Wheel Bearing advice

[Brownboy]

Anyone here that's NOT a mechanic by trade ever replace a rear wheel bearing on a 87 325is? Am I crazy for wanting to try? I saw online a tool for around $490 to help pros do it, can I get by with just normal in my garage tools? any advice or tales of woe or success are welcome.

[TECH]

[pogiboy9]

Lol.... Yes u can do it at home. Just be careful with and be clean very clean. Don't use OLD grease etc etc u get the picture

[TECH]

The bearings are a sealed unit, that press out, and press in. You'll need a tool, or be good at using big sockets and a big hammer......and maybe you won't damage the bearing, or hit a thumb.

[KC Ron Carter]

NOT a DIY.

Rear wheel bearings

On removal since it is bearing steel, with "googles" on strike the race with a cold chisel and it will shatter.

For installation BMW recommends three tools,

23 1 300
33 4 080
33 4 020

they pull the bearing in from the inner race.

hand tighten and lower car to floor for final torque, many have pulled them off the stands.

depending on size of nut:
22 mm is 129 to 155 ft lbs
27 mm is 173 to 192 ft lbs

Lug nuts are 66 to 81 ft lbs.

CV to drive flange are 42 to 46 ft lps.
Later,

[detour54]

Originally posted by KC Ron Carter@Feb 7 2004, 07:44 PM
NOT a DIY.

Rear wheel bearings

On removal since it is bearing steel, with "googles" on strike the race with a cold chisel and it will shatter.

For installation BMW recommends three tools,

23 1 300
33 4 080
33 4 020

they pull the bearing in from the inner race.

hand tighten and lower car to floor for final torque, many have pulled them off the stands.

depending on size of nut:
22 mm is 129 to 155 ft lbs
27 mm is 173 to 192 ft lbs

Lug nuts are 66 to 81 ft lbs.

CV to drive flange are 42 to 46 ft lps.
Later,

KC Ron Carter,

How much are the following three tools that BMW recommends:

23 1 300
33 4 080
33 4 020

[jesseboyd]

I am an ametuer mechanic so when I successfully installed a differential I was enboldened to replace the loud roaring rear wheel bearing.

This job has now taken me two days of serious frustration and I am sitting here with my car on jacks and a brand new and now broken wheel bearing. If you have a job, I definately recommend leaving this to the pro's, but since I'm outa work I plod on.

Getting the bearing out with a puller and large socket was not super difficult. As the manual said the inner race was stuck on the hub. Hmmm walked over to my local gas station and mechanic cut it off for $10 cash, seemed like a good deal and the small cut in the hub shouldn't cause much harm since it fits tight with the new race.

Pounding the new bearing in with a hammer was my first huge dissapointment. The races seem to fly right off with little effort and putting them back on took hours of frustration and left my bearing in a condition that I feel obligated to start with a new bearing. Loss $45 and 6 frustrating hours. Oh yeah and now I have to get the new inner race cut off the hub again, another $10.

Today I called for quotes to have this done and it looks like I can get the job done for $225 since my half axel is already out etc. Great deal in hindsight but I am out of work and now its personal.

I have turned to the internet and looked at the tools the pro's use for this job. Does anyone know of a good honest repair manual?? Haynes makes this job look easy and has no mention of special tools needed or obstacles!!!

Looking at the $250 dollar bmw part needed for this job I realized that I might be able to make the same thing with a heavy duty long bolt, nut and large heavy washers from a hardware store.

The bolt will hold the bearing together when you "gently" pound it in. This is very important to keep the bearing intact because it seems to want to fall apart. Attempts to get it back together leave the bearing in a condition that might be worse than the burned out bearing.

Using this same bolt I plan to pull the hub on by tightening the nut of my "special tool". There will be a heavy washer holding the back of the bearing together and the other end of this bolt will have a heavy washer pulling the hub in. This should bring the hub in striaght and smoothly as oppossed to my maniacle pounding with a hammer.

Will I waste another $45 and hours of suffering before accepting defeat and going to the mechanic? I will let you know if my new tool works and draw a diagram to help all my comrads with tight bank accounts.

Or I will say don't try this job yourself unless you love punishment. ghead

[325iconverted]

Ugh...

Good Luck! Hope this is not a dumb question...

I am about to replace the left front wheel bearing on my 87 325ic. I've read the manual over several times and it doesn't seem to be as difficult as this rear wheel bearing replacement described above...is that just because of the axle?

According to Bentley, I should be able to do front bearing hub assembly with a chisel (to break the axle collar nut), a puller (this thin flat tool about 10 inches long with a hooked tip on one end), a mallet, a torque wremch, and a hammer. Basically break the collar nut, pull out the bearing and inner race, and an inner and outer dust cap and replace with sealant.

I am about to attempt this repair...I'm sure in won't be as easy as I made it sound but if anybody knows of anything that might really screw me up I'd love to know before I start!

Thanks!

ps -- other than the loud noise that the worn bearing makes, what other performance, safety, or maintenance-related issues can a worn bearing cause?

[Galford]

If you insist on doing this your self and are not an experieced mechanic I would highly suggest you by the tool needed to do the replacement. The best price for the kit I could find was $229.00 and can be purchased here: (I have no affiliation with this site, just the best place I could find)
Ebay Store BMW Bearing Replacement Tool
I had a buddy of mine help me with mine recently with out this proper tool and let me tell you it was no small feat (he is a full time mechanic) and I still ended up purchaseing a custom tool to seat the hub into the new bearing. We needed several larger sockets to pound out the old bearing from the back side of the hub.

One trick that he used which might be helpful to you is to put the new bearing in the freezer overnight and then try pressing the new bearing in. (shrinks the bearing enough to make it easier to insert) we then used the old bearing we pounded out to seat the new one in. This way we didn't damage the new bearing.

Other than that I wish you good Luck!

Oh by the way - as for the front wheel bearing (from what I understand) they recommend you replace the whole unit and not just the bearing from the front wheel assembly.

As for the manual - toss that POS Haynes manual and get yourself a Bently Repair manual - one of the best investments you will ever make.

[T.Dot_E30]

the front wheel bearing is easy to do, i recently did mine. All you need is a pretty big socket, i can't remember what size, i remember the 34mm i has was too thick, i borrowed one from a friend.