A defective front wheel bearing can be felt by hand. Jack the tire off the ground and then w/o a great deal force rock the wheel L and R and then Up and Down.
If the bearing is defective you will be able to feel some play that is not the suspension. We are talking in thousandths of an inch play.
Generally wheel bearing play can be discerned from loose suspension components.
Well, it's like this, when I have replaced wheel bearings on lesser vehicles like Toyota trucks and VWs, the bearings I am removing are completely shot; with lots of play and very evident defect.
Whereas the OEM-F.A.G. bearing assemblies I took off my 528i had no noticeable play, and were not making a lot of grinding or rough noises when rotated by hand on jack-stands. The only inspection difference (while up on jack-stands) between the old and the new was that the new ones SPIN better, with completely silent smooth rotation. But the old ones seemed fine...just with a lower standard of judgment...a trifle less smooth, with a little more resistance. HOWEVER, Now, with the new bearings in, there is just a lot less low-roar rumble on good roads. Less taxiing-down-the-runway sound, and better overall smoothness.
Zeckhausen addresses this pretty accurately here: http://www.zeckhausen.com/e39_bearings.htm
Not a huge deal, if cost is the issue and you want to save it for another time...
Go ahead and do the front wheel bearings. For the minimal extra parts cost, you might as well do it, you will have everything apart anyway. Sure, they may go longer, but why pay the extra labor later, when it is essentially "free" while you have it apart now?
2000 - E39 530 diesel auto on 18" low profile wheels & tyres I need to change/replace the shocks and springs on the front suspension. Any clues or advice you can give me on what I should or should not do will be greatly appreciated.
Has everyone stayed with OE strut top seat and bearings? I've struggled with clunking eminating from the top of the strut assembly using Bilstein HDs. I am thinking that the OE top seat/bearing is too soft to handle the stiffer Bilstein HDs, let alone the Sports.
Any thoughts? Michel and I have been going back on forth on this for awhile.
And does anyone know of a alternative strut top bearing assembly to the BMW OE?
Thanks,
Chris L
Is there a list of what components should be switched out when doing the front struts and rear shocks? I'm most likely going to replace my OEM with Bilstein HD in the next month, but I'm have a shop do it. I want to buy the parts before hand though, and bring it to them. I want to do the front too, but that will have to wait.
I don't want to just slam the new shocks/struts in...I want to replace all the associated mounts/bushings/whatever at the same time.
Tire Rack sells those parts or any of the BMW parts suppliers like Bavauto. You definity want to replace all the items.
I would put the fronts on first. They have a large influence on how the car handles, much more than the rears. Fronts only is better than rears only while you are waiting to do the other two.
I did fronts only for a while and it felt like I didn't even have to change the rears. I did them later and could easily feel it but it didn't have as much affect as the fronts. I would be concerned that rears only will give you some unwanted handling characteristics.
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