Ironman88

Stainless will oxidize over time. (Dull tarnished look.) Abrasive is clearly not the answer as you've noted above. The results you'll get by using the right product will be surprising.

tinroof

600 grit sandpaper. Takes just a few seconds.

bjfangjd

Bar Keepers Friend and an old towel has worked well for me in the past.

UK2

I use a polishing kit with a variety of flat and conical polishing wheels that I attach to my drill - very inexpensive from Harbor Freight. Great results and no elbow grease required!

samsour

You've tried a few different methods to clean the exhaust tips on your 2010 Porsche 997.2 C2S, but that using 000 grade steel wool was the most effective. This suggests that the exhaust tips may indeed be made of stainless steel. Using steel wool (grades of 000,0000) is a common method to clean stainless steel as it is abrasive enough to remove the dirt and grime but gentle enough not to scratch the surface. It's always a good idea to check with the manufacturer or a professional mechanic to confirm the type of material your exhaust tips are made of before attempting to clean them. It's also worth noting that using steel wool can be messy, so you may want to wear gloves and work in a well-ventilated area. And remember to wipe down the tips with a microfiber cloth after steel wool to remove any remaining steel wool fibers.

Kuhl997.2!

Easy, clean with Barkeeps cleaner and a white 3M Scott’s pad. Barkeeps is available at about every grocery store

Ironman88

jbkusa

looking good!

dumb question… is there a trick to get the tips off? I have loosened the bolt but I feel like I’m about to break something. Looks like collar between tip and exhaust pipe.

Ironman88

Not a dumb question at all. When you loosen that bolt sufficiently, if you grab the unit (I used both hands to do it) and work it up and down a little, it should begin to loosen and come off. It connects to a single outlet so you can also rotate it slightly left and right to get it off of the single pipe.

jayzbird

Yep, rotate back and forth while pulling the tips back off the pipe. Spraying a touch of wd-40 along the seam where the tip slides over the pipe helps a lot with dis- and reassembly. Also a good idea to put some painters tape over the bumper cutout so you don’t mar the finish on the tips as you are muscling them off.