Another general tip that I always try to remember when the words hammer and bearing are used in the same sentence is to act as if the bearings themselves (the 6 balls in this case) are made of glass.

You never want to put any impact through those balls. No, they won't shatter like glass, but they may damage the balls or the races, perhaps invisibly, perhaps leading to bearing destruction down the road.

This goes for all bearings. I was just helping a neighbor the other day diagnose a problem he was having that seemed to be CV related. But he said he had his mechanic replace the CV axle assembly just a year ago. Turns out it was a wheel bearing on that side, at a pretty low ~100k mileage. Can't prove anything, but my guess is that the wheel bearing was damaged from a little too much hammering in the wrong parts of the joint when removing it.

And yes, I'm sure many professional mechanics will say this is nuts, and love their 3-lb mini-sledges for all kinds of suspension and CV work. Gets the job done quickly and they're onto the next one. And they love replacing parts down the road too.

I work on all my own cars, keep them for a long time, and have never replaced a wheel bearing in 3 decades and counting. And have only replaced CV joints on my old VW Vanagon (sadly sold that one). Many bearings last forever if properly treated.

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2001 X5 3.0i, 203k miles, AT, owned since 2014