I bought a set of 16 inch silver wheels with decent Bridgestone Drive Guard tires that were taken off of a 2002 Cooper S that I assume are 2002 OEM wheels. They were filthy and today I tried cleaning them with mothers wheel cleaner (which hardly made a dent) and then Purple Power with a scrub brush followed by car wash pressure soap and rinse and then PP/wash/rinse repeated a second time. There are still some dark areas that need further cleaning. A buddy suggested WD40 which worked on his Z4 wheels. Are OEM mini wheels painted? Any suggestions on the remaining baked brake dust? These wheels/tires weigh 41 pounds each.

before



after

 

Pretty sure they’re painted. I’ve had good luck with regular Sonax full effect wheel cleaner, not plus, and not Beast. Here’s a before and after of the back of my R90’s using the regular/original Sonax. You might also try some paint clay and lube to pull some of that brake dust out of the wheel paint. Just make sure you never use the clay on the body after using on the wheels.

 

I'd not heard of Sonax before. A little pricey, but your results are impressive.

 

painted

the paint code is A54 "Wheel bright silver metallic"

I usually get my small quantity touch up from Automotivetouchup.com

The Sherwin Williams Automotive formula is 79742

this is 'base coat' and should be clear coated

 

Please check your tires too. The build date on the tires is the last 4 digits in the DOT number. Example: 0917 would mean the 09th week in 2017, this would mean the tires are 5 years old!