Audi Chrome trim cleaning [Archive] - VW Audi Forum - The #1 Volkswagen (VW) Forum Dedicated to the whole Volkswagen (VW) Group

skymaster

13-02-2010, 07:16 PM

Hi

I have a 2006 Audi A4 with chrome trim around the windows and of course on the grill as well.

The trim is dull and upon closer inspection milky and cloudy. What can I use to get this sorted out? I am worried about going for a harsh metal polish as i am not really sure if this trim is solid metal? Maybe a plastic with foil coating and lacquered??? I have no idea.

I was looking at Meguiars NXT all metal polish... but not sure if this will do the job...

vwcamperman

17-03-2010, 11:51 PM

sooty

17-03-2010, 11:54 PM

Hi
If you i wipe it with baby oil it comes up like me and no effort required
Regards Vwcamperman:biglaugh:

yep baby oil works!
Dont let the mrs see u wiping down the car with baby oil though!

vwcamperman

18-03-2010, 03:53 PM

yep baby oil works!
Dont let the mrs see u wiping down the car with baby oil though!
its the only enjoyment i get these day's :D

sooty

18-03-2010, 06:39 PM

its the only enjoyment i get these day's :D

lol
You need to put the camper van to some proper use then!

Col

18-03-2010, 07:10 PM

Your all idle and lazy !

They polish up very well but it is damned hard work and you need to use some fairly aggresive compounds.

When I had my old A6 and even my old Passat, both had milky trim (the A6 had milkyroof rails as well!) but they did polish up very well.

Use some proper cutting compound as normal cleaners won't touch it.

Baby oil = grit magnet.

sooty

19-03-2010, 02:19 AM

mav696

26-03-2010, 12:29 PM

Try something like the Autoglym Metal Polish

sooty

27-03-2010, 02:40 AM

Try something like the Autoglym Metal Polish

Metal polish on plastic chrome? Will this work ok without damage?

Col

27-03-2010, 03:25 AM

Metal polish on plastic chrome? Will this work ok without damage?

Nope, it is aluminium so no harm will be done.

However even a metal polish won't touch it.

Use something like Farecla G6 which is a quite aggressive cutting compound.

benjie

28-03-2010, 12:23 AM

Is it really aluminium? I thought it was some kind of cheap chrome covered by some see-through strip of plastic? I thought the cloudyness was on the inside because of something like water ingress?

Col

28-03-2010, 01:08 AM

Is it really aluminium? I thought it was some kind of cheap chrome covered by some see-through strip of plastic? I thought the cloudyness was on the inside because of something like water ingress?

Nope, I've got plastic chrome on my current Ford but Audi use proper solid metal ! No sure if it is raw ali or an ali alloy though.

What I do know is that it polishes up a treat but is hard work !

benjie

28-03-2010, 02:05 AM

I had no idea?!
Right, Baby Oil tomorrow just as a quick tester (all the auto shops round here are shut!)

Then I'm raiding the shops for some Farecla stuff!

Col

28-03-2010, 11:19 AM

I had no idea?!
Right, Baby Oil tomorrow just as a quick tester (all the auto shops round here are shut!)

Then I'm raiding the shops for some Farecla stuff!

Once you have bought back up to scratch and have a finish you are happy with you simply maintain it bu making sure you keep it waxed.

The Farecla stuff you will probably need to order online or off e-bay.

benjie

28-03-2010, 11:41 AM

Thanks for that, I'll keep my eyes open. I'm really please as I didn't realise anything could be done about them!

JimC64

31-03-2010, 01:39 AM

Is it really aluminium? I thought it was some kind of cheap chrome covered by some see-through strip of plastic? I thought the cloudyness was on the inside because of something like water ingress?

Benjie, you are totally right as far as I'm aware. They are as you say not chrome at all but some cheap imitation. I've had it from the horses mouth in the form of service reception and then parts personnel have confirmed this.
I've had 3 sets replaced under warranty

skymaster

31-03-2010, 10:52 AM

Does anyone have an old trim the could cut open so we can see a cross section? Would be good to know if it's solid metal or plastic with a foil / lacquer covering...

Service reception at main dealers .... I never regard them as the horses mouth... have heard some spout utter nonsense in the past...

JimC64

31-03-2010, 11:28 AM

I hear ya skymaster, and would normally agree, however, I've been using this dealer for years and am on first name terms with the service reception manager and the parts guy.
Had lengthy discussions with them on this issue......to the point where we've talked about handling of these chrome trims.
Seemingly they can be dropped into a travel cage from a height casuing hairline cracks at the end....BAM thats them knackered.
This issue is causing Audi ££££ and they are currently looking at beeter ways of handling them for shipment.

Might be a better idea just to use REAL Chrome I woulda thought:approve:

elitedetailer

31-03-2010, 01:02 PM

Hi

The problem is once the trim is tarnished you are stuck in a viscous circle. Although if you polish it, it will look better, you will need to do this regularly as it is susceptible to being marked again very easily. The trim is coated and once damaged and polished you will basically be polishing the bare metal trim. It would be wide to keep it waxed for added protection.

Regards
Elite Detailer Team :beerchug:

Col

31-03-2010, 05:08 PM

Benjie, you are totally right as far as I'm aware. They are as you say not chrome at all but some cheap imitation. I've had it from the horses mouth in the form of service reception and then parts personnel have confirmed this.
I've had 3 sets replaced under warranty

Wrong.

They are solid metal and will polish up. I have done this sucessfully on both my old Passat B5.5 and my Audi A6.

Dealers will quite obviously want to replace them as it is better for them i.e. minimum effort for maximum return. If they can recover their outlay as a warranty claim from VW or Audi UK they will.

If you have to pay for them yourself and they are not covered by the warranty then you should try and polish them up.

JimC64

31-03-2010, 05:39 PM

Wrong.

They are solid metal and will polish up. I have done this sucessfully on both my old Passat B5.5 and my Audi A6.

Dealers will quite obviously want to replace them as it is better for them i.e. minimum effort for maximum return. If they can recover their outlay as a warranty claim from VW or Audi UK they will.

If you have to pay for them yourself and they are not covered by the warranty then you should try and polish them up.

WRONG - They are cheap imitation chrome covered plastic parts with a lacquer over them. I looked at several damaged ones in the parts store of the dealership. The ends ) having been dropped from a slight heght end on into storage ) if you look closely have very small fine hairline cracks through the lacquer. When have you ever seen this on chrome, either expensive or cheap stuff??
I mis spoke myself when I said I had 3 sets replaced under warranty. In actual fact it was one and the other 2 sets ( 4 per set ) were replaced as a goodwill gesture from the dealer.

Anyhow col....I think we'll have to agree to differ on this one!

Col

31-03-2010, 05:46 PM

WRONG - They are cheap imitation chrome covered plastic parts with a lacquer over them. I looked at several damaged ones in the parts store of the dealership. The ends ) having been dropped from a slight heght end on into storage ) if you look closely have very small fine hairline cracks through the lacquer. When have you ever seen this on chrome, either expensive or cheap stuff??
I mis spoke myself when I said I had 3 sets replaced under warranty. In actual fact it was one and the other 2 sets ( 4 per set ) were replaced as a goodwill gesture from the dealer.

Anyhow col....I think we'll have to agree to differ on this one!

What car exactly ? Looks like a C6 A6 in the picture above for which I cannot comment.

They may have fitted newer cheaper stuff on newer cars. The Passat B5.5 and Audi A6 C5 certainly had solid metal strips.

JimC64

01-04-2010, 01:38 AM

A6 C6 Col....

Col

01-04-2010, 10:25 AM

A6 C6 Col....

There we go then :biglaugh:

We are both wrong but both right :beerchug:
The older stuff had solid metal and the newer stuff doesn't.

JimC64

01-04-2010, 03:09 PM

Guarantee its sumthin to do with saving the environment:(
Jeeesh, when I think of the (must be thousands ) of these trims that have had to be replaced, all the extra miles back n forth to the dealers etc etc.......probably woulda been better using REAL chrome strips in the first place:zx11:

alka-seltzer

07-06-2010, 02:26 PM

Funny I spotted this thread as I sorted mine, albeit temporarily.

I tried Autosol & Menzerna Final Finish applied by hand, then the Menz applied by machine and no joy.

Thought I'd give Autoglym Bumper Gel a go and it's worked a treat.

Admittedly it doesn't last long, but it has brought the bars up to a cracking finish.

Same theory as the baby oil I guess, however not as sticky.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Nick

higgy10

22-08-2010, 08:20 PM

I think the manual says not to use an alkaline based shampoo as this can bring on the milkyness

Zeb

12-09-2010, 07:25 PM

Would a rubbing compound do the job? My chrome pack is dull and cloudy, I tried Autosol Polish, but it never got rid of the rain marks!

audiman17

11-05-2011, 11:43 PM

trust me - straight from my master Audi Tech - kitchen roll and WD40 - as used in the workshop !!!!

Monkey117SE

15-06-2011, 05:10 PM

Well what can i say, for a quick fix WD40 does the job, you can still see the marks if you look close enough, but did all the chrome in 5 minutes so if it has to be done regularly then its not a problem. i did try some 1200 wet and dry paper with some autosol on an inconspicous small area and it wasnt a success ....

audiman17

16-06-2011, 04:09 PM

Well done - told you so - this will save you lots of dosh on meaningless Autoglym products and the like !

adamh79

18-06-2011, 07:26 PM

The reason WD40 doesn't last long is that it's hydroscorbic (over time it absorbs the water) so it loses it's effectiveness. The best thing I've found is ACF 50. Aircraft grade anti corrosion stuff - completely brilliant and lasts ages (also not hydroscorbic)

toxxik

22-07-2011, 10:51 AM

Hey guys. I was recently searching google for this problem and found this discussion, and forgot I even had an account on the forum.

I recently tried to deal with the problem myself.

I have a '04 Audi A4, and my trims ARE metal. One of the trims has a deep scratch and you can see the metallic shine in the scratch.

Yesterday I've tried polishing them with two dedicated metal polishes, the Optimum Metal Polish and Meguiar's All metal polish. I'll post pics of the results:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LWJGj-M5GWE/TigyFUd7V1I/AAAAAAAAAZQ/JvBAfveyg2M/s1600/IMG_1034.JPG

On the left - Optimum, the little spot in the middle was covered with tape to have a control surface, and on the right I used Meguiar's.

Optimum Metal Polish is clearly the winner here, as you can see in the pics.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VmXYj5cMGWI/TigyOtb6QOI/AAAAAAAAAZo/KoKoKSRG7xo/s1600/IMG_1039.JPG

The applicator I used was #00 Wire wool, very fine.

The finish was a real improvement over the previous state of the trims, you can see the little spot that was intentionally left untreated, for comparison.

But, the bad thing is, today the surface I polished using the two polishes was almost back to its previous state!:aargh4:

I also talked to a friend and he told me that the aluminum trims on Audi cars have a special protection coat, and I think that's what I was actually polishing.

Next time I'm going to try polishing with the machine, and see if I can get better results, but first I have to resupply on Optimum's metal polish as I've run out, and I'll keep everyone posted with the results.

Dan J

23-07-2011, 12:11 AM

great shots toxxik
you need to put some protection on it after you have polished these bits,
a couple of layers of durable wax or 2 layers of sealant will do the trick.

toxxik

23-07-2011, 08:52 AM

Thanks!

I was also out of was (only had light dodo wax for light cars) but will redo the process and seal them using wax! Thanks for the suggestion!

Slugsy001

04-08-2011, 07:15 AM

So my new A6 appears to have a mixture of plastic and aluminium for the 'chrome' finishes! Any advice for treating/cleaning aluminium badges?

toxxik

09-08-2011, 12:03 PM

Polishing plastic trims would strip the crome paint off them. You'd be better off cleaning them with regular shampoo and sealing the shine with some wax.

Paul100

02-10-2011, 07:53 PM

I know its an oldish thread, but thought I would share a successful fix method with you guys.

My B6 windscreen surrounds were blotchy and had dull cloudy patches. Did the following and they now look like new, I am amazed how well they came up!

1. Wash, rinse and dry
2. clean with Meguiars APC, then buff off
3. rub in a good layer of chemical guys jetseal, leave for half hour then buff off
4. Work in a good layer of poorboys natty wax paste blue, leave to dry then buff off and admire your shiny new looking trims........ :biglaugh:

Shy Auto

09-10-2011, 11:15 AM

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It also works twice as fast as other polishes whether you apply it by hand or machine. Safely get rid of tarnish and get a killer mirror finish.

Don't be SHY and give it a try;)

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See our before and after use of Killer Chrome

Monkey117SE

09-10-2011, 07:06 PM

The alloy trims around the door are laquered, will this still work?

Shy Auto

09-10-2011, 09:04 PM

The alloy trims around the door are laquered, will this still work?

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