Seized locking nut
 

In February (20th), I changed my summer wheels for winter wheels due to expected snow. Torqued the wheels up to the usual 140 Nm.

Had the car serviced on the 22, which was a full inspection and brake fluid changed.

On April 15th, I tried to remove the wheels to swap the winters for the summers and from one of the wheels, the locking bolt was so tight I could not remove it. All bolts were tighter than I expected, and as I have been swapping wheels for the last 10 years + every year for summer and winter season, I "know" how tight they are when I remove them.

I assumed the dealer had overtightened the bolts during the service, so I just got them to deal with it.

First of all, they stated that they NEVER remove wheels for any service, only when replacing pads. And secondly, they tried to present me with a bill of £223 for the pleasure of removing the nut.:yikes:

Two questions:

- Has anyone ever had a seized locking bolt after 8 weeks of having wheels on.
- Is it true that on a full inspection, the wheels are never removed.

As the bill for this was excessive, I want to see if I can "prove" that they should have removed the wheel as part of the service (i.e. if they have not, they did not follow the schedule and I have them on that point), or if they change their story that they do remove them - that they will have overtightened it.

When you gave it to the dealer did they have you sign a work order with an estimate? How much was that estimate? Does the law work the same in the UK as the US?

Dealer "full inspection" is a joke.... usually a cursory look. They can measure pads from with a mirror/from the inside.

No, I have a service pack with the car so the services are included for 5 years for a single payment when I bought the car - so no signing or estimate required.

Hopefully it was just seized and not some highschool dropout with an ASI patch on a greasy blue shirt decided to put the nut in the impact gun and then jam it in. Buffet used it in a different context, but even in this case: "When you combine ignorance and leverage, you get some pretty interesting results"

To avoid future issues, I'd put some lube on the nuts and antiseize on the hub. Make life simple when you're on the side of the road fixing a flat.

I don't see any way to do a brake fluid without removing the wheels. It's not impossible, just a hassle. So I bet dealer must have removed it.


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I've done it. The bleeder screw is on the inside of the caliper.

I always put copper grease on the hub to avoid the sticking there, I don't put it on the bolts though as my understanding was that it would affect the torque values.

For now I have removed the locking nuts to avoid this in the future, but still feel "had over" by the dealer though.

I had a similar issue when the dealer replaced my tires on the 135. 2 guys standing on the end of a wrench wasnt breaking it loose. I brought it back in to the dealer and it was confirmed that they were torqued way too damn tight. They had to break off two of the lugs to get them off. Chewed the shit out of the wheels and resurfaced them free of charge. Someone was a little over zealous with their impact. Hence why I dont use an impact to tighten wheels, just a good 'ol fashioned lug wrench tighten while its up and then tighten when its back down. NEVER had an issue. I also am fed up with locking lugs. I tore them off the X5 the second I bought it. If you are stupid enough to steal the wheels off of a 5000 lb SUV then have at it. I have insurance.

It could have seized. Just because it never has doesn't mean it never could. They don't need to remove the wheels to do brake fluid. Sounds like you need a larger breaker bar in your collection.

The bar was not a problem, the breaker bar broke the locking nut in the end.

I went to a tyre place as well, even with any of their tools they could not remove it.

More like out of curiosity: was it an OEM locking nut or some $2 Chinese stuff?

All OEM.

They said they wrecked their master locking nut as well - which left me with the issue that the remaining 3 bolts that I had put back hand tight, also could not be removed anymore ...

Sorry, I was thinking about my E53.

Ive been a bit confused by the term 'nut'

We are talking 'wheel lock', or 'wheel lock bolt', right? Just the standard, 'need a special key for the top of the bolt plus the 19mm socket to remove.

Anyway, in the USA you need to approve any work done on the car before they do the work. No so in the UK? Moot point after you pay it for sure....