Locking Wheel Nuts

[killie77]

I mentioned in an earlier Post that I had bought an E.Class 270 diesel.
Bought the Car last Wednesday. Have been looking for the Locking wheel nut key
searched the car very thoroughly but no sign. Contacted the person I bought the Car from. The Chap who had owned the Car had passed away not long ago I had bought the Car from his wife. She did her best to look for the Key thing but has been unable to locate it.
So I have contacted a guy in Glasgow who apparantly can remove them hopefully without damage. He has quoted Ten Pounds per wheel . Does this seem about right ?
On another subject the car only had one key not sure if it ever had more than one. What would be the likely cost of a replacement key ? its for an 04 E.Class 270 Cdi
Thanks for any advice
Regards
Ian

 

[hotrodder]

Assuming they locking bolts are the origional MB type you should be able to get a replacement pretty cheaply from MB. No idea what they currently cost but replacement ignition/door keys won't be so cheap...

 

[Aletank]

Mercedes locking wheel nuts are 1 of a possible 30, drive to your dealer, they will come out with 30 keys for you to try until you find the right numbered key for your car. Think I paid about £20 a few years back, much better than paying £10 a wheel !
Replacement car key is approx £225 so I believe

 

[grumpyoldgit]

The locking wheel nut key is normally stored in a small plastic case, along with the set of shorter bolts for the space saver spare wheel.

Have you had the spare wheel out and checked underneath it?

This is what you should be looking for, assuming it's still complete.

 

[AMGeed]

A new locking wheel nut socket is £35 from the dealer.

 

[bob6600]

As said earlier a replacement (door) key is around £225 from MB. Have you checked thoroughly in the spare wheel well?

 

[killie77]

Thanks for all the replies.
Have checked the Car under the spare wheel all round the boot area. Even had the First Aid Kit out in case it was hiding in their. Tried all the little cubby holes. Strange thing is the Car had New tires fitted end of last year so must have been used for them.
Thats a good idea about taking it to the Dealer to try out the keys. Unfortunately I have it booked in Monday morning for a safety check at a Merc Indy in Glasgow so would like to have the locking wheel nuts out by then. Going to the guy tomorrow morning so will see how that goes.
Once again thanks for all the replies. Bit of a shocker the price of a replacement Key
Ian

 

[Bonecho]

Main dealers have a universal key for all locking nuts which doesn't sound very reassuring. Maybe the Indi has the same key?

 

[def90cars]

If your Indy is any good, he will get them out.

 

[219]

I mentioned in an earlier Post that I had bought an E.Class 270 diesel.
Bought the Car last Wednesday. Have been looking for the Locking wheel nut key
searched the car very thoroughly but no sign. Contacted the person I bought the Car from. The Chap who had owned the Car had passed away not long ago I had bought the Car from his wife. She did her best to look for the Key thing but has been unable to locate it.
So I have contacted a guy in Glasgow who apparantly can remove them hopefully without damage. He has quoted Ten Pounds per wheel . Does this seem about right ?
On another subject the car only had one key not sure if it ever had more than one. What would be the likely cost of a replacement key ? its for an 04 E.Class 270 Cdi
Thanks for any advice
Regards
Ian

When I was in MB Glasgow on Friday , the customer in front of me at the parts counter was quoted £260 for a key for his W212

When I bought one of my 190's there was no key for the locking bolts and I ended up drilling them out . I also had the head shear off one on my S203 , and that was with the key , so I don't use locking bolts .

I've never had wheels stolen , so I see the bolts as somewhat pointless and not worth the trouble .

 

[Dave Richardson]

I had to replace my locking wheel nut key just 6 weeks ago. On Friday afternoon at the main dealers a guy came out with a master set of about 30 locking wheels nut keys and within two minutes he'd found the correct replacement one for my car; the replacement arrived the following Monday and the cost was £25.10 +vat of £5.02 total was £30.12.
Hope this puts your mind at rest

 

[190]

Grossly overtightened locking wheel nuts caused me some grief when I first bought the car. If I couldn't undo them at the side of the road I may as well have left the spare wheel home. If you keep them make sure they are removed and re-tightened to spec. with a torque wrench any time someone else has had the wheels off.

Overall unless you have special wheels they seem to be more trouble than they are worth and even then you have to question their value as an anti theft deterrent. If professional thieves want your wheels they will know how to get them off.

 

[killie77]

Finally had result at a Mercedes Dealers in Giffnock near Glasgow.
The Parts Guy came out with the Box with the locking wheel nut keys no 31 was the magic number. Even better he allowed me to remove the Nuts their and then.
Obviously they don't endorse this so mentioned they were not liable.
I only live about 10 minutes from their so figured I was safe to drive with four bolts per wheel. Down the local scrappy later to source four bolts
Ian

 

[Grey Area]

Overall unless you have special wheels they seem to be more trouble than they are worth and even then you have to question their value as an anti theft deterrent. If professional thieves want your wheels they will know how to get them off.

When I lost the key to mine I simply hammered a 19mm socket over them and twisted them off, 20 seconds and a lump hammer. Haven't bothered with locking wheel nuts since

 

[zipdip]

They used to sell a socket that had lots of sprung loaded steel pins in it and you could put that on the locking wheel nut and it would grip it and remove it,of course using it on all four nuts would I suspect knacker it just looked on ebay and times have moved on loads of different socket sets priced around £20

 

[killie77]

Putting a Small Socket on and attacking with the 2 Pound hammer was my next move. But thankfully the buggers are now off. Don't intend to replace with locking nuts just ordinary bolts.
Ian

 

[190]

The locking wheel nut key is normally stored in a small plastic case, along with the set of shorter bolts for the space saver spare wheel.

Have you had the spare wheel out and checked underneath it?

This is what you should be looking for, assuming it's still complete.

I have the box containing the locking wheel nut key but no set of shorter bolts for the space saver. And there is no mention in the cars handbook about using shorter bolts. Is this need for shorter bolts applicable to all models including my w204 ?

I have already mounted the space saver without problems but only to facilitate a wheel rotation.

The 4 normal wheel bolts in that box don't look very short to me. Might they simply be the stock bolts that were removed when the locking bolts were fitted.

 

[nigel cross]

Depending on your spare wheel.
You only have shorter bolts if the spare is made of steel. If its an alloy one the original bolts are used.
Just saying that on my ML the spare is a steel space saver but there are no spare bolts unlike my old c class

 

[190]

The space saver on my W204 is steel.

I'll have to compare the alloy wheels and the spacer saver to see if there is a difference in the length of engaged threads.