Does anyone with the 'polished' wheels have any tips to improve the shine? Regular aluminium polish doesn't work because I think that the wheels are clear coated. The aluminium polish works fine on the backside of the wheels.

 

Polished?

IF your wheels are "painted" (clear coat is paint) you do the same things to them as you do to the car's paint.

IN fact, most headlights and tail lights share the same materials as the car's paint and you can keep them "new" by taking care of them in the same way including waxing. There is a thread in our FAQ with more details.

MCGuires makes some good materials to polish paints and plastics.
Some use paste polishing compounds.

I just completed WET sanding the tail lights on my 22 year old 4x4 with 600 grit, followed by 1200 grit then used the polishing compound and a Dremel buffer wheel to buff them - the old tired look is no more, they look good. My aluminum clear coated wheels are next.

CAUTION - using power tools can ruin (burn marks) the lens if you spin it too fast. IF you never done it before, dont experiment on your nice cars. Do it by hand instead.