Brake Buster without a doubt. Very gentle on the wheels. Non-acidic yet extremely affective. Also used for the tires.
You really see it work on the tires and I recommend a Tuff brush for the low profile tires to go with it.

 

I've found nothing better than Optimum Ferrex. It's expensive, but it works extremely well.

 

Just another point of reference; I've used AMMONYC plum, then brute wash only with wheel whoolies.
I figured it would be a gimmick, but it cleans the stock rims (w steel brakes) extremely well; I was pleasantly surprised.
But warm water and dish soap works great, too!

 

When I first started doing Lasik in the early 1990s the device we used to cut the corneal flap (Hansatome) was scrupulously cleaned after each procedure. The detergent of choice was Palmolive dish washing liquid because (I was told) the olive oil in the formulation added some lubrication to the device's gear track. I have since used this as my car and wheel wash of choice and have never experienced any wheel discoloration. It cleans well and leaves my hands feeling very soft. Just FYI.

 

Love the AMMO NYC Plum then tried Adams Wheel Cleaner (the teal/tourquise stuff) and it is the SAME thing, just costs literally 1/2 the price. I find these cleaners are great for steel brakes with a lot of dusting (looking at you M3 and RR with Brembos)...If you have PCCB no need to use anything this expensive or harsh and find just the regular Adams car soap, or Palmolive as mentioned above works great. So when the M3 has gone a little long between cleaning and the wheels are caked with brake dust (steelies) then Adams wheel cleaner and a good scrub is magic and dish soap/regular car soap doesn't touch it easily, and for minimal dusting or on the GT3 with PCCBs just good old car soap works (Again like the wheel cleaner I used to use AMMO car shampoo but Adams regular blue car soap is 1/2 the price and same thing, I'm pretty sure Adams makes the soap and plum wheel cleaner for AMMO, same smell, same result just different colors - however Ammo tire mud is unmatched for appearance of your tires and I have tried everything).

When it comes down to it we all know nothing works without the mechanical part of the wash. I only need the de-ferric'ing (totally made up word) wheel cleaner for the cars with the steel brakes and only when its been a couple weeks between washing - these products really break that stuff up (pun in tended I guess?!)...otherwise just about any soap for some lubrication and emulsification works great, then save yourself the cost of the more expensive wheel cleaners.

 

Wheel cleaners would do just about the same thing, so I don't think that is a reason to avoid soap on your wheels.

Dish soap is designed to strip food oils from your dishes, that's why the old school advice is that it would damage waxes, which tended to have natural oils in them as well.

P21S is good stuff, but it isn't a lot stronger than using soap. So therefore I prefer to go with Sonax or Griots if I'm using wheel cleaner.

 

I think this product industry if fraught with a lot of marketing. There are so many products and a ton of marketing on each. Its kind of like the proteins industry for fitness/diet consumers.

As a few posters have mentioned, simple car wash or dish soap works just fine. You always need the mechanical aspect. Anything where you don't is probably pretty harsh stuff.

 

I was using Sonax for a while but IMO its just OK. Mcguires has a product that is very similar to Sonax. Recently picked up a bottle of the CarPro Iron X.... now that is some good stuff.

Also Car Pro Elixir as a quick detailer.... so so good.

 

for my M3 which generates tons of brake dust i use a bottle of the red chemical guys diablo wheel cleaner. works great, just make sure to use in a shaded area.

GT3 i just use the normal wash soap. with pccb the brake dust so minimal you really dont need a wheel cleaner.

 

I have used Sonax for years and agree it works super well. I really like working with Esoteric and used Gyeon Iron this fall (link below). I had a really good experience with it. It is PH neutral and for the first time ever when i used a micro fiber cloth to wipe whatever water my air dryer didn't get, absolutely zero film, dirt, break dust, road grease and grime came off on the towel. 100% clean, just water on the towel. Only drawback, really smells.


https://www.esotericcarcare.com/gyeon-q2m-iron/

 

Maybe just get PCCBs and avoid the issue entirely?

 

There is merit there. I have my first set of PCCB and it is a pleasure not having to clean wheels like you normally have to.

Either the PCCB route or the new brake rotor/pad setup that reduces break dust if offered.