Locking wheel nuts

[mmm-five]

Can’t find any Alpina parts on the normal BMW parts catalogues, but the Alpina part number is 3613018 (doesn’t match any BMW part).

[PerryGunn]

if I went for plain wheel nuts I think I would still have to buy the Alpina ones as the guy at BMW says the standard BMW ones are not the same.

Are you absolutely certain the wheel bolts are any different from standard?
Seems a little odd. What have they changed to necessitate that?

Alpina have several patterns for the key socket for removing the locking nuts (as do BMW), the garage may just want to order bolts that match the current key to avoid the additional expense of ordering another key.

I like to have a visible deterrent but it's too easy to hammer a socket over normal locking bolts so I removed my Alpina lockers (kept safe for returning to OEM) and bought a set of McGard lockers as they take a bit more effort to get past - they're a standard BMW bolt pattern, the Alpina wheels are different but the hubs are BMW parts.

[Big Red Cat]

I like to have a visible deterrent but it's too easy to hammer a socket over normal locking bolts so I removed my Alpina lockers (kept safe for returning to OEM) and bought a set of McGard lockers as they take a bit more effort to get past - they're a standard BMW bolt pattern, the Alpina wheels are different but the hubs are BMW parts.

Hi Perry
are you saying that I can just use standard BMW bolts to replace the locking ones?
I'm going for non-locking ones for the moment but I'm interested in the McGard ones you suggest, how would I know which ones to buy?
Sorry for all the questions but I did talk to Sytner Nottingham last week who said I should order the Alpina ones (that would still take 3-5 weeks to arrive).
Both the guy at Sytner & my local BMW chap did agree that the BMW locking wheel nuts aren't much use!

[Pondrew]

I did talk to Sytner Nottingham last week who said I should order the Alpina ones

No surprise there, especially as Shytner are Alpina dealers.
FWIW the wheel bolts on my Alpina E92 (classic wheels) were EXACTLY the same as the ones on the E89 Z4. As long as the thread pitch is the same (pretty sure it's common across the whole range 1.25mm IIRC), the shoulder of the bolt is the same (60 degrees IIRC) and the bolts aren't too long they will fit. They are only bolts; nothing special.

You can get identical bolts to the 'BMW' ones from eBay for a fraction of the cost too.

[PerryGunn]

Hi Perry
are you saying that I can just use standard BMW bolts to replace the locking ones?
I'm going for non-locking ones for the moment but I'm interested in the McGard ones you suggest, how would I know which ones to buy?
Sorry for all the questions but I did talk to Sytner Nottingham last week who said I should order the Alpina ones (that would still take 3-5 weeks to arrive).
Both the guy at Sytner & my local BMW chap did agree that the BMW locking wheel nuts aren't much use!

Yep, as Pondy said, there's nothing special about the Alpina bolts, they're standard BMW M12 x 1.5 pitch (some BMWs do take bigger bolts though, our X3 takes M14 x 1.25 but it's another BMW standard size).

The important thing is the length - they have to be long enough to properly engage with the hub but not too long. I don't believe mine needed anything special and IIRC any McGard that says they're suitable for the 2003-2009 E85 will be fine.