MadaboutKitcars

Put an order in with BMW today for a long list of little parts, seals, o-rings etc.

I asked for 24 exhaust studs to replace my very rust manky looking ones and they came back as £47 for a full set of 24 !!!

I nearly fell off my seat and then told him to take that and the copper/brass nuts off the order.

They are a slightly weird size (M7) but even so the price seems absurd.

Has anyone else sourced studs from another supplier as atthat price I think I'm going to be cleaning the old ones up and re-using them. I've had a quick look on the web and exhaust studs doesn't (surprisingly) seem to be something that is widely available

Is there something super special about them that they can justify the price?

Well, I got a set of these when I did mine:

http://www.frost.co.uk/automotive-consumables/brass-studs-and-nuts.html

But if I recall they where M8 - bar the one that I drilled and re-tapped to M10 to fix a previous shonky repair to the head. Not sure why they'd use M7?

I guess they need to be hardened steel rather than ordinary BZP studding?
I got a set for my M20 off ebay but they are M8 and very common.
I can't find any M7's either except 2CV but they were £1.95 each as well!!

Maybe you could try dropping in to somewhere like Quickfit who must such things in bulk?

Can you re-use the originals?

Are you sure they are M7? It is a very odd size mainly used by Citroen. All the exhaust studs from my BMW donor cleaned up fine and I am sure they were M8.

If you really want to clean the rust off try Hammerite Rust Dip. I just discovered it and I found it cleans up small items like nuts and bolts like they were new. My next project IS Citroen based and yes - all the bolt and nut sizes are odd. New ones are either impossible to locate or an arm and a leg so I have had to resort to re-using what I have from the donor. The rust dip has produced some remarkable results although of course it doesn't repair damaged threads....

Robin

They're M7 on the M50 I'm using. At 2 quid a shot I'm glad I didn't bin the studs that came out of the head when undoing the nuts! I think I'll be careful removing the few that stayed in the head...

I've been amazed at the variety of fixing sizes on a BMW - spanners and sockets that I've never used before are getting an airing!

Mark.

Yep, RealOEM had them as that but I just went out to check with the calipers and thread gauge and can confirm M7x1.0.

Looking at them, if I can get the nuts off without damaging the threads, they should clean up (I'm determind to try at that price). I'll look out for some of that hammerite stuff. I'll still have to fork out for the copper nuts though I think as mine are properly rotten.

I had thought of buying some M7 10.9 threaded rod and making my own but that would cost in hacksaw blades. If I can get away with only replacing a few I'll feel better

Well, these copper nuts should be cheaper than BMW:

http://www.ecas2cvparts.co.uk/solid-brass-exhaust-manifold-stud-p-33.html

26p each! Vive La Deux Chevaux!

[Edit] - M7 Exhaust studs are £1.95 a pop, so in total it'd be 26.52 to change the lot. If the studs are long enough, that is.

[Edit 2] - You want 24? Isn't it 2 studs and nuts per port? Are you doubling up?

[Edit 3] - Ooo Errr... You're not

http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BJ51&mospid=47420&btnr=11_1087&hg=11&fg=50

24 studs! No wonder it's expensive.

They're part 11 on this diagram, right?

http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=BJ51&mospid=47420&btnr=11_1506&hg=11&fg=15

Which says they're 35 cents a pop. Even allowing for bad currency conversion, £2 each seems wrong - are they trying to give you the wrong part?

Thanks for the lead on the nuts, that's much better value though I guess I'll have to use a washer too as the BMW ones are those flange style ones.

Yep 24 studs, 4 on each port.

I'll be going down to the dealer tomorrow to pick up all the other stuff so I'll double check again just in case wires were crossed. after market studs such as ARP tend to cost around £2 but I was assuming this was because they were special (or at least the people prepared to buy them believed so).

The other option I have is to tap the head to M8 though the thought of getting it wrong ...

Take a look on eBay... Lambretta scooters use M7 studs, and there's a chap selling over-long ones for £1.10 each.

Another chap is selling them for 1.45 each, but free P&P

If you want to be dead posh, there's stainless ones for a couple of quid.

I'd post links, but I'm doing the ebaying on my phone as it's blocked at work.

Ooo - the cheaper ones are in Torfaen, S. Wales... Any where near you? You could go pic them up and save on postage (and check sizes before you buy)

http://www.welshscooterparts.co.uk/shop/index.php?act=viewDoc&docId=1

Got mine from Motormec.co.uk

I'll give the scooter boys a call in the morning as my BMW dealer is just round the corner anyway. You never know, they may give me a further discount for a bulk buy. 24 studs is probably enough for 12 scooters

I've sent a mail off to motormec to to see if they can come up with the goods.

Hopefully tomorrow I can find some of the hammerite stuff and the problem will go away

The motormec man, though very helpful with customer service was not so helpful with price and came back with basically the same as BMW (£46 + P&P) as he says he'll need to buy them from BMW, so not surprising really.

I just had a go at getting the old nuts freed off the studs and with a bit of extreme vicing between some plywood plates and WD40 they're all free. It looks like only the tips outside the nut, manifold and head bits are rusty so they should come up OK after all. I'll see how they turn out after a night in the hammerite rust remover.

I'll definitely replace the nuts themselves as they're in a right state

Nuts at 35p each but look a better quality than those 2CV ones?

http://beedspeed.com/product_info.php?cPath=75_123_138&products_id=4467

That's not a bad price at all. The motormec man quoted 39p + VAT. The only problem is that these don't have the flanged locking bit. I don't suppose that there'll be a problem whacking a locking washer under them though so I may grab some from these guys.

After 24 hours in the hammerite rust remover here are the results for my old studs after a quick wire brushing. I'm sure you'll agree that for 50 pence worth of that stuff and an hours elbow grease the results are a tad better than £47 at BMW. As always, thanks for the advice.