Extreme brake dust - Process & Products

**hurricane56** · 01-11-2016, 01:36 PM

I wanted to get some fresh insight as how everyone deals with baked-on brake dust on painted wheels with clear coat. I've got a BMW that has stock brake pads and rotors. They have a reputation for a ton of brake dust. The car has only undergone maintenance washing for the last year and I'm thinking that a wheels off deep-clean and coating might be my next project.

This weekend I did a test spot on one of the wheels and was unable to fully remove the embedded brake dust. My goal is to not use any mechanical abrasive process like scotch brite or magic eraser. In addition, additional online research has people using oven cleaner, but I fear that will just eat through the clear coat.

Here's the process I attempted:

1. Saturate area with Meg's 143 Non-Acid Wheel Cleaner 3:1. Gently agitate then rinse.

2. Lightly spray embedded area with Iron-X. Let product dwell for 4-5 minutes.

3. Lightly agitate with a soft bristled detailing brush and wait another minute. Rinse area.

I repeated the those steps three times and was able to remove most of the brake dust, but parts of the wheels in the corners and cervices are still indicating iron contamination. My guess is that the Iron-X is working as it should, but the product is only dissolving one layer of brake dust at a time.

Is there a better way to tackle this? I suppose I could continue using Iron-X until it breaks through the dust, but it seems like I'd use an entire liter of the product to decontaminate all four wheels.

**GSKR** · 01-11-2016, 01:45 PM

There are limitations to using iron x on really extremed baked on brake dust.

**CarolinasFinestDetailing** · 01-11-2016, 02:02 PM

I keep Iron X paste on hand for this particular reason. I deal wit a ton of neglected Euro cars (no offense.)

I normally use wheel acid then Iron X on severely neglected wheels.

Try spraying Iron X on a MF towel and blotting specific area. Let it sit a little while longer. Then rinse well. Picture of said spots? Wondering if they are through clear.

**asianisafish** · 01-11-2016, 02:10 PM

On BMW wheels that are clear coated?
There is 3 bmws and 3 Mercedes at my house. All with the crazy brake dust made of German power lol. Just use megs wheel brightener

**Rsurfer** · 01-11-2016, 02:23 PM

Meg's Wheel Brightner will dissolve the brake dust in no time. Nothing wrong in using an acid once in awhile providing the wheel is in good condition. If you want to end this problem, seal your wheels and clean them more often or change your brake pads.

**hurricane56** · 01-11-2016, 04:11 PM

I didn't think of Iron-X Paste. I'm going to try to do a couple more rounds of regular Iron-X and take some pictures soon.

**The Guz** · 01-11-2016, 04:13 PM

D143 won't do much at 3:1. You may need to step it up to 1:1 if it's really caked on.

**DapperStyle** · 01-11-2016, 04:37 PM

Any chance what you are seeing is tar build up? Have you tried Tarminator or something similar?

**Kody** · 01-11-2016, 04:37 PM

I've always had real good luck with Sonax wheel cleaner plus and wheel woolies. If I need to clean them any better I'll take them off and really let them dwell and then clay if need be.