Most wheel theives will not take the additional time/attention from the noise in order to nick a wheel/tire set.

Rubber mallet / dead blow hammer and a socket takes all of two seconds. Less time than using a lug wrench.

Rubber mallet will absorb the impact and not drive the socket over the wheel lock, dead blow will take longer than a standard hammer of the same weight due to the head inertia is delayed (floating shot in head delays transfer of blow over a longer time). How is forcing a socket over a wheel lug quicker then slipping a socket/lock key over/in? Also if done slowly without any impact/sudden movement of the chassis a thief can remove the wheels while the alarm is set, no chance of not tripping alarm when impact is part of the wheel removal process. Wheel locks work best when alarm is set. Want proof? Set your alarm and hit a wheel/tire with a rubber mallet.

FWIW, the OE BMW wheel locks are hardened and the "pound a socket on" will not grip them. This only works on cheap non-hardened locks. I would bet the pic in that prior post is not a hardened wheel lock, BMW hard locks are black for starters.

SET WHEEL LOCKS. M14X1,5 . BMW # 36136776074

Have you tried using a mallet / dead blow and socket? If not then give it a try. I was surprised how quick and easy it is.

Only amateur steal wheels, pro steal the entire car.

:nanana::rofl:

I've tried the dead blow on a friends '80s 944 S4 (bought used and key was not supplied), took A LOT more swing to get the socket to start slipping on, switched to a 32oz ball peen with a 1" dia X 6" long brass bar held on the socket (to avoid hitting the wheel if I slipped), the socket seated right away with the ball peen (around 1/2 the swing force/speed).

Soooooo True!

They work fine but I got annoyed having to pull out the "skate key" every time I wanted to remove a wheel for any service.

I bought four new normal wheel bolts at my dealer and removed the wheel locks, metal is recycled.

I run the basic 17" wheels, so someone needs to be quite hard up to take these wheels :)

Then you did something wrong. A my brother in law owns a junkyard and the hammer / socket is what he uses to remove locking nuts. He was the one who showed me it and I was surprised how easy they are to remove.