I found the answer today and wax doesn't matter.

I may be going "out of town" for a few days so I went to my folks house to say "goodbyes". Those who have been here awhile know by step dad has some serious automotive toys. I took his and he drove Electra to the detailer. Tom, the detailer, said he'd throw mine in for free (as my step dad is a regular). While I wanted to talk about some heavy stuff I was in shock as Electra's wheels were immediately stripped from her. Tom explained about the importance of wheels...and while he was impressed at my upkeep of this "low end performance car" my wheel upkeep was questioned; I had a few things to learn. For 2 hours the low end performance car rang in my head, as the wheels and car were detailed by 3 guys. When they finished I just about died! I use the same Pinnacle wax as they use but Electra never looked this good!!! Tom assured me it was the wheels......"open wheels need to shine in the back as well as the front".

Then they rolled up the "D" and off came the wheels......

Moral to the story is remove the wheels for a full clean every so often. Tom also "forced" me to do the 4th wheel so I knew how the tool kit worked and how to remove and replace a tire. While I was somewhat offended at first I now realize I can change a tire in about 2 minutes knowing where everything is and how it works.

 

I've always taken the wheels off of my S2000. It gives me the opportunity to clean behind them as well as the wheel well and brakes/suspension parts! I do this on my wife's Accord as well!

Just got used to doing it! My very first business venture was automobile detailing! Very profitable. . .just too time consuming for my *NEW* life!

 

actually, that sounds like a good thing to do.

but you guys have way too much time on your hands it's hard enuf finding time for the zaino sequence for the body of the car.

 

Cleaning the inside of the wheel is surprisingly important ... it's amazing how much of a difference it makes to giving a great look to the wheels. I did this with a friend's E46 coupe and the difference was amazing. It only had 1,000 miles on it, but OEM pads dust like crazy. When we pulled off the wheel, it didn't look that bad, but putting it back on the car and looking at it, the difference was really noticable.

Does anybody put on a coat of protection of some sort for the wheels after they've been cleaned? If so, what do you use?

 

Zaino. . .

 

You should put a coat of wax on the wheels after washing anyway. I usually just use a good carnauba wax on them. I use One Grand Blitz.

 

Me too; worked great. Giving the wheels the "full" treatment is a good winter job, after it goes into storage. For now a face shine will have to do. But I do agree, it must be done every so often.

 

I recently got racing hart C5s. I would love it if I could polish the inside of the rim, since it's very rough and unfinished from the factory. Has anyone done this before?