# BH Auto Wheel Usage



## Steo2019 (Apr 11, 2019)

Hi Folks

I bought Bilt Hamber Auto Wheel recently,does a fine job on the alloys on my car,no complaints there.

Just wondering,do people use this every time they was their car,would using it every two weeks on the wheels be overkill?? or would there be another dedicated wheel shampoo to use in between auto wheel usage??

Perhaps I am overthinking it :lol:


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## fatdazza (Dec 29, 2010)

Once cleaned seal them and then shampoo will be enough.


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## c87reed (Dec 9, 2015)

I use it every time, but that's only because my car can often go 2-3 months+ without a wash.


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## youngwangie (Oct 9, 2016)

every other wash for me. best wheel cleaner on the market for me


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## Sean66 (Apr 5, 2019)

I use it maybe once every 3 months as I find BH auto wash and a wheel woolie is all I need to keep my wheels free from iron contamination .


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## Commander2874 (Sep 7, 2017)

I use every 2-3 months and valet pro bilberry in between. Works great. Shampoo wheels once a month or every 6 weeks

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## camerashy (Feb 9, 2014)

I use it every 6 months but my cars not a daily driver


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## WristyManchego (Sep 9, 2018)

Steo2019 said:


> Hi Folks
> 
> I bought Bilt Hamber Auto Wheel recently,does a fine job on the alloys on my car,no complaints there.
> 
> ...


Overthinking, yes. But a worthy question to ask.

BH auto wheel is a fantastic cleaner that has only few real challengers on the market.

It cleans brake dust, iron and grime extremely well and works on the roughest of wheel finishes.

Once you have a wheel clean however, it is much easier to keep clean. So your question is entirely dependant on your frequency of upkeep.

If you don't touch your wheel for 2 months and have soft pads, you may have to use auto wheel every wash.

If you wash weekly, seldom should you need to use auto wheel and instead a milder wheel cleaner or even bodywork shampoo will do the job nicely along with some quality brushes.

Personally I keep 4 wheel cleaners on hand in various dilutions to get the job done with maximum efficiency and little impact on the wheel surface.

If time is on your side and you'd prefer to be economical, wash your wheels first with a mild wheel cleaner or body shampoo then hit it with auto wheel. The product will work more effectively and you'll use less.

Think of it like washing your car before using a tar or iron remover.


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## westerman (Oct 12, 2008)

Good tip when using BH Auto Wheel. When you get down to half the bottle, top it up with water.
It still works really well on the wheels diluted and it's also a great paint decon at this strength too.
Well I am a Yorkshire Man by birth and the pennies do count.:thumb:

Harry.


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

I used to use it every time and it always bled. Use your brakes once and you'll have iron on the wheels, coated or not.

Going forwards I'm trying to use it less, but I never saw any deterioration on my wheels using it every wash.

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## Steo2019 (Apr 11, 2019)

Thanks for the input folks!! interesting feedback!


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## bigkahunaburger (Jun 27, 2012)

Steo2019 said:


> Hi Folks
> 
> I bought Bilt Hamber Auto Wheel recently,does a fine job on the alloys on my car,no complaints there.
> 
> ...


It's a good question. You can use it safely every wash. Just be aware of the more delicate centre caps and try and avoid those as best you can. Depending on your wheels, it may be easier to seal them and then just use shampoo or a milder wheel cleaner. My previous car's multispokes would have taken hours to wax/seal etc so I would use Auto Wheel every wash (washing every couple of weeks when I had the time).


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## Supa Koopa (Aug 3, 2015)

I think it depends on the wheels as well. I've never needed to use Auto Wheel that often on my previous wheels, but the new BMW I have needs it all the time. The wheels are really very nice, but have a matte texture to them and the grime seems to just stick. I've coated them and the water beads and runs off, but for some reason the grime remains. My usual detail factory brushes don't seem to clean them, bilberry doesn't work. Even after cleaning them well you can rub your finger on the surface and see the dirt coming off, so they still need a scrub with Auto Wheel.

Never known wheels like them really.


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## Commander2874 (Sep 7, 2017)

Supa Koopa said:


> I think it depends on the wheels as well. I've never needed to use Auto Wheel that often on my previous wheels, but the new BMW I have needs it all the time. The wheels are really very nice, but have a matte texture to them and the grime seems to just stick. I've coated them and the water beads and runs off, but for some reason the grime remains. My usual detail factory brushes don't seem to clean them, bilberry doesn't work. Even after cleaning them well you can rub your finger on the surface and see the dirt coming off, so they still need a scrub with Auto Wheel.
> 
> Never known wheels like them really.


My bmw is the same, wheels get dirty very quickly and have to use autowheel and shampoo to get them half decent again. The pads prob don't help with the amount of brake dust they emit

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## blademansw (May 23, 2011)

I did a bit of a test yesterday whilst cleaning my daughters absolutely minging 1 series.

For me, the best value out of Autowheels was to first clean the wheel with a non acidic cleaner and pressure wash off. Then apply AW to maximise its fallout removing potential. This way it makes sure that the product is only working on baked on stuff, rather than loose dirt.

Just my 2c


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## Supa Koopa (Aug 3, 2015)

blademansw said:


> I did a bit of a test yesterday whilst cleaning my daughters absolutely minging 1 series.
> 
> For me, the best value out of Autowheels was to first clean the wheel with a non acidic cleaner and pressure wash off. Then apply AW to maximise its fallout removing potential. This way it makes sure that the product is only working on baked on stuff, rather than loose dirt.
> 
> Just my 2c


I do the same as you suggest, it works well but takes much longer. Such a shame as they are the easiest wheels I've ever had to get in to clean them, being 21's does help, but they seem to take absolutely ages to clean. Really wanted these wheels as well so it's a double kick in the teeth.


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## WristyManchego (Sep 9, 2018)

blademansw said:


> I did a bit of a test yesterday whilst cleaning my daughters absolutely minging 1 series.
> 
> For me, the best value out of Autowheels was to first clean the wheel with a non acidic cleaner and pressure wash off. Then apply AW to maximise its fallout removing potential. This way it makes sure that the product is only working on baked on stuff, rather than loose dirt.
> 
> Just my 2c


Good method.

One could argue that if you go this far, it's more cost effective to use Korrosol after a wheel cleaner.


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## v_r_s (Nov 4, 2018)

Once wheels are waxed or any half decent spraybsealnt or BSD type a few weeks between a wash would just needed shampoo end off. Using auto wheels is a waste. 

If you wash the wheels and dry then apply autowheels there shouldn't be much built on iron fall out thanks to the sealant. Very ott to use it at everywash and not recommended


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

I disagree, regardless of what you put on the wheels, iron fallout is very spikey and will stick in the clear coat. Even after one short drive there will be iron for the fallout remover to dissolve.

As for the BMW thing, I think it's more the BMW brakes than the wheels. Yesterday I had my wheels refurbed (ready for the car to go back to the lease co today) and after a short drive home the wheels were already covered in brake dust. Happens so quickly. I think the pads must be made from coal or something!

Sent from my LYA-L09 using Tapatalk


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## Marve (Jul 5, 2013)

westerman said:


> Good tip when using BH Auto Wheel. When you get down to half the bottle, top it up with water.
> It still works really well on the wheels diluted and it's also a great paint decon at this strength too.
> Well I am a Yorkshire Man by birth and the pennies do count.:thumb:
> 
> Harry.


I do that on all of my cleaning products as soon as I buy them. Decant them and then dilute them all 1:1 so I get twice as much of everything. That means I spend 50% on car cleaning compared to everyone else. The only thing you need to remember is to then add twice as much every time you wash the car.


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

Marve said:


> I do that on all of my cleaning products as soon as I buy them. Decant them and then dilute them all 1:1 so I get twice as much of everything. That means I spend 50% on car cleaning compared to everyone else. The only thing you need to remember is to then add twice as much every time you wash the car.




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## blademansw (May 23, 2011)

MBRuss said:


> As for the BMW thing, I think it's more the BMW brakes than the wheels. Yesterday I had my wheels refurbed (ready for the car to go back to the lease co today) and after a short drive home the wheels were already covered in brake dust. Happens so quickly. I think the pads must be made from coal or something!


I have the same issue on my C-Class, it drives me insane. I think the OEM pads are designed to make the wheels as dusty as possible within 1 mile of them being cleaned.

Its due a set of front disks and pads so rather getting the OEM ones fitted at the stealer, I think I am going to get some brembo disks and EBC pads and fit them myself.


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## stugarlinge1970 (Apr 22, 2014)

So what's the difference between this and korrosol


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## bigkahunaburger (Jun 27, 2012)

stugarlinge1970 said:


> So what's the difference between this and korrosol


It has a degreaser because its specifically for cleaning wheels.


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## MBRuss (Apr 29, 2011)

Yeah, this has cleaners in it as well, whereas Korrosol is just the iron dissolving element on its own. I use Korrosol for bodywork and Auto Wheel for the wheels.

You can use Korrosol on the wheels though, I used to before I got Auto Wheel.

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## Raj24v (Aug 24, 2014)

Auto Wheel is brilliant, I just used it for the first time on the cars in my household. 

Now my wheels are coated in C5, will this degrade that protective layer??
Or do I just use normal body shampoo to clean?


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## bigkahunaburger (Jun 27, 2012)

Raj24v said:


> Auto Wheel is brilliant, I just used it for the first time on the cars in my household.
> 
> Now my wheels are coated in C5, will this degrade that protective layer??
> Or do I just use normal body shampoo to clean?


It will probably be okay to use Auto Wheel every once in a while but check with the manufacturer first.

One main appeal of wheel coatings is that wheels are theoretically then easy to wash using regular bodywork shampoo.


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## rattlehead85 (Mar 25, 2012)

Ive had great results by firstly applying a spritz coat of BH surfex HD at approx 7:1 dilution.
Agitate with a small wheel wooly through all the spokes and rears (wheel removed) then rinse thoroughly. Then i do the repeat process with BH autowheels. 
Once i dry the wheels i apply panel wipe to remove any minor marks left behind then apply Gtechnique C5. The dirt just falls away on a maintenance wash without needing to reuse BH autowheels. The bottle has lasted me ages!! Great combo of products which deliver!


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## Benfr16 (Dec 3, 2016)

I use only when required - usually when there has been an abnormal length of time between washes where the wheels get caked.


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## Bluebottle (Aug 12, 2016)

*Brembo on my BMW are very dusty*



blademansw said:


> I have the same issue on my C-Class, it drives me insane. I think the OEM pads are designed to make the wheels as dusty as possible within 1 mile of them being cleaned.
> 
> Its due a set of front disks and pads so rather getting the OEM ones fitted at the stealer, I think I am going to get some brembo disks and EBC pads and fit them myself.


I fitted Brembo discs and pads to the front of my E39 five years ago. Excellent stopping power but, my wheels are dirty after 20 miles around town. :devil:


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## Steo2019 (Apr 11, 2019)

Folks

When using this and trying to get the areas deep into the drum of the wheels,do you tend to just spray it in there and rinse after a few mins???...I use a detailing brush to agitate the face of the wheel but if you were to use a wheel woolie to get in deeper,would auto wheel end up ruining your woolie??


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## fatdazza (Dec 29, 2010)

Steo2019 said:


> Folks
> 
> When using this and trying to get the areas deep into the drum of the wheels,do you tend to just spray it in there and rinse after a few mins???...I use a detailing brush to agitate the face of the wheel but if you were to use a wheel woolie to get in deeper,would auto wheel end up ruining your woolie??


Fine to agitate with a wheel wooly


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