Haven't been here for a while, but thought I would share my weekly activity with everyone. This is a true story.


2008 535xi with Goodyear F1 Asymmetric All-Season tires - 4 years into purchase of 5 year tire and wheel warranty (you will see why I included that information later)


Sunday night car is running perfect. But the wheels are covered with brake dust. My son has been driving the car all summer and I told him before he goes to college he needs to take off the tires and clean the wheels. Tuesday he jacks the car up and takes off the lug nuts (one with a locking key) and tries to get the tire off. No luck. Rusted to hub. Being the bright guy I am I tell him to take it for a free tire rotation tomorrow and let them deal with it. When he gets home he can then remove the tire and clean the rims.


Wed AM he convinces his sister to take it and get the tires rotated. 90 minutes later she gets the car back. They had a hard time getting the tires off.


We PM he jacks up the car again and tries to get the locking lug nut off and breaks the key in the lug nut. No worries again. Tell him he can drive the car but tomorrow take it back to the tire place and get the lug nuts removed. Later that night the low tire pressure light comes on.


Thursday AM tell him that he needs to buy 4 standard lug nuts before going back to the tire store. Autozone and Advanced Auto don't have them so he goes to the dealer and buys 4 lug nuts for $19.


Thursday PM, tire store (where I bought the tires) charges $47, takes an hour, and replaces the 4 keyed lug bolts.


But...they notice a piece of metal in the sidewall causing a leak and say the tires needs replaced. I have no worries. I have the BMW extended tire warranty so I call BMW to get a new tire. Turns out my research sucked when I bought the tires. Goodyear F1 asymmetric all season F2 (run flats) are a BMW approved tire, but the non run flats that I bought are not on the approved list.


Call the tire place and they can get me a new one for $185 installed tomorrow.


So $251 later my son will be able to clean the wheels.


Moral of the story...live with dirty wheels.

 

Not sure your problem is over.

If the replaced tire has a very different tread depth than the one you took off, you are messing with the AWD system, possibly causing serious damage to the AWD system over time. Most all AWD systems depend on all 4 tires having the same rolling characteristics. Think revolutions per mile. The tires need to be close to the same revolutions per mile. You need to measure all 4 tires tread depth -- get a depth gauge at the auto parts store. When I've had to change one tire mid-cycle, I stuck with plus or minus 1/32. Maybe even plus/minus 2/32 is ok, not sure. For sure a new tire of 10/32 and the other 3 at 6/32 is not what you want.

When I have had to take my tire off, they were also stuck on the hub. What I do is jack up one at a time, sit on my ass and bang the heck out of the bottom of the tire with my two heels until the wheel breaks loose.

Another thing I don't do is rotate the tires on my 530xi nor X5. They don't seem to wear differently. I know you only took it in to get them off easily.

 

No. Moral of the story, clean the damm wheels yourself. Why do you feel you had to take them off?

 

Tires are almost new, so not worried about tread depth difference. I usually rotate the tires. The backs seem to wear faster. When I first got the car the rears were worn a lot more than the front, so since then have been rotating them. Usually myself. Never had them stick like this before.

As far as wheel cleaning, I usually take them off to get the inside of the rim. Can never seem to get it clean enough for me without removing it.

 

It is easier to get them *completely* clean if you take them off. The side of the wheels is hard to get to.

 

Put anti-seize compound on the surface of the wheel that contacts the hub. And on the bolts while you're at it.

 

I've had this happen before. Like the other guy said, put a smear of anti sieze on the surface between the wheel and the brake disc...but if you ever find yourself in this situation, you can loosen your own wheel. Just put the lugs back on, but not tight. Keep them a couple turns loose, then go drive around the block, change directions a few times. By the time you pull back in your driveway, the wheel will have broken free.