Locking wheel nuts

B

Big Red Cat

Active member
Took #308 to have the torque on the wheel nuts checked after swapping the wheels. The mechanic doing the check had real trouble getting the locking wheel nut off one of the wheels as it looks like the nut is slightly damaged (due to age?). So I would like to get new locking wheels nuts put on before I go to France in the car at the end of July.
I asked my local BMW dealer to source the nuts for me & it seems that I will have to order them direct from Alpina & they will make them to order, taking 10 - 12 weeks.
Does anybody know if I can get them any quicker from anywhere else? Apparently the normal BMW Z4 bolts are different so won't fit.
 
Just a thought but could you get non-locking ones any quicker?

That would work as a temporary solution, although I'd be tempted to use them as a permanent one to prevent the same thing happening again. It's not like wheels seem to get stolen any more thankfully.
 
Scooba_Steve said:
Mr Tidy said:
It's not like wheels seem to get stolen any more thankfully.
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If someone wants your wheels that bad a set of lockers isn't going to stop them.
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This. Take all the lockers off and put them in the bin. If a crim wants your wheels, they'll have the exact same set of extractor tools a garage would use when they inevitably overtorque them and they break.
 
Yes I was thinking about not having the locking wheel nuts but don't really want to have my lovely Dynamic wheels stolen.
However 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.
 
Big Red Cat said:
Yes I was thinking about not having the locking wheel nuts but don't really want to have my lovely Dynamic wheels stolen.
However 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.
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Think about it though. Someone turns up with more than one jack to rob your wheels. They're going to have something to remove lockers unless they're an utter idiot.

You may still have to order new bolts, but they should be cheaper. Might as well get some spares too! Or another full set.
 
I don’t know about this theory guys.
Surely better to have deterrents even if they can be defeated with special tools.
Going by this thought process “if someone wants something they’ll take it anyway” we may as well leave our cars and homes unlocked.
Let’s not make it too easy. They might move on.
Just my thoughts.
 
Also it’s important not to over torque lockers especially those cut shaped ones. Don’t let crap fit get the guns on them.
 
RMB said:
I don’t know about this theory guys.
Surely better to have deterrents even if they can be defeated with special tools.
Going by this thought process “if someone wants something they’ll take it anyway” we may as well leave our cars and homes unlocked.
Let’s not make it too easy. They might move on.
Just my thoughts.
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To be fair, nobody nicks wheels these days. Far, far easier to just nick the whole car. Either by stealing key signal, or just break into your house and demand the keys at knifepoint.

But fortunately, car theft generally affects cars made in the last 5 years. Easier to nick, and worth more.

Op, do you live in a particularly dodgy area? Also... how do the cars on your street compare to yours? Round here, most folk are retired and have a brand new crossover suv thing on the drive... I couldn't get someone to steal my 17 year old bmw even if I left the doors open and the keys in the ashtray.
 
I've not used locking wheel nuts for years. They are more hassle than they are worth.

It is rare to hear about wheels being stolen these days, but locking nuts aren't stopping a thief if they do. They'll have the tools to remove them easily.

Back in the 90s it was a common sight to see cars left on bricks and the wheels gone. If you forgot to remove the face off from the stereo it was gone too.
 
brillomaster said:
To be fair, nobody nicks wheels these days.
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This.
Nobody steals wheels anymore (or stereos). Nicking alloy wheels went out of fashion once EVERY car had alloys (about 2005).

As said, locking wheel nuts are a PITA. I don't have any (on the cars I own) anymore. The last one was my daughter's Mini that had 2 chewed and the other two had no key. It took me days to find a decent garage to get the bastards off. They never went back on.
 
I don’t have alloys that special and sought after but I can relate to OPs situation. I’ve used locking wheels nuts on mine for 20 years without major problems. I can see three logical reasons to use them: One, if opening the lock bolts feels burdensome for some car enthusiasts here, that would propably apply to a potential thief as well. Second, and somewhat related, it just increases the time needed and raises the risk a bit. Thus, similar to surveilance cameras, chooses the neighbour instead. Third, if using a garage for service, encourages tightening the bolts manually.
 
Big Red Cat said:
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.
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Are you absolutely certain the wheel bolts are any different from standard?
Seems a little odd. What have they changed to necessitate that?
 
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).
 
enuff_zed said:
Big Red Cat said:
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.
Click to expand...

Are you absolutely certain the wheel bolts are any different from standard?
Seems a little odd. What have they changed to necessitate that?
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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.
 
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.
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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!
 
Big Red Cat said:
I did talk to Sytner Nottingham last week who said I should order the Alpina ones
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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.
 
Big Red Cat said:
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!
Click to expand...
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.
 
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