How to protect the surface of alloy wheels

Wax them & you have to clean & rewax them depressingly regularly if you care.

We use Smart Wax, Rim Wax from the US -

UK Stockists: Also on eBay UK: Item number: 260070828602

Why bother wasting money on this? Use water and soap regularly if it bothers you that much. It's just cosmetic, it's solid metal, it'll be fine without any expensive cleaners.

Except that the finish on most ally wheels is not solid metal. It's either paint or laquer. Keeping that in good condition is essential to prevent corrosion of the wheel itself. Mike.

Touché saint Mikey. On all cars I've ever owned, leaving them mankie, followed by the bi-annual clean the car may get, doesn't seem to affect them in any way what-so-ever, and they still shine, followed by yet more mankieness - but fair enough ;)

Maybe you have had newer cars than myself. :-) Most of mine have been at least 10 years old. With newer wheels it takes time to show, but you must have noticed older ally wheels, especially the polished laquered type, where corrosion from atmospheric acids, salt etc, shows as a white powder where the finish has been damaged or flaked off.

The genuine M-Tech wheels on my E39 BMW cost about £225 each new, and with tyres at about £100 each, the value even s/h, represents quite a big chunk of the cars value. If I sell the car, I'll probably replace them with some cheaper std wheels, and sell the M-Tech ones complete with tyres separately, so I intend to keep them in as good condition as I can. Mike.

Hi David, Tony Blair here.

You want to be tough on brake dust, and tough on the causes of brake dust.

Removing your brake pads should eliminate the root cause of this menace.

It's the right thing to do.

Tony X

"Mark W" wrote in news:45c0eee6$1 snipped-for-privacy@mk-nntp-2.news.uk.tiscali.com:

Hehe...don't let the real Tony hear about this.....he'll want to introduce a brake pad tax in an 'effort' to reduce dust emissions ;-) The existing government have done much sillier things before now.

Stu

4 - 8 years old is my aim, though it depends on brand. Shit manufacturer, 4 or 5 years old max, decent (ie: bmw like yourself), anything considered really.

I've maybe been lucky, most of the old owners gave them a thorough clean. But then again, I only buy from caring owners usually :D