1998 528i FRONT Bearing the Easy Way (45 min to 60 min each side)!

[Black540Msport]

Im sure the angle grinder would have been faster yes, but I didn't have one of those on hand.

It was really very simple to do this. I'd imagine it was just as easy as with the wrench that champaign777 made. I however don't know where my welder is at... so like I said, I improvised a tool after staring at that damn bolt for about 15 minutes. It took me a lot longer than an hour to do this simply because I had to remove everything by hand, no pneumatic tools or anything, and those bolts were a pain to get out after 11 years of being nicely rusted in place. Oh, I did snap an extension. I guess I don't know my own strength sometimes. haha

EDIT: Oops didn't respond to your specific question. Yes it was very easy without undoing the strut with this handy dandy little socket I made.

[absolutegtr]

Just bought one wheel bearing off the stockwiseauto.com website! thanks OP!!

Oh and for others use coupon code "summerwise" for 10% off....so total was $84.77 with free shipping :-)

Now just to figure out what side is the one making the bad sound....anyone?

[bimmerfiver]

Been telling e39er's for years the Timken box will be filled with FAG or SKF.
Ordered my Timkens.
FAG were in the box.
Air tools, 12" extension, universal joint.
Took 30 minutes per side.
My bearings had 95K miles on them.
Results: smoother, quieter up front with less tramline. When you go over a bump or pothole, car maintains track better.
I still have my high speed vibration.
Believe it's due to the remanufactured driveshaft.
Hate to consider installing a new/OEM version.
Might buy one from Bavarian Recycling and rebuild it myself, then take it to a chi-chi balancer and be done with it.
Happy to have done front wheel bearings which were done at 55K miles...way back when.

[absolutegtr]

Just received my timken wheel bearing. Took all of 2 days to get here. +1 to stockwise auto!

It is a real nice piece and YES it does indeed have FAG stamped on it.

[E39ClUbEdItIoN]

Thanks much cnn; great write up! I have 1998 528i with stock suspension. Thankfully for champaign777's offset wrench idea I was able to complete both bearings in about 2 hours. Bought $20 angle grinder at harbor freight and grinded down 18mm offset for about five minutes-really doesn't need much shaving to fit. It ended up that I had to use this tool not only on "troublemaker" bolt but the one above it as well. Luckily a short 18mm socket just barley fits in that top bolt in order to loosen and tighten better with breaker bar. For the rest of the bolt though there was no other way to fit a socket past the strut besides the modified wrench.

Thanks again-ride feels great!

[absolutegtr]

/\ Where those four bolts (the ones holding in the bearing)....where they STUPID tight even after you broken them loose?? It seemed as though they got even tighter as I went along, even after cleaning off the threads

[E39ClUbEdItIoN]

Yes all four were very tight throughout the loosening/tightening process even with a few oil drops (which I'm sure helped) -I definitely recommend gloves and breaker bar; even a torch to help loosen loctite.

[cnn]

Yes all four were very tight throughout the loosening/tightening process even with a few oil drops (which I'm sure helped) -I definitely recommend gloves and breaker bar; even a torch to help loosen loctite.

The bolts are tight to remove because of the factory Loctite.
This is why I mentioned in the DIY to add a couple drops of oil on the end of the bolts.

Also the 3/8" 17-inch breaker bar makes life 100 times easier.
If you don't have a breaker bar then get a 24-inch pipe, the 1" pipe used for natural gas piping at home, a couple bucks at Honde Depot. Use this pipe over a ratchet.

[scrat//e36]

Been there done that. Except getting those 4 bolts is not as easy as it sounds. Instead of making a special socket. I just went to my local auto parts store. Paid $50 for a loaner tool strut compressor. Went home un bolted the two bolts on the side of the strut. Then compressed the springs all the way. then undid the 3 nuts in the top of the struts. then pulled out the strut. Pulling the strut out took about 20 minutes. however once they were out i was able to put on the right socket and use a 1/2 breaker bar. then those 4 bolts came out easy then put the new bearing back in and rebolted it back up.

[cnn]

Been there done that. Except getting those 4 bolts is not as easy as it sounds.

Actually the whole idea about this thread is that: Re-use the 4 bolts.

By re-using the 4 bolts, there is:
- no need to compress the spring and move the strut
- no need for alignment

[bimmerfiver]

Been there done that. Except getting those 4 bolts is not as easy as it sounds. Instead of making a special socket. I just went to my local auto parts store. Paid $50 for a loaner tool strut compressor. Went home un bolted the two bolts on the side of the strut. Then compressed the springs all the way. then undid the 3 nuts in the top of the struts. then pulled out the strut. Pulling the strut out took about 20 minutes. however once they were out i was able to put on the right socket and use a 1/2 breaker bar. then those 4 bolts came out easy then put the new bearing back in and rebolted it back up.

No offense to you personally, but what you did was about the dumbest thing I have read in this Forum in a long, long time. I suggest you actually delete your post so as not to make anyone ever, ever, ever even consider what you did.

Getting to those 4 bolts IS that easy. Worst case scenario you simply LOOSEN the strut pinch bolt...pull the spindle DOWN ONE INCH and access all 4 bolts. But to REMOVE struts for front wheel bearings on an e39? Holy Batman on a jetski.

You missed the ENTIRE point of this thread.

I've done my front wheel bearings, twice.
Did a friend's, once.
Pulled the spindle down twice.
Used a universal joint...snaked a socket in there (by moving the steering wheel hard one way or hard the other way) and never had to even touch the spindle.

[old528]

I just replaced my front wheel bearings and this thread was very helpful, plus it saved me over a hundred bucks by buying the Timken bearings as opposed to other quality bearings. One thing I learned was if you have an E39 528i with stock struts, forget about the idea of grinding down a socket. It flat out doesn't work. I ground mine down to where it was virtually unusable and it still wouldn't fit. Now I need a new socket. I then went to Harbor Freight and picked up the recommended offset wrenches and that did the trick. Removing the bolts was a pain, just like it was for everyone else, but putting them back on was a breeze for me. I was able to put them in using my fingers right up to the last turn.

[singer4ad]

I found this thread looking for something that would tell me how to change the front wheel bearing on a 1989 325 iX all wheel drive. The clarity of the pictures and explanation are terrific. They have givin me a lot of insight to my problem even though I have half axles that go through the bearing. Thanks.

[cnn]

I found this thread looking for something that would tell me how to change the front wheel bearing on a 1989 325 iX all wheel drive. The clarity of the pictures and explanation are terrific. They have givin me a lot of insight to my problem even though I have half axles that go through the bearing. Thanks.

Actually, if you need info on the Front Bearing of the 1989 325 iX model, then another useful thread is here. This shows you how to handle an half-shaft axle nut etc.:


DIY: 1998 528i REAR Bearing the Easy Way!
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1710418

[StevieV22]

Just got this done and this thread helped a lot.
I used champaign777's method and only took a few minutes on the grinder and it worked great. However I ran into a situation where there was not enough room for the bold to unscrew. It would touch against the strut before being completely unscrewed..
I had no choice but to remove the pinch bolt and slightly raise the strut to have access to the bolt. I just didn't see any other way of doing this.
Better explanation here with pics.
http://www.bmwtips.com/tipsntricks/t...20bearings.htm
Thanks

[riverjamie]

cnn, Frist this write up great and I also read the one on the rear wheel bearing removal also first class. Thank you for posting this info for all to share. Now, I'm getting ready to install new Timken's in the front. Just wanted to ask you about the bolts. Are you still reusing the bolts that were removed? Or did you have any problems afterwards with them loosening or cracking? Just wanted to check. I have a 2000 E39.

Thanks

[StevieV22]

Reusing the bolts vs replacing has come up many times in here. I feel like its a personal choice.
I chose to to keep mine after speaking with some BMW techs and have had no issues.

Sent from a Pay Phone.

[riverjamie]

If you use a Air Ratchet on the 4 bolts, after loosening with breaker bar, does it cause any damage to the ABS sensor? Or is it best to just do manually?

[cnn]

If you use a Air Ratchet on the 4 bolts, after loosening with breaker bar, does it cause any damage to the ABS sensor? Or is it best to just do manually?

Coming on 2 years of re-using bolts, zero problems. As I mentioned above, the BMW at the dealership re-uses these bolts all the time, zero problems.
Undo the bolts by hand, no need for air tool (which can create a big jolt to the bolts).

[ElleShooTiger]

If you use a Air Ratchet on the 4 bolts, after loosening with breaker bar, does it cause any damage to the ABS sensor? Or is it best to just do manually?

Power tools should be fine AFTER you break loose the bolts. When I work on our cars, anytime there is a large bolt or is rusted or corroded, I start it by hand so I know how much effort is going into it, then once everything is loose I use a power tool to remove it completely.

When putting it back together, do everything by hand, OR if you are more experienced, start the first threads by hand so you know they are in right, then you can use a less-powerful drill or impact to drive them all the way in, then come back and torque down by hand.

[Graham E39 528i]

Hay cnn,

I used this method some months ago. It worked well. Thank you.

I used Loctite 242 (blue), so I can remove these bolts with ease next time.

[stafi]

I did it on two e39 following this and it worked very well! THanks! Each took less than an hour

[zener]

I'd say the air gun is better in some cases, because of the hammer effect.

[pmurra1]

Best is to post a pic of your setup.

- Drive the front on ramps.

- Insert the socket + extension to play around with and see which bolt(s) you can get to without problem.

- For the "troublemaker" bolts, use champaign777's method: offset wrench from Harbor Freight. Use an Angle Grinder to shave it down a tad.
(But first, learn how to use the Angle Grinder: wear goggles, observe precaution as the Angle Grinder does not have a safety switch, i.e., if you drop it, it still runs!). If you don't want to use an Angle Grinder, then use a Bench Grinder.

Thanks for the help. I just bought my first BMW. Its a 540i/6 Sport. I used this entire thread to accomplish the front two hubs today. I first tried the grinding of the socket since I had an extra short 18 mm socket laying around. I could however not get the extension in the socket when it was engaged on the head of the bolt. I played around welding a few pieces of scrap on the modified socket but failed. I finally drove out to harbor freight and bought the offset end wrenches. I grinded it down a bit and the rest is history. The job is done. Thanks for the help.

[hsu94583]

Thanks cnn, I reviewed your detailed write-up and accomplished the replacement in 2 1/2 hrs. I did have to grind down an 18mm box wrench to reach that difficult front lower bolt. Otherwise, everything turns out well. Thanks a million. hsu94583