Kleen wheels? Are they worth it?

[joepro]

Anyone familiar w/ "Kleen wheels" as advertised by Bavarian Autosport. Supposedly protects agains unsightly, corrosive brake dust and keeps the wheels cleaner. If you're like me, wheel cleaning is not my favorite........

Can anyone vouch for "kleen wheels"? About $33 for a set of two.


Thanks in advance.

..Joe

 

[Akakubi]

My friend used to have them and took off. They can warp rotors. There is no sufficient airflow for cooling. If you do any kind of spirited driving, don't get them.

 

[MrElussive]

Kleen Wheels does work. It installs over your brake rotors (but behind your rims). It catches all the brake dust and dirt that your brakes spit out onto the rims, thus keeping your rims nice and shiny. The downside is that the Kleen Wheels look ugly and completely hide your beautiful BMW brakes. Personally, I get tons of brake dust on my wheels as well, but I would never get those Kleen wheels as I love the look of my massive rotors and orange Brembo brake calipers. What I do is, I buy a bottle of the Black Magic Wheel Wipes (from your local KMart) and I wipe down each wheel with one or two wipes and then clean the remaining residue with a towel. It takes about 15 minutes and my rims come out clean and shiny, so I don't mind.
If you want to go to a more extreme level, you can buy a set of Hawk HPS brake pads. They will significantly reduce the amount of brake dust and dirt spit out onto your wheels; I only hear good things regarding these brake pads.

 

[Akakubi]

HPS will dust no less than OEM, trust me on this one. In fact, they produce black with a hint of reddish tint dust that bakes on the rims easily. Stopping is OK, but they squeal at some pedal applications. It's an OK pad, but don't get it if you expect reduced dust.

And whatever you do, stay away from the Green Stuff - total crap.

 

[mallards]

dont use them ... they are bad ...

Ben

 

[MrElussive]

On a G35 forum, there are a few guys running Hawk HPS street pads and they all say they get significantly less brake dust on the wheels. They say that even after a week of driving, their wheels are still clean. I believe vlad uses them as well (on his M3), I wonder if he can respond to this topic.

 

[Akakubi]

We use them on our WRX. They dust so much more than WRX OEM pads that it's not even funny. And the dust tends to bake on after hot laps or spirited driving if not washed immediately.... I wonder what type of OEM pads Infiniti uses? Those seem to be very dusty indeed.

Hawk HP+ is a better performance pad, but will squeal a lot and doesn't like to work well when cold. Overall, after trying Axxis Ultimates, I haven't yet seen a better allround pad. [???1]

 

[MrElussive]

As standard brake pads wear, brake dust is released as the friction material wears in everyday braking. Hawk Performance HPS brake pads are formulated to run cleaner and release extremely low levels of dust in normal street driving.

That is taken from the discription of the brake pads from the TireRack web site. Perhaps there is a strong emphasis on street driving, and on the track these Hawk HPS pads dust like crazy !!!

 

[mikev]

if there is a good ammount of friction to actually stop your car something has to wear out. The only way to slow brake dust deposit is to use a harder composition on the pads. they wont be as efictive at lower temps and will destroy discs. So you have to uprate your discs too. all that expense for a less reliable street setup and a little less brake dust.

 

[kenzopvfl]

Has anyone tried wihite break pads? I can't tell you you makes them but my mechanic first installed them on my 325cic eight years ago. They work great. In fact I had them installed on my 03330cic a week after I took delivery. The only down side I see is that they need to be replaced more frequently. They only get about 80% of the life of conventional pads, but I never have to brush my wheels or buy wheel cleaner.

 

[MrElussive]

kenzo, find out who makes them for us.
mikev, my only problem is brake dust. On my car, whenever my pads wear down, I need to change the rotors as well. Fortunately, my car is still new at 2,350 miles and I am far from that $500+ brake job, but that day will come. I am just looking for brake pad that offers the same braking performance as the OEM Brembo pads but something that releases less brake dust.

 

[kenzopvfl]

The white break pads are made in Austrialia. In the US they are sold under the brand name PBR and Axxis Delux. Make sure they are the dustless version.

Also, I was incorrect on the wear life. My mechanic was telling me they have been able to develop some long term experience with this product and they have many people getting 40,000 miles with these.

Good luck.

 

[vlad]

I haven't bought the Hawk pads as yet. Currently still have those filthy SBC's on the car. From everyone that I have spoke to, if you want factory stopping power with some what less dust, get the Hawk HPS. If you want significantly less dust get the AXXIS Ultimates, however I have not had a response on the stopping power of the AXXIS from anyone that I know drives "enthusiastically".

 

[mallards]

how long should all the pads on a 325i last?

Ben

 

[///M SPEED]

I haven't bought the Hawk pads as yet. Currently still have those filthy SBC's on the car. From everyone that I have spoke to, if you want factory stopping power with some what less dust, get the Hawk HPS. If you want significantly less dust get the AXXIS Ultimates, however I have not had a response on the stopping power of the AXXIS from anyone that I know drives "enthusiastically".

vlad, it seems Akabuki uses them and we all know he drives "enthusiastically" on the track. His quote from a post above should also shed some light. I'm sure he could shed more light on the stopping power of the pads under certain driving conditions.

Hawk HP+ is a better performance pad, but will squeal a lot and doesn't like to work well when cold. Overall, after trying Axxis Ultimates, I haven't yet seen a better allround pad. [???1]

 

[RR BuGGz]

You can try Axxis Deluxe/Mintex pads. They have minimal dusting, it's actually white/grey dust but works fairly well as a low dust pad. On street use they perform fairly well, but tend to fade after severe braking.

Dre

 

[MrElussive]

I hate the brake dust as well, but I must say, it is a good way of knowing when it is time to wash the car.

 

[Akakubi]

vlad, it seems Akabuki uses them and we all know he drives "enthusiastically" on the track. His quote from a post above should also shed some light. I'm sure he could shed more light on the stopping power of the pads under certain driving conditions.

///M SPEED is correct, Ultimates are great. They will dust a bit more than Deluxe, or PBR/Mintex/Repco - all opwned by the same company now, Bendex of Australia. They are, however, cleaner than HPS or HP+ with better stopping power than the former and roughly the same with the latter, except for initial bite.

Ultimates will deposit some material on the rotors under the track conditions once they get really hot, but will not fade until you hit the 1200F limit. Unless you are racing or the track is very brake demanding, you will not max out these pads. They are also perfect for AutoX and street work as they start to work at optimal grip from cold, unlike all race pads.

I use these on my car and have converted all of my friends to switch. Everyone loves these pads.