Sponsored by The Tire Rack

[777ER]

Had a oil change done by the dealer today. I asked if wheel rotation is covered under the 4 yr maintenance program and they said no.

Told me it'd be $60-70 bux to have it done.

I decided to do it myself at home...jacked the car up with a wood block spacer cut to size (temp use) and took all the bolts off the wheel, pulled on the wheel and nothing.

Kicked it and pulled harder on it...didn't go crazy enough to knock the car off the jack.
It seems to be stuck on the hub no matter what I do by kicking or pulling on it.

I even put one bolt back in loose and lowered the car down on the ground slowly hoping it'd pop off the hub...still no luck.

The last time the tires were changed was from Bridgestone RFT to Continental RFT due to the service bulletin, that was around 9,500 miles ago, car has 32k on it now.

I put all the bolts back in and torqued them down to 88.5 ft/lbs and ask for help before I continue any further.

Along with my fiancé saying "should've have had BMW do it for you"

I called my bro up who's been trained to work on Jeeps, Cadillac's, VW's and light work on BMW's.
He told me to use a plastic mallet and smack the tire from the inside towards the direction the wheel should come off. And put some anti-sieze on the hub so this doesn't happen again.

I'm concerned that will damage the rims or cause a buldge to form in the RFT's.

Any suggestions or advice?

[Fillyo75]

I just switched to my winter rims and tires on my 2006 330i I just bought a month ago. I had the same issue. I just kinda kicked the tire (not too hard) as I spun the wheel, and kept pulling towards me at the bottom spoke each time I turned the wheel a 1/4 turn. Slowly but surely you get a little play, and eventually it will come off. The backs were harder since they don't spin without the parking brake off. It was not fun, but I got all 4 off. It is a small lip the rim fits on. Hope this helps.

[Richwm]

I would use a rubber mallet, but your brother is correct and besure to put anti-sieze on the hub like he said. This has happened to my E46 but not on my E90 but I get new tires every year so they dont have time to rust on.

[Nikos335i]

Same here one of them just didn't want to come off. Had to kick and pull and got it loose after 10 min. and a sore leg!!!!!!!!!!

Good Luck!

[Turkishexpress]

You can pull the caps off and spray some wd40 inside and let it rest for about 10 minutes. When you pull off the wheel you will see that there is a very thin hat that aligns the wheel to the hat of the rotors. Also pull the wheel off parallel to the ground once you feel the wheel give a little.

[longtran]

get on the ground and stomp on them. stomp on the right, then left, then right... till it break free. it happens all the time.

[Nikos335i]

Originally Posted by longtran

get on the ground and stomp on them. stomp on the right, then left, then right... till it break free. it happens all the time.

That's how I did it also btw!

[TSM330i]

Originally Posted by longtran

get on the ground and stomp on them. stomp on the right, then left, then right... till it break free. it happens all the time.

Yup, me too. Make sure you have a jack stand under the car along with the jack. You don't want the car to fall off the jack while you're trying to do this.

Once you have the wheel off, use some sandpaper to clean up the hat and make sure all the corrosion is taken off and smooth. I added a small amount of WD-40 on this area right away too. It hasn't happened since.

[RyBMW]

Try PB Blaster.

[White e90]

Originally Posted by longtran

get on the ground and stomp on them. stomp on the right, then left, then right... till it break free. it happens all the time.

He's right sit on the ground support yourself with your hands and stomp each side of the tire...happens all the time..it will eventually just pop off!

[John 070]

Is the anti-seize a good idea? I thought NO, but I'm no expert. +1 to the OP for the wood block cut to size, that's what I did. Hopefully your fiance can understand that changing tires is clearly a DIY job....everything adds up. What isn't usually a DIY is a central air a/c capacitor--you can be electrocuted even after cutting off your main breaker. Didn't stop me, though, no way was I paying $200 to install a $14 part......(for which the hvac guy would charge $50 for a $250 total)

[777ER]

Finally got them off today, the driver rear was the hardest one, took quite a bit of effort.

Kick the bottom then the top and repeat twice, then wack the bottom of the tire from under the car and got them off this way.

Cleaned up the hub with sandpaper and applied anti-sieze and rotated the wheels.

Pretty tight tolerance if ya ask me...that's german engineering at it's finest

BTW had a oil change done at the dealer last week and found one of my jack pads is missing on the passgener front today

[777ER]

Originally Posted by John 070

Is the anti-seize a good idea? I thought NO, but I'm no expert. +1 to the OP for the wood block cut to size, that's what I did. Hopefully your fiance can understand that changing tires is clearly a DIY job....everything adds up. What isn't usually a DIY is a central air a/c capacitor--you can be electrocuted even after cutting off your main breaker. Didn't stop me, though, no way was I paying $200 to install a $14 part......(for which the hvac guy would charge $50 for a $250 total)

I've changed the exciter box for the turbine engine igition system, 200,000 volts in that unit and there is a 5 min wait for it to slowly discharge itself before removing it from the aircraft.

Her dad took her '00 camry to Toyota because the engine wouldn't idle and kept stalling out once in a while. They said it's a bad idle air control and cleaned it out.
The next week...same crap happens, he takes it back there, they "cleaned it" again...he drives out of the dealership....engine stalls at the first light, he turns around and complains again...then they changed the throttle body...charged him $400 just for the part.

He then later asked a friend of his who works for parts dept in Toyota...and found out the real cost of the TB....just $40!

[E90330iS]

WD40 fo sho

[CirrusSR22]

When I swap tires seasonally I take a stiff wire brush to the hub and clean it up. I swap wheels every 6 months and don't use any anti-sieze/grease. It's just not enough time for them to seize on the hub. I have used plain-old grease in the past vs. anti-sieze. Cheaper, easier top clean-up, etc...

[just4kickz]

use a rubber mallet lol... or just wiggle it side to side

[John 070]

Thinking about this thread, I hope my snows don't get stuck on the car.....I'll be driving around with skinny 225's on the rear this summer! LOL

I was thinking about cleaning up the hats, some have rust, some don't. Doesn't look uniformly constructed....that's German quality control or lack thereof. Not just German, I installed OEM Nissan rotors and they too rusted ununiformly--1 was different from the other 3, which leads me to believe 3 were from the same source, 1 was not. Hate that but it's the auto game.

[Pyrat 2]

Originally Posted by John 070

Is the anti-seize a good idea?

Absolutely, been using it for years. Only time I have ever had an issue was the first time I removed the wheels since the anti-seize was not yet on. I've been using this technique on cars for years as I swap out wheels twice per year here in the Chicago area. It's very important to not only apply the compound to the flat surface but also to the hubcentric area of the wheel and hub.

[ph19]

Yep happens all the time to me.. Poor design..kick it off

[Phil325]

Originally Posted by 777ER

Finally got them off today, the driver rear was the hardest one, took quite a bit of effort.

Kick the bottom then the top and repeat twice, then wack the bottom of the tire from under the car and got them off this way.

Cleaned up the hub with sandpaper and applied anti-sieze and rotated the wheels.

Pretty tight tolerance if ya ask me...that's german engineering at it's finest

BTW had a oil change done at the dealer last week and found one of my jack pads is missing on the passgener front today

i know! what is up with the damn rear drivers side?? i was kickin and pullin forever until i knew there was a common problem with removing these wheels