Need opinion and advice on mercedes rims, 87 300e - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

dirtysocks · #1 10-21-2004, 04:05 AM

When my Dad first bought my current car it had white, five-spoked (star shaped) mercedes rims, which matched the car. It looked sweet. But, My Mom kept complaining that these rims looked terrible because of an abundance of brake dust, which my Dad never had time to clean off. He bought those dust shields for the rims, but their was not enough clearance to put them on. So, he replaced these rims with the more typical large circle silver mercedes rims. Now the time has come to get new tires, and I am thinking about going back to the white rims.

The problem is that they are terribly covered in brake dust, so bad that I don't even know what will take it off. Does anyone have any ideas for removing such caked-on brake dust?

When i get them on, is there any thing I can do to cut down the brake-dust problem?

Thanks for your time.

ksing44 · #2 10-21-2004, 06:16 AM

Easy-Off Oven Cleaner works miracles when removing baked on brake dust and crud. It is a powerful base that will remove tuff residue, but you should experiment with timing the application on the back surface of the wheel to be sure it is safe for the finish on your wheels. Quite a few others have tried it and they were happy with the results. Try doing a search to get some feedback.

If, in the future, you keep after the wheels with wax and regular cleaning, then the wheels should not be difficult to keep clean.

lino · #3 10-23-2004, 05:03 PM

I agree with ksing44. Easy-Off Oven Cleaner is great. I suggest doing one wheel at a time, in the shade, and follow with soap and water to make sure you get all the easy-off and the brake dust off the wheels completely.

seuri35 · #4 10-28-2004, 11:19 PM

in the future to prevent dust from the brake pads, buy PBR dustless brake pads they reduce the brake dust alot... at least it worked well for my 87 300 D W124... and these PBR brake pads are pretty affordable.

kidMoBile · #5 10-29-2004, 09:53 AM

Easy-off active ingredient is lye (sodium hydroxide). Westley's tire white is also either sodium or potassium hydroxide (doesn't matter) and will take off brake dust rather handily. Westley's is a spray trigger; easy-off is aerosol spray and thus inhalation can be a bit more of an issue. Of course you're outside, so it shouldn't matter. I'd choose by price. That said, I've never used easy-off on wheels and for all I know it may work better than Westley's.