Howling W.bearing

[Bmwtvboy]

My X has 262K miles on it. 01/3.0. Trans is solid. Noticed a shallow, howling from the right front wheel only on left turns. (Passenger side). Right turns and straight, nothing. My commute, 35,45, 55,45, 35,45. FL is flat and mostly straight, 25 miles each way.
So, how many miles can I get out of this degrading wheel bearing?
What are the most dire consequences as I continue to add miles.
I don't really want to spend much more on it. It has very slight oil pan leak.
Still gets good mpg, and drives nice. Not much highway driving these days.
ABS,DSC Lights been on for years, but there seem to be no braking issues, even under extreme raining condition.
I really need a light pickup truck to haul the motorcycle around in the future.
And the driver seat is shot. It's like sitting on a metal bar along the right side. Ouch.
What say you?
Thanks.

[Overboost]

Originally Posted by Bmwtvboy

My X has 262K miles on it. 01/3.0. Trans is solid. Noticed a shallow, howling from the right front wheel only on left turns. (Passenger side). Right turns and straight, nothing. My commute, 35,45, 55,45, 35,45. FL is flat and mostly straight, 25 miles each way.
So, how many miles can I get out of this degrading wheel bearing?
What are the most dire consequences as I continue to add miles.
I don't really want to spend much more on it. It has very slight oil pan leak.
Still gets good mpg, and drives nice. Not much highway driving these days.
ABS,DSC Lights been on for years, but there seem to be no braking issues, even under extreme raining condition.
I really need a light pickup truck to haul the motorcycle around in the future.
And the driver seat is shot. It's like sitting on a metal bar along the right side. Ouch.
What say you?
Thanks.

If you can put up with the howl you probably have a few more thousand miles before it gets real bad.

You will notice play in the wheel bearing up in the air and on the ground the brake pedal will be lower than normal on the first press but can be pumped back up with 2 or 3 presses. This is the play in the wheel bearing allowing the brake rotor to push back the pads in the caliper.

Best advise is to just fix the problem and replace the bearing, only takes a couple of hours and there are plenty of DIY threads here documenting everything it takes.

I think one of our members Andrew has the front wheel bearing replacement down to 30 minutes in the car.

*EDIT* I did not understand your commute numbers. Are those minutes to cover 25 miles? Everytime I run down i95, I am doing 85 MPH and cars are blowing past me like I am standing still.

[c-bass]

Originally Posted by Bmwtvboy

My X has 262K miles on it. 01/3.0. Trans is solid. Noticed a shallow, howling from the right front wheel only on left turns. (Passenger side). Right turns and straight, nothing. My commute, 35,45, 55,45, 35,45. FL is flat and mostly straight, 25 miles each way.
So, how many miles can I get out of this degrading wheel bearing?
What are the most dire consequences as I continue to add miles.
I don't really want to spend much more on it. It has very slight oil pan leak.
Still gets good mpg, and drives nice. Not much highway driving these days.
ABS,DSC Lights been on for years, but there seem to be no braking issues, even under extreme raining condition.
I really need a light pickup truck to haul the motorcycle around in the future.
And the driver seat is shot. It's like sitting on a metal bar along the right side. Ouch.
What say you?
Thanks.

From personal experience here's my numbers. These were both rear bearings mind you.

I had an e36 convertible that started making bearing noises and I put about 17,000 km on it.

The e83 that just got retired started making bearing noises and I put over 40,000 km on the bearing.

I can tell you there are several stages of bearing howl and vibration.
Whatever you think sounds bad in the first few km pales in comparison to the more advanced levels

Worst case scenario in rear wheel drive is your front wheel comes off. For awd vehicles is the bearing comes apart and you'll be replacing axles, hubs and possibly the steering knuckle but the axles should hold it in place.

[andrewwynn]

I have a customer with bad rear bearing that hasn't gotten louder in 18 months so I didn't change it yet. It's just "white noise" to him.

I had a front bearing go from bad to insane in less than 400 miles it was undrivable. The bearing grease was cooked out by the time I replaced it.

My front left bearing needs replacing but when I changed from my 255 summer size to my 235 winter size tires the load bearing race flipped sides and noise completely gone.

Try the spare tire if you have 255 or wider tire and you can punt the bearing more than likely.

I have at least 4000mi on mine since I put the 235 and stopped the howl in its tracks

[andrewwynn]

Too bad you are half a country away my bearing press tool makes it a cake walk.


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[CapeX5]

Can you post a pic of what tool you are using for the bearing replacement? Thanks!

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

Too bad you are half a country away my bearing press tool makes it a cake walk.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Bmwtvboy]

Numbers represent mph. Sure, I get the same feeling on the I95. Here in FL folks easily speed way beyond their respective driving skills. In this old X , 80 is the perfect sweet spot for that smooth I6. 3K rpm gets me a little more if needed. Strangely, it still drives straight and smooth. German engineering I guess.

[andrewwynn]

Originally Posted by CapeX5

Can you post a pic of what tool you are using for the bearing replacement? Thanks!

Search for subject awr-fix at xo with advanced search. I have step by step photos.

I bought a cheap HF hub tool but it only has 3/4" bolt which is not enough force. I upgraded to 1" bolt that is 3x as strong.

There is one bearing press on Amazon that has a 7/8 bolt and that will do fine for X5 bearings