[BruceK]

Sick of constant brake dust coating my 17" S-lite Cooper S wheels, I washed them again this evening and then I waxed them in the hope it will make them easier to clean.

When I was waxing, I noticed something very weird: about 1/2 of each rear wheel had a decent, smooth clear coat covering. The other half of each rear wheel was rougher to the touch, but still looked okay. The front wheels had even, smooth, clear coats. There was no obvious signs of the rear wheels being negatively affected by brake dust or anything else that I could see.

My thought is that the weren't sprayed properly at the factory, but it is so strange that only 1/2 of each rear wheel is affected. ??? Maybe when the rear wheels were fitted at the factory it was the beginning of a faulty batch?

My concern is that the less protected half of each wheel will start to show exposure to the elements.

Has anyone else noticed similiar on their wheels?

[Paul]

I've noticed this on one of my rear, white, 5 star alloys.

Hmm...

[62pasquale]

First off sorry about your wheels. Sounds like a dealer thing to me.

As far as the brake dust. Hopefully we'll all be able to buy dustless brake pads soon. They are out for many classic cars such as vette's, some classic English cars and even the new T-Bird. My business partner is getting a set for his T-bird.

Has anyone heard of these? I can't wait. Especially for any of us who have the white powder coated wheels. (No dusty red/brown on the wheels?--woo!)

[Basil]

Hope you get a dealer opening up near you soon Bruce !!. Have you got a local BMW dealer that can help out with this kind of problem ?

[BruceK]

There is a local BMW dealer, but they can't do anything MINI-related until they officially become a MINI dealer -- expected to be sometime in December of this year.

The good news is that they are only 6 miles from my home, as compared to the nearest MINI dealer now which is 450 miles away.

Seems like everything involving a MINI takes patience.