umichchris

i just want to share a personal experience that could have turned out really bad had i not been lucky. i recently had my gloss black M5 wheels installed on my car (tires mounted & balanced as well) by Belle Tire in the Detroit area...Southfield to be exact. its now apparent that they never tightened ANY of the lug bolts to proper torque specs.

in the midst of my house search (and after driving across country) i noticed vibrations coming from my rear end. at first only on the freeway, but later it got stronger and more noticeable at lower speeds. i checked my tires for debris or nails....nothing. i thought about the lug bolts but immediately dismissed it because i just had these wheels professionally mounted less than 3 weeks ago. i was wrong.

about 50 feet from the on-ramp to the 170 freeway in north hollywood i decided to check my wheels just one more time because the vibration was worse....3 BOLTS WERE HANGING LOOSE. literally stuck in the hole, no longer screwed in. my tire was wobbling as i rolled the car closer to the curb. the wheel was literally minutes from flying completely off the car. damn.

take today, this afternoon any free time you have to check all the torque settings on your botls by hand...5 mins of ur time...but worth it. do it for me. please.


ive been driving my M5 at speeds 100+ just this week (those fleeting moments when LA traffic clears are pure bliss). i could have had my wheel fly off...yikes.

4 bolts are now secured, one bolt snapped off inside the hub assembly. im taking it to a shop today for repairs. be safe gents.

pjinca

HOLY CRAP CHRIS!!!! Glad you're ok Bro, good thing you stopped to check it again.
Might want to replace all the bolts on that wheel (and any other wheel that was loose), the wobbling could have destroyed the integrity of the lug bolts. At minimum it stripped the thread off them a little.

Ace333

Ive had tire work done at that Bell tire before with no issue and matter of fact their service was great. However lesson learned when you do any road trip anyone should do a self check of the car (tires and lug nuts especially) since you never know. Its possibly durring your travel while parked somewhere that someone could have attempted to tamper/ steal your wheels. Before placing blame on Belle Tire there are many variables that could have happened once you left their shop. They are a reputable company. Yes mistakes can and do happen, but it also could have been something durring your travel from MI to CA. Regardless minimal damage luckily.

John@Motorcepts

holy shit! close call! Good catch chris. Thanks god! It couldve been bad

info@trinityautosport

+1 great catch. sorry to hear you experienced that though.

umichchris

Nah, I'm 99.9999_% sure it was the negligence of Belle Tire. Not to mention that during instal they scratched up all four of my freshly painted wheels...but I just let that go, this involves my safety though. So the warning STANDS.

I hand torqued each of my wheels after the fact and all the bolts were loose. I have already been in contact with Belle and sent them pictures because I think I have damage beyond the face value here. Now I have a persistent vibration from the rear end at speed so I know this is not the end if the story. Funny thing is, the manager at the belle tire says almost what your saying word-for-word. Hmmmmmm lol

But my car was never out of my sight during my road trip. So let's be real.

Unless the valet at 4 & 5 star hotels like Caesrs Palace or The Aria Resort wanted to steel my stock BMW wheels lmao.


Three out of four wheels w/ loose bolts sound easily like negligence rather than anything else. I'm not mad. Shit happens, mistakes happen. I just want it rectified and others to learn from my near death experience...

healthservices

I always watch them put the wheels on, if they just use a impact, first thing I do is loosen and re torque the wheels. Tires guys are paid min wage and lazy. Never trust them.

mbawazir

nice car. do u mind if u post more pics? especially the roof. i wanna see how they look like coz am thinning to do my roof gloss black nd I have the same color as ur car thanx

korrosive

Talk about a close call. Thanks for the PSA.
I thought all tire shops recommend retourquing the wheels after so many miles.

umichchris

Perhaps you should take a gander at my full M5 build thread. It chronicles a lot of the changes I've made to my car since I bought it last November...

Also do a search for a couple threads with the keyword #mattelife and you'll find a few more... (I'm working from my iPhone rt now sry)