What is on these wheels?

I can't really tell, this is from a guy from another forum, he said it happened after a rainstorm. No luck with just soap and water. Hard water spots?

 

i'm assuming they were in good shape before...treat them no differently than any paint issue..clay 1st, try a light polish and go from there. Probably environmental spots I would guess. The a/m steps should correct it and then seal them well with DG 105 or a similar strong sealant.

 

Yea that's what I was thinking.

BTW, these are not my wheels, nor are they a car that I would be working on. Kinda wondering if anyone would recommend vinegar or something because they kinda look like water spots to me. The guy probably doesn't have any detailing products.

 

I can't comment on how to fix them. But I used to have an 06 G35 Coupe, I returned it several months ago once the lease was over.

I had that same exact issue, I don't think it happened over night, I think in my case I just started noticing it one day, but they never looked as bad as the rims pictures above. It didn't get worse, but I couldn't get the wheels to come out any better.

I tried the following:
-Mothers PowerMetal Aluminum by hand.
-Mothers PowerMetal Aluminum w/Mothers PowerBall.
-Mothers PowerMetal Aluminum w/Orange CCS Pad mounted on cordless drill.

That third attempt started stripping the actual paint/coating so I stopped there with the polishes. Perhaps the Orange pad was too aggressive.

Finally, I tried an alcohol wipe-down and that didn't work either.

Sorry, I don't have an answer for you, just a bunch of things that did not work, hopefully it will help isolate the issue. I would just suggest that the owner of that vehicle tries to clay the wheels. The next step up would be trying a mildly abrasive polish by hand...perhaps Meguiar's Scratch X 2.0 with a foam applicator pad since that is widely available OTC....try several applications and see if it helps.

 

First thing I would try is to work in some DG 501 by hand... Work in in as you would an abrasive polish (again by hand)... May as well try the easiest/least invasive way 1st!