Project 'Modern E36' - My 2009 BMW 128i

[Jake]

Mileage: 54,something

Got some of the "new Sonax" wheel cleaner from Eric Wong last weekend at Summit Point. My plans last night got rained out, but naturally the rain stopped once I got home. So, I decided to see how well this Sonax stuff would work on Der 1er's wheels. They are BBS CH that I bought from Paul Newby, and had been used on his E46 racecar for a few years and thus never cleaned very well.

You can see all the brake pad deposits in the "corners" of each spoke if you look hard. These would not come off with just soap and water - although the brake dust would. Sorry for PotatoPhone quality:



I did two passes with the Sonax. The first was just a "spray and pray" - spray it on, let it sit for a few minutes, and hose it off. The wheels came remarkably clean doing just that. I sprayed another round on, grabbed a towel, and really got in the corners to agitate and break up the pad deposits. I thought they were embedded in the wheel's paint and would not come off, but I was (mostly) wrong.



I'll be rotating the tires in a week or so, and when I do, I'll give the wheels another pass with the goal of cleaning the barrels as well. However, for 20 minutes and minimal effort on my end, the wheels look near-new again. I'm hugely impressed.