I know this video is 2 years old but I had taken my 2015 BMW X5 to a local tire shop just last week to have new tires installed and sure enough they stripped the lug key on the first wheel,so they couldn't install my tires. So after searching the internet I finally found a match to my key and ordered a new one. When it came a couple of days later it took me about 10 seconds to strip it out just like the first one. Well now I'm thinking of the big $$ that the BMW dealership is going to charge me! Thank God I went to RU-vid first and found this video. I used shallow 6 point Craftsman sockets with an extension because I already had them but it worked exactly as yours did. I had all 4 lugs out in less than an hour! Thanks for posting this video!
you are a life saver, I found many videos showing how to take various locks but not one with the washer, I followed your procedure and managed to take all 4 in 45 mins. prior to that, I was panicking. thx a million
Worked great for my 2014 Mini JCW Countryman. The key was broken after I had new tires installed and they never told me, until I went in for tire rotation. No one wanted to touch this issue, even Mini said the key's tend to break and wanted about $150-$200 per wheel to drill out and replace with standard bolt due to labor cost. This was great - a bit of a learning curve for the first one then the next three took about 15 minutes each. The biggest issue I had on the first one was getting the Key out of the 15/16 socket - pretty stubborn and hard to get a solid swing with the mini sledge hammer. I then remembered I had my Dads BIG ball-peen hammer and with some steady whacks it came out. Great Video and instructions.
Thanks for this really helpful video Charlie. I managed to get all four of the McGard bolts off my wife's R56 Mini. I used the 15/16" socket first and finished up with a 20mm one. All four done in under 30 mins and I even replicated the left hand injury with the lump hammer. :D
I had some luck with this technique too. The first 15/16 socket didn't do much but chew up the outer spinning ring on the McGard lock nut. I had luck shaving the ring down a bit and then a chisel to bust off the spinning ring. I then again used a rotary tool to shave down the "naked" lock nut to allow the 13/16 socket to hammer on well enough, so that a breaker bar allowed me to unbolt the entire nut without worrying about the innards of the inner tines, etc. Wallah! Thanks for the sharing, it was a great help. BTW this was a rear wheel on a 2008 Dodge Ram 1500. I've been sweating getting a flat on that tire for a few months. Done with McGard and now I can go get my rear brakes done.
Had a flat tire recently and the McGard Key snapped so I had my Jeep GC towed to the house to attempt to fix. Asked 3 different mechanics who all told me I was screwed and that I needed a professional. I drilled out and destroyed a rim and while looking up how to replace a lug nut stud, I came across this video. After getting the original tire situated, I spent about 30 minutes using your method to remove the other 3 and replace with regular lug nut. Ended up using the 15/16 to smash the spinner back and give myself some room to catch the cap with a 7/8 socket and spin the whole thing right off. Thank you
Great video. I used a half inch drive, six sided, 24mm deep socket which I hammered (quite easily) over the locking bolts free spinning outer sleeve then instead of hammering the socket side to side I used a half inch drive long extension in the socket and levered side to side, up and down until it loosened the front part of the locking bolt and came out. Took about 5 minutes. I am fortunate enough to have access to a mig welder so I welded an old 17mm wheel nut on the seperated part of the locking wheel bolt, being careful not to get weld splatter in the splines, hammered it back in and happy days bolt out !!
watched your video a couple of months ago finely got around to trying this on my 2013 mini had to use a 23mm socket to get the lock out it worked great thanks for the lesson.I skipped the bashing the hand part :}
This method worked entirely too easy 😂 thank you Charlie. I bought four new tires for my jeep and couldn't find the key. Putting that key back into the lock and hammering it back in is what did the trick and i got all four off in less than 30 minutes. 🤘
I cant believe it actually worked. Tires shops around my area didnt want to attempt to remove them. I was told time and time again to go to the dealership. 416.00 is what they charge to remove 2 of these high security wheel studs. 1/2 drive sockets and an extension cost 24.00. Thanks for sharing!!!!
This video was life saving. I used it to get the wheel lock bolt off my 2012 vw golf. Just bought it used from the dealer back in March and here we are a couple of months later I popped a flat while driving through middle-of-nowhere West Virginia. It would have cost me $350 just for a tow to the dealership and they likely wouldn’t have had the right key anyways because I think these are the Mcgard bolts and not even vw ones but they apparently use over 100 different patterns so who knows. Anyway I initially tried the method where you hammer a 22mm socket on and try to loosen the bolt only to discover it had that free spinning external ring - what a nightmare! Wasn’t sure what I was going to do until I came across this video. Been stuck outside the Walmart tire center for 2 days before I found it. The socket broke the ring off just fine but didn’t pull the pattern off - which was fine because it saved me the step of hammering it back on. After that a 13/16 socket hammered onto the patterned bit did the rest of the job just fine. Life saver!
Awesome! This method worked for me on my wife's 2016 Jeep Cherokee with these damn McGard locking nuts. The muppets at my local tire not only put the nut on too tight, they then stripped my key trying to get it off. Took the car to 2 dealers who gave me all sorts of expensive horror stories about what they might have to do to the car to get the wheel off. The only thing I did differently was I didn't use the extension to hammer the socket as the first time I tried it got completely stuck in the socket and I couldn't get the extension off. I just hammered the socket direct.
This video saved me a $200 repair to drill out one of these god forsaken bolts. Got 2 of 4 out with the regular lock key- Snapped. Ordered a replacement, got one more off, then snapped. Multiple shops told me to drill or burn it out. Searching online and came across the brand McGard, and turns out they're the same design that comes stock on some early 2010/11 VW's.
There's another easier method that thieves use if you only have one lock per wheel; it involves over torquing the other nuts by a good amount (this can be risky, as you can shear off a stud if your lugs are already over torqued), this takes the pressure off the lock nut and you can simply unscrew it by hand.
I saw a video where the chap loosens all the bolts (you can’t loosen the locked one) drive around a bit - this puts the load on the bolt you want out - consider the slip of the wheel with load - can imagine it thinking the lock nut. Tighten the other bolts highly - the locked one should be looser. Haven’t tried the above - or this videos one - gonna try tomorrow
Thank you so much!!! No garage would touch it, some wanted €80/€150. Watched 15 videos until I found yours. Worked first go! I’d buy you a pint if your ever in Ireland 😁
Good advice is always remove the wheel locks yourself and replace with factory lug nut before taking your vehicle to the shop,never let a shop touch your wheel locks they often use an impact to remove and install,not good for the wheel lock
Thanks a bunch man!! Your vid saved me. Gave me the balls to try this on my Dodge Ram that Discount Tire was so kind to loose my key for me. It had the high security spinning locks too. Was able to improve on your method and was down to 2 minutes on the last wheel :) Used a 1.00 inch 6 point deep impact socket beat on to "push" back the spinning collar far enough to expose the non spinning part, removed that socket then a 7/8 deep impact socket beat on to remove the lug nut. No need to separate the outer key from the nut and reattach. Thank you!!!
Discount tire also lost my key when I took my ram truck to them to have a flat fixed. Had to order another key and hope I didn't have a flat while waiting for it to come in. I ended up just taking the locking lugs off the truck completely.
Buddy this is a great video. Over the years I assumed most people already knew about this method. If it hasn't been said already on this thread my only advice would be to use a medium length 1/2" extension in the socket and when it's time to remove the socket, wiggle it up and down, side to side and in a circular motion to get the socket off of the lug. This will prevent any damage to your wheels in case you miss with that big hammer.
Just used this method and it worked great on my 2013 335i! I ended up using a 23mm for the first part then used a 20mm for the second part. Finally got them off! Initially, I had a key which stripped. I got 2 new keys from BMW and both stripped. A tire shop near my house wouldn't take them off either. Glad I took matters into my own hands. Thanks for sharing!
Hey, I'm needing to do the same on all 4 tires for my 320. I was wondering if you had any issues while trying? was it all straight forward or did you have to do anything different? Thanks
@@Cromzinc it's straightforward. I followed the steps in video exactly and it worked great. The only issue I ran into was making sure I had the right socket sizes. The ones mentioned in the video were a tad big for my wheel locks.
@@cfernandez89 It seems I'll need the same size sockets as you used. Which is unfortunate, those sizes here are rare to get at local hardware shops. Thanks for the info!
@@Cromzinc That's unfortunate. I was able to get those sizes at Lowe's. At my local Lowe's they had a drawer full of deep metric sockets. If you don't have a Lowe's, try Home Depot.
@@cfernandez89 cool will do. One last question, did you use 12 point or 6 point? I just got a 23mm 12 point on there and it doesn't seem to want to back off while whacking the sides.
Thank you for sharing this procedure with the community, I'm so glad I stumbled across your video. I've been at the tyre shop all morning as they have jammed 2 wheels on by seriously over tightening the bolts - they used the impact gun to put the wheel bolts on! Seeing them having to use a 1m wrecking bar to remove the normal wheel bolts I wonder if this method will work with the amount of force I'll need to apply.
badbadbad I had to find a specialist to come and remove mine. He came to the house and had a bunch of special tools including a 1m long Snap-On breaker bar that he needed to use to remove the bolts they were that tight. He reckoned they were around 450Nm tight! This is the guy I used: www.lockingwheelnutremovers.co.uk
Smart man , wish I had you in my garage right now.... I am getting the total run around by BMW and no one wants to do this! They want to change me $400 if it takes two hours to cut them off... How is it my fault the McGard locks are notorious for breaking and then instead of a recall they change customers for this??? All I want is new tires on and it turns into a nightmare...
This guy is smart! I put a chain on the ground then a tank bar end on the ground at the chain. Rested the bar to the drill for leverage to drill a hole for an extractor. I stripped a Snap On extractor. I’ll try again tomorrow.
This removal method still works! I used it on a 2018 BMW X4 2.8 Sport turbo the owner i removed them for was greatful because I was able to remove the Super Security Wheel lock studs. The only other option is a tool sold by AGA costs about $400.00 couldn't justify buying it, this method works folks.
You can use a 23 mm dual hex socket and when it is hammered on put a 12" extension in it and pull it up and down then the ring comes off.Weld an old socket to the removed part and hammer it in and remove the rest easy.The welded bit can be used again and again.
If you are in the uk use a 23mm socket for the first bit then a 19mm for the second bit, if you fail to get the ring off using method 1 use a dremmel to grind the front bit lip off and the ring comes off easy
Hey charlie, Is great video, After I hit my hand once with that darn hammer, I started using vice grips to hold the extension. Better than damaging my hand, lol.
The Mcgard lock I have on does have the spinning ring but does not have the gears one you take the ring off. It’s solid all the way through. I know bc I was able to take one off and I got the grinder to slice it open and it’s solid all the way to the threads.
Is there a wheel lock design that is not affected by this flaw ? Either something that would be so hard that you can't fit a socket on it, or something that doesn't have room on the outer edge ? It looks like they all have this flaw
Lucky me I don't got to do this as I got 2 complete sets of the dealership master key sets ,which are actually made from better grade steel then the replacement & OEM keys
WIll this work when the security key has broken off flush in the lock? You aren't actually using the keyed portion to back it out right? Its the socket on the outside of the remainder of the wheel lock after you remove the spinning sleeve and ring?
Thanks for the video Charlie Unfortunately it did not work for me, i hammered on a 15/16 socket but could not get the socket to come off the bolt, i ended up welding a bolt onto the socket and slide hammering it off, but the spinning ring stayed on the Mcgard bolt i ended up finding another video on youtube where the guy used tungsten steel cutting burs in his dremmel to get the spinning ring off the Mcgard bolt, this way worked for me, it took around 5 minutes to cut the ring off then used the 13/16 socket to get the bolt out Hope this helps anyone in the same situation
Robert Zelinski yes, the 15/16 will go over the key portion and the spinning ring, they both will come out after working the socket back out. Put the key part back in and then use the 13/16 to get the bolt out...
Thank you Chrlie for the answer - I see that this method is not for me: I have a nut (hole through the center) with spinning ring and NOW with 15/16 spinning socket :)
For everyone: this method is very good !!! After the first stage, my ring comes out without the nut - this is it!!! The second stage was slightly different: garage with wheel lock remover tool kit :) All was 4x cheap like original service prices (for Vauxhall in UK) Charlie, BIG thank you!!!
Basically all your doing is taking the outer ring off right? What would be different than just cutting the outer ring off with a dremel? Which is what I did and the key part still just spins..
What a complete pain in the ass these things are!!! Stumbled across your video after I did the old school socket trick but merely removed the outer key form and ring. A 23mm 12 point removed that followed by a 20mm to grab the rest after hammering the spline back in. Very satisfying to hear the clunk as they fell into the waste bin. ;) LOL
Thanks for your video..I tried it but my bolts were on so tight that the socket kept slipping... I had to weld a bolt head to the piece to get mine off. So annoyed with the workshop that tightened them
@@charliehahn635 man, you wouldn't believe the annoyance i had with it. I snapped a bolt that I first welded on and also snapped part of the breaker bar! Getting my tyres changed right now and I'm never putting those stupid McGard wheel locks on again!
Charlie, I'm planning on doing this in the next day or so but just not sure what Part 2 of this operation is. I wish you had shown close ups of exactly what fell out in Part 1. I'm trying to understand if Part 1 causes the locking bolt head to break off and then you have to hammer the bolt head back on for Part 2. If that's the case, is it possible that Part 2 would fail and one could end up in a worst situation? HELP!!!
The first part will pull the ring and"key" portion of the bolt off the lug. Honesty you don't even need to hammer the key portion back into the top of the remaining lug. Just power a socket over the remaining portion to get the rest out
Unfortunately, it was a non-starter for me. The way most of the MB alloy wheels are designed you can't fit a regular socket around the lock key. I wish I could post pictures here but there's almost no space around the lock key. Anyway, I get the idea and am thinking of other techniques to "pull" the ring and the top layer of the lock key.
@@charliehahn635 Might be a Idea to tag the vid that you don’t necessarily have to put the spline back in 🤔 & just go over the remaining portion of the bolt - only saying this as I’d not read all the comments & spent a. hour shaping the spline potion into a bolt shape - I’m a silly arse sometimes!
@@charliehahn635just to add - I was able to do one bolt out of two without hammering the spline innard into the remaining bolt but the next bolt wouldn’t budge & socket wouldn’t grab the inner one as good as the previous & would slip off. Either the socket was a bit damaged removing the first bolt or the bolt was in just too hard. This is where I hammered in the spline innard into the remaining bolt in like your vid. This gave the socket more to bite onto - more mechanism to turn the remaining bolt & it came out. Huge relief. Thanks for posting 👍
For some reason 24mm (close enough to 15/16) is way too large for the lug on my 2007 328i, looks like 19mm would work though. It's strange since everyone is saying that first socket should always be 15/16 or 24mm.
Turns out the lug wheel was already off 🤷♂️ I just hammered on the 19mm socket but it wouldn’t grip onto the bolt even with the key part hammered in. I guess I’ll now have to drill a whole in it and remove with one of those screw in tool kits…
@@messageobliquespe100the lug bolt ring was already off (I guess mechanic who broke it in the first place actually tried to take the bolt out but only got as far as taking the ring off), I ended up getting an extractor set and finally got it out. Can’t even describe my excitement at that moment,even kept the bolt as a souvenir 😊
@@JenyaFookleffcompleted the job too yesterday - what a relief! Been too many hours to do the job. Only had to remove two bolts. Before I saw this video I used a socket & slit the sides with angle grinder & bashed away - the ring broke free with spline inner. Fortunately saw this vid after so was halfway there! I used 19mm socket to remove the bolt (without inserting spline insert as others have mentioned) Tensioned up other bolts & raised with jack. Was great as it came out. The second bolt - broke off outer ring as before - but the remaining bolt wouldn’t budge & socket wouldn’t grab & would slip off. This is where I hammered in the spline bolt part like the vid. This gave the socket more to bite onto - more mechanism to turn the remaining bolt & it came out. Huge relief. I’ll keep the bolts in box as a reminder of where two days of my life was lost! 👍
SHOWSTOPPER studios, if they want them they're getting them! There is a commercial tool that does the same thing. This will hopefully just help people save money when they get stuck..
@Dru DeBie they all are afraid of wheel thefts.😁 In our country we have a word like " greatest fear of a thief is to be robbed"😁sorry dont want to accuse anyone🤐
