Has anyone used a product call 'Kleen Wheels" they are installed on the inside of the wheel and stop the brake dust from ever getting to the outside of the wheel. Please let me know if anyone has tried this and if it is worth it. thanks

 

Plasticshield?
If so it also stops the air flow.....and thereforethe brakes won't be cooled as they were designed to when stopping from high speed, mountains etc.
OK if looks is all that matters but if you want the brakes to work as they were designed...then thats a decision you have to make.
Others have suggested ceramic pads which apparently meet BOTH requirements.
Stuart.

 

Agree. I have bought these Kleen wheels for my MB car’s, 16 inch wheels. You can have them if you like, free, I never installed them as my MB, as most MB cars, need all the air they can get to have the strong brake action they provide. From a technical perspective- pass on these over-marketed items. Clean and wax you wheels regularly, and your brakes and wheels will like you for it, trust me, I know. Try another brand of brake pads if you like; some have less dust than others. Use very gentle wheel cleaner, veryyyy gentle chemicals. Treat your wheels with extra care. Wheel wax will reduce the stickiness of brake dust. Works for me.

 

I feel your pain! It seems like the wheels are the dirtiest part of the car, always. They must be cleaned and polished every week. When this set of metallic brake pads wears out, they will be replaced by Akebono ceramics. Great performance, no squeal, no visible dusting. These worked terriffic on a Lexus I used to own, and also on many customer's cars as well (our shop switched to these after Raybestos were no longer carried by our preferred parts suppliers).
I will follow up with feedback once I change the brakes. Please do the same if you do so first.
Regards,
Perry

 

I know that I am going to get in trouble with the purists on this forum but if you are an everyday kind of Mercedes owner that works 60 some odd hours a week you don't have a chance to "clean and polish" your rims once a week.I bought a set of these on my last purchase of wheels and it is the best investment I have ever made. I wash my car half as much and the wheels stay clean enough that you don't have to spend a lot of time (which I don't have) cleaning the brake dust off of them when you wash. I would love to be able to detail the car once a week but it doesn't happen. I also have not noticed any loss in performance.In factI used to have dirty rims two days after I cleanedand polished them anyway. Try them is my advice, they are cheap enough to change your mindlater.

Lightrod27

 

Let me suggest a different approach to this wheel dust thing. First, I agree with the comments about not using KleenWheels to essentially block dust from getting on the wheels. The assertions about excess heat due to air flow restriction around the rotors have been made too many times to ignore.

The approach already taken and proven by other owners is to switch out the cause of the dust, the conventional pads, and spring for ceramic replacements. The brands being talked about the most are Akebono and EBC. Owners report equal (and some say better) braking, and signifigantly less dust in the ranges of 80-90% less.

Check with your favorite parts provider to see if they are available for your specific car and investigate for yourself if this is a solution for you.

Bob

 

One thing I have noticed with Mercedes vs other manufacturers is that I have NEVER experienced ANY brake problems other than Dust and an annoying "Creak" when applying the handbrake on R170 SLK.

Pads last well although rotors do wear more quickly (hence the dust i guess) than some other maufacturers BUT there are no squeakes, twitters, graunch, fade, smell, change of effort etc The brakes work as intended.
MB must have done a lot of work to achieve this level of performance so changing the pads COULD be problematic. However things have moved on and the advent of ceramic pads could be the ultimate solution....on the other hand.

Give ceramic a try but do not whinge if you change one problem for another.

I'm sufficiently interested that I'm going to give them a try.

Stuart

 

Stuart, glad this idea got your attention...nobody will test 'em like you!

I would say that for the 129's at least, the vendor of choice has been primarily Akebono, http://www.akebonobrakes.com/oem/index.html

Daimler/Chrysler (who?) is a OEM customer, along with the other usual suspects. At the site, if you click on aftermarket, and input the car you'll be using for research, their part finder will match the correct pad if available. We've been using the 'Euro' for probably obvious reasons.

Bob

 

Hi Bob,

I'll give them a go (if I can locate where I can get them from over here)
However I'm dubious about some of the claims being made....but I have an open mind!
Reduced noise (what noise), Improved stopping (really!), reduced rotor wear (OK), reduced brake dust (OK)

e.g. OE Euro manufacturers demand Akebono for their North American derivatives! The list includes Land Rover.

I never encountered special brakes being fitted OE by Land Rover for North America during my 40+ years in the UK industry! Just imagine the additional complexity plus if they are so good why not fit them across the range. Suspect they just give a different compromise. i.e. Less dust but reduced performance (which may not be needed in North America) in some other area.
Manufacturers try hard to REDUCE complexity especially on low volume derivatives hence M112 engine in R170 320 for Euro inc UK uses the Californian USA engine with the full emmissions gear on it.
However it is possible that they are swapped out at Import Centre.

Stuart

 

I purchased Kleen Wheels from Performance Products (www.performanceproducts.com) and they work great. They are vented and directional, so install properly. I only got them for the front and they keep my wheels as clean as the rears which stayed much cleaner anyway. Have only had a month and have not noticed any difference in braking. My local garage,brother in law,says they are fine to use.