I have a 04 Coupe with the 18" wheels and they have black residue from the brakes.
I can't seem to clean it off.

What do you guys and gals use to remove that ugliness?

 

Eagle one all wheel cleaner. Follow up with a claybar if that doesn't remove all the spots

 

It is important to clean it regularly, otherwise the dust gets super hard to remove. Once you get it off, apply some kind of polish to protect the rims from absorbing additonal brake dust. The best solution in the future would be to go for ceramic pads to replace the OEM and all the dust!

 

Once you get them clean, hit them with some wax. Whenever I wax my car, I also wax the rims and it really helps the brake dust no to stain the rims. Same thing with my Brembo Calipers. The wax not only protects them, but it makes them shine like crazy too.

 

Be VERY careful with wheel cleaners. Some will actually REMOVE some of the paint and leave the black undercoat!

 

I use what redlude97 said, and I have had no problems keeping my wheels clean.
If the brake dust eats into the finish, you may not be so lucky.....
Try the Eagle 1 wheel cleaner, or P21S, any non acidic cleaner..... and then a clay bar.
I always apply a coat of wax or use detail spray each time I wash my car. It makes cleaning the wheels (front ones especially) alot easier.

 

i just use water lol i dont trust wheel cleaners

 

clean OEM wheels with OEM water, duh!!! j/k. +1 light wax on rims should shine them right up...

 

As long as you keep the rims coated with a wax, then the dust/dirt will not stick. The safest way to clean the rims would be to use DAWN on the rims & clean well. This will remove all the old wax/oil/grease. Then use a good cleaner wax and this should remove the dust and spots with some elbow grease & time. Then put a final coat of a good quality wax to seal the rim. Once done, wax once a month OR at least once every other month. If dawn and a cleaner wax does not work, then the rims may of been neglected. You will then have to try a stronger detergent. I am not aware of a safe one to use on our rims, so you will have to look into this yourself. Be careful of cleaners, because then may damage the coating on your rims.

 

Use a mild dish soap to clean the rims, if that dosent work then try claybar. Stay away from any strong wheel cleaners, a carwash used an acid based cleaner on my OEM 19's and didnt wash it off in time; the acid left black stains in my rims.

 

Spray them with Simple Green. Let soak. Brush & rinse. Good as new.

 

A neat trick I've learned is to use the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser after a quick rinse down. Seems to work great for me. I have previously zaino'd and wheel waxed them though.

 

I jsut use my washmit and gold class meguiar's soap. Special wheel cleaners are for suckers. If you wanna know the BEST wheel cleaner here are the ingredients:

-dawn liquid soap
-baking powder
-warm water

put all those into a sprak bottle and I guarantee it'll beat any other cleaner you've used. With tyhat said, wax your wheels and never deal with this problem again. after they're waxed, you can get everything off with yourt washmit. just make sure you wash your mit after every wash.

 

i usually use soap and water.

 

I would be a little leary about using baking powder on your rims. Its kind of abrasive in IMO.