# This is going to be a long shot.



## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

For the first time yesterday I washed my wheels on the M2 Competition which has M Sport compound brakes which are six piston calipers to the front and four pistons to the rear. I could not believe that my small EZ wheel brush will not fit between the Calipers and wheels to the front, they just about fit to the rear brakes but at the front, not a chance. I thought to myself do I really need to always jack up the car every time just so I can spin the front wheels and clean where the brush won't reach? Too much of a faff to do every time I wash them. So here is my dilemma, and It is a long shot, a brush thin enough to fit between Calipers and wheels. Who ever comes up with a good alternative deserves a medal :lol:


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## cossiecol (Jun 29, 2014)

MF cloth wrapped around a flat (thin) plastic detailing interior brush


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## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

This is an issue discussed a lot on cutters on the 19'' M3/4 with carbon ceramic brakes, loads of them had bother with picking up small stones and scouring the inner barrels due to minimal clearance, I'm not aware of any solution that are strong enough to go past the caliper, mine on the AMG is difficult with EZ, I used to have to move the car slightly to save jacking on last car


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

Derekh929 said:


> This is an issue discussed a lot on cutters on the 19'' M3/4 with carbon ceramic brakes, loads of them had bother with picking up small stones and scouring the inner barrels due to minimal clearance, I'm not aware of any solution that are strong enough to go past the caliper, mine on the AMG is difficult with EZ, I used to have to move the car slightly to save jacking on last car


Yes Derek, I'm aware of the issues regarding small stones scouring the inner barrels, that's why I went for the original wheels because of the bigger spokes that gives small stones a chance to free themselves, I don't like the wheels on the M2 Comp and the stones would have little chance of finding a way out. Not though of moving the car, I may try that.


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

cossiecol said:


> MF cloth wrapped around a flat (thin) plastic detailing interior brush


Thought of that Col but the clearance must be less than 5 mm, the brakes really are big.


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## muzzer (Feb 13, 2011)

I had this very issue with the GTi, the discs were 380mm and even the smallest wheel woolie struggled to get past the calipers. I used to move the car each time.


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## init6 (Mar 28, 2012)

What about something like this?
https://www.coleparmer.co.uk/i/foam-tipped-long-glassware-brush-20-l-x-2-diameter-1-pk/8455216

The wire part looks to be under 5mm and it's hopefully got enough reach. Not sure about how squishable the foam bit will be, but might be removable.


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## percymon (Jun 27, 2007)

An offcut piece of microfibre cloth glued to the flat of a plastic ruler - that'd be about 4mm thickness


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## Tricky Red (Mar 3, 2007)

Vikan wheel brush is pretty narrow


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## dholdi (Oct 1, 2008)

This isn't just a performance car issue, I have this with mrs holdi's 107 
Tbh I just roll it forward or back half a wheel revolution.


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## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

Tricky Red said:


> Vikan wheel brush is pretty narrow


I have a few of these but the wire ones had no plastic cover on the wire when I looked a few years back


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

init6 said:


> What about something like this?
> https://www.coleparmer.co.uk/i/foam-tipped-long-glassware-brush-20-l-x-2-diameter-1-pk/8455216
> 
> The wire part looks to be under 5mm and it's hopefully got enough reach. Not sure about how squishable the foam bit will be, but might be removable.


I don't think that would fit either, looks too aggressive and could scratch the glossy alloys.


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## Chris Donaldson (Jun 26, 2016)

Another vote for rolling the car half a wheel length. Saves money and hassle. It only takes seconds to nip in, release the hand brake and push it a couple of feet.


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## Mcpx (Mar 15, 2016)

Anything that you could get into a gap of 5mm isn’t really going to give you oomph you need for the job at hand, so moving the car is probably going to be your best option. A wheel ceramic might make the task easier but, if you really want to get a brush in there (and because I really want a medal, I don’t get out much!) try searching Amazon etc for a hydration brush. It’s what one would use one for cleaning out ones sucky tube thingy on ones hydration pack when one is doing outdoorsy adventurey type outdoor adventuring and stuff. Reckon it’s the closest you’ll get.


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## tosh (Dec 30, 2005)

The original wheel woolies from 15 years ago came with a small brush which was the perfect size. This is before they were called wheel woolies.

They changed the smallest wheel woolie to a much larger version and they won't make the original size again.

I still have mine, I'll put a pic up later/tomorrow. 
Still using it weekly for this specific task (behind callipers on a 19" wheel behind Bmw big brakes) 15 years later.

They sell a woolie for vents and grills, and also a wheel woolie pen which I think are all smaller in diameter than the small woolie in the current kits. I was going to buy them from slims as I think they will stop making/selling those as well.

If you only have 5mm space, then even this small woolie I have wont fit. I think a shatterproof ruler wrapped in a MF (glued) sounds like the best option.

I share your pain; I used to leave my car in neutral and push the car back and forth a quarter turn to get the space behind the calliper. I even keep some cheap rubber wheel chocks in the car just in case the car rolls away. If you're wearing rubber gloves, you can usually just push the tyre, but it gets tiresome doing this every time you wash your car, week in week out.

Edit: I've had a look at the vent brush, it does have a smaller diameter than the smallest woolie.

Edit: here are my woolies:



















From left to right (largest diameter to smallest diameter)
- new medium wheel woolie
- very old medium wheel woolie
- new small wheel woolie
- very old small wheel woolie

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro


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## tosh (Dec 30, 2005)

Update
I bought the wheel woolie pen and the vent brush, which are both smaller










So from largest diameter to smallest, left to right

- new medium (18")
- old medium
- new small
- pen
- vent brush (strong enough for wheels)
- old small










The vent brush is a nice surprise, the only problem I can see is the handle is too thin and flexible, but will give it a go tomorrow and see how it fits behind a caliper.


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

tosh said:


> Update
> I bought the wheel woolie pen and the vent brush, which are both smaller
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks Tosh but unfortunately none of those would fit either.


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## Sim (Feb 18, 2008)

My old insignia had a tiny gap between some of the spokes, I ended up making my own tool for them.

I used a piece of plastic cut from a DVD case with a piece of microfibre hot glued around it so it was completely covered. It looked like a fluffy ruler but was effective.

These are the wheels - the narrow gap between the spokes was around 5 mm I think.


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

I think you need to just roll the car. Stop being so lazy 

Or rather, stop looking for an excuse to buy new brushes :lol:


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## tosh (Dec 30, 2005)

For those spokes, use one of these:

https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/sonax-wheel-rim-brush-ultra-soft


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## Summit Detailing (Oct 9, 2006)

Can you not just roll the car forward 1/2 a wheel turn?....standard practice for me on every wash.

cheers

Chris


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## Andy from Sandy (May 6, 2011)

Just move the car the few inches required to rotate the wheel.


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## Andyblue (Jun 20, 2017)

Summit Detailing said:


> Can you not just roll the car forward 1/2 a wheel turn?....standard practice for me on every wash.
> 
> cheers
> 
> Chris


What I have to do, but being an automatic, right PIA :lol:


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## dholdi (Oct 1, 2008)

Post 10 ftw


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## bmwautojon (May 2, 2016)

Just done a wheels off clean on my M2 with performance brakes. Even with the wheels being ceramic coated 1400 miles ago in Dec the barrels where full of embedded brake dust/fallout.

I had to use fallout remover as bilberry would not touch it. Make sure you keep on top of them no other car I have owned has generated so much fallout.


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## Kimo (Jun 7, 2013)

Roll it forward a couple of inch

Easy


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## Summit Detailing (Oct 9, 2006)

bmwautojon said:


> Just done a wheels off clean on my M2 with performance brakes. Even with the wheels being ceramic coated 1400 miles ago in Dec the barrels where full of embedded brake dust/fallout.
> 
> I had to use fallout remover as bilberry would not touch it. Make sure you keep on top of them no other car I have owned has generated so much fallout.


BMW trait unfortunately - must have an iron rich pad compound:wall:
Just imagine how difficult they would be to clean if they hadn't been coated!:doublesho

cheers,

Chris


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## Arvi (Apr 11, 2007)

If you check out picture 4 here and you have the right tool you will definitely like her to keep on top of your barrels.

https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/sonax-wheel-rim-brush-ultra-soft


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## Derekh929 (Aug 28, 2011)

Arvi said:


> If you check out picture 4 here and you have the right tool you will definitely like her to keep on top of your barrels.
> 
> https://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/sonax-wheel-rim-brush-ultra-soft


Yes but she is defo going to be heavy maintain and costly in the long term


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## Arvi (Apr 11, 2007)

Derekh929 said:


> Yes but she is defo going to be heavy maintain and costly in the long term


At which point you return her to the dealer and claim under the warranty for faulty airbags, although they will probably reject your claim as a wear and tear item. Excuse the innuendo here, I'm just a amateur de-tail-her.


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## Richors (Apr 29, 2007)

Just wondering if the OP found a decent solution?
I have same issue on F80 Comp and even moving the car is a pain given its too heavy to push on gravel and an auto as such so moving a couple of inches is a challenge in itself!

Cheers...……...


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

I’ve ended up getting the smaller version of the EZ brush, it’s not perfect but at least I can get part of it in to the effected area.


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## Richors (Apr 29, 2007)

Did you buy a specific one mate or just find one small enough in general brushes etc?


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

Richors said:


> Did you buy a specific one mate or just find one small enough in general brushes etc?


The small EZ brush is part of the range from EZ. It's not specific for the task in hand.


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## Glen B (Feb 28, 2014)

eBay, item No 143669258835

I’ll expect my medal in the post lol


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## pina07 (Dec 13, 2009)

Hi, some months ago I called into the dealership and saw the guys who were prepping the car feeding a sponge Into the small gap and rolling the car back n forth 😂. Not something I would ever do but made me laugh lol.
Regards
Paul


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