faded rims...

[Chimera]

i bought my '97 240 in april and i noticed ever since i bought it that the rims were faded, its silver, but looks like there are huge oil spots and discoloration....anybody know of any cleaning solution/chemical that can clean these blotches right off?

[Eddie]

My 95 wheels look just like that. Sometimes I will wax them with maguires scratch-x followed by a caranuba finish and it helps them not look as faded.

With the scratch-x I can get rid of those oil looking spots, but it does take some elbow grease.

[Bronze MFP]

my wheels looked like that when i bought the car. Instead of trying to restore them, I just painted them graphite black. It looked to me like the clear coat was going bad, if thats the case, i think you'd have to sand it down and recoat it.

[AmIdYfReAk]

i kinda agree with Bronze, there looks to be some corrosion on the rims them selfs.

if you take a look at the Standard rim cleaner at some stores and give them hell, you will be able to clean them. but keeping them that way might be a problem.

[pmkls2]

thats a common prob on all aluminum wheels and the cause is the clearcoat is cracked allowing oxidation to occur on the aluminum under the coating there are a lot of things you can do to make them look better but the only complete fix is refinishing or new wheels

[nismo521]

You can use aircraft remover to strip the old clearcoat (this stuff doesn't play around, so don't leave the wheels on the car), then scuff up the aluminum w/ a red 3M pad and put on some duplicolor wheel clearcoat. Should look good as new.

[pmkls2]

yeah that reminds me where can you find that stuff ?

[nismo521]

Most auto parts stores carry it, in the paint section.

[pmkls2]

aha, I never go to parts stores, just tell my parts guys to order me stuff lol

[Chingon]

mother's wheel polish 6 bux.

[navysnail]

you should see my one rear left wheel, it looks like someone poured acid on it, and then 15 minutes later realized that it wasnt water and washed it off, all the clear coat is gone and its bad, luckly im getting some used '92 alloy's though