Anybody know the correct torque setting to tighten the wheel lug bolts?

[Rick L]

On my recent trip to the shop, I noticed that the mechanic uses torque wrench to tighten the lug bolts instead of impact wrench. Anybody know the correct torque setting to tighten the wheel lug bolts?

[ILoveMPower]

90 ft lbs

[TC535i]

Yup... used to be 72, then they started saying 80, now they say 90.

[Jehu]

http://www.e38.org/bmw_torq.pdf

[Rick L]

Thanks for the info... I heard that if you over tighten the lug bolts, you can warp the rotors. Is that true?

[markus]

yep. thats why whenver i get tires put on i re-torque my wheels when i get home.

[John B.]

Be advised that if you torque the lug nuts to 90 ft lbs you will never get the wheel off on the side of the road with the factory lug wrench.

[Paul in NZ]

if you do use 90 ft lbs you will have to stand on the std wrench to get the bolts out.I use the std wrench when i get home and do them about as tight as i can...

[Russell]

just have them hand torque. I use about 80 lbs. No problem where get my tires. They also rotate for free every 5,000 miles. Been using them for years.

[Tiger]

Yes, stick with 80 lbs/ft. No need for higher than that.

[Renman]

just have them hand torque. I use about 80 lbs. No problem where get my tires. They also rotate for free every 5,000 miles. Been using them for years.
I was just looking in my Bentley and it says BMW's should not have tires rotated. ?? Does anyone disagree with that?

[The Bigfella]

Nope. Rotate these days (ie post cross-ply tyres) means front to rear and rear to front on the same side. Radial ply tyres are often directional and also take a set to the side they are on.

[BuckNaked]

My owners manual for '95 5-series says 81 lbs.
I was just reading another thread on rotating, the consensus was NO rotate.
I would have to agree. I can picture rear angle wear patterns getting moved to my steering tires and having issues with controlling the car. The inside wears much faster on the rear position. Moving front tires to back would make sense, but not back to front. Just my 2 cents.

[Russell]

I get excellent wear with rotation/balance every 5-6000 miles. However, my car does wander a bit. Would rotation front to rear (and back) be a problem?

[Renman]

I'm thinking that I won't rotate anymore unless I observe unusual wear. I think most of us will agree that these cars are finicky where the rubber meets the road and I've spent plenty of time analyzing everything from drivelines to front end bushings only to find out it was in the alignment that caused weird vibrations, drifting etc. If it's a smooth ride leave it alone.