Solvent for caked on brake dust

[jrobbo]

I pulled a wheel of ARobbo's E46 318i today with the intention of cleaning the brake dust that is caked on to the inside of the wheel. I had intended to do all 4 wheels, but after spending 2 hours on the first wheel, and still only getting it 90% done, I gave up. I tried using PWC, Sugar Soap, degreaser and even oven cleaner to remove the caked on dust, but it was only continuous scrubbing with a kitchen scourer that ate through it.

The car is 6 years old and I doubt that the inside of the wheels have ever been clean, most people wouldnt bother but it is one of my pet hates.

Any suggestions on what would be the best solvent to use much appreciated

Cheers

JRobbo

[kooky]

Subaru upper engine cleaner John.

[bruce_]

Have you got Cleanse Strong? Let it dwell on it for a while, then agitate, continue dwelling and see how it goes...

[Damian@FI]

I have foudn that nothing works after 6 years of continuously not removing brake dust

The only thing I have found to work is a bath in heavy degreaser, the wheels will need a polish afterwards.
Have you considered a sand and respray? Much more costly, but they will look brand new again. Someone like Matt from Wheels Solutions can dip the wheels in a stripper, take them back & repaint.


I you have a through or similar that you can fit the wheels into, dilute 500ml of PWC with 5L or so of HOT water and allow them to sit in the solution for at least 10min, that helps, but will still require lots of scrubbing.


Sorry I can't help more but I know what 6 years of BMW brake dust is like.

[DJIntegr8]

Tried the JWS3000?

Brendan

[Woteva]

6 months is bad enough with BMW's! Get them through work all of the time. I have come to the conclusion that BMW drivers are generally pigs!

I used Tarminator on the inside of my wheels with good results. But there wasn't 6 years of BMW brake dust.

[Ben@BTB]

I've also found that anything that is strong enough to remove the brake dust will very very likely damage the wheel surface. Like Damian said, it will need polishing afterwards and that is if the damage can be polished out - acid based cleaners can etch the surface very quickly..

I did an old E-Class a few months back (94 model I think it was) and I couldn't get the wheels clean. I tried every type of Wheel Cleaner (acid based, the lot) in all sorts of Dilutions - even straight. I tried soaking and scrubbing with a kitchen scourer (on the insides of the rims) and there was still small bits of black brake dust pitted into the surface.

I too, have a pet hate for brake dust, especially on silver brake rotors and on calipers as well as the inside of the wheel. I'm getting it something chronic on the RColt now, and I find I'm usually washing just my wheels 2 or 3 times in between a full wash of the car - and the wheels are even dark gunmetal so it doesn't stand out much. Anal I know, but thats why we are here