which bearing? front? I just saw about a week ago a TSB from BMW about replace the bearing proactively when there is an accident involving a wheel; they had some specifics like if the wheel itself is dented (like from hitting another car or curb etc), then likely the bearing race will have been damaged where you won't be able to tell until the car has been driven a few months, but historically if you don't replace the bearing the customer will be back within a year with a bad bearing.

I just started to hear one of my bearings failing, not sure which one yet but it seems like the front right one which i think is the one i replaced on my car, but i used a cheap brand, so I can be a cautionary tale for the rest; add one more thing to the 'use an OEM brand' = wheel bearings.

My wife's car has a very loud wheel bearing but i couldn't tell which one until i switched her car from 255s to 235s and one wheel suddenly far louder than all the rest.

So in my near future: rear wheel bearing for wife, and i think front wheel bearing 'take two' for my car.

I may invent a better solution to pull the hub, as my current method (long 14-1.5 mm bolts through the hub destroys the dust cap which i just consider part of the job; helps me keep track of which bearings i've done also). For the back, slide hammer is great, but i don't like to use a slide hammer on the front lest i kill a ball joint removing the hub.

Anybody got a good way to remove the front hub with force not banging? the problem with gear pulling idea is nothing to push agains besides the axle so the force goes back to the differential through the CV unless there is a way to block the CV from moving at the knuckle.

What i've done on the 3 front bearings i've replaced is to put three long 14mm bolts through the hub back into the knuckle; (through the dust cap); than when the dust cap is bent out of the way i have these 1/4" thick pieces of steel that are shaped like an "L" that happen to fit in between the knuckle and the rotor to reach out to the bolts, stuff those and and tighten the bolts the hub pops right off; the only problem with this method is the destruction of the dust cap, else it's painfully simple so it's a good method.


PS: nice on the tool; I took my c-clip tool and cut little notches on the end so when the jaws are wide open the notch on the ends start parallel so it won't squirt the clip out like a watermelon seed. The first one i just used screws and vice grip pliers.

Now i have a very nice c-clip tool with right-angle bits; they stay parallel no matter what angle the jaw, they also flip from inside to outside with a flip of a lever. Bought specifically for the last bearing job; the right tool makes all the difference.

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2011 E70 • N55 (me)
2012 E70 • N63 (wife)