[Phoenixcat]

So my car went to BMW for a new set of discs and pads (on offer at the moment-£349), but they were unable to get two of the locking wheel nuts off as they had been overtightened.

The dealership said this is quite common with the newer type BMW locking wheel nuts, the flower type, as the keys are more fragile.

Does anyone know of a company in the south east that can remove locking wheel nuts? Or any ideas on how to get them off? I’m based in Orpington.

[MarkG_M5Comp]

Not down your way however BMW will likely want to drill them off at £400 a pop.

Find a trusted local workshop and they will be able to weld another bolt to the broken head and undo it without so much drama (or wheel damage!).

Good luck.

[JD6]

Originally Posted by MarkG_M50d

Not down your way however BMW will likely want to drill them off at £400 a pop.

Find a trusted local workshop and they will be able to weld another bolt to the broken head and undo it without so much drama (or wheel damage!).

Good luck.

Nowhere near either, but my local tyre place did exactly this for £10 per wheel, from memory.

[MSR330D]

Years ago I lost my locking wheel nut key which only come to light when I had a puncture.
Called RAC and they sent someone to remove it for me.
The guy turned up and said he would only remove the one with the puncture for security reasons. Fair enough at least I could get the puncture sorted out.
However when I dangled a 20 note in his face he soon took all four of them off for me. Job done and saved me a hell of a lot of money.
The interesting thing was the socket he used to get the nut off. It was sort of ridged and tapered inside. He hammered it on then used a long wheel nut wrench to get the nuts off. Took about 20 mins to get them all off.u

[teaston]

Originally Posted by MSR330D

Years ago I lost my locking wheel nut key which only come to light when I had a puncture.
Called RAC and they sent someone to remove it for me.
The guy turned up and said he would only remove the one with the puncture for security reasons. Fair enough at least I could get the puncture sorted out.
However when I dangled a 20 note in his face he soon took all four of them off for me. Job done and saved me a hell of a lot of money.
The interesting thing was the socket he used to get the nut off. It was sort of ridged and tapered inside. He hammered it on then used a long wheel nut wrench to get the nuts off. Took about 20 mins to get them all off.u

They were probably not like these current BMW locking nuts with the rotating collars on them! Welding a nut on them is the only way to get them off apparently, hence why I've bought the type without the rotating collars.

[Craig-SM]

The dealer has probably tried to remove them using an air gun instead of a bar and damaged the adapter key.
A good tyre fitter will have a tool to remove them which is basically a gator grip socket.

[Phoenixcat]

The parts guy at BMW advised me to buy a set of the older locking wheel nuts, £30 which is a bargain. I advise you all to do the same. All it takes is for some idiot with a pneumatic gun.

[RalphyBMW]

Originally Posted by teaston

They were probably not like these current BMW locking nuts with the rotating collars on them! Welding a nut on them is the only way to get them off apparently, hence why I've bought the type without the rotating collars.

I've had McGard rotating collar units removed in exactly this way.
Tools can only be used so many times, but they all came off with no damage to the wheels.
Again, AA man, puncture, dealer lost locking wheel nut key.

[ronime]

Originally Posted by MSR330D

The interesting thing was the socket he used to get the nut off. It was sort of ridged and tapered inside. He hammered it on then used a long wheel nut wrench to get the nuts off. Took about 20 mins to get them all off.u

That description matches the Irwin bolt grips that I have in my tool chest.

[B58_Touring]

Mine snapped off in the keyway trying to remove an over tightened nut, came off perfectly flush and it will not budge. Currently looking for somewhere trustworthy to remove it for me!

[GEP77]

It is possible to remove the centre core of the wheel bolt and you can then use an EZ out to remove the bolt.

The photo below shows how they come apart.

[Aevintiri]

Originally Posted by GEP77

It is possible to remove the centre core of the wheel bolt and you can then use an EZ out to remove the bolt.

The photo below shows how they come apart.

This is an important reason to always use proper torque specs. Hopefully you get those off.

[teaston]

Originally Posted by GEP77

It is possible to remove the centre core of the wheel bolt and you can then use an EZ out to remove the bolt.

The photo below shows how they come apart.

How do you get the end of the bolt off like that?!

[GEP77]

Originally Posted by teaston

How do you get the end of the bolt off like that?!

I actually did it by accident, if you rock the adapter at an angle it'll eventually break off. It is possible to hammer it back on, but I wouldn't recommend it.

[Phoenixcat]

So I phoned around including the RAC and some local garages. BMW Bromley wanted the car for a whole day and £200-400. Then I stumbled across this website:

http://www.lockingwheelnutsremoved.com

I phoned the guy up yesterday and drive to his house near Reading this morning. He used my key along with an impact driver and had the nuts off in less than 10 minutes. All it cost was £50! The old nuts are also in tact so I am going to sell them.

[GEP77]

Originally Posted by Phoenixcat

So I phoned around including the RAC and some local garages. BMW Bromley wanted the car for a whole day and £200-400. Then I stumbled across this website:

http://www.lockingwheelnutsremoved.com

I phoned the guy up yesterday and drive to his house near Reading this morning. He used my key along with an impact driver and had the nuts off in less than 10 minutes. All it cost was £50! The old nuts are also in tact so I am going to sell them.

That's a good result.

[BMW_Jam]

Originally Posted by GEP77

It is possible to remove the centre core of the wheel bolt and you can then use an EZ out to remove the bolt.

The photo below shows how they come apart.

Hi, this recently happened to me
The root of the problem was that the bar i used has a slightly angled head, not 90 degrees, so it put some twisting force into an overly tight bolt and it snapped.
I have found a solution;
Jb Weld
Clean up both parts little bit of epoxy then hammer it in, left over night and it come off easily this morning
Overall it only cost me £8 and no messing around with a welder or aggressive bolt remover sockets

[samm134]

http://www.lockingwheelnutsremoved.com

I have used these before. The man who started the company has moved abroad and gave the business to Elvis, who runs it now. He told me that BMW dealers use them to do the job, and then charge the customer £350-£400.

[C320]

Originally Posted by samm134

http://www.lockingwheelnutsremoved.com

I have used these before. The man who started the company has moved abroad and gave the business to Elvis, who runs it now. He told me that BMW dealers use them to do the job, and then charge the customer £350-£400.

I've used Elvis in the past too, turns out my Mini was missing the locking nut key and didn't have the key number details. Elvis was able to remove it for me early one morning quickly and reasonably. Well worth a try if you can't source a replacement locking key or have seized locking nuts.