[Fishman]

Had a search, couldn't find any threads on this:

- anyone suffered the key breaking inside the nut? Anyone know if covered by warranty?

- any ideas of cost to replace?

Cheers!

[RickLS7]

I had the locking socket thingy break on the Porsche, it's a pig to get them off so took it to a garage and it took them an hour to get all four off.

I doubt if you will get anywhere on a warranty claim, they will just say the nuts were over torqued. I'm very conscious to torque wheel nuts up correctly since this happened.

[S111SYA]

As advised above it will be questioned if the wheel nuts have been over tightened. If you’ve had no reason to take the wheels off I.e really low mileage you should get somewhere with warranty? Even if not it might be worth asking, particularly if the car has had the wheels taken off by the dealership you will be taking it too for service or new tyres?

[Fletcher330d]

I too just recently had this , I had only had car a month dealer at first didn’t want to know all 4 locking nuts was over torqued , had to have front ones drilled out in end what a nightmare I’ve just put standard bolts back in

[Jeff123]

I had this, an over zealous tyre fitter spun/snapped the locking wheel nut and it was stuck in place.

There are several possible solutions to remove the nut, some you can find on the 'net, including hammering a socket over the nut and taking it off with a socket set.

Or, welding something to the nut - and knackering the wheel.

I found a local guy who has a great technique. He takes what looks like a cold chisel and gets his mate to hold it on the nut. Then he hits it with a large hammer 5-6 times. It sort of loosens the thread and the nut comes off with his fingers or a pair of long nosed pliers.

Cost £10.

You will obviously need a new set of locking wheel nuts - c£50.

[Derrymilk]

You can get nut removers
https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-b...FUoSGwod3xgC-A

[GEP77]

Originally Posted by Derrymilk

You can get nut removers
https://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-b...FUoSGwod3xgC-A

You will struggle to use those due to lack of clearance between the nut and the allow wheel.

[Nobby Clark]

Originally Posted by Fletcher330d

I too just recently had this , I had only had car a month dealer at first didn’t want to know all 4 locking nuts was over torqued , had to have front ones drilled out in end what a nightmare I’ve just put standard bolts back in

I'd be cautious of doing that as it may change the insurance rating of your car.
Insurance companies will use any excuse...

[3george]

http://lockingwheelnutsremoved.com/

I've used this guy twice now - he is based from home near Reading.

Highly respected and he only does locking wheel nuts.......... nothing else and rarely fails.

[Fletcher330d]

Originally Posted by Nobby Clark

I'd be cautious of doing that as it may change the insurance rating of your car.
Insurance companies will use any excuse...

I will ring and check with insurance don’t want to give them an excuse as if they need one lol , I did get a new set of locking nuts from bmw after they got the old studs out but they damaged the wheels in the process and the company that refurbished my wheels recommended not fitting the locking nuts back because they see this all the time

[S111SYA]

Originally Posted by Fletcher330d

I will ring and check with insurance don’t want to give them an excuse as if they need one lol , I did get a new set of locking nuts from bmw after they got the old studs out but they damaged the wheels in the process and the company that refurbished my wheels recommended not fitting the locking nuts back because they see this all the time

If the wheels are tightened up to the right torque there is no reason why this should happen all the time unless you are using cheap bolts that corrode and effectively weld themselves to your hub.

[Fletcher330d]

Originally Posted by S111SYA

If the wheels are tightened up to the right torque there is no reason why this should happen all the time unless you are using cheap bolts that corrode and effectively weld themselves to your hub.

Mine was genuine bmw locking nuts, apparently bmw don’t check wheel torques as one of their checks when you buy an approved bmw lol which I find odd basically always check your self after having tyres fitted because that’s were the problem is they windy gun all studs back on car including locking nuts

[Hoppy_70]

I cut a slot in mine with a dremel then impact drivered it off with a dewalt driver. No damage to Anything but the nut!

[jamesgreen]

Sorry to bring back up this thread but it wont seem to let me post my own one!
Someone at my local tyre shop has done up my locking wheel nuts with one of them impact guns. I’ve gone to go and take them off today and the key has snapped inside the bolt!
I drove to BMW who want £220 to drill it out for me, is there not any other way to be able to remove these?

[JD6]

Originally Posted by jamesgreen

Sorry to bring back up this thread but it wont seem to let me post my own one!
Someone at my local tyre shop has done up my locking wheel nuts with one of them impact guns. I’ve gone to go and take them off today and the key has snapped inside the bolt!
I drove to BMW who want £220 to drill it out for me, is there not any other way to be able to remove these?

There are the methods described above. Personally, I just went to the local (non-chain) tyre place who welded a piece of metal to the nut (without damaging the wheel) and removed it that way. I think they charged £20

[OneExtra]

Its 140Nm if you need to know the correct torque

[samm134]

Originally Posted by 3george

http://lockingwheelnutsremoved.com/

I've used this guy twice now - he is based from home near Reading.

Highly respected and he only does locking wheel nuts.......... nothing else and rarely fails.

This.

He has just done 2 of mine. He is an old school engineer, with a bootfull of specialist tools, and a shit load of knowledge. No damage at all.

[evdok]

Originally Posted by Fletcher330d

I too just recently had this , I had only had car a month dealer at first didn’t want to know all 4 locking nuts was over torqued , had to have front ones drilled out in end what a nightmare I’ve just put standard bolts back in

Where did you say you lived?

[sahajesh]

Originally Posted by evdok

Where did you say you lived?

And pictures - after all, no point if they are 403Ms.

[jamesgreen]

Im in London so Reading is abit out of my way! Ended up being referred to this locking wheel nut removal specialist.
He came out to me and had them off in 20 minutes.
I got all four removed and he fitted in standard bolts so this doesn’t happen again!
Hopefully my rims don’t get stolen

[Hugrov]

I used this guy, he's very good and is based in South Yorkshire.

http://www.thewheelnutman.co.uk/

I actually had a rounded standard wheel bolt that had bonded itself to the lacquer after a wheel refurb, others tried to remove it and failed (and basically mullered the head of the bolt in the process). I took my car to him and the bolt was out within 5 minutes and cost £20, no damage to the wheel either.

[Craig-SM]

My key got distorted and kept slipping off the bolt. I’ve removed the wheels a few times and always torque the bolts up correctly by hand with a torque wrench but the key still got damaged due to the softness.
I had the bolts removed by a local specialist using a tool like jeff123 describes. All 4 bolts were removed within minutes. The guy removing them said the McGard style ones that BMW use are the most secure but fail often. He also informed me that there was only 20 different combinations of the BMW key. Checked on eBay and you can buy the full set for not much, which makes the security a joke.
I fitted the old BMW internal spline look cling wheel nuts which are more robust but again only 10 different combinations and available on eBay!