Cleaning Fuchs wheels

[Guest]

I'm interested to know what people use to clean their Fuchs wheels. I bought a refurbished set earlier this year and use Autosol metal polish to clean them. This certainly works but I have to repeat the process every week.
Can anyone recommend anything to help protect the wheels/increase the life of the shine after each clean?

 

[Mark_Bennett]

Not sure that Autosol is a good idea - it is abrasive so you will be removing any protective coating they have (or had?)
This is probably the reason that they now require a weekly polish.

What Fuschs are they - the bare metal looking ones, or the ones with a painted centre and a machined rim?

 

[Guest]

I got a very good cleaning kit from Chapelgates a couple of months ago having previously tried AutoGlym and Zymol products. Saying that the Zymol wheel coating is very good at stopping brake dust sticking to the surface and pitting the finish.

 

[Guest]

Autosol was recommended to me by the company that refurbished the wheels, I was told that they did not have any coating on them, and that they were bare metal rims.
They are the type of wheel with the black painted centre and the machined rim.

 

[Mark_Bennett]

I was told that they did not have any coating on them, and that they were bare metal rims.

OK Fair enough then. I was under the impression that these were also coated but apparrently not.
I think the problem is that the bare alloy forms an oxidised film (this is what alloys do) and you remove this when you polish - which makes them nice & shiney again, but this kicks off the oxidation process again and the rims lose the shine.
This is why I thought they were usually clear-coated - to prevent this happening.

I'm out of ides - I think you might have to carry on polishing once a week! (Not the Black bits though[] )

 

[Guest]

Thanks Mark for your thoughts. Cheers, Simon.

 

[Mark_Bennett]

Don't just take my comments as advice - there must be quite a few here with these wheels, worth giving them a chance to respond.

If they had been clear-coat I would side with Tiggy on the Zymol (or Swissol) wheel cleaners. I use these and I'm very happy with them.

(Anyone else help here?)

 

[Guest]

No expert but here's my 2 pence worth...

First you need to know just how your Fuchs wheels are finished...

1. Original - Anodised (rims have dull/matt look to them)
2. Refinished - Anodised (as above) - ££££
3. Refinished - Clear coated (depends on the coating) - ££
4. Refinished - Bare finish (Usually shiny from poilishing) - ££
5. Refinished - Chromed (Yikes!!! This is a bad thing for Fuchs apparently) Run.

If your Fuchs are original anodised then you should avoid any chemical cleaners and do as the owners handbook says. Which, I think, is wash with soapy warm water and then rub vaseline into the rims leave for a bit and polish off. Sounds mad but many swear by it. Some cleaners can stain the anodising then all you can do is have them refinished or polished.

If your rims have been refinished and are anodised then do as above. Note if you had your wheels refinished and it cost less than 100 quid per wheel they are probably not anodised. If anyone knows where you can get fuchs refinished and anodised for this price or less then I wish I'd known a year ago.

If refinished and clear coated then what to use will probably depend on what the coating is. Not sure of the details but I wouldnt use anything I wouldnt put on the paint of the car. Clear coating will hold its finish much longer and is easier to keep looking good but once you get pin prick chips in it the alloy underneath can corrode and then you get the little crazed patterns. Only solution then is to strip and repolish/recoat.

Refinished and left bare. I choose this finish because I can keep the wheels perfect without having to pay dosh out to someone to refinish them again in a year or twos time. I polish mine now and again and accept the fact that if I want them to look good I'll need to do a bit of work. My car isnt a daily driver and is uually only out in the dry. That probably helps. I know someone who does the vaseline thing with theirs so maybe that will reduce the amount of polishing required.

I guess my (personal) recommendations are...

For a daily driver - Anodised- Long lasting, looks good, original but very spendy.
For a garage queen - Polished and left bare - Looks great but will need occasional maintenance.

Cheers

Andy

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: sihinch

I'm interested to know what people use to clean their Fuchs wheels.

Fuchs, 18" Carrera and MINI 5 Spokes ... Am I missing somthing here guys I clean all my wheels with warm water and on the MINI, if filthed up as thats my daily tackle, I use warm water with drop of car shampoo. Does the job every time and I am an Ex Concours car cleaning nutter and wash my daily drive every other day come rain or shine [8D]

 

[Mark_Bennett]

wash my daily drive every other day come rain or shine

Which probably makes it a lot easier as the muck does not have a chance to set (or bake) on?

 

[Nick Moss]

I can get your rims refurbished for £100 per rim. Process involves stripping all the paint off, machining the rim as neccessary to get rid of curb rash, polishing, anodising and painting to original. If your rim is already polished then it can be anodised for about £35

cleaned

polished

anodised

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: Mark Bennett

wash my daily drive every other day come rain or shine

Which probably makes it a lot easier as the muck does not have a chance to set (or bake) on?

***************************************************************
Yes good point but hold it tiger ... the other 2/3rds gets washed once a week come rain or shine and its the same deal warm water and if really filthed up some bubbles in it []

 

[Mark_Bennett]

Yes good point but hold it tiger

I wasn't criticising!

 

[daro911]

ORIGINAL: Mark Bennett

Yes good point but hold it tiger

I wasn't criticising!

Mark I know that, I was just saying you were right. I realised after posting post I should have pointed out that I do own one car that sees a regular 180 miles per week in all sorts of weather and its a MCS with 5 Spokes and they never need more than warm soapy water when seriously dirty []

 

[IanHighfield]

Simon,

I am sure I read somewhere that WD40 makes a good cleaner !

 

[ClubSport 911]

Yes- Like Andy mentioned, the "no finish" wheels, whilst a little bit non original, means that you can see what is going on with them and take care accordingly. I look after my wheels with a combination of all manner of concoctions.

EG:-
Zymol "Tyre" - yes you read that correctly...
WD 40 - but yhis can attract the dust.
Turtle Wax "White" Polish / Wax (!).
Nothing - i.e a damp rag to clean them up.

The wheels still look good (see GTPP from December) and are over 2yrs old now (i.e since refinished).

I don't polish them often - but have found that on one occaision, I did not clean off the water marks after washing the car. As a result, on one wheel, the drying marks are still (just) slightly visible in the right light []

I always like the look of original anodised, but couldn't afford it at the time. [X(]

 

[Guest]

I'm interested to know what people use to clean their Fuchs wheels. I bought a refurbished set earlier this year and use Autosol metal polish to clean them. This certainly works but I have to repeat the process every week.
Can anyone recommend anything to help protect the wheels/increase the life of the shine after each clean?

Try rubbing on your choice of wax (I use Zymol) after the Autosol polish. This will add a protective layer that should extend the time between having to polish. I have two wheels which have the finish you describe and have found this helps enormously.

Richard

 

[Guest]

Thank-you everyone for your suggestions. You've certainly given my a number of options to try. Exactly what I hoped for! Cheers.

 

[Guest]

Just use the Autosol after every wash - it's not that hard for goodness sake! And naked metal is what it's made for - it does a great job.

 

[911sse]

I am really surprised no-one has mentioned the Speedy All Metal Polish!

I use the Autosol Cream to get rid or 80% of the surface grim, then finish them off with the Speedy Polish. The product really is good. I am sure you all know Simon from Essential Styling that sells it.

My wheels are 16" Polished and left bare wheels which are driven regularly in the terrible conditions of the North-East of Scotland!