[.fLip.]

yea over tightening can stretch the bolts and therefore weaken them.

[datbimmerdoe]

omfg! glad everybody is ok...

[manutdas11]

Hope you're okay. Here's to a speedy recovery for all involved.

[cirocksf]

were u running a wheel stud conversion?? what lugs did you have???!

[johnniewalker]

Originally Posted by cirocksf

were u running a wheel stud conversion?? what lugs did you have???!

See post #55 and #59.

they were OEM bolts.

[Thamer]

Originally Posted by johnniewalker

Glad you are ok. OP

One question

Which lug nuts are you referring to ?
The first type or the second type ?
And what brands are them? OEM ?

Originally Posted by johnniewalker

See post #55 and #59.

they were OEM bolts.

Thank you!

[rbtamms]

Maybe someone is trying to steal your wheels but almost got caught & left the scene. I think if we go to unfamiliar territory that doesn't look safe, it's better to check the wheels & bolts...

[mooj9]

Weird but after reading this, I found someone's bolt in a car park yesterday!

[J02 335i]

I'm going to assume if your wife/girlfriend found the other ends of the broken wheel bolts in the parking lot, that someone was trying to steal or tamper with your wheels and didnt know that "left" loosened wheel bolts and turned them right and broke them off. By the time they got to the last bolt they either figured it out or took off.

[Tarty Fruit]

Glad you are okay.



Scary stuff!

[imageautodetail]

[iBoost]

Wow. scary stuff! Does anyone read the threads anymore?

[J02 335i]

Originally Posted by iBoost

Wow. scary stuff! Does anyone read the threads anymore?

I honestly dont think so, its getting a little boring in the ol' general section of E90 post lately.

[Thamer]

Originally Posted by imageautodetail

[E90_boostjunky]

Same exact thing happend to me when I was leaving school in my old car I was only 16 at the time, I'm driving down the road and I feel the steering wheel shaking while I'm doing 25mph and so I continue driving and decide to roll down my window and stick my head out and see my rear wheel bout to come off, I pull over and see all lug nuts loose and one missing. Sad part is I just had my cousins dad install my winter set up the day before at his shop.

[cssnms]

Originally Posted by Thamer

2nd ones, they are OEM from BMW.

Were you running spacers with factory lugs?

Next thing I would do is replace the other lugs on my car asap and make sure there is enough thread to properly torque down the lugs. If you're not getting at least 3 full turns when torqueing them down you need to go with a longer lug.

[Three_thirty_I]

Originally Posted by Thamer

Here's how it looks. Notice that one of the lug nuts is not there and the rest are broken.

Wow, this is really really a scary thing to happen!! Glad that you all managed to get out of there without any injuries and that at least the car is not completely trashed from possible loss of control!

Now as for the possible cause, I agree with the theory that it must have been an attempted wheel theft - unless the thread is completely stripped I cannot see how a bolt can undo itself completely and just pop off, then mysteriously the other four bolts sheer. I can only think that the bolts were loosened by the thief and as the one bolt was removed he must have been surprised and fled the scene. Then from driving on these loosened bolts eventually vibration stress would be enough to cause them to sheer if the bolts have been weakened in general from being overtightened. Still boils down to a freak occurrence I think.

But, taking a look at the attached pic, there is a lots of corrosion on the hub which if this is how it was when the wheel came off does tell me that enough moisture was able to get in as if the wheel was loose for a while. So the question is, what do the other hubs look like assuming their bolts are all properly tightened? The troubling thing is that you say nothing has been done since Sep last year! That's a long time since the wheels were off the car for balancing and for that matter just to make sure that the bolts are tight and the hubs clean etc.

My advice in general for the community, if you don't have BMW (or other) lock studs, invest in them so that there is at least this small deterrent for the potential wheel thief. Then invest in a decent wrench (torque wrench is not really necessary) and periodically make sure that the bolts are tight - I never trust anyone that has worked on my car with regards to the wheels, so check for myself always! Had it happen years ago where I left a fitment place and both rear wheels were loose on my then Corolla - went back to cr@p them out and their pathetic excuse was that they had their impact wrench incorrectly calibrated earlier that day! Hub surface should be clean and free of corrosion etc, and for that matter a light film of oil or grease applied to prevent corrosion and as hard as it is to believe it does allow for a better and more secure fit when torqued up. Same with the bolt threads, a light layer of copper grease to prevent thread damage and corrosion, taking note that you are now dealing with a wet torque where stripping a thread or stretching a bolt can happen if you over-tighten.

Hope you get your car sorted out soon - looks like mostly cosmetic damage other than the wheel (maybe), tyre and disk hub. Costly, but I recommend replacing both rear disks and both rear tyres if the tread difference is noticeable. For peace of mind, have all wheel bolts replaced with fresh new OEM bolts and of course don't forget those lock bolts, and also have the front hubs cleaned of any corrosion etc. Good luck!

[roadkillrob]

Originally Posted by Thamer

Here's how it looks. Notice that one of the lug nuts is not there and the rest are broken.

Pic is a bit fuzzy, but the metal where the bolts recently broke should be shiny, anything that has been cracked or broken for any period of time, the metal will not be shiny and or rusty. I looks like a couple of the broken bolts are a bit rusty already which would indicate that they have been cracked for a bit from overtightning etc and then finally let go.

The lugs will break much more easily if they are not torqued tight, the other possibility would be if they were a bit loose, the forces are much greater and will break them flush with the hub - it is possible someone loosened them all to steal the wheel, got one out and took off, or loosened one more than the rest to start removing and took off, so that one was loose enough to back out, the others were loose enough that a a few bumps cracked and eventually broke the bolts.

[ttribe]

Originally Posted by BeMWeh

Well that certainly could have had a much worse ending than it it. Now the question is: why? Did you recently have the tires done? Were you using spacers that may have caused this?

Spacers don't "cause" something like this unless you don't get longer lugs to accommodate the spacers.