[Nezil]

In California, it doesn't rain much, so my car stays pretty clean as long as I dust it each morning. I probably actually wash the car about once every 6 weeks during the summer, and it looks perfect every day.... except for the wheels.

I know our cars have brake pads that are known to generate a lot of dust, and maybe at some point in the future, I might replace them with some that dust less, but for now at least, I'm going to stick with the stock pads until they were out.

Initially I just left my wheels until it was time to wash properly, but even then found that if I got the brake discs / rotors wet, the first 100 yards driven would result in rust coloured dust all over my just cleaned wheels!

Now that I have a QuickJack, I decided to try a different approach. Wheels off, clean with a hose, wash and dry, off the car, rinse-less wash the callipers and arch liners, then put the wheels back.

This works great, but I noticed something interesting while I was removing the lug bolts with an impact wrench today... lots of brake dust fell down with each 'impact' of the wrench.

While I had the wheel off, I decided to blow out the discs / rotors and callipers and damn was there a lot of brake dust in there! My car has now done about 6,500 miles, and there is plenty of pad material left, I'm just shocked how much dust was inside the disc.

Now that the wheels are clean and back on, I'm hoping that they stay dust free for slightly longer than I'm used to. Perhaps the discs will fill with dust first before it starts coating the wheels!

[Nezil]

Another quick tip I forgot to mention... If, like me, you clean your wheels first before you wash the bodywork. Fitting some wheel covers over your wheels once they're clean can prevent soap and rinse water getting on your freshly cleaned wheels and worst case leaving water spots, best case making you have to keep continually drying them.

I used this set and it fits perfectly: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073H38SCD/

[McGary911]

I use a ceramic spray on my car as of late (hydrosilex recharge in my case) and it really allows the wheels to stay cleaner for longer. I noticed this mostly on the wheels and the tailpipes.

With the frequency of your washes that might really be worth a try for you. It works great on the paint, too.

Oh, and a tip I picked up on one of the different subforums here for the wheel rust dust: After I wash the car and it's still wet, I do a lap around my cul de sac dragging the brakes. That heats up the rotors and dries them off so there's no rust. That rust DOES look horrible on our black wheels, especially when the rest of the car is so clean.

[randyt]

I envy you as I pretty much need to wash mine every week if I drive it.

Cleaning the wheels is a pain and takes more time than anything else even using Hydrosilex. My process is wash, dry (cloth & blow) coat w/ hydrosilex every couple of washes. Drive, blow the rust off it and wipe down. Finally done. Have not really found any shortcuts.

When you blow out your calipers, I would suggest wearing a hazardous particle dust mask if you are getting a lot of dry dust.

[AndrewC1989]

Ugh there is nothing more annoying than the rust getting all over your black barreled wheels after a fresh wash. Doesn't matter how well I dry the rotors, they turn orange. Only solution I've been able to manage is to go for a drive around the block and then wipe any remanence of it off the wheels by hand. I almost want to retrofit CCB's just to not have to do that after every wash.

[kpaso]

Nezil, have you had your wheels ceramic coated? I imagine that would make it way easier to get the brake dust off each time.

[Nezil]

Originally Posted by andrewc89

Ugh there is nothing more annoying than the rust getting all over your black barreled wheels after a fresh wash. Doesn't matter how well I dry the rotors, they turn orange. Only solution I've been able to manage is to go for a drive around the block and then wipe any remanence of it off the wheels by hand. I almost want to retrofit CCB's just to not have to do that after every wash.

Well like said, removing the wheels, and waterless washing the callipers and wheel wells prevents you from getting the discs wet, so that does prevent the rust. It's a lot of effort though.

I did try your method a couple of times, detail spray and wipe the barrels after a short drive, but it's messy, and I sliced my finger really deep one time on the backplate! I don't want to do that again...

Originally Posted by kpaso

Nezil, have you had your wheels ceramic coated? I imagine that would make it way easier to get the brake dust off each time.

Yes, I coated my wheels with CQuartz D-Lux when I first bought the car. The brake dust doesn't stick hard at all, a blast with a pressure washer takes almost all of it off, so cleaning it isn't difficult.

I've ordered some HydrO2 as a topper for the D-Lux as well. The D-Lux is holding up well so far, but it will fail eventually, I know that, and HydrO2 might delay the inevitable.

[qnet]

Originally Posted by andrewc89

Ugh there is nothing more annoying than the rust getting all over your black barreled wheels after a fresh wash. Doesn't matter how well I dry the rotors, they turn orange. Only solution I've been able to manage is to go for a drive around the block and then wipe any remanence of it off the wheels by hand. I almost want to retrofit CCB's just to not have to do that after every wash.

I usually drive forward & backward a few feet in my driveway, after a wash, and just before dry. It helps but, I agree you always get some rust somewhere .

[necoblitz]

Originally Posted by qnet

I usually drive forward & backward a few feet in my driveway, after a wash, and just before dry. It helps but, I agree you always get some rust somewhere .

Somewhere on the forums I read about Hyde's Serum rust stopper, available on Amazon. Spray it on the discs after your final rinse, seems to do the job.

[JKen_0115]

Originally Posted by necoblitz

Somewhere on the forums I read about Hyde's Serum rust stopper, available on Amazon. Spray it on the discs after your final rinse, seems to do the job.

I have tried that spraying but it doesn't remove the rust....a bit disappointed.

[boostm3]

Originally Posted by andrewc89

Ugh there is nothing more annoying than the rust getting all over your black barreled wheels after a fresh wash. Doesn't matter how well I dry the rotors, they turn orange. Only solution I've been able to manage is to go for a drive around the block and then wipe any remanence of it off the wheels by hand. I almost want to retrofit CCB's just to not have to do that after every wash.

Yea, really annoying.. I dont recall having disks this prone to rusting, but Im sure it just seems that way... So I washed yesterday, and changed the way I do things somewhat.. Ive been using this bottle of Dub wheel cleaner which is one of those that go on green and turn purple when encountering iron.. Since im using powerstop Z23 carbon ceramic pads, I dont get much purpling, but I do get a TON of rust on the crossdrilled rotors, which inevitably would wind up coating the wheels and tires way more than BMW brake pad dust does in the same amount of time.

I used to do the wheels first, but this time, I washed the entire car first trying to keep direct hose spray off the rims.. While drying the paint, I applied the wheel cleaner and after a few minutes, I aimed the hose directly at the wheels, trying to keep overspray to a minimum.. Upon rinsing the wheels, i immediately took her for a short drive, dragging the brakes when appropriate. When I got home, no rust!

[Nezil]

So it's been nearly a week since I blow out the dust in my brake discs and calipers. I can definitely say that it makes an enormous difference in the amount of dusts on my wheels.

I've not driven that far, but so far at least, the wheels are still pretty much clean. I've not had clean rims this long ever before!

Blowing out the dust makes a real mess though...

[DETRoadster]

My recipe for staying battling the dust and rust:

1) Switched to HRE satin IPA wheels which are a satin bronze. Hides the dust better!
2) Ceramic coated the wheels
3) Changed brake pads to "low dust" ceramics and accepted a marginal difference in stopping power.
4) Wash the car first and the wheels last. Wheels are the first to get dried with my leaf blower, then I dry the rest of the car.

[RAM_F30_F87]

Long ago I purchased a flexible microfiber duster recommended in a previous forum like the following to use with your favorite wheel cleaner.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-Micr...3-20/204326091
CQuart Professional was recently re-applied to the entire car/wheels after front bumper replacement.
https://www.kmgdetailing.com/single-...02/2017-BMW-M2