# Gtechniq C5 Wheel Armour fail.



## M3simon (Jan 23, 2012)

At the start of September I spent about 6 hours per wheel stripping and polishing my M3s wheels. I finished off protected them with Gtechniq C5 Wheel Armour. This was the result.










This is what there starting to look like now. Bearing in mind this is my weekend car that's sat under the carport all week, low mileage, washed every week even if its not been used.
If I'm honest I was expecting better protection from C5.
What have I done wrong??
Application?
Choice of product??,
Am I expecting too much from any product on polished wheels.


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## Hercs74 (Dec 29, 2011)

Can you explain the full process that took 6 hours per wheel so we can look at what might be causing the issues..

I've used this on my BMW wheels. Put it on beginning of March 2012 and its now still like it was on the first day I put it on ...!!!!

Hopefully someone will be able to get to the bottom of it for you 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## howie parks (Jun 5, 2006)

If you lend me your car for a few weeks I'll see if I can see what's happened


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## -Raven- (Aug 26, 2010)

That just looks like water spotting, which can be normal mate.


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

Do you use a wheel cleaner simon? If so what?

Max protect do a specific metal sealant, it contains slightly different ingredients and has a slightly different bond, works very well. Or failing that backfires wet diamond metal is an over looked product


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## SystemClenz (Oct 31, 2008)

Just looks like they need a good wash with car shampoo and a dry, C5 won't stop watermarks if this is what it is.

I apply Silo Seal, or C2v2 every 2-4 weeks and mine are still looking amazing after 16 months


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## M3simon (Jan 23, 2012)

Hercs74 said:


> Can you explain the full process that took 6 hours per wheel so we can look at what might be causing the issues..
> 
> I've used this on my BMW wheels. Put it on beginning of March 2012 and its now still like it was on the first day I put it on ...!!!!
> 
> ...


This is the process.

http://forums.m3cutters.co.uk/showthread.php?t=9901


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## M3simon (Jan 23, 2012)

stangalang said:


> Do you use a wheel cleaner simon? If so what?
> 
> Max protect do a specific metal sealant, it contains slightly different ingredients and has a slightly different bond, works very well. Or failing that backfires wet diamond metal is an over looked product


Just shampoo mate. My car/wheels never gets dirty to need any wheel cleaner.

I asumed the C5 would stop water spots from marking the metal.


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

M3simon said:


> Just shampoo mate. My car/wheels never gets dirty to need any wheel cleaner.
> 
> I asumed the C5 would stop water spots from marking the metal.


polished metal is difficult to keep stain free, especially in our climate. New coatings actually increase the chance of water spotting due to the ingredients. The minerals inside are almost identical to that in water, so one attracts the other, hence the spotting. Try a good wash and dry, if it doesn't work let me know i will get a little wet diamond to you, just cleanse the wheels and try it see if it helps


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## M3simon (Jan 23, 2012)

howie parks said:


> If you lend me your car for a few weeks I'll see if I can see what's happened


:lol:


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## M3simon (Jan 23, 2012)

stangalang said:


> polished metal is difficult to keep stain free, especially in our climate. New coatings actually increase the chance of water spotting due to the ingredients. The minerals inside are almost identical to that in water, so one attracts the other, hence the spotting. Try a good wash and dry, if it doesn't work let me know i will get a little wet diamond to you, just cleanse the wheels and try it see if it helps


Thanks Mate

What about something like Collinite No. 845 - Insulator Wax?


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## dooka (Aug 1, 2006)

I see this often this time of year with polished rims. Not something you want to run in the winter really..

What you will find. is that most LSP's/Coatings don't like to stick to polished surfaces, so durability suffers..

Most coatings do spot, I am sure it is down to the Si14 ingredient, that is why the likes of C1.5 and ReLoad etc were originally brought out, to help with the spotting..


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## M3simon (Jan 23, 2012)

dooka said:


> I see this often this time of year with polished rims. Not something you want to run in the winter really..
> 
> What you will find. is that most LSP's/Coatings don't like to stick to polished surfaces, so durability suffers..
> 
> Most coatings do spot, I am sure it is down to the Si14 ingredient, that is why the likes of C1.5 and ReLoad etc were originally brought out, to help with the spotting..


What's 'Reload' please?


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## OGGYsri (May 12, 2010)

Carpro reload - spray sealant


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## stangalang (Nov 27, 2009)

M3simon said:


> Thanks Mate
> 
> What about something like Collinite No. 845 - Insulator Wax?


Will work, but doubt its as slick as wet diamond, which is required to stop the build up of brake dust, and its release


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## great gonzo (Nov 4, 2010)

Am I right in saying this is just dry water marks?
Why can't the op just use a gentle paint cleaner?
Gonz.


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## M3simon (Jan 23, 2012)

great gonzo said:


> Am I right in saying this is just dry water marks?
> Why can't the op just use a gentle paint cleaner?
> Gonz.


Not sure what made the marks but they will not wash off. The wheels will have to be re- polished.


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## AaronGTi (Nov 2, 2010)

stangalang said:


> Will work, but doubt its as slick as wet diamond, which is required to stop the build up of brake dust, and its release


Blackfire AMS is a very overlooked produft and is awesome on wheels.


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## M3simon (Jan 23, 2012)

AaronGTi said:


> Blackfire AMS is a very overlooked produft and is awesome on wheels.


I'll put it on the purchase list before my spring clean and polish.
Not many places sell it!


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## M3simon (Jan 23, 2012)

What's a good metal polish? I've been using the last AG I had.


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## great gonzo (Nov 4, 2010)

M3simon said:


> Not sure what made the marks but they will not wash off. The wheels will have to be re- polished.


Try a paint cleaner first before a polishing as it might work and shouldn't remove the C5.


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## jebus (Jun 2, 2009)

is that bare polished metal or does it have clear-coat?, waterspots are an issue with many coatings, have you asked Rob in the Gtechniq section what they recommend to remove the watermark, if they are watermarks that is.


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## rob_vrs (Jan 4, 2012)

Iv also found that C5 has literally made no difference in protection on my wheels for some reason. 

Now i have the task of machine polishing my wheels and prepping and applying another product, got some swissvax autobahn.


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## Ebbe J (Jun 18, 2008)

They also use salt on the roads in GB, correct? If so, this could very well cause this corrosion. It really does look like corrosion, even though the wheels have been "sealed". You should get some fully painted wheels for the winter season if you use the car during the winter. Or you could have them repainted. 


Kind regards,

Ebbe


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## LeeJSA (Jan 8, 2013)

Glad its not just me then......I'm in exactly the same boat.

I cleaned, polished and sealed my wheels on New Years Day using Gtechniq C5.....6 days later I came back to clean them and ended up with this after a normal shampoo.

Staining...










I had to repolish them again to get rid of it.

Not happy at all considering the price of it. I've emailed the company I got it off complaining.


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## M3simon (Jan 23, 2012)

jebus said:


> is that bare polished metal or does it have clear-coat?, waterspots are an issue with many coatings, have you asked Rob in the Gtechniq section what they recommend to remove the watermark, if they are watermarks that is.


Mine are bare polished metal.


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## Yellow Dave (Apr 5, 2011)

As said before using a proper polish and start stripping back the C5, have a dry with a very mild abrasive paint cleanser like lime prime, werkstat prime etc and see if this will remove it first, then clean off so that the C5 has no oils etc on top to reduce the water behaviour.


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## quattrogmbh (May 15, 2007)

LeeJSA said:


> Glad its not just me then......I'm in exactly the same boat.
> 
> I cleaned, polished and sealed my wheels on New Years Day using Gtechniq C5.....6 days later I came back to clean them and ended up with this after a normal shampoo.
> 
> ...


That looks like it got wet before the coating cured


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## quattrogmbh (May 15, 2007)

To the OP, nothing is going to protect bare metal to the extent I believe you are expecting. In my view C5 has done a pretty good job for 9 months.

The only way to protect metal is to coat it. S1 or clearcoat would probably be best.


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## LeeJSA (Jan 8, 2013)

quattrogmbh said:


> That looks like it got wet before the coating cured


Interesting.......

How long does it take to cure??


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## Ronnie (Nov 15, 2006)

would have to agree bare polished alloys will not stand up to the conditions in this country, I think you have done well from September to be honest. you cannot guarentee full coverage no matter how careful you were, therefore you mak have missed even microscopic areas allowing water to penatrate and corrosion to begin if its not water spotting. Also I am seeing teh massive increase in trade products being used under the vale of detailing caustic foams etc etc and these all have a detrimental affect on coatings. stone impact will also have an impact on these coatings as we have also observed in lab testing. in short these wheels are ment only for dry summer use. if teh coatings were that good they would be applied at the factory and this is the way you need to look at it. For these we normally recommend clear coating them and having winter wheels or dont drive the car in bad wintery conditions.Sorry to be the barer of bad news.


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## organisys (Jan 3, 2012)

I've run polished wheels before....

1. Not much will bond for long to to mirror polished aluminium.
2. Salt rapidly corrodes bare aluminium.
3. As far was I was aware (ask [email protected]) C5 is designed to bond to a painted / laqured surface.
4. Save Mirror Polished wheels for summer use.


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