I just got my 04 a few weeks ago and have noticed that the front rims get real dirty, real fast. The rears are spotless, but the fronts get caked in a super fine but thick layer of grime. Sometimes there will even be streaks that look like grease. Is this normal?? If it's brake dust, I have never seen any pads put out this much dust before. Within 3 days the rims will be caked again, especially the passenger side. Thanks

 

its normal while your brakes are seating...
be sure to wash it off often and put a good layer of protectant on the wheels.
it does sound like you might be using the brakes too much, as normal dust is dust, not cake!

for more info, post in the wash & wax forum!!

 

Here's a little bit of insight....

http://forums.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.p...threadid=216257

 

Thanks for the quick response. I guess that gives me piece of mind that my car is alright, but now I have to figure out a way to keep my rims clean!

As for using my brakes a lot, I only have 800 miles on the car so I am still driving fairly conservatively (well at least for myself) but I hope it's not going to get worse! I really don't have the resources to hose them down everyday.

 

I see from your location info that you're in Norcal. If you're in SF or somewhere hilly like that, you are probably on your brakes often. So it is pretty normal that you would get a good amount of brake dust on the front as all the weight transfers to the front of the car when braking which makes front brakes work harder. As an alternative, you could try to keep it in a lower gear and use engine braking more often at the expense of wasted fuel... but hey, you will have cleaner wheels!