[ejazbmw]

i just bought this wheel wax thing just for the heck of it...and while i was using it i said to myself "lets read the back of this thing just to see what it has to say" and it said not for coated aluminum......are the stock E90 rims coated? i wasnt sure so i just stoped....

[darkcloud]

BMW rims arent made of Aluminum. Their made of alloy. You're fine, go back outside and finish waxing.

Aluminum rims are those shiny gross looking oxidized things that are wanna be chrome. A lot of fords particularly late 90's-2003 Explorers/Mountaineers had them.

[TRICKE90]

bmw rims aren't made out of aluminum? what the hell do you think they are made of? Plastic?, steel? Granite? Of course they are made out of asluminum.
They are an aluminum casting made up of an aluminum ALLOY. just for wheels.
sheesh! get your facts straight.

[picus]

OEM BMW wheels are painted, so it doesn't matter anyway. Wheel Wax will not hurt them.

[darkcloud]

Originally Posted by TRICKE90

bmw rims aren't made out of aluminum? what the hell do you think they are made of? Plastic?, steel? Granite? Of course they are made out of asluminum.
They are an aluminum casting made up of an aluminum ALLOY. just for wheels.
sheesh! get your facts straight.

You talking to me?

[TRICKE90]

No, I'm talking to your grandmother! (seriously though,) BMW wheels are made of an aluminum alloy that is cast out of cast iron molds. An alloy is a composition of different elements to determine strength, weight, and durablility. The alloy in which BMW uses (or BBS who makes bmw wheels) is an alloy designed just for wheels. The reason they use a casting instead of a forging, or a spun wheel, is that it is a lot cheaper to manufacture. They pour the mold, let it cool and machine the important features that need to be machined and paint them. Forgings on the other hand are forged using large presses and then machine them. The machining process usually takes longer, and the forging presses are a LOT more expensive, although forgings are stronger & lighter that castings, they are more expensive.
Almost all cars now days come with some sort of cast aluminum wheel. Unless they use the cheap stamped steel wheels on their cheaper models. The way to tell this is they usually have a hubcap or some kind of wheel covering. I hope this gives you some sort of insight without getting really technical.

[darkcloud]

Originally Posted by TRICKE90

No, I'm talking to your grandmother! (seriously though,) BMW wheels are made of an aluminum alloy that is cast out of cast iron molds. An alloy is a composition of different elements to determine strength, weight, and durablility. The alloy in which BMW uses (or BBS who makes bmw wheels) is an alloy designed just for wheels. The reason they use a casting instead of a forging, or a spun wheel, is that it is a lot cheaper to manufacture. They pour the mold, let it cool and machine the important features that need to be machined and paint them. Forgings on the other hand are forged using large presses and then machine them. The machining process usually takes longer, and the forging presses are a LOT more expensive, although forgings are stronger & lighter that castings, they are more expensive.
Almost all cars now days come with some sort of cast aluminum wheel. Unless they use the cheap stamped steel wheels on their cheaper models. The way to tell this is they usually have a hubcap or some kind of wheel covering. I hope this gives you some sort of insight without getting really technical.

Yes, I know everything you just said. The only reason I said they are just "alloy" rims and not aluminum alloy is because on the BMW website under vehicel demensions rim material is described as "Light alloy", obvioulsy not using the term "Aluminum", so neither did I.

I also have BBS rims so I understand how those are made as well... http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56216

[TRICKE90]

Oh

[TiAg335i]

Your wheels are most likely clear coated. Use the wax.

[FrankoQ]

Originally Posted by TiAg335i

Your wheels are most likely clear coated. Use the wax.

wax on, wax off... wax on, wax off...

seriously, I've been using wheel wax on my 162 rims for almost a year.
I really like it. here is what I noticed:
break dust will still collect on the rim.
the difference comes when you want to clean them.
without the wax, it took a long time to clean the rims. some of the dirt
required a lot of work to remove.
with the wax, I use a soapy water and a sponge and the dirt just comes off very easily.
I waxed the wheels once a month if not every other week.

[Detailed Image]

Good information here, applying these products on OEM BMW wheels is perfectly fine. Here's what I do to maintain my wheels:

I always apply a coat or two of Wheel Wax or Poorboy's Wheel Sealant. Both products will make future cleanings significantly easier. I've found that all I need is a dedicated wash mitt and the automotive shampoo I'm using to wash my vehicle with, this tends to get just about all of the contamination off the wheels without much effort.

When the wheels are becoming difficult to clean with simple automotive shampoo and a mitt, I apply another coat or two. Once in a while (or when they are brand new and off the vehicle), I will completely remove the wheels and apply them to inner parts of the wheel.

Hope this helps, follow the less is more philosophy, you are better off with two thin coats than one thicker coat.

George

[FotiosF90M5]

Originally Posted by TRICKE90

bmw rims aren't made out of aluminum? what the hell do you think they are made of? Plastic?, steel? Granite? Of course they are made out of asluminum.
They are an aluminum casting made up of an aluminum ALLOY. just for wheels.
sheesh! get your facts straight.

all you have to do is correct him, you dont have to freak out about it.sheesh!

[ejazbmw]

errr i just use meguiars wheel wax its easy and it actually smells pretty good lol

[darkcloud]

Originally Posted by fotios330i

all you have to do is correct him, you dont have to freak out about it.sheesh!

yeah

BTW, wheel wax FTW!!! I used it for the first time 2 weeks ago, cleaning the wheels is 100X easier now. I use the poorboys wheel sealant.