Wheel Hubs - just a heads up

[e24mpwr]

One of the NLA-from-BMW-and-hard-to-find-good-quality-3rd-party parts appears to be front wheel hub/bearing assemblies (31211131298). From what I can tell the only truly-quality part is the FAG version (FAG is now owned by Schaeffler BTW - caused me some consternation when I opened the box). Original production was in Germany. For some period of time they moved production to Italy (with no apparent impact on quality). The Schaeffler part is marked Made in Germany on the box. The part itself has no markings for part number, country of origin, etc.

They've been very hard to find lately - I wasn't sure if that was a pandemic thing or something else. I looked it up on the Schaeffler website, and it notes the part is to be discontinued.

Turner, FCP and a couple other parts shops have recently restocked. I don't think there are a ton of them. I grabbed a pair and put them on the shelf for whenever.

[bigperm206]

Thank you for the update and info. Looks like I'll be adding a pair of these to my e24 parts hoard.

Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk

[1986series6]

I also thank you for the heads-up. Ordered from AutohausAZ @ $67 each, a fair price in my mind.

Bob V

[Cmcgettrick]

Yes thanks for posting this, picked up a pair as well. Eeuroparts has them for $62.95 each. They also claim to have the OEM ones in stock too for $384.95 🤯

[RSheiman]

I had issues with EEuro so let us know how it goes. They lost stuff in shipping and refused to stop shipping and resend. I got stuff a month later.

BTW, I hate you guys cause I have owned an E24 for 25 years and never had a hub issue. Do I buy or do I wait till I need one and reach out to one of you who still has two sitting around?

[1986series6]

Hi Rob, how goes it?

Well, I've had my 6 for 35 years now. Within the first 15 years as a daily driver I replaced
the bearings twice. So the fact that they're about 20 years old and getting beat-up on a bunch of track days
I thought I'd back myself up. However Rob, if you're ever in need of front bearings please don't hesitate to ask.
If you ever have to ask, I can't say now what my answer will be. But, we can discuss this @ the "Idiotfest" for 2023
(I hope) over some fine scotch and cigars.

[RSheiman]

Bob, I appreciate your thoughts on this, I broke down and I bought a set so we will share scotch, cigars and memories but no need for sharing hubs.

[1986series6]

Would be great if we can do an "Idiotfest" this year.
Take care Rob.

[Cmcgettrick]

I had issues with EEuro so let us know how it goes. They lost stuff in shipping and refused to stop shipping and resend. I got stuff a month later.

BTW, I hate you guys cause I have owned an E24 for 25 years and never had a hub issue. Do I buy or do I wait till I need one and reach out to one of you who still has two sitting around?

Looks like the hubs will be arriving from EEuro tomorrow...��

[a2058]

Thanks for the heads up! Bought a backup pair from Rockauto for $57 each. These didn’t come with the hub nut, correct? It shows the hub nut in that linked Schaffler webpage for the kit but I guess not

[e24mpwr]

Thanks for the heads up! Bought a backup pair from Rockauto for $57 each. These didn’t come with the hub nut, correct? It shows the hub nut in that linked Schaffler webpage for the kit but I guess not

Were they the FAG/Schaeffler? If so, that's a great price.

[EDIT - I checked, and they are. With shipping , they come out about the same as the others.]


FWIW, it appears the rear bearings are not on the same path, so I haven't bothered to stash any of those.

[LarryM]

Thanks for the heads up. I'm another 25-year owner who's never had an issue with a wheel hub going bad, but my car's always been a garage queen. However it does have 135K miles and I'm running oversize (17X8.5 BBS RS) wheels so it's not a bad idea to buy a set and stash them away.

[e24mpwr]

Well, I've had my 6 for 35 years now. Within the first 15 years as a daily driver I replaced
the bearings twice. So the fact that they're about 20 years old and getting beat-up on a bunch of track days
I thought I'd back myself up. However Rob, if you're ever in need of front bearings please don't hesitate to ask.
If you ever have to ask, I can't say now what my answer will be. But, we can discuss this @ the "Idiotfest" for 2023
(I hope) over some fine scotch and cigars.

Firstly, congrats on such a long run with your car - that's fantastic.

Did you replace the bearings with BMW, FAG or something else? The reason I ask is when I was originally trying to hunt a set of these down, I noticed a comment from the folks at Ireland Engineering that wasn't very complimentary of any of the other third-party options (OK - what they really said was there were zero other quality options to the BMW part other than FAG).

[1986series6]

The present hubs installed are BMW OEM.

[carsnplanes]

Hi guys! sorry been away from the forum for a while. I changed both of mine several years ago and don't have many miles on them. So I'm good for a while. Yes to IDIOTFEST 2023!

[RSheiman]

OMG, the Big J is back. We were worried. I left a message a while back and heard nothing so I was worried.