Front Wheel Bearing R&R

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by davintosh

Great work; keep up the updates! (pics would be nice too. )

FYI: Pawn shops are also a great place to pick up oddball tools. I frequent a couple of shops near me and snag decent looking wrenches when I see them. They are usually just tossed in a bin marked $1 each. The e28 and e32 require a special tool to get at one of the nuts on the upper control arm; I bought a 1 1/8" combination wrench and modified it slightly with a grinder to fit the application. Best $1 spent ever.

Pawn shop = Dollar store for grownups

Planning on doing a pictorial step by step when I do the other side, I figure the first side is going to take me the longest and as I am finding the techniques that are working for me it will be much easier to take pictures then

[Ricky Bobby]

Weekend update:

As expected, when pressing out the right side wheel bearing from the carrier, the cheap steel fine threaded 3/4" x 7" bolt that comes in the harbor freight kit stripped out. Yes I did grease the threads with heavy duty grease I use on my Scag.

A trip to Home Depot surprisingly fixed the problem, I picked up 2 spare zinc coated coarse thread 3/4" x 7" bolts, a pack of 3/4" lock washers, 3/4" nuts and 3/4" washers that were a bit wider that the gold ones in the harbor freight kit. I assembled and greased with a lock washer and regular washer on each side, and got to cranking with my 1 1/8" box wrench and same sized socket on the other side, the bearing is in there fairly stout but it came out with a few mins of turning the wrench, no issues there.

Cleaned the hub bore well and made sure it was spotless, pressed the new bearing in place, and pulled the hub in making sure my disc on the backside was in perfect position to only contact the inner race when drawing in the hub. Replaced dust shield before drawing in the hub as well. No issues with reinstall, spun the new hub/bearing assembly, quiet and tight as can be!


Now my last issue, replacing the outer axle boot. I don't know how guys pop that joint off against the C clip, its really on there. I tried the old DIY way, where you angle the joint and hammer against it with a mini sledge (i had a 3 lb drilling hammer), isn't coming off for shit.

Then I tried the vice grips on the shaft and prying against it, no dice.


I'm most likely going to get a few spare inner boot clamps from the dealer and just do the inner boot method, seems much easier as that joint is held with a circlip and not a pressure clip. I read on an earlier thread that there are usually issues with the total inner boot replacement so I will reuse inner boots as they have no wear anyway, and are a "stouter" rubber/plastic than the outer boot. Just need new clamps and some extra grease. I would have had the entire right side finished yesterday but the outer axle boot gave me trouble, and I wouldn't have touched them for replacement but there were cracks inside the folds, last thing I want to do is open this car up again for a while!

[Ricky Bobby]

Welp, I finally got the right side done.

Amazing. Since I bought this car I never knew it could be this quiet. I got up to 40 mph and heard nothing, went on the highway and got up to 85, heard nothing.

The right side was my major problem, I'm going to do the left side too since I bought the parts anyway, but 90% of my problems are gone.

I still have a slight shimmy I can feel from under the car, but my steering wheel doesn't shake at all? Wheels are balanced perfect, just got roadforced. I am in need of an alignment but not sure if that would cause it. Its a shimmy you can feel, like if I'm on the highway and press my hand onto the passenger seat I can feel shaking, whereas before doing the right side wheel bearing you literally could see the passenger seat shaking, vibrating, etc, now you have to put your hand on the seat to feel it.

Maybe doing the left side will cure the rest of my problem?

Front suspension is entirely new, except for tie rods. Would those induce a shimmy? Otherwise, I'm at a loss except suspecting a worn caliper. I had a brake/clutch flush a year ago but not sure what the previous owners did, if it was ever flushed at all.

Feel free to chime in, like I said who knows, I only have 50% of my job done so by doing the other side I may cure it after all.

[X5SND]

Do you feel the shimmy by your feet? Does it go away/get worse/remain constant (intensity) under braking. I'm skeptical it would be the corrosion on the caliper piston before say a sticking caliper causing uneven pad wear/transfer to the rotor. How are u suspension wise in the rear? If your shimmy is coming through the seat bottom not the wheel or pedals, I'd start looking into the rear.

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by X5SND

Do you feel the shimmy by your feet? Does it go away/get worse/remain constant (intensity) under braking. I'm skeptical it would be the corrosion on the caliper piston before say a sticking caliper causing uneven pad wear/transfer to the rotor. How are u suspension wise in the rear? If your shimmy is coming through the seat bottom not the wheel or pedals, I'd start looking into the rear.

I'm skeptical of the caliper too now that I mention it, since the brakes were flushed, my rotor and wheel don't get excessively hot either. I guess I'll paint the calipers after all!

Braking doesn't affect the shimmy/vibrations at all, I had that before redoing the front end, but no more. You're right it does come more through the floor than anything, like I said I can feel the slight shakes in the passenger seat being transferred through if I'm putting my hand on it.

Unaffected by speed, maybe a tiny bit worse on highway but that just could be since I'm going faster.

Tie rods are the only thing left original on the front end (besides the left side wheel bearing), rear is original as far as I know, mechanic said when I did my front suspension parts that the rear parts looked good and tight but when I change my hub rings in the rear (aluminum instead of plastic) I'll give the wheel a tug. Could my need for an alignment cause the slight shakes? Or tie rods? Or the left bearing on the front which isn't making noises like the right but may have some wear anyway?

I'm hoping to put off redoing the rear suspension parts for another year or so if possible. Might do Dave's subframe bushing tool rental and get those out of the way first since those are easy and cheap.

I'm ok with the way it is, steering wheel doesn't shake so I'm happy with that, its just very slight, even my wife said its barely noticeable. I can live with it for a while until I start tackling the rear, just was wondering opinions on if it could be caused by the following outstanding items:

1) Left front wheel bearing (original and not making noise, but not fresh like the front right bearing)
2) Tie rods in front (last remaining original front suspension item)
3) Much needed 4 wheel alignment (could I be getting vibes from camber/toe being out of wack, I never got alignment after front suspension because I found out I needed to do my front bearings and didn't want to align twice)

[davintosh]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

Welp, I finally got the right side done.

Amazing. Since I bought this car I never knew it could be this quiet. I got up to 40 mph and heard nothing, went on the highway and got up to 85, heard nothing.

The right side was my major problem, I'm going to do the left side too since I bought the parts anyway, but 90% of my problems are gone.

That's great news! Congrats on finishing!

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

I still have a slight shimmy I can feel from under the car, but my steering wheel doesn't shake at all? Wheels are balanced perfect, just got roadforced. I am in need of an alignment but not sure if that would cause it. Its a shimmy you can feel, like if I'm on the highway and press my hand onto the passenger seat I can feel shaking, whereas before doing the right side wheel bearing you literally could see the passenger seat shaking, vibrating, etc, now you have to put your hand on the seat to feel it.

Maybe doing the left side will cure the rest of my problem?

Front suspension is entirely new, except for tie rods. Would those induce a shimmy? Otherwise, I'm at a loss except suspecting a worn caliper. I had a brake/clutch flush a year ago but not sure what the previous owners did, if it was ever flushed at all.

Feel free to chime in, like I said who knows, I only have 50% of my job done so by doing the other side I may cure it after all.

Does the shimmy change/come/go at different speeds? Just at highway speeds?

[Robert Platt Bell]

I replaced both wheel bearings recently and took the hubs to the local machine shop to have the bearings pressed in. I even printed out and brought the instructions (from BMW) for the technician. An hour and $20 later, the new bearings are pressed in.

But I think he Brinneled one of the bearings, as it failed within about 100 miles (the steering went funky and the wheel itself had play in it. You could grab the tire and move the wheel from side to side by 1/2" or more).

This time around, I just bought an entire spindle assembly off a junked X5 and bolted it on. It took about a half-hour and was a lot easier (and cheaper) than replacing the bearing itself.

The bearings on these cars seem to last a good long time - 150,000 miles or more.

It is not easy to press the bearings in, as the housing has an odd shape, and working around the dust shield isn't easy either. I ended up cutting the thin part of the dust shield so it could be removed and reinstalled without taking the hub off the spindle (crazy design, but BMW must have had their reasons).


Wheel shimmy is a heartbreaking problem. I had the infamous E36 shimmy problem and I rebuilt the entire front end, even a new rack and pinion. It still came on, at about 60 mph.

Turns out the tires (Michelin MXV) were about 8 years old, and even though they had lots of tread, they had dry rotted and were hard as a rock. I swapped the tires with my other E36 (which were new) and the problem mysteriously transferred to the other car.

P.S. - I notice that the new X5s (E70) have integrated hub assemblies. The hub and bearing are one piece and it simply bolts onto the spindle with four bolts. Anyone can swap these out with your basic Craftsman socket set - no special tools needed, other than the axle socket. I used to make these types of assemblies at New-Departure Hyatt Bearings, back in the early 1980's, for the GM B and C cars. The E70 bearings look suspiciously similar. After finding Delphi struts on the front of my car, nothing would surprise me, though.

[X5SND]

I would think that if your alignment was that off or tierods that worn, you would definitely notice some drivability issues --- wandering, in-precise steering and the need for constant correction; this on top of the usual tire wear that would be associated with alignment. I still can't believe at 66k your wheel bearing was toast....I'm at about 115k (187k km) and mine are still silent.

When you got your wheels RF balanced, did you get the results? I know with mine, while one was a marginal pass, it was still out enough that would have been felt on the roadster speed.

So to get to your list....
1) doubtful, wheel bearings generally make noise when worn.
2) again, doubtful, you would notice your x wandering around with loose tierods.
3) Maybe, but unlikely. The first sign of this causing any sort of issue would be evident on the tire (cupping or uneven tread wear). As with #2 though, if it was that far out, you would/should be able to discern something is out driving around.

I stand by my opinion that since the wheel is not translating any of the vibe, that your issue is not in the front but elsewhere...but I'm not expert! Lol.

[Ricky Bobby]

Originally Posted by X5SND

I would think that if your alignment was that off or tierods that worn, you would definitely notice some drivability issues --- wandering, in-precise steering and the need for constant correction; this on top of the usual tire wear that would be associated with alignment. I still can't believe at 66k your wheel bearing was toast....I'm at about 115k (187k km) and mine are still silent.

When you got your wheels RF balanced, did you get the results? I know with mine, while one was a marginal pass, it was still out enough that would have been felt on the roadster speed.

So to get to your list....
1) doubtful, wheel bearings generally make noise when worn.
2) again, doubtful, you would notice your x wandering around with loose tierods.
3) Maybe, but unlikely. The first sign of this causing any sort of issue would be evident on the tire (cupping or uneven tread wear). As with #2 though, if it was that far out, you would/should be able to discern something is out driving around.

I stand by my opinion that since the wheel is not translating any of the vibe, that your issue is not in the front but elsewhere...but I'm not expert! Lol.

Yes you are the expert Spencer since you just did your rear end suspension!

Thanks for the inputs, yes at my mileage I'm not feeling the looseness that loose tie rods would give, the X doesn't wander much or need constant correction either. I put on my 168s with Proxes STII's in July of last year and probably put about 2k on them max, shortly after I got my wheels I redid the front suspension, and since I needed to do my wheel bearing I didn't get aligned after that, and basically parked the car until I did my bearing so I wouldn't wear the still basically new tires unevenly.

And I know you have almost double the mileage I do, but you wouldn't believe it unless you drove this car a week ago and drove it last night with silence! The vibes and the wum-wum-wum sound as soon as I hit 40 mph and continued no matter how fast above I went, was ridiculous! Made the car undrivable.

I assume the right front bearing went bad before I bought the car, when the air struts were old (before I replaced with Arnotts) and the previous owner drove over a nasty pothole or something when the front was "slammed" and maybe gave excessive wear to that side and I really didn't notice when I first bought it but over the last year WOW did it get loud. Only reason I can tell for 100% certainty that 95% of my vibes/humming noises came from 1 wheel bearing, right front. And yes, still at 69k miles as of today!



I'm assuming some rear end suspension parts are showing signs of wear, bushings deteriorating, etc, as my whole front suspension parts replacement made the car completely different than it was when I bought in Dec. 2011. Worn subframe bushings transfer vibes at all?

EDIT: S, Sorry but after a highway drive this AM I will say that my vibrations also get transferred into the steering wheel, although not terrible, it is noticed. Since the vibes are noticeably reduced from replacing my right front wheel bearing, I am doing the left front for good measure, as I suspect the left one is not far behind, and these vibes I'm feeling from a bearing that has play in it will eventually turn into a roar like the right side had.

My buddy who balanced my wheels and is Master tech at Lexus said he would recheck the wheels for me if I wanted him too but they all checked out and balanced out fine. I will shake the tires tonight as I need to put the other 3 metal hub rings on my wheels anyway, just check for play in the rears, and look for play on left bearing in front.

He also told me vibes I'm feeling might be slight but if there is play in the existing original bearing in the front that its possible that would transfer the vibes in the drivetrain, and since the right front side is tight it is making the left side having slight looseness more apparent. He said bearings go over time so I might drive with slight vibrations now but in a few months it might end up making ridiculous noise like the right one did.


Thoughts?

[X5SND]

Bummer! If you're gettin wheel shakes, that's definitive of something a miss in the front for sure! I suppose that the optimistic way to look at it is that hopefully it'll be one of those 2 birds, 1 stone deals--- Both wheel bearings will have been changed, and *hopefully* resolve all your vibration issues as well! Personally when it comes to things suspension/drive line related I like to do both sides; so I'd probably do the other bearing for 2 reasons...1) you already did the right side, 2) Given the state of the one you already did, this one may not be far behind....especially if the symptoms you remedied on the right are now present on the left. I know you're a busy man, but its a job that could be easily knocked off on a nice weekend...t'is the season

As far as the bushings for the rear....I was actually surprised at my rear subframe bushings (and LCA bushings as well actually) when we pulled them out. They weren't that bad -- still intact; no where near what some of the nightmare pics on this site show. That being said however, you could tell right away that while there wasn't any visible catastrophic failure, the rubber had become ROCK hard over the years. Within the first couple seconds of getting on the road you could immediately tell the difference. There was much less road vibration/noise transferred to the cabin than before....brought the 'luxury' back to the ride if you will.