[overdrivex]

So lately, I've been investing in some new car care products for my silver E92. What got me thinking was the wheel and tire cleaners. I was thinking of getting some meguiar's wheel and tire cleaner, but is it worth it to get some? I've just been using the car washing soap and water since I got the car and it seems to give the wheels a nice shine to them. What do you guys think?

[chmsalman]

If you're into polishing and waxing your car, doing it without tire shine would be like wearing slippers with a suit. Your cars shoes need to be polished. Use the Meguiars stuff, it comes in a little orange bottle. That stuff works way better than the foam stuff. Makes my wheels super shiny. Remember, when you're done applying it to your wheels, move the car a little bit so you can get to the part that was previously in contact with the pavement. Otherwise you'll get one spot that isn't shiny and that's just annoying to watch as you drive lol.

[overdrivex]

Originally Posted by chmsalman

If you're into polishing and waxing your car, doing it without tire shine would be like wearing slippers with a suit. Your cars shoes need to be polished. Use the Meguiars stuff, it comes in a little orange bottle. That stuff works way better than the foam stuff. Makes my wheels super shiny. Remember, when you're done applying it to your wheels, move the car a little bit so you can get to the part that was previously in contact with the pavement. Otherwise you'll get one spot that isn't shiny and that's just annoying to watch as you drive lol.

Ahh that makes sense! Thank you very much! I think I'm going to go pick some up today.

[Detailed Image]

With routine maintenance, soap and water may be all that is needed to remove loose dirt and brake dust buildup. If your wheels are considerably dirty, you may need to use a dedicated wheel cleaner like Sonax Full Effect or P21S Gel Wheel Cleaner.





Cleaning your tires is also important. I recommend Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner and Tire Brush.

Before cleaning


After cleaning (note: no dressing has been applied, just perfectly clean rubber)




After your wheels and tires are clean, you'll want to consider using a protective sealant on your wheels such as CarPro HydrO2, and you will certainly want to use a premium water based tire dressing like CarPro PERL to make your tires look great and to also nourish and protect the rubber (I'd recommend avoiding silicone based tire dressings).






CarPro HydrO2: Seal Your Wheels in Less than 1 Minute by Zach McGovern

My Go-To Wheel and Tire Cleaning Products by Zach McGovern

Product Review: CarPro PERL by Zach McGovern



Please let me know if you have any questions!

Zach McGovern
Detailed Image Ask-A-Pro Blog Author
www.AttentiontoDetailingPeoria.com

[Rival]

sonax + all purpose is where its at buddy.

Wet slightly with water (wheel/tire). Use all purpose lightly all over....tire, rim, inside of rim to get brake, then go back with sonax just for rim + brake's.

let it sit 5-6min. Light, lightly hit again with all purpose and then wash with your wheel/rim bucket.


done. If you use rags/ clothes and polish you should have them looking like the pics above.

I use a wheel polish and tire dressing. After i wash the car and am already done doing the wheels ill go get 5 paper towels and really dry the wheels before putting on the polish.

then finish with tire dressing.

[overdrivex]

thank you very much for the information guys! I've really been skimping out on the wheel/tire cleanings. I'm gonna look more into the products mentioned here. Those wheels and tires on the Porsche and Stingray look very nice after the process you described Zach!

[UncleWede]

IF you want to go on the inexpensive, I use Simple Green to clean tires and rims. About twice a year I do remove the wheels, clay the rims and seal with Poor Boy Wheels sealant (smells good too!) When I do a normal wash, I seal the tires with 303 protectant.

I prefer my tires just look black, as opposed to shiny.

[overdrivex]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

IF you want to go on the inexpensive, I use Simple Green to clean tires and rims. About twice a year I do remove the wheels, clay the rims and seal with Poor Boy Wheels sealant (smells good too!) When I do a normal wash, I seal the tires with 303 protectant.

I prefer my tires just look black, as opposed to shiny.

Oh thank you! I have a friend who uses simple green...I'm going to need to look into it again for myself. But for now I'm really liking how this wheel and tire cleaner is working.

[LHR]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

IF you want to go on the inexpensive, I use Simple Green to clean tires and rims. About twice a year I do remove the wheels, clay the rims and seal with Poor Boy Wheels sealant (smells good too!) When I do a normal wash, I seal the tires with 303 protectant.

I prefer my tires just look black, as opposed to shiny.

Do you dilute with water or straight simple green?

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by MindControl

Do you dilute with water or straight simple green?

For tires/rims, I'm normally using about 50/50 ratio, but can get by with a Tupperware dish about the size of a sandwich, double thick, to do all four wheels.

[LHR]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

For tires/rims, I'm normally using about 50/50 ratio, but can get by with a Tupperware dish about the size of a sandwich, double thick, to do all four wheels.

How would you compare that to the more expensive stuff like sonax etc as far as results go? How does it clear the break dust and the gunky tires?

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by MindControl

How would you compare that to the more expensive stuff like sonax etc as far as results go? How does it clear the break dust and the gunky tires?

I use one of the kitchen scrubbie/sponge combos on the tires, then dress them up with 303, I love how they look.
Brake dust comes off pretty well, but I still do the full wheel-off cleaning/claying/Poor Boys Wheel Wax once or twice a year.

The wife drives the car most of the time, and she quite often has the mobile guy that comes to the office do the car. I hate how the tires come back all shiny, but the next time *I* do it, they are back to flat matte dark after a scrub with the above.

I've never used anything else on the wheels, so can't compare.

[Detailed Image]

Products like Sonax Full Effect and Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus may be more expensive, but they do work very well. (I also personally really like P21S Gel Wheel Cleaner)



These X5 wheels were covered in an excessive amount of dirt and brake dust.






They were sprayed liberally with Sonax Full Effect Wheel Cleaner, and you can see the product starts to break down the dirt and grime and lift it away from the wheel without any agitation or scrubbing.





The wheels were then pressure washed, and 90+% of the heavy dirt and grime had been removed without the need for any scrubbing/agitation. As this was a customer vehicle, we did then use various brushes to clean every crack and crevice to ensure the wheels were as perfectly clean as we could get them, but for routine cleaning, a simple spray, let dwell, and pressure wash would be very simple and effective with the right cleaner.




This is even easier if you've got a good layer of protection on your wheels... and it doesn't get any quicker or easier than sealing your wheels with CarPro HydrO2.

CarPro HydrO2: Seal Your Wheels in Less than 1 Minute by Zach McGovern




Hope that helps,

Zach McGovern
Detailed Image Ask-A-Pro Blog Author
www.AttentiontoDetailingPeoria.com

[Spun Crankhub]

Plain old soap and water works for me, and sometimes Ill finish em off with a coat of spray wax. I am no money bags, so no extraneous products for this guy.