Have gloss black competition wheels? You need to read this.

[aremmell]

As all G8X owners know, the brake pads/rotors generate more dust than a freakin' lumber mill, even under light usage.

A quick tangent: when I first got my car, I couldn't even figure out how to get my wheels legitimately clean. In the end, that turned out to be easy–just get a bottle or 10 (they go quickly) of Magic Wheel Cleaner or Adam's. These contain a special chemical that bonds to iron in the brake dust, and you'll see it turn reddish-purple as it chemically reacts with the brake dust and does the work for you. Let it sit for <= 5 minutes, then hit it with the pressure washer + foam cannon. You should not need to do anything else except dry them (I use a DeWalt cordless leaf blower to dry my car, including the wheels).

OK, back to the real reason I decided to post this: Some time ago, I began to get very irritated that I kept exerting a lot of energy to clean my wheels, only to have them already turning a reddish-brown color within a couple drives to the store and back. I turned to my professional detailer. She hand cleaned, polished, and ceramic coated my wheels (with this product). It took her around 5 hours, and she charged me $300, but I can tell you it's the best money I've spent on my G82 to date. Now I can drive 10 times as far before brake dust starts accumulating on the wheels to the point that it pisses me off. I still use the magic wheel cleaner so I don't ever have to touch my wheels with anything that can scratch them.

Anyway, that is all. Get your wheels polished & ceramic coated, and then thank me later.

[Portimao Blue M440ix]

Thanks for that.

I just dropped my new winter rims at the ceramic shop for a professional ceramic coating as well before the tires get mounted.

[Yuille36]

Just replaced the pads with carbon ceramic brake pads and be done with it. There are a number of different manufacturers that make them from EBC, Power Stop, Brembo, Hawk etc. I did this to all my cars, and haven't looked back. I can drive for a month, and only have light dust on the wheels. Spray them with water and their clean again. For the price you've paid to have them ceramic coated, you could have had new ceramic pads installed, and not have to worry about this issue again.

[Browntrash]

iSweep pads were referred to me. But sounds like with most dustless pads you will lose some bite. what has been yall's experience?

[mjj]

Originally Posted by Browntrash

iSweep pads were referred to me. But sounds like with most dustless pads you will lose some bite. what has been yall's experience?

My ISWEEP 1500’s are perfectly fine for the street. No brake dust.

[Yuille36]

In the beginning, there is a felt loss of immediate bite, but after the pads are fully bedded in, I longer feel that. And another added benefit, is that carbon ceramics are more rotor friendly as far as wear goes. And I've been running carbon ceramics for years on all three of my performance vehicles. My W211 E63 has had them on for the 6 years, my F85 X5M for the last four years, and my F80 M3 for the last 8 months. But you have to decide this for yourself.

[aremmell]

Originally Posted by Yuille36

Just replaced the pads with carbon ceramic brake pads and be done with it. There are a number of different manufacturers that make them from EBC, Power Stop, Brembo, Hawk etc. I did this to all my cars, and haven't looked back. I can drive for a month, and only have light dust on the wheels. Spray them with water and their clean again. For the price you've paid to have them ceramic coated, you could have had new ceramic pads installed, and not have to worry about this issue again.

I actually coincidentally became aware of this as an option (I've been under a rock?) a few days ago. Is there a consensus on what brand is the best bang for the buck?

Ceramic coating the wheels can't hurt, anyway. It'll protect them a bit and make them easier to clean. Mine are nearly impossible to get clean (clean as in flashlight in a dark garage clean)

[Yuille36]

There isn’t one brand better than the others, the different manufacturers each have their pros & cons. I’ve personally used both Brembo and Power Stop. Carbon Ceramic pads don’t have that great initial bite that semi metallics have until their really bedded in. Now, I can’t tell the difference. But these aren’t track pads, there just for street and some spirited driving.

[aremmell]

Originally Posted by Yuille36

There isn’t one brand better than the others, the different manufacturers each have their pros & cons. I’ve personally used both Brembo and Power Stop. Carbon Ceramic pads don’t have that great initial bite that semi metallics have until their really bedded in. Now, I can’t tell the difference. But these aren’t track pads, there just for street and some spirited driving.

And you can just straight up swap the pads and keep the stock metal rotors and go on like nothing happened? I'm not concerned with track performance; I doubt I will ever track this car. Brembo seems like a good choice, since they make all the brakes for every high performance vehicle that has wheels?

[IanH]

I had isweep 1500 on my golf R and they were fantastic. Great bite and low dust. Do not buy EBC pads.

[Yuille36]

Oh, I forgot to mention another popular brand is Akebono. But as I mentioned before there are many popular brands that you can go with.

[aremmell]

Originally Posted by Portimao Blue M440ix

Thanks for that.

I just dropped my new winter rims at the ceramic shop for a professional ceramic coating as well before the tires get mounted.

So, did it help?

[firefly.]

Ceramic coated the wheels (and winter set) with the rest of the car just two weeks after taking delivery. Can’t tell how much better it is since I don’t have a baseline from before to compare against. Swapping pads is still on my list.

[MOTO]

Poll missed an option:

"Bothers me enough that I am looking to get new brake pads".

That's where I'm at. I hate that I clean the car and after 2 drives, the fronts are covered already.

I'm going to check those iSweep pads out.

[aremmell]

Originally Posted by MOTO

Poll missed an option:

"Bothers me enough that I am looking to get new brake pads".

That's where I'm at. I hate that I clean the car and after 2 drives, the fronts are covered already.

I'm going to check those iSweep pads out.

I didn't know there were options for other brake pads when I made the poll, otherwise this whole thread would've been different.

I am looking at these, but I would like to create another thread to see what the most popular brand/type is...

[aremmell]

Originally Posted by firefly.

Ceramic coated the wheels (and winter set) with the rest of the car just two weeks after taking delivery. Can’t tell how much better it is since I don’t have a baseline from before to compare against. Swapping pads is still on my list.

Nice. Do you happen to know what brand / type of ceramic they put on the wheels? Was it specifically for wheels, or did they use the same coating for everything?

Winter set is intriguing. I have KW HAS springs on my car (set to the lowest setting recommended by KW), so I think if there's more than 3" or so of snow on the ground, I'll just be a snow plow and ruin my front end.

Also, have you looked into any type of winterization coatings/treatments for the underbelly/suspension/etc of the car for when you inevitably start driving over magnesium chloride mixed with water? I am interested in learning more about that technology.

[firefly.]

Originally Posted by aremmell

Nice. Do you happen to know what brand / type of ceramic they put on the wheels? Was it specifically for wheels, or did they use the same coating for everything?

Winter set is intriguing. I have KW HAS springs on my car (set to the lowest setting recommended by KW), so I think if there's more than 3" or so of snow on the ground, I'll just be a snow plow and ruin my front end.

Also, have you looked into any type of winterization coatings/treatments for the underbelly/suspension/etc of the car for when you inevitably start driving over magnesium chloride mixed with water? I am interested in learning more about that technology.

Not sure if they used a specific product for the wheels, but I assume it was the same OptiCoat Pro as on the rest of the car.
I have always had a separate set for my previous EvoX with a similar low ground clearance, so just continuing the same to be ready for the winter. We don’t get that much snow here in the Seattle area, but with the hilly and cold wet surfaces, summer tires are just too unsafe for a daily driver.

[BroDoze]

Originally Posted by Browntrash

iSweep pads were referred to me. But sounds like with most dustless pads you will lose some bite. what has been yall's experience?

iSweep 2000s don’t lose any bite - that’s the iSweep 1500s that do.

I have the 2000s. They’re great. Nice and bitey and grabby cold performance, too.

That said, while the dusting is WAY better, and it’s black, they still dust.

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

I have E92 and same issue. I switched to Akebono ceramic and that's the solution for me.