Send us a photo and we'll find your key

Tap below, send a clear photo of the locking nut on your wheel plus your make, model and year. We'll tell you exactly which key you need. Matching is free and there's no code required.

Send a clear, face-on photo of the locking nut plus your make, model and year. We'll tell you exactly which key you need — or tell you straight away if we can't match it.

BMW 3 Series Locking Wheel Nut Key

Lost the locking wheel key for your BMW 3 Series? Send us a photo of the locking bolt on your wheel and we'll identify exactly which key fits. No security code needed.

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Bolts, not nuts

Most people search for a locking wheel nut key, so that's what this page is called. BMW actually uses bolts that thread straight into the hub rather than nuts spinning onto a stud. It changes nothing about the matching — it's just worth knowing before the part arrives.

The 3 Series spans both BMW locking styles

BMW changed its locking bolt design around 2012. The 3 Series is the model where that matters most, because it's been in production across the whole transition and there are an enormous number of them on UK roads.

E46 (1998–2006) — older spline or RIBE style, a ring of internal splines cut into the bolt head.
E90 / E91 / E92 / E93 (2005–2013) — still the spline family, and by far the most common 3 Series we're asked about. Also the generation most likely to have had wheels changed at some point, which is why the photo matters more than the registration.
F30 / F31 / F34 (2011–2019) — the changeover. Early cars can carry either style.
G20 / G21 (2018 onwards) — current style, a keyed pattern on the bolt head, usually with a free-spinning outer collar.

On an E90 in particular, watch for corrosion. These cars are now old enough that the bolt heads pit, and a pitted pattern reads differently in a photograph than a clean one. Give it a wipe and a spray of penetrating fluid before you photograph it — you'll get a better match and an easier removal.

Model and year won't identify it

There are hundreds of BMW patterns in circulation. Two 3 Series built the same week can carry different ones, because bolts were sourced in batches and wheels get swapped over a fifteen-year life. Ordering on model and year alone is the most common way people end up with a key that doesn't fit.

The pattern on your bolt is the only reliable identifier, and it's on your car right now.

Where the key normally lives in a 3 Series

Boot, under the floor, in the foam tool tray with the jack and towing eye
The side compartment behind the boot trim
Glovebox, usually in a small black plastic case
Under a front seat, after a tyre fitter handed it back
On Touring models, in the underfloor storage on the left-hand side

If it's been to a garage for tyres recently, ring them first. It's free and it works surprisingly often.

How the matching works

Photograph the bolt. One wheel is enough. Prise off the plastic cap if there is one, wipe the face clean, shoot straight on in daylight without flash.
Send it with your model and year. We match the pattern against our reference library and confirm the exact key before you pay.
Order once confirmed. Free UK delivery on Royal Mail Tracked 24, dispatched within one working day.

What it costs

Identification is free. The BMW matching service is £18.25 including free UK delivery. Know your code already? Buy it directly from the BMW range.

Professional removal runs £40–£85 in the UK and leaves you needing a new set of bolts, which is why it's worth getting the key right first time. See how our keys are made.

Other BMW models

1 Series · 5 Series · All BMW keys · Mini

Not a BMW? Browse every make or send us a photo.