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[BMWfan69]

I was putting on my winter setup today. However, when i tried to pull off the right rear rim it won't budge. All the lugs are off but no movement. I thought there might have been some corrosion, but the car is only 6 months old. Is that possible? I tried to work it loose and gave it a couple of good hits with my fist, but nothing. Am I missing something? The front wheel just fell right off as soon as I removed the last lug. Are the rear rims mounted differently? I have 18 inch BMW OEM wheels style 182. They are staggerd sizes 245/35R18 on the rear, 215/40R18 in front.

Sorry for the nubie question, but this one has me stumped.

[BlackjackMulligan]

Try a rubber hammer from behind the wheel, carefully striking outward?

[BMWfan69]

Originally Posted by BlackjackMulligan

Try a rubber hammer from behind the wheel, carefully striking outward?

Cool thanks I'll try that. Sounds like it is definitley rusted on. Guess I should invest in some aluminum hubs!

[Gary@TireRack]

Same thing happened to me last fall. It took me forever to get my Breytons off. This is not abnormal.

[RimasRS]

strange but I had these problems on all BMW cars though it's not a real problem just kick to left wheel side/tire then right and again it will start to move and slowly will go of

[MikeinAlexandria]

Alternatively, reattach the wheel bolts, but leave two of them quite loose, at opposite ends. The others just keep finger tight. Now start the car and drive forward then back a couple feet. The loose rim will release itself from the hub without actually coming off. Jack the car back up and you will find the rim pops right off easily. Be sure to clean the hub surface before intalling the winter wheels, but do not put any sort of lubricant. Grease or other lubes will spin off the hub and get into the brake pads.

[VMRWheels]

Just give the wheel a slight nudge and it should be able to come off. BMW hubs usually have some rust on them and keep the wheel from coming off. You are not the only one so no worries.

-Charles@VMRWheels

[Dackelone]

OP, I had the exact problem with one of my front wheels. Took me like an hour of punding and pulling before I made any headway. I used "MikeinAlexandria" technique. Since it was one of the front wheels, I also left three of the bolts very loose and put all of teh cars weight down on the tire. I then turned the front steering wheel back and forth a few times. Then I raised the car again via my floor jack and started to "kick" the summer tire off the hub. It slowly came off.

Afterwards... I used a wire brush to clean (any or)all the rust off of the face of the hub and around the "lip" or "nose" of the hub where the wheel mates up to the hub. I also put a good coating of "high temp" antisieze (copper). I also use a slight coating of antisieze on my wheel bolts. I know some ppl here frown on this. But this is my car. AND... I really do not want to deal with a wheel welded in place after a summer's or winter's worth of driving. Don't go too crazy with antiseize on the hub bc it will get spun off after a few miles.

Good Luck,
Dackel

[BMWfan69]

Originally Posted by RimasRS

strange but I had these problems on all BMW cars though it's not a real problem just kick to left wheel side/tire then right and again it will start to move and slowly will go of

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions! I tried the solution above and the wheel came right off. Took about 3 kicks on each side of the wheel. I guess sometimes the simplest solution is the best.

There was quite a bit of rust on the small flange/lip that comes out of the hub, (where the wheel rests). That was the only place that there was rust. That is crazy. Why would BMW use a material there that rusts so easily? I can't imagine that it would cost that much for a small 1/4" flange of aluminum.

In the end it wasn't that big of a deal. However, the car is less than 6 months old and there is rust on this flange after one summer/fall of driving. Seems to me to be a bit early to be dealing with something like that.

[HISI808]

gives new meaning to the saying "kicking the tires" lol

[The1]

I just loosen the lugs with the car on the ground, then jack the car up after, then remove the lugs when the car is in the air. It seems to work for me.

You pretty well have to do this with the front tires anyhow, seeing as they will spin when trying to loosen the lugs with the wheel off the ground. unless you're using an impact gun, but not everyone has those.

This isn't a BMW only thing. It isn't uncommon for people to do the drive forward a foot and hit the brakes routine. It works.

[Lester]

Try a little anti-seize grease on the hub when you put them back on. Don't get it on your skin, as it is not good for you.

[DouginNC]

Agree, anti seeze works. Have used that for years without any problems.

[ptack]

wire brush and anti seeze

[Cisitalia]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

I also use a slight coating of antisieze on my wheel bolts. I know some ppl here frown on this. But this is my car. AND...

Ok I will bite. Here is why it's not a good idea:

You really should not be using anti-seize on the wheel lug bolts. The design torque specification is always with dry fasteners. If you use the dry value torque specification with anti-seize applied, it acts like a lubricant and results in over torqueing of the fastener. Because of this it is possible to exceed the yield strength of the fastener or as a minimum stretch the fastener prematurely or excessively.

If you must use anti-seize, then you need to back down the applied torque by about 20-40% of the dry fastener torque specification.

Don’t use anti-seize on these types of bolts and torque them to the manufacturers recommendation (which defaults to dry values when not specified). Wire brush the bolts if looking a little bad and if really bad you can run an ez-out through the bolt holes to clean them up as well.

In some applications when it is allowed to use wet or dry conditions, the manufacturer will provide both torque specification values. When the manufacturer designs a fastener application they typically pick a torque value about 80% of the ultimate yield strength of the fastener. That value is typically a dry value with no lubricant or anti-seize. So the wet value will be typically about 20-40% less torque. So you can see it is entirely possible to exceed the yield strength of the fastener with anti-seize, unless you reduce the torque.

[rsjean]

Originally Posted by ptack

wire brush and anti seeze

And same goes for the wheel spacers. Those little suckers can just stick like crazy....