What is the properly way to DIY change tires?

[tranquility]

I've been jacking up each corner one at a time and just changing the tire. Obviously, this is not the textbook safe way, so what is…?

I assume jackstands are needed but what is the procedure exactly? I can't figure out the logistics as the jack is taking up where the jackstand goes, unless one needs 2 jacks to do it right?

[mmm-five]

I assume you mean change a wheel (e.g between winter & summer sets), as most owners probably wouldn’t change a tire/tyre at home?

I just do one corner at a time on a hydraulic 2 tonne jack and a 18v cordless impact wrench.

[Reborn_]

There are jack points in the center front and rear - only way to get jackstands in place. I get front jackstands in first, then the rear. Reverse order to get the car back on the ground.

[Our03z4]

Well I never did it the safe way...which is why my wife bought me the Quickjacks. I just put a jack under each side and went to town.

[tranquility]

Originally Posted by Reborn_

There are jack points in the center front and rear - only way to get jackstands in place. I get front jackstands in first, then the rear. Reverse order to get the car back on the ground.

I see, so for each of the 4 usual jackpoints at the sides, there may be a jackpoint further in? My manual didn't show those so maybe I need to get the more comprehensive manual for technicians (dunno what it's called) to ID those?

I'm just curious, as I just do it the quick way of jacking up each corner.

[Reborn_]

So for a wheel change, where I'm not getting under the car, I'm not too worried about safety. I will do what is convenient. If I'm rotating front to back on same side, I just jack one side up at a time (pick a corner) and swap the wheels. If swapping left/right, I do the center point and lift the entire front or rear, and swap the wheels. I try to do wheel rotations/changes when I do some other work which involves putting the car on jackstands, but if all I'm doing is swapping wheels, I don't use jackstands.

Yes, there should be a jack point in the center of the car, both front and rear. No need for a service manual, you can locate your center jack points by looking and using some common sense. I'll let someone more knowledgeable about Z's chime in, since I've never looked under an E89. But I'll describe what's under the E86. The front jack point is a round "puck" pretty deep under the nose, near the oil pan drain bolt. The rear jackpoint is the location where the 2 cross-members join (but NOT the differential cooler!). It's not nearly as deep in as the front.

[pungo]

+1 on quickjacks, safer and way quicker

[mmm-five]

Originally Posted by pungo

+1 on quickjacks, safer and way quicker

I could understand this sort of thing if you were doing all your own maintenance, but iooks like a lot of money ($1500+?) for the occasional wheel change.

[pungo]

Originally Posted by mmm-five

I could understand this sort of thing if you were doing all your own maintenance, but iooks like a lot of money ($1500+?) for the occasional wheel change.

I got mine from Costco for $1000 shipped. I agree, if you don't do any maintenance and only the occasional wheel change, then it wouldn't be worth it. Many people here do there own maintenance, that's why it's mentioned. I maintain 5 vehicles at my house, so for me it was more than worth it

[tranquility]

Do you need any stands to secure it? Any chance the hydraulics may fail?

[tranquility]

Originally Posted by Piper1

There are locking arms on each that once in place you can disconnect the hydraulic lines completely. (Large lines disconnect from small, small lines stay fixed large lines run to pump/motor). They’ve said in product videos once locking arms are in place with lines disconnected it could stay up indefinitely. There’s quite a few YouTube demo videos out there along with on their site if I remember.

My thing is this. If not done “properly” any work will increase the risk of injury or more. If you’re not maintenance savvy on your car the chance that you’ve done maintenance on the hydraulic floor jack you’re using to support the car when changing tires is even more slim. If the floor jack has lost fluid it can creep down or worse and the worst opportune time is when you’re trying to align wheel to holes to get a lug bolt in and the car falls on you.

When I was just having winter wheels switch to summer wheels and vise versa and felt lazy I just brought them into discount tire and they swap for free if they’re not mounting/dismounting tire to rim.

For those that believe time is money the amount of time the quickjack saves you vs using floor jack and stands is priceless.

For those not doing their own maintenance it takes more work rotating tires than changing oil on these cars. Investing in safety is investing in your life. I’ve never felt comfortable going under a car even on jack stands mostly had used ramps before getting a quickjack.

Interesting. Is the locking arm the thing in the middle beside the hydraulic arm? I guess I'm having trouble seeing how that is secure vs a jackstand since all the bars are still slanted.

[Barryb97]

I jack up the rear until I can get a jack stand under the front. Then jack up the front from the center jack point put a second jack stand on the other side front, then jack up the back from the center jack point and put jack stands on the rear jack points. I'm real close to pulling the trigger on the quick jack.

[pungo]

I've fought with floor jacks/jack stands/shuffle routine for over 4 decades. Sure it works, it's pretty safe if done properly, but just time consuming and just kinda a pain in the ass, especially if you want to go up pretty high, then you need to go up in stages.

The quickjacks are just that, quick, all the hydraulic hoses use quick connects like an air hose, without loosing any fluid. Within a few minutes, you can set them up and have the vehicle in the air and locked and another few minutes to put the vehicle down and disconnect everything. With 5 vehicles to maintain, they save me a ton of time and I no longer despise jacking up my vehicles.

I hang them on the wall mostly out of the way taking up little space.

[AriuSen]

Originally Posted by pungo

+1 on quickjacks, safer and way quicker

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Is it ok to use those lifters with the z to have more clearance?

[pungo]

Originally Posted by AriuSen

Is it ok to use those lifters with the z to have more clearance?

Are you talking about the "truck adapter" shown in the pic of my truck? If so, no there's not enough clearance for them when the vehicle is on the ground. The quickjack comes with 2 different height rubber blocks providing a variety of lift heights. Check out the specs

[pungo]

Originally Posted by Piper1

The only way to use the suv adapters on a lower car would be to have the car on ramps first and lift it off the ramps, I haven’t tested this yet but since it’s not a straight vertical lift as the car comes down lowering on ramps there’s a possibility the car will roll ever so slightly as it settles on the ramps.

I would not attempt to use ramps with the quickjacks. I assume you're talking just on the front since you couldn't put them on the rear and the front together. So with the front up in the air, the vehicle is going to be at angle and will shift a good amount when the parallelogram effect of the quickjack lifts. Sounds like a very unsafe method that I would never attempt.

In the rare occasion you wanted to use the truck adapters, you could first lift with the rubber blocks, then use normal jack stands under the suspension points, set the vehicle on them, lower the quickjacks, put the truck adapters on, then lift again. So far, I haven't had the need to do that, though if doing a clutch, the additional height with the truck adapters would come in handy.

To use the taller rubber blocks, on a lower vehicle, I use 4 short ramps I made from scrap 2x12s (stacked 2 high, laid flat) for all 4 tires. That gives me an extra 3" before placing the quickjacks. I also use the ramps for oil changes without using the quickjacks since they're quicker, 3 inches is enough to get to the drain plug and get a drain pan underneath. Work safe, work smart

[pungo]

Originally Posted by Piper1

Nope. To do the ramp method you need 2 sets of ramps so front and back are up and level.

Edit: To do this lift each corner up with a floor jack at jack point and place the ramp under. So not ever driving onto the ramps rather positioning each tire on each ramp one at a time. Little time consuming but the result is a level car at higher starting point for the quick jack.

The ramps I have are too tall to drive on when I lowered the car so I’ve had to jack the car to put a ramp under prior to having the quick jack when I did oil changes.

What would worry me testing is on the way down as the quickjack is folding down will the car roll slightly forward as it comes down on the four ramps offsetting where the tires were at original lift point.

That sounds like a pain in the ass and dangerous lifting only one corner of the vehicle high enough get a ramp under just that corner, then do the same to the other 3 corners. Plus you need 4 ramps. I'll go with the way I mentioned in my previous post by using the quickjacks and jack stands under the suspension points in a 2 stage method. Both safer(keeping the vehicle level the entire time) and quicker(not have to jockey the floor jack and ramps at all 4 corners). Everyone has their own way of doing things

[SD ///M4]

OP originally asked about the "properly" (safe) way to swap wheels and tires which evolved into a long discussion about QuickJacks and ramps.

Obviously, the safest way is to put the car up on four jacks or use QuickJacks (or any other kind of lift). I have QuickJacks and can't recommend them highly enough. I also have ramps but they are pretty much useless for the purpose of swapping wheels. Good for oil changes though!

However, to just swap wheels and tires, here's how my wife and I do it at the track with our M4 and M3. Since you are not going to be under the car, you don't have as much of a risk if the jack fails. However, you can use one of the wheels you are removing as a safeguard.

1. Jack up one side of the car using a floor jack on the front jacking point. This should get both wheels/tires off the ground.
2. Take off either the front or rear wheel and wedge it underneath the car in the middle between the two jacking points. I like to use the rear wheel because it's usually wider on a BMW. If the floor jack fails, the car will only fall an inch or so.
3. Install the wheel you are swapping to on the rear.
4. Remove the front wheel.
5. Install the wheel you are swapping to on the front.
6. Remove the wheel which was temporarily wedged underneath the vehicle
7. Let down the floor jack.
8. Torque all the wheel bolts.

IMHO, this is the fastest and most convenient way to swap wheels and tires with a minimum of risk. We've been doing it this way at the track for 10 years. I use the QuickJack to swap brake pads at home before and after track sessions. I can get the car up in the air, swap the pads on all four brakes, and let the car down in about an hour if I hurry, 1.5 hours if I take my time.

[Reborn_]

Pungo (and others) - I would store my quickjacks away like your photo. I am not convinced it wouldn't take 10-15 minutes from everything stored away/disconnected to car up and ready to rock. It takes me about 20 to do it with floor jacks and stands. So this is why I haven't bothered with Quick Jacks. If it's truly 5 minutes, or FOR SURE less than 10, I could be convinced, but I can see it being 15 or so to get them in position, line up with the jack points, connect everything up, raise to touch, re-check contact points, adjust and try again, etc. Any additional insight would be appreciated!