[G-REX]

Gil, you've got this too? I may take it to the dealer on Thursday and see what they think. I'm debating wether or not to try a little polishing compound. At any rate good luck cleaning your nuts.

Here are the pics. Wheels are slightly dirty but the spots are deeper than the surface dust you see. And as much as I wish it would have worked WD-40 did not penetrate the stains.

Pics here, they may be big:

[Digitalfiend]

That almost looks like overspray of some protective oil/grease or something. I had the same crap on my lugnuts. Go and pick up some Goo-Gone or Eagle One All Wheel Tire Cleaner (I love that stuff). Spray some on the affected areas, let sit for a few minutes, spray again, rub with a sponge or other slightly abrasive cloth (or just use a wash mitt) and then rinse. That should take any grease/oil/goo out.

[pwn]

I second that, I think I've had that on my stock wrx wheels before.

[G-REX]

Thanks DF, I don't have any Eagle One but I do have Goo Gone. I usually prefer Castrol All Wheel Cleaner - it's probably similar stuff and I did try that on the wheels with no luck. But I did not leave it sit for too long or reapply.

Never had this on my WRX or the STI. But I do love these wheels, they look awesome on the car.

I'll give it a shot tonight.

[twigg107]

I had it to but meguiars wheel cleaner got rid of it.

[mofoSTI]

Those spots were not what I was talking about. I had those spots on my lugs and hub, but removed them with 3-m cleaner. After you wash your rims and use like a fine compound and or meguires cleaner waxer on them take a step back and look at the big dark patches under the silver paint. I dont think that they got covered enough when they painted them. I dont mind too much, but it almost looks like brake dust spots.

[onlytakes4]

From the pics it looks like you have light scratches from scrubbing with something abrasive. Don't use anything abrasive (or even slightly abrasive) to clean your wheels. Just use microfiber towlels with the strongest chemicals you can find that are safe for the finish.

BTW, those aren't the same spots that i had on my BBS that I removed with WD-40.

[Digitalfiend]

I've never had any issues using a slightly abrasive material (as in sponge) on my BBS rims. Hell, when I sold my car and my second set of BBS wheels, I cleaned them with a ScotchBright pad to get some weird stains out and didn't have any scuffs in the clearcoat. Granted, that is an extreme case, but the wheels are tougher than you think (though this is referring to the BBS and not the 5-spoke wheels). If you use WD-40, be extremely careful that you do not get that stuff on your rotors or brake pads.

Overall though, I would go the chemical route with some mild agitation/scrubbing of the affected areas. If that doesn't work, you could always go to the dealership and demand that they fix it under warranty since it was shipped to you that way.

[SilentSLJ]

Try some Meguires cleaner wax and a little bit of elbow grease. If that doesn't take them off I'd take it back to the dealer.

[nota4re]

All,

Do yourselves a favor and get a can of 3M Adhesive Remover. Our local Wal-mart even carries it in the auto paint supply section. This stuff is magic and you will find a zillion uses for it. It will NOT hurt the paint of the car - so you can use it to get stains and goo off of your paint too. On the wheel spots (I had it too on my BBS'), just give a quick shot of it into a cloth and then wipe the cloth over the black spots. I swear, it is like a TV commercial. Try it and you'll always have some on hand.

[Bownse]

Originally Posted by Shag-e

It is like a grease that they use on the lug nuts (yeah makes no sense to me) when they put the wheels on. after driving for awhile the grease makes it out and onto the rim and the brake dust loves sticking to it.

+1 on it being a protectant for the overseas shipping.

mine, after a month of ownership, suddenly (1 day not there, the next it was) had grease-like rings around the center hubs. the way it appeared and its makeup made me worry that it was a blown bearing seal but it didn't make sense on 2 wheels at the same time.

everything i tried wouldn't clean it until i pulled out the Nev-R-Dul and carefully cleaned it (cut through it like butter) and followed that with a windex cleaning (remove the chemical residue of the Nev-R-Dul) and a spray detailer/protectant finish.

brake dust may have added color but i've seen brake dust from Brembos on cars and bikes and this wasn't that.

[G-REX]

Well I tried pretty much everything suggested here with no luck. So I took it to the local dealer here and they agreed that it appears to be a defect in the wheel - almost like overspray. I guess the wheels are probably silver to begin with and a layer of almost reflective gray (gunmetal color?) is added. Then finally clearcoat goes over top of the paint. It looks like that gray overlay got gunned on there too much and then it was cleared because it's definitely unreachable with any chemical or material.

They want me to take it back down to the dealer I bought it from in Birmingham, AL and have the regional Subaru service rep meet me. I'm about an hour and a half north (90 miles) in Huntsville, AL. The reason I bought it in B-ham was because the Huntsville Subaru dealer has had like 1 STI to date and it was sold before it rolled off the truck.

I don't want to drive to Birmingham just for them to say "yep, thats our fault alright" so I'm going to work my purchasing dealer to see if they can take a look at it up here. There's obviously no treadwear on the tires, the car has less than 400 miles on it so I don't see why they wouldn't just swap it out with another set and then send mine off to be inspected and redone.

And on closer inspection it appears that although the worst of it is on the front two wheels there are some spots on the rears but not as bad. I'm guessing the paint robot had a leaky sprayer and got the whole batch of wheels.

So disregard, this appears to be a unique problem but still, thanks for some great tips on getting all the mystery funk off. I'm sure I'll be coming back to this thread in a few thousand miles when the lugs start flinging that slop.

[onlytakes4]

There a dude on Ebay right now selling the 5 spoke wheels and in the auction it says they look like they have what looks like a chemical over spray on them. Maybe your problem isn't unique.

[Bownse]

SOA should work with your local dealership even though they weren't the selling one. If the the local dealer doesn't want to then, technically, they're violating the terms of their franchise. For good will purposes, your selling dealer could call and make arrangements for you to meet the regional rep at your local dealership. That way the local dealer doesn't feel like they're doing follow-up work for free (no sale).

While there buy something at the parts counter and chat-up the service manager. Make arrangements for a service with them or something. A couple of bucks spent schmoozing them can help. Let them know, that even though they weren't the selling dealer, their service and parts departments stand to make some sales for as long as you own the car because they've been such stand-up guys by making their dealership available for the regional rep (thank them in front of the rep for extra points).

If they're asses, then you never have to spend another dime with them. The odds are that you could build a decent relationship with them once they are reminded that the real money is through parts and service over the life of the car.

[G-REX]

The dealer is a Subaru/Chrysler/Jeep, with the latter two being the "premier" and important brand it seems. The service manager is your typical, should I say "one who's neck is redder than most", and seems like he'd rather be dealing with Ford F-350s or Mustangs. Although he took the time to advise me he didn't have much of a clue about what to do. I also sensed a subtle bitterness over me buying somewhere else but that's going to be a 50/50 shot no matter where you go.

I'm usually pleased with the parts guys though, and they've always been helpful when I needed stuff for my 05.

I'm going to try the route as you suggested, that being getting my selling dealer to arrange everything. The main reason is that they were aware of the problem when the car left the lot so it's not something I did or could have done. That alone should go a long way with the Subaru rep.

Maybe they'll give me a set of BBSes for my trouble! haha Which I'd quickly sell and buy a new set of the 5 spokes which I personally think look better on my car.