Do all wheel bearings on the front have to have a spring clip?

[dy8tes]

I hit a deer a month ago and went in and out of a ditch on the right side of the road. The deer did some body damage (around $6000.00) I experienced sensor issues that day. ABS, 4x4, DSC, I took to a local body shop for repairs and they could not reset the sensors and still waiting on the insurance adjuster to do his job. The same alarms keep coming up on the dash. They now have the X5 at a BMW Dealership. The dealership now is saying the alarms are being caused because of the right front wheel bearing and for some reason the bearing didn't have a spring clip and that was causing the issues. I had no issues prior to this involvement with the deer. Just worried that I am getting taken for a ride on the wheel bearing issue and it might not be covered by the insurance. Do all wheel bearings on the front have to have a spring clip?

Thanks
Don

[TerminatorX5]

the trifeca lights after the impact would point to a wheel sensor... If the wheel sensor is good, then the notches on the wheel bearing/shaft may be damaged. Presense or absense of the clip would have affected the drivability of the car but less likely the speed readings - the incorrect speed readings (or no reading at all) gives you the 4x4 ABS, DSC lights...

Could the spring clip be damaged destroyed during the impact???

[dy8tes]

I was wondering if the possibility of the clip being destroyed on impact with the ditch. I am trying to look at this from all angles. They are supposedly replacing the hub and the bearing as we speak. It's a little nerve racking. I appreciate your quick response.

Thank You
Don

[TerminatorX5]

Just a thought:

if the insurance is claiming that the spring clip was gone prior to incident, then they can deny the spring claim.

but, in my opinion, they need to prove that the car was drivable prior to incident with missing spring,

and besides, that would mean that the warning lights were on all along and you ignored them, so the dealer should be able to show that the warning lights were on prior to the incident, as the computer lodging the errors in its memory.

if the memory was clean prior to the accident, then i don't see how they can prove that the spring was gone prior to the incident, as the absense of the spring clearly sets off the warning lights...

run this by the adjuster, if s/he tries to pull a fast one over you...

[TwinsPoppa]

Originally Posted by dy8tes

I was wondering if the possibility of the clip being destroyed on impact with the ditch. I am trying to look at this from all angles. They are supposedly replacing the hub and the bearing as we speak. It's a little nerve racking. I appreciate your quick response.

Thank You
Don

Someone here had those lights come on after simply replacing the front right wheel bearing. He happened to install the wheel bearing backwards.

Apparently the wheel sensor can only read from one side of the bearing. He flipped it and no more lights.

He did not mention anything about a clip and I'm not familair enough with the bearing to say if that is your problem or not.

[Ricky Bobby]

there is a spring clip that installs in a channel of the steering knuckle to keep the front wheel bearing in place and it is required. You press the wheel bearing in the knuckle, reinstall the spring clip, then press the hub back into the bearing/knuckle assembly. if the dealership is replacing your hub/bearing as we speak, they also should be replacing the clip with a new one (they are like 3 bucks)


I only know this because I have researched the removal and reinstall of our front bearings as I am preparing to do mine soon.

[dy8tes]

Thanks for the feedback everyone

Terminator X5 Thanks and I will do that. I know the body shop has told me they tried to clear the readings and when they started driving the car the warning lights came back on. They said when they started the car it had no readings on the dash and then boom they came back when they started driving it. I have a funny feeling this is going to get interesting.