You may have... depends.
Most all polished rims these days are clear coated and you do not want to use anything abrasive. (treat your rims like they are painted because they have been polished and coated)
Depending on how aggressive you were in the application you might have scuffed up the clear coat. Hard to say without being able to see it up close.
If you did it's a bummer for sure but not the end of the world. There are lots of ways to bring out the lost luster and shine on older wheels. The fact that you may have foiled the protective coating before it ever got a chance to protect is just one of those "head thump" moments we all suffer from time to time.
Can you put up pics? You didn't really say why you think you messed up? Do they look bad now?
Worst case scenario .... Good excuse to buy some sweet new rims.
thx for the reply...
i'll take pix when i can
i just wanted to "wax" em to protect from brake dust...saw too late that this was "compound"
called Meguires..guy said as long as its clearcoated, its ok...
NOT ok on bare metal.
im not sure what you mean by this is what they look like untouched? I'm assuimning this is what they look like from the dealer. if So then yes they need polished for sure.
if yourre telling me that Ultimate Compound did that to your rims, id say only if you used steel wool to apply the compound. I mean UC is aggressive, but i can't imagine that damage from UC alone.
They're machined polished and painted (between the spokes) aluminum alloy w/clear coat. Whatever you use on your paint will work on your wheels. If you would not use it on your paint, then don't use it on your wheels...