Best way to safely remove center wheel caps

I remove the wheel and push the back of the cap with the butt of a mallet or hammer.

 

+1

 

Drill a small pilot hole directly through the horse's eye. Tap with standard drywall screw. Yank out with pliers. Replace cap. Add a small piece of electrical tape to cover the hole. Good as new!

Just kidding!

 

The face of the caps are of poor quality. Using even the butt of a hammer or mallet with small or focused surface area (like rounded butt end) can crack the plastic or weaken it and cracks will appear. It sounds dumb but use the but end of the hammer to push on the protruding edges of the cap so that the cap in 2 places so the cap is 80% released then push it out the rest of the way with the hammer butt.

 

I've just fitted a new set of tyres and had to remove the caps on my F355 to have the wheels balanced. I found the following method best. Whilst the wheels were removed reach in using both hands and push out the 2 adjacent clips. Work around and apply pressure to all the tabs. Stand the wheel up somewhere safe whilst doing this so you can apply force to the clips (I used my thumbs). Use your feeling and don't "force" anything. You will feel the caps detach at each clip when you apply pressure. Some will be locked in place harder than others.
In 2 of the 4 wheels my caps popped right out once I worked my way around all the clips and in the other 2 cases I managed to get the caps to detach partially where I had popped the clips out. I then used the wooded shaft of a hammer to "gently" pop them out.

Its also a good idea to put a cloth on the floor so when the caps fall out they don't get scratched or damaged.

 

Dental floss.