Replacing E30 Bottlecaps Made Simple

These are the hideous E30 Bottlecaps that came installed from the factory on my BMW. Keep in mind that BMW uses lug studs as opposed to lug nuts, so getting these things off was a little trying..but I couldn't stand it anymore. I employed the services of my 650 pound neighbor, professional lugnut breaker-looser, to stand on my breaker bar in order to break each lug nut loose before jacking the car up.

I'm no Master Technician here, but I would never let him work on my car. He's been known to do some pretty unbelievable things to his car. Sometimes he does things so stupid, I wonder if he's moderately retarded or if he just likes the reaction he gets from people when he does things like install a Pringles can for his cold air intake.

So after seeing his handy work, I decided to never let him lay a finger, only his feet, on any of my tools. I had some problems breaking the wheels loose by hand, so I happened to have a very long (3 ft. +) breaker bar in my garage that works perfert for stubborn lugnuts. Don't waste your time or break your back trying to get these loose. Sometimes shops (go figure) put these on so tight, the only way to get them off is to get Chubbs from next door to jump up and down on a breaker bar. He'll either get them loose or snap off a few studs; no biggie. It's a little tedius to run through 16-20 lugnuts, but it's your only option.

After I got all of the lugnuts off and test fit my wheels, I remembered that I had to run spacers in order for my wheels to clear the brake calipers. I had already ordered my spacers from H&R and luckily the did come with the new, extended lugnuts I needed. They are threaded the same and reinstall just like the OEM lugnuts; they are only slightly longer to accommodate for the 8mm wheel spacers I decided to run.

Here they are, in all of their German - 'Go Wide' Glory. H&R must assume that everyone that uses their spacers is looking for the 1988 Mexican lowrider look; where the wheels stick out further than the fender. Not me. I just did a 5 lug conversion and want my wheels to sit flush with the fenders. No Rice, No Uber Euro look. No tire stretching. However, I'm sure I'll catch hell from someone diehard OEM lover for the Canary yellow paint I decided to go with. It's okay, I can take the hate.

I'm not looking for any applause here, but I do think the overall look of my car turned out pretty good; canary yellow and all. If you have any questions about the install or would like to add some pointers, knock yourself out.