Cost to swap full wheels - summer to winter
Discussion
My BMW dealer used to keep the spare wheels and swap them over twice a year, for the princely sum of £10 a month on standing order but as of last year, they did away with that facility and in spring I did the change myself.
I could do it again now as they are in my garage but in truth, I have no desire to sit on the ground and lift up a 2 ton car on a jack and swap over 4 wheels as what takes me an hour or so manually can be done by air tools in a few minutes.
So before I approach the nearest wheel or tyre place, what am I looking at cost wise ?
No new tyres required, just swap all 4 wheels (not tyres) over.
I could do it again now as they are in my garage but in truth, I have no desire to sit on the ground and lift up a 2 ton car on a jack and swap over 4 wheels as what takes me an hour or so manually can be done by air tools in a few minutes.
So before I approach the nearest wheel or tyre place, what am I looking at cost wise ?
No new tyres required, just swap all 4 wheels (not tyres) over.
For years our local indie tyre place charged £20, or £28 if I wanted them balanced, They’d do it on 2 post lift, which I liked, as it’s not flexing the car or mashing the jacking points.
This year, on the winter to summer change, with just the fronts being balanced, a new manager wanted over £100 (after they’d done the job). Got it down to £70 but left with very bad feeling all round. As it happens the car has gone now but I’d buy All Seasons rather than pay that.
I have done it myself once but the car (wife’s Tiguan) was right at the limit of my trolley jack’s lift and it was altogether a bit too hairy.
This year, on the winter to summer change, with just the fronts being balanced, a new manager wanted over £100 (after they’d done the job). Got it down to £70 but left with very bad feeling all round. As it happens the car has gone now but I’d buy All Seasons rather than pay that.
I have done it myself once but the car (wife’s Tiguan) was right at the limit of my trolley jack’s lift and it was altogether a bit too hairy.
Talay said:
My BMW dealer used to keep the spare wheels and swap them over twice a year, for the princely sum of £10 a month on standing order but as of last year, they did away with that facility and in spring I did the change myself.
I could do it again now as they are in my garage but in truth, I have no desire to sit on the ground and lift up a 2 ton car on a jack and swap over 4 wheels as what takes me an hour or so manually can be done by air tools in a few minutes.
So before I approach the nearest wheel or tyre place, what am I looking at cost wise ?
No new tyres required, just swap all 4 wheels (not tyres) over.
Why would you sit on the ground?I could do it again now as they are in my garage but in truth, I have no desire to sit on the ground and lift up a 2 ton car on a jack and swap over 4 wheels as what takes me an hour or so manually can be done by air tools in a few minutes.
So before I approach the nearest wheel or tyre place, what am I looking at cost wise ?
No new tyres required, just swap all 4 wheels (not tyres) over.
Why will changing wheels take you an hour?
EmailAddress said:
Talay said:
My BMW dealer used to keep the spare wheels and swap them over twice a year, for the princely sum of £10 a month on standing order but as of last year, they did away with that facility and in spring I did the change myself.
I could do it again now as they are in my garage but in truth, I have no desire to sit on the ground and lift up a 2 ton car on a jack and swap over 4 wheels as what takes me an hour or so manually can be done by air tools in a few minutes.
So before I approach the nearest wheel or tyre place, what am I looking at cost wise ?
No new tyres required, just swap all 4 wheels (not tyres) over.
Why would you sit on the ground?I could do it again now as they are in my garage but in truth, I have no desire to sit on the ground and lift up a 2 ton car on a jack and swap over 4 wheels as what takes me an hour or so manually can be done by air tools in a few minutes.
So before I approach the nearest wheel or tyre place, what am I looking at cost wise ?
No new tyres required, just swap all 4 wheels (not tyres) over.
Why will changing wheels take you an hour?
E63eeeeee... said:
EmailAddress said:
Talay said:
My BMW dealer used to keep the spare wheels and swap them over twice a year, for the princely sum of £10 a month on standing order but as of last year, they did away with that facility and in spring I did the change myself.
I could do it again now as they are in my garage but in truth, I have no desire to sit on the ground and lift up a 2 ton car on a jack and swap over 4 wheels as what takes me an hour or so manually can be done by air tools in a few minutes.
So before I approach the nearest wheel or tyre place, what am I looking at cost wise ?
No new tyres required, just swap all 4 wheels (not tyres) over.
Why would you sit on the ground?I could do it again now as they are in my garage but in truth, I have no desire to sit on the ground and lift up a 2 ton car on a jack and swap over 4 wheels as what takes me an hour or so manually can be done by air tools in a few minutes.
So before I approach the nearest wheel or tyre place, what am I looking at cost wise ?
No new tyres required, just swap all 4 wheels (not tyres) over.
Why will changing wheels take you an hour?
I do at least one of our cars every year and I'd probably put aside an hour even using a hydraulic jack. It's quicker on our little VW Up as the wheels are far lighter and have four bolts rather than 5 but I think I'd still be at least 10 minutes per corner start to finish when accounting for getting new set of wheels out of storage, getting tools out, and tidying everything up afterwards. I'm also one of those crazy people who actually torques the wheel bolts up properly. And I don't mean writhe them with the impact gun then giving them a ceremonial click with the torque wrench afterwards!
If I have time, it's also a good time to break out the pressure washer and clean all the crap out from the wheel arch area, especially when putting summers back on after winter. Can give the pads and discs and suspension rubbers a good look too.
On Biggers cars, it always takes longer. Much heavier wheel/tyres make maneuvering them around tight spaces far worse and my back is usually complaining two corners in. Our BMW wheels seem to also have a habit of getting stuck on as well no matter how diligent I am with prep each time I fit them. Always adds a few minutes.
So, all in all, an hour sounds about right but I'd still do them myself as a lot of the time and the crappest part of the job is moving heavy, mucky wheels around which you're still going to have to do if you take them to a garage. And I never trust garages not to just apply 12,0000 Nm to each wheel bolt.
Gad-Westy said:
So, all in all, an hour sounds about right but I'd still do them myself as a lot of the time and the crappest part of the job is moving heavy, mucky wheels around which you're still going to have to do if you take them to a garage.
Yep, used to take me about 1.5hrs in total, including getting tools out, doing the change, and putting everything away again, including packing wheels away in bags and hanging up in garage, back when I used to swap my winters to summers etc on my BMW 135i.I wouldn't even think of doing such a thing on my X5 now, and prefer the easier life with all-seasons fitted instead.
Even in November, you'll find a nice dry mild day to swap them over. £120 that the OP has been paying the dealer each year will buy most of the tools you need. You could blag it with the tools in the car - jack, wrench etc. but a trolley jack, jack pad, impact wrench and torque wrench will do the job properly. If you want decent but cheap then going to both Lidl and Aldi will often come up trumps.
Once you take off the wheels, take a moment to wire brush any corrosion on the bolts and hubs, maybe apply a thin sliver of coppergrease on the hub to prevent bi-metallic corrosion, or if not to wind up those on PH who think coppergrease stops the clamped wheels from rotating.
Use the opportunity with the wheels off to clean anything in the wheelwells or spray any corrosion with stuff like Muc-Off HCB-1 or similar. Then once the summer tyres are off, remove stones and inspect and clean/wax/seal them before storage. Therapeutic.
Once you take off the wheels, take a moment to wire brush any corrosion on the bolts and hubs, maybe apply a thin sliver of coppergrease on the hub to prevent bi-metallic corrosion, or if not to wind up those on PH who think coppergrease stops the clamped wheels from rotating.
Use the opportunity with the wheels off to clean anything in the wheelwells or spray any corrosion with stuff like Muc-Off HCB-1 or similar. Then once the summer tyres are off, remove stones and inspect and clean/wax/seal them before storage. Therapeutic.
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