Wheel Bearings (how hard to replace?)

[Vanne]

Hi, considering on changing all 4 wheel bearings in my mcoupe. How hard is this? Can I do this without specialised equipment?

Any one point me to a DIY?

I've done it before on a Nissan patrol, but never on a bimmer...

Oh and can someone link me to the best value oem set of wheel bearings. Or is there a much more liked aftermarket set that I should be looking at?
Cheers

[jdoublehcubed]

Subscribed to find out the answer.

Wheel bearings are wheel bearings, I've never had any negative consequences from finding the cheapest supplier.

[rsutoratosu]

does't look too hard right ? I thought they had to be pressed into the hub ?

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...40&hg=33&fg=40

[Jroc]

Originally Posted by rsutoratosu

does't look too hard right ? I thought they had to be pressed into the hub ?

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...40&hg=33&fg=40

Some cars are hard, some are easy, sometimes the fronts are easy and the rears are hard. Havent seen anyone talk about the job on the z4m.

The rears of my E39M were brutal, and the fronts took 30min.

[jdoublehcubed]

My experience is that getting the actual bearing in and out is easy, the question is how much work it takes to get to that point.

I've only done wheel bearings on FWD cars, usually the rears are <30 min and the fronts are a huge PITA that involves completely removing the knuckle from the car.

[CJW2OO4]

I have recently done all four. The rears are a bitch. You need a large bearing puller seperator. Make sure you have the right size socket. My girlfriends Dad helped me do the bearings. You may also want to have a torch to heat up the bearings so that you can remove them. Its a frustrating job. The fronts were easy though.

[Vanne]

Damm, that sounds hard.. And I don't have a bearing puller... How long did it take to do the rears?

[CJW2OO4]

You could do all four in about 6-8 hours depending how quick you work and how baked on the parts are. For me it took a couple of days because I didnt have the necessary tools and was illprepared and spent time driving around and buying everything. There are a number of videos of the job being done with a few of the best videos being the ones involving E46s.

[Geauxkart]

Do you have a press available? I have watched numerous people replace wheel bearings with improper methods. When this happens, they fail quite quickly. If you don't have the tools or knowledge on proper bearing install, take it to someone that does. I work for the largest bearing distributor in the US if it adds any credibility...

[jdoublehcubed]

Originally Posted by CJW2OO4

You could do all four in about 6-8 hours depending how quick you work and how baked on the parts are. For me it took a couple of days because I didnt have the necessary tools and was illprepared and spent time driving around and buying everything. There are a number of videos of the job being done with a few of the best videos being the ones involving E46s.

I feel your pain there. Feels like every project I did on my Audi TT was an exercise in finding new and exotic tools to buy.

[Vanne]

Cjw2004, do you think you could do a DIY write up? Or just put some general tips and do nots together? The day is looming closer and closer that I have to do mine. I just got quoted 1500us from my indi, and well that's steep.

[seank]

Originally Posted by CJW2OO4

I have recently done all four. The rears are a bitch. You need a large bearing puller seperator. Make sure you have the right size socket. My girlfriends Dad helped me do the bearings. You may also want to have a torch to heat up the bearings so that you can remove them. Its a frustrating job. The fronts were easy though.

Whs. Fronts not too bad. Rears will make you wish you paid someone else.

[bignosejim]

Here are some pics from when I had to replace a front hub due to trashing some hub threads.

[Vanne]

Thanks Bignose, the front looks do-able, but how would one get that bearing case outa the hub? Is that a big drama or would it slide out piss easy like?
(I bet the answer is no no NO)???

[bignosejim]

The inner bearing race came out pretty easy with the puller once everything is lined up straight. Mine came out with almost no effort at all. I did have to put a small socket extension in the middle of the hub to give the puller something to pull against.

I just did that one on the front. I don't have any experience with the rear bearings.

[BMW Maniac]

Fronts are actually pretty simple....rears are and have always been a bitch on BMWs

[Vanne]

Ok, I just got a revised quote for just doing the rears. It's 350us dollars.. Including parts and labour., Recon I may get them to do the rears for that.. Whada u guys think? And then tackle the fronts myself if required...

Just to recap, they wanted 1500us to do all 4, but only 350us to do the rears.., recon they have that the wrong way round???

[BMW Maniac]

$350 for parts and labor for both rears is what I would consider not only fair, but, having done it on other cars, well worth it! If you want to tackle it, fine, but make sure you have the right tools!

Fronts are easiest by far. If you can knock out the rears, then you'll have no problem doing the fronts.

Rear wheel bearings are even worse on older cars too....may not be so bad on the Z4 though since I don't think rust has set in yet. I also don't think you need to worry about your wheel bearings unless you are above 120k miles

[Vanne]

Yep, coming up to around 190k kilometres on my M. I may just swap out the rear wheels to confirm the noise isn't coming from them, but yeah I'd recon it's the rear (??) wheel bearings...

[CJW2OO4]

350 for parts and labor is a steal for the rear. Go ahead and do it.

[RADRACR]

Is it safe to say that rear bearings wear out much slower than fronts due to the stress of turning the car or am I off base?

[Vanne]

Not sure, but I'd like to know as wel if the fronts or rears should wear out quicker? Anyone with any insight??