Wheel Locks

Any recommendations for wheel locks?
Are the wheel bolts different between X drive and rear wheel drive?
Anyone have the spec for non-X wheel bolts? In case I go with non BMW.
I had BMW locks on my X5 and was not impressed with the simple spline for security.

McGard are considered the best... ultimately they too are more of a deterrent then a guarantee....... but there are far less lug keys out there for them compared to standard OEM locks.... a pro wheel thief likely has every lug key out thereof will find a way... a buddy of mine has 3 different locks on each wheel....that certainly will slow them down... but his garage hates him every spring and fall when he switches rims and tires...

McGard has some designed for the UK, made in Germany, not sold by the USA distributor that are really nice...I ended up with a set. There's a hardened steel rotating collar on the side so you can't just hammer a socket over it (it would just rotate, but not engage the bolt). They ended up costing me about the same as the factory set (btw, BMW makes two different ones, but neither are as good as the McGard SL series).

In a test over there by a car magazine, it was the only one not able to be removed without power tools, and even with them, took about 5-minutes. SOme of the others (including the factory ones), came off in as little as 5-seconds! For max security, use two sets, but for 'normal' situations, one is plenty...just don't lose the key!

http://www.mcgard.de/en/home/automot...-security.html the ones you (should) need are 27226SL

If you search around, you can find vendors that sell them. It was actually less expensive to have them shipped from a place in England for me than one US vendor I found (they wanted almost twice as much!).

In case anyone needs locks - I was having difficulty finding the black McGards and initiated communications with an ebay seller. He has stocked some McGard #27326, standard black top locks.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/140734779767...witem=&vxp=mtr

These will do for me until I find the SL's.

Originally Posted by jadnashuanh

It was actually less expensive to have them shipped from a place in England for me than one US vendor I found (they wanted almost twice as much!).

Would you mind telling us what vendor has them in the UK? I would be interested in ordering a set.

http://www.performancealloys.com/loc...eel-bolts.aspx

I think all of the GT's use the same bolt, I bought
Thread Size : M14x1.25
Seat : 60°
Thread Length : 28.2 mm
Hex : 17 mm
Part No.: 27226SL
$55.14 delivered.

Originally Posted by jadnashuanh

http://www.performancealloys.com/loc...eel-bolts.aspx

I think all of the GT's use the same bolt, I bought
Thread Size : M14x1.25
Seat : 60°
Thread Length : 28.2 mm
Hex : 17 mm
Part No.: 27226SL
$55.14 delivered.

Thanks for the prompt reply.

I tried to order on their website but I get $46.88 for the bolts + $52 shipping + 2.5% for credit card = $101.35 Almost double what you got ($55.14 delivered). I did not see any other shipping options beside the $52. Did you get some special deal/discount?

At the time, I think I had the choice of mail, verses a delivery service like UPS, etc. other than that, no, I didn't get any special consideration. Maybe, if you're willing to wait a bit longer than the couple of days FedEx might take, they'll offer that if you contact them. I bought mine last summer. Do you know anyone over there? They'd get free delivery, and then they could forward them to you.

As far as I know, McGard has not taken this line on for the USA, but maybe you should call them. They're actually made in Germany. At the time, that was the best price, but I haven't looked for nearly a year. You might find someone else.

This is why I decided to go with the standards. I could not find any current opportunity to buy the SLs for less than twice the price of the black standards. Plus, I could not find black SLs.

I emailed McGard to ensure I had the right spec locks and asked about the SLs. All they say is that they are not for sale in the US. I take that to mean not through normal McGard US channels.

I will still look, or wait for the next time I go to Europe - but in the meantime, I have locks...

Too late for you now, but ebay.uk has them for about $70 delivered to the USA. If you don't have a CC that waives the bank charges for international currency, figure maybe an additional 3-5% by your bank on the charges.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-MINI-200...item43abd14035

The mcgard.de website (where they're made) doesn't list the SL series in black...mine have the head chromed, so that may be an issue. Doesn't look bad, and I use separate winter tires, and those came with chromed bolts, so it's not an issue with them. Have to see in the next week or two when I switch back to the OEM tires/wheels which bolts I end up using, the black or the chromed ones. We're still having nights around freezing, so I've not changed my tires yet.

That eBay one is not bad actually; thanks for doing the research for us.