them off the car - got to be easier and saves crouching down for hours!

At least these are only 8-holes, nowhere near as bad as the 15-hole wheels I've had in the past. 60 holes in total, all tiny as well :wallbash: :eek:
 
I use Bilberry wheel cleaner works a treat, but for really stubborn deposits Tardis is hard to beat!!
 
Another vote for Bilberry
 
Three pronged attack required for really bad wheels:

Strong APC / Bilberry to degrease and remove dirt
Tardis to remove Tar
Iron X / wolfs de ironizer to remove embedded iron particles.
 
wonderwheels will do the trick, a few applications may be needed
 
Paint is knackered. I'd go over them with a Scotchbrite and some fine sandpaper and then rattlecan them

Nick Froome
the independent Mercedes Estate specialists

Yep - that's probably what I'll do to them at some point, was just seeing if there was a good cleaner for removing the worst of the brake dust buildup for the moment :thumb:

Got the engine all back together and running nicely yesterday afternoon, so things are looking good - should be in for a new MOT sometime this week :cool:

Will
 
Another vote for Wonder Wheels, this won the Auto Express wheel cleaner group test. I use it on Mrs BTB's Audi (and the Vito if that gets really bad), you can get it a lot cheaper at Costco btw.
 
Doh! A friend of mine picked up some oil for me from Costco yesterday, should have asked for some Wonder Wheels to try if I'd thought! :eek:
 
bilberry wheel cleaner or IRONX , ironx seems to shift anything...
 

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