I drove from Houston to Buffalo and then down to seth Carolina. The bearing started howling. I stopped by Lowes bought what you said and changed the bearing without a hitch. I couldn't have done it without your video. Thx.
I tried to do this recently (on my 2009 335xi). I had to drill and break the axle nut to get it off - mine was extremely corroded. When I got to the bearing, I absolutely could not remove the center part. I tried every technique I've seen on UA-cam and on forums, but mine would not come out with any tools I had. I was able to break it and knock out every piece but the center. I was also able to remove the race from the hub. The only way I was able to move the center at all was by putting a piece of steel on it and hitting it several hundred times with a 4 lb. mallet. That moved it maybe two millimeters, and it dented the steel more than it moved the bearing! I had to get the car to a shop to finish this job, and they had to remove the knuckle and use a large shop press to push out the bearing. Consider this is a possibility (if yours is as tight as mine was) before you start this job.
@@mariogutierrez8085 Remove the sway bar end links and rotate it down. The shaft then has enough space to come out. You can use a two jaw puller to push the shaft out, or just a BFH and anger.
@@boblichtman12345 i have tried pushing half shaft out with puller it broke and then took it to have it pressed out on 20ton press and it will not budge.
Well sorry to say the inverted torx is required unless you want to risk damaging the bolts. A twelve point socket might work, but any auto parts store should have these torx. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the prompt response!! I already figured out how to break loose that axle, i used the old nut to prevent damaging the threads and also used a ball hammer with a brass mallet to loosen the axle from the hub, the rest was as you showed on the video!! Anyways, thanks again and keep up the good work!! Remember the safety equipment always!! SAFETY FIRST!!! SGT Gabriel Abreu MATES ARNG Technician, Salinas, Puerto Rico.
thanks for all your tips, I finally found my the source of my noise ,it was the rear right strut mount bushing, Meyle are not good quality,that thumping rear noise it was eating me alive got progressive during 1 year period unexpected, now I ve got the smoothest running e46 325i in the US, by the way if you change your guibo and the centermount bearing u will be impress how smooth a ride can be. God bless ,Florin
This is the best E36 rear bearing removal video on youtube !! Those E12 torx on mine were super tight. Had to use a 600 ft. pound impact wrench to break them loose. Had some old wheel lugs - glad kept them around.
@vidman008 Thanks Ron! I appreciate your concern of me being alone. I wasn't really alone, my wife and kids were home, but were busy with other things. They check up on me on a regular basis. I have the car supported with two jack stands AND the floor jack.
I removed both my rear hubs and bearings on my e36 today using exactly what this this video taught me although I didn't have the PVC pipe I used the bar and other components which came with my bearing seperator kit Thanks ed.
Great video, followed step by step and came out a success. Only issue I ran into was when I was pressing out the hub using the lug bolts. They mushroomed a bit from smashing again the bearing splitter.
You made this look so easy about a year ago my rear wheel bearing started howling so I ended up buying a whole trailing arm with the axle and hub still connected thought that would be easier than changing the bearing but it took long wet still my bearing is going out again and I’m probably gonna use this method
just did this job. Australian bloke in Sweden - where they love salt. Not as simple process as on your lovely movie. And a 20 year old car. 16mm bolt on the brakes - el cheapo ring spanner, had to grind them down to 15mm after I rounded them off. Tip: make sure you get good quality tools. Mate, your video was perfect. apart from my local crap and challenges, I ordered everything you mentioned and got it done in an afternoon. thanks for publishing it. by the way, "bearing separator", you cant just "get it anywhere" in Stockholm. and it aint cheap. but the job's done and the old girl lives on.
Great Video! It was a big help for me to decide if I do it on my own or not. And finally I did it. But I have to add some comments: - On my E46 320 cd the screws of the driveshaft are Torx E12, not E14! I had much trouble because I had used E14. It was horrible challenging to remove the overtrorqued screw! - This Video is great for the installation on the rear right! But the work on the rear left is much more than this, because you have to lower the exhaust - read my next comment
@senorchili I broke the bearing loose by putting washers on the back side of the bearing (the washers cannot hit the hub, just the bearing). get it really tight and hit the hub with brass hammer to "shock" the bearing loose. I'm assuming you did not forget to remove the "C" clip first. The axle shaft should come right out. You need to remove the inverted torques screws at the trans and work the shaft out past the sway bar as I showed in the vid.
Great vid. My 1997 328i driver rear bearing started to faintly make that noise, and I decided I had time to be proactive. One note, on the driver side, you have to drop the muffler to get the half shaft out. Easy to do since the flanges are behind the cats, and the muffler is held in by two easy to reach clamps.
Hey, I DID NOT skip anything. YOUR shaft is rusted in place, It should come off just as easy as mine. Look through the comments you're not alone. Good luck.
There have been a few comments just like yours. Most were able to use the gear puller to get it off. Soak it in penetrating oil for a day and see if it will come off.
- If you dont have a bearing seperator to remove the drive disc, you can use metal plates to avoid a damage on the metal plate behind the brakes. - If you dont have a bearing seperator you can use a big hammer and a chisel to remove the rest of the bearing from the driver disc...if this does not work, you can use carefully a angle grinder :)
Great video. No specialty tools is correct. I’m also going use the O’Reilly or Autozone free rent a tool, so all good. I didn’t see in the breakdown that you took out the e brakes etc….I’ll have to watch again, because on the install video you do it shows just that you out them in. Not sure how, saw your comment I’m sure it’s something I can figure out. Thanks
The BMW tool is $250 dollars... so, by "no special tools", he really means no tools over 20'ish bucks. If you expected to do with with paper clips and rubber bands, you probably should take your car to the shop
EdzGarage These tools aren't 'regular tools. The guy has a point. I changed engines in the past and the only special tool I needed was a clutch alignment tool.
+Miles Williams special tools are manufacturer specific and cant be found in the auto section.. these are all basic tools and shit from the hardware store...
I've done this before on an old E23 many years ago, i seem to recall the procedure being very similar. It wasn't difficult and we did it at home with not special tools.
@natiun05 Hello! Thanks for the comment. The race is the inner part of the bearing. The balls roll between the inner and outer bearing race. When you remove the hub the inner race may not stay with the bearing and separate like mine did, but sometimes the bearing stays together and comes right off the hub. If the inner race is stuck on the hub, you will have to remove it before installing the new bearing. I hope this helped.
i wonder if the debate on whether special tools were used is still active. i liked the video, i have all of those except the bearing separator. i don't have the harmonic pulley like that, but i've always used a 3 jaw puller. either way, not expensive at all and i knew i should eventually get them. definitely wouldn't categorize them as special tools, nice video! i will have to do this when i get the bearings in.
There have been a few people that have had trouble getting the shaft out of the hub because of rust. It should pull out. If it doesn't you may need to put penetrating oil on it for a couple days to break it loose.
@MrLatino80 You're not the first one with this issue. If you look through the comments you'll see. It seems the two get rusted together. You may need to use a gear puller to force them apart.
Not sure if the 96 is exactly the same but I think it's very close. Your axle shaft may be stuck in the hub. This seems to be common. Soak it with penetrating oil to loosen it up. Good luck with the repair.
@leevinylcritic I had no trouble at all getting the axle shaft out. You need to remove the end links on the sway bar to get the axle shaft out. It should have come out very easily.
I had a half shaft siezed too,,,I used a 20 ton press and heat and she finally popped... However I did use your method to pull the new hub and bearing in, so again, thanks for that.
Ed, improvising tools save you a lot of bucks, as we know special tools are expensive.. very good job..the 4in.pvc should be schedule 80 in that way it has a strong wall to hold the pressure...thanks Ed...I am working tomorrow with my 1989 bmw 735i..
You use that makita impact quite a bit and seems to get the job done from what i have seen in most of your videos. Thinking bout getting one instead of always lugging around this heavy electric dewalt impact.
Hey just so ya know that little bolt holding on the rotor doesn't have to be there. the only reason it is there is so when it is on the assembly line it doesn't fall off. The wheel when it is on the car holds the rotor in place. Just letting you know
@projectgothamgtr Thanks for the comment! The parking brakes are easy to remove/install. There are push and twist tabs holding the pads in place. Just do one side at at time so you can refer back to the other for reassembly.
@romeotxt1 Thanks for the comment. The washers I used were nothing special. I found them in my junk drawer. Try to get washers that are just smaller then the outer race of the bearing. Be careful not to damage the inner race when installing.
@edzgarage The FRONT bearing of BMW is completely locked up, you cannot change the front bearing as such but only the complete wheel hub (in case a normal rear drive BMW we are talking about). By the way, the BMW front wheel hub includes the ABS sender (magnet) too (not the sensor, the sender...). Anyway, changing the BMW FRONT wheel hub for that matter can be done WITHOUT any real special tools.
Thanks for the video, I'm $125 into my project... going to fix in a couple of days w/ a friend. I'll let you know how it goes. I think I'll save a good 200 bucks by doing it my self.. Park Rose hardware had everything I needed.
@thefacaa The best way to figure out what bearing is bad is to drive the car at about 45MPH turn the car Left to Right in your lane. You should hear the bearing noise when turning one way more then the other. The bearing that's bad will be the one opposite the way you are turning. If it's louder when turning Right the Left bearing is bad. I hope this helps.
@1972marathon Hi Paul! Thanks for the comment. I am really puzzled why your axle shaft wont come out of the hub. I have had a few people say the same thing. Did the other side come out? I am going to have to take my car apart again to see how this is happening. If you do figure out the issue please post back. -Ed
Tank you from Norway for good instructions. Have to replace it on my 1-series, think it is about the same tecnic on that car too.... Have a 325xi e46 also with high milages, so I might do the same on that car soon. 270.000km...
Good video, I used a few of your tips to do both of mine over the weekend. My biggest suggestion is to be careful when you are using the lugs to pull the hub off. I was pretty lucky, only one lug got ruined. I managed to save the others. It mushrooms the tips out a bit.
Very good video, easy to understand... although finding a puller with the correct length of threaded rod is tricky. The only thing I dont like about this video, is the removal of the parking brake assembly is completely skipped; I am looking to replace my rear bearing as well on my e36 and I hoped to see how to remove the parking brake assembly on video. Unless its easy to figure out ( I haven't torn my brakes apart to see myself yet) I wish it was included. Thanks for the high quality vid!
You may need to use a dead blow hammer and hit the rotor on the front and back a few times. If you don't have s dead blow hammer wrap a regular hammer with a towel and hit it with that. You don't want to damage the rotor.
I ended up using 4 M12x1.5x50 bolts rather than my lugnuts - I mashed one and decided that was enough motivation to head down to the local hardware shop.
@comedytoddler An E14 is required, bearing puller $25, lugs.. really??? they come with the car, harmonic balance puller $15, and the plumbing pipe $2. Thanks for the comment!
Thanks for the detailed tutorial, helped me alot with my E87 120d. However, I'd like point out one thing that the tutorial didn't mention. That the CV axle may be very, VERY stuck! I ruined 2 lugnuts and one puller, trying to get that sucker out but finally some brutal sledgehammering did the trick.
@accord03 If you listen to beginning of the video, I recorded that sound while driving down the road of my bad bearing. The sound gets louder as you go faster and in some cases as you turn the wheel left to right the sound will get louder in one direction if one bearing is bad.
Wow, I am impressed by your ingenuity on this. I use the OTC Hub Grappler tool at my shop, but this is a great video for DIY. I'd recommend getting a couple new lug bolts as using them to force the bearing out will mushroom the ends. If you attempt to use them you may damage the hub threads. Overall great video and use of what's just laying around the shop!
@NoMonkeyDoClub Don't apply a lot of force on the inner race you will ruin the new bearing. Get washers that are the exact size of the new bearing if possible or use the old bearing to push the new one in.
Good vid with a couple of new ideas. To get a bearing race out or off, if one has access to a stick welder, heating up the race in one spot to red hot by welding a short bead of metal onto it with your electrode (welding rod) will expand or contract the race so as to make its removal easy. I don't bother with an acetylene torch. (Not enough concentrated heat in one place.) .
@MrGAbreu Hello! You are the second one with this problem. I assume you have the axle shaft disconnected from the transmission. The shaft should loose and away from the transmission. I would soak the shaft and hub with PB Blaster or some other penetrating oil. Let is sit for a while then use a piece of wood as a drift placed on the exposed axle shaft, be careful not to damage the threads, and try using a hammer on the wood to knock it out.
I might be being picky here, but I'd call a bearing puller and bearing separator 'special tools' - unless you have them, you're going to have a fun time trying to this job...
@edzgarage ok, I had everything disassembled, and all I neede to do was get that off but was unable to, I was using that axle puller set from advanced auto, which uses a slide hammer, and a yoke that bolts to the hub, so I returned the rental tool that day cuz it just wasnt gonna come out with that
You can also remove the centre axle nut with the wheel still on the car and the weight of the car on the floor, have to get the centre cap out first, also loosen the wheel lugs at the same time just a little so you can un do them when the car gets jacked up, and can also tighten the centre nut with weight of the car on the floor, its safer cause the high torque might move it off the stands, you could also use the old bearing to push the new one back in thnx for the vid
@Bimmermau You push the two springs in that are holding the pads in place and turn them a half turn either way, they should release. Do one side at a time so you can get it back together by looking at the side that's still together. Thanks for the comment!
Great Tutorial. I tell you though, you make it look easy. Kicked my butt - I think I may just be getting old. Everything worked great tho. Thanks for putting this together.
You could also use a big screwdriver and wedge it against the seat pushing on the brake pedal for the beginning part where you need to hold the rotor assembly in place
just started doing my wheel bearing 15 minutes ago.. maaannn its bad! everything was so messed up and loose, i pulled the hub off the bearing with my hands. when it popped off the ball bearings started going everywhere.
what can go wrong 1 the lug nuts are too short for the initial pull out 2.the drive shaft bolts can seize and shear off ( causes 3 hours of torture with a chisel and penetrating oil, prep them with heat and penetrating oil days before the job 3. the "thick wall plastic " spacer will collapse, use steel. 4. find a bearing surface OTHER than the back plate as the parking brake will be distorted This job is can be a can of worms on a 15 yr old car. But thanks for the inspiration and tips Ed
@MGregoryB126 Thanks Buddy! Wow good job hanging in there and completing the job! It is nice once you're done and the car drives and sounds so much better.
Great content on this channel. Could you please provide info of what size of the bearing separator you are using. I see various sizes of this online.I want to make sure what size I need before I go out and get one myself. Thanks!
CORRECTION: axle bolts are NOT E14, it's E12 external torx (I strongly do NOT recommend using any other type of tool like hex wrenches). Additional information: loose the axle boot to remove these e-torx bolts so you don't risk stripping their heads. I do recommend changing these bolts by female allen or hex head bolts to make things easier the next time. (I've done the job myself last weekend)
Well Ed, I have to thank you for your video, otherwise I would not have done the job, I just have a few more things to comment: My car is a 94 325i, so it looks like the models have different bolts. I bought the E14 socket because I saw on the video, but then I had to buy an E12 which was the correct one. Anyway I bought a set of allen bolts to replace them, because these torx were already a bit stripped and they seem very easy to get stripped. I did not have a bearing separator and was not willing to buy one as these cost upwards of $100 here in Brazil, so to remove the wheel hub I just put the wheel back on the hub so I could use it as a lever to pull the hub. I've done that on my other car twice (honda fit) so I can tell you that it works haha! I could not find a 100mm (~4") straight pipe, thick wall, so I bought a 110 to 65mm connection which also worked very well. I also was able to not pull off the handbrake mount (so I wouldn't need to reinstall those hard pad springs), just loosened the adjustment screw and removed those two small springed bolts so I let the handbrake mount kinda hanged by the cable, but still assembled.
I took the axle out easily, just had to remove the bolts. If I were you (in case you didn't do this already), I'd apply some wd40, let it sit for a while and then hit on the side with a rubber hammer.
@Bananaboy2601 Yes, you push the spring in and turn it a half turn either way and it should release. Do one side at a time so you can get it back together by looking at the side that's still together. Thanks for the comment!
Hi two questions firstly what size bearing seperator did you use? I've seem the 30-50mm and 75-105 mm and others??? Also as you have not shown removal of brake shoes is this easy? Thanks
@Checkern1 Nope! not a joke... I guess if all you have is a pair of scissors and a rubber band in your tool box, then yes, there may be some tools you have never seen before. Thanks for the comment!
Just watched both vids very good and very informative thanks. And to stouthuyzen bob, special tools are the ones that car manufactures do not allow or like you to have, hardly applies to torx sockets.
@cxxa1 Your bearing race was really stuck on if you blunted the lug bolts. All I can say is you have to tighten the lugs a little at a time and keep going around to all the lugs you have against the puller.
@BRogers2767 Thanks for the comment! You are not the first to say they were stuck at the axle removal. I don't know why it's not coming out. Mine slid right out. If you do figure out why it's stuck could you post back so I can add it to the video?
question: before removing the axle shaft, is it possible to use a 3 jaw puller to remove the hub? Or that might damage the axle shaft since it will apply force against it? Thanks! G
Great vid! Can you advise which way the new bearing is meant to be pressed in? The new bearing kit i have has the same colour dust covers either side so i don’t know which side has the encoder in it for the ABS sensor to read. Can you help advise?
thanks for the video. It took me a bit as I was unsure what the race was. I went to realoemdotcom and looked at the exploded view and finally realized that it was the Securing plate. I didn't see you reinstall that in the video so I was totally thrown off. The camera angle on how the hell that bearing was pulling out also still confuses me. If you ever get around to doing another video please explain all these pieces but thanks again for what the video it helps.
Ed! I forgot to ask you where you purchased your Harmonic Balancer Puller. I plan on replacing my rear wheel bearing soon, I would like to use your method with as much precision as possible.
@RDIzzle109 I do use that little impact a lot. It's a light and powerful tool. I would recommend it. The Lithium Ion batteries are really good too. I've had mine for 3 years now.
That 4inch pvc pipe trick was brilliant👌🏾
I drove from Houston to Buffalo and then down to seth Carolina. The bearing started howling. I stopped by Lowes bought what you said and changed the bearing without a hitch. I couldn't have done it without your video. Thx.
I tried to do this recently (on my 2009 335xi). I had to drill and break the axle nut to get it off - mine was extremely corroded. When I got to the bearing, I absolutely could not remove the center part. I tried every technique I've seen on UA-cam and on forums, but mine would not come out with any tools I had. I was able to break it and knock out every piece but the center. I was also able to remove the race from the hub. The only way I was able to move the center at all was by putting a piece of steel on it and hitting it several hundred times with a 4 lb. mallet. That moved it maybe two millimeters, and it dented the steel more than it moved the bearing! I had to get the car to a shop to finish this job, and they had to remove the knuckle and use a large shop press to push out the bearing. Consider this is a possibility (if yours is as tight as mine was) before you start this job.
You completing skip getting the half shaft out of the hub, and getting it back in. That was the most difficult part of the job for me.
how u do it?
@@mariogutierrez8085 Remove the sway bar end links and rotate it down. The shaft then has enough space to come out. You can use a two jaw puller to push the shaft out, or just a BFH and anger.
@@boblichtman12345 i have tried pushing half shaft out with puller it broke and then took it to have it pressed out on 20ton press and it will not budge.
This method is great to avoid having to buy special tools. Very innovative and clever, thanks so much for sharing with others!
🤣🤣🤣👍
Well sorry to say the inverted torx is required unless you want to risk damaging the bolts. A twelve point socket might work, but any auto parts store should have these torx. Thanks for watching!
If I can't have a special tool, I must find a special guy :) thanks sharing
This vid is ten years old and still helping people
Thanks for the prompt response!! I already figured out how to break loose that axle, i used the old nut to prevent damaging the threads and also used a ball hammer with a brass mallet to loosen the axle from the hub, the rest was as you showed on the video!! Anyways, thanks again and keep up the good work!! Remember the safety equipment always!! SAFETY FIRST!!!
SGT Gabriel Abreu
MATES ARNG Technician, Salinas, Puerto Rico.
No special tools ?, he was using all sorts of tools you wouldn't find in the average garage.
Lmao
Lmao
Haha, yea i was thinking the same.. Only non special tool was the 13 and 17 wrenches...
Yes you need more than a hair curling iron
🤣
thanks for all your tips, I finally found my the source of my noise ,it was the rear right strut mount bushing, Meyle are not good quality,that thumping rear noise it was eating me alive got progressive during 1 year period unexpected, now I ve got the smoothest running e46 325i in the US, by the way if you change your guibo and the centermount bearing u will be impress how smooth a ride can be. God bless ,Florin
This is the best E36 rear bearing removal video on youtube !! Those E12 torx on mine were super tight. Had to use a 600 ft. pound impact wrench to break them loose. Had some old wheel lugs - glad kept them around.
@vidman008 Thanks Ron! I appreciate your concern of me being alone. I wasn't really alone, my wife and kids were home, but were busy with other things. They check up on me on a regular basis. I have the car supported with two jack stands AND the floor jack.
I removed both my rear hubs and bearings on my e36 today using exactly what this this video taught me although I didn't have the PVC pipe I used the bar and other components which came with my bearing seperator kit
Thanks ed.
For anybody living in the UK, the "3/4 base" is called a floor or ceiling flange here. :)
Great video, followed step by step and came out a success. Only issue I ran into was when I was pressing out the hub using the lug bolts. They mushroomed a bit from smashing again the bearing splitter.
You made this look so easy about a year ago my rear wheel bearing started howling so I ended up buying a whole trailing arm with the axle and hub still connected thought that would be easier than changing the bearing but it took long wet still my bearing is going out again and I’m probably gonna use this method
just did this job. Australian bloke in Sweden - where they love salt. Not as simple process as on your lovely movie. And a 20 year old car. 16mm bolt on the brakes - el cheapo ring spanner, had to grind them down to 15mm after I rounded them off. Tip: make sure you get good quality tools.
Mate, your video was perfect. apart from my local crap and challenges, I ordered everything you mentioned and got it done in an afternoon. thanks for publishing it. by the way, "bearing separator", you cant just "get it anywhere" in Stockholm. and it aint cheap. but the job's done and the old girl lives on.
Great Video! It was a big help for me to decide if I do it on my own or not. And finally I did it. But I have to add some comments:
- On my E46 320 cd the screws of the driveshaft are Torx E12, not E14! I had much trouble because I had used E14. It was horrible challenging to remove the overtrorqued screw!
- This Video is great for the installation on the rear right! But the work on the rear left is much more than this, because you have to lower the exhaust
- read my next comment
@senorchili I broke the bearing loose by putting washers on the back side of the bearing (the washers cannot hit the hub, just the bearing). get it really tight and hit the hub with brass hammer to "shock" the bearing loose. I'm assuming you did not forget to remove the "C" clip first.
The axle shaft should come right out. You need to remove the inverted torques screws at the trans and work the shaft out past the sway bar as I showed in the vid.
Great vid. My 1997 328i driver rear bearing started to faintly make that noise, and I decided I had time to be proactive. One note, on the driver side, you have to drop the muffler to get the half shaft out. Easy to do since the flanges are behind the cats, and the muffler is held in by two easy to reach clamps.
Hey, I DID NOT skip anything. YOUR shaft is rusted in place, It should come off just as easy as mine. Look through the comments you're not alone. Good luck.
There have been a few comments just like yours. Most were able to use the gear puller to get it off. Soak it in penetrating oil for a day and see if it will come off.
- If you dont have a bearing seperator to remove the drive disc, you can use metal plates to avoid a damage on the metal plate behind the brakes.
- If you dont have a bearing seperator you can use a big hammer and a chisel to remove the rest of the bearing from the driver disc...if this does not work, you can use carefully a angle grinder :)
Great video. No specialty tools is correct. I’m also going use the O’Reilly or Autozone free rent a tool, so all good.
I didn’t see in the breakdown that you took out the e brakes etc….I’ll have to watch again, because on the install video you do it shows just that you out them in. Not sure how, saw your comment I’m sure it’s something I can figure out. Thanks
You did a great job on the bearing replacement. I would like to see a video on the side with the exhaust pipe. That's where things change a little.
What the hell does NO SPECIAL TOOLS mean to you ?
If any of these tools are special to you, don't do this job...
I used a stick of dynamite-60% of the time-it works every time!
The BMW tool is $250 dollars... so, by "no special tools", he really means no tools over 20'ish bucks. If you expected to do with with paper clips and rubber bands, you probably should take your car to the shop
EdzGarage These tools aren't 'regular tools. The guy has a point. I changed engines in the past and the only special tool I needed was a clutch alignment tool.
+Miles Williams special tools are manufacturer specific and cant be found in the auto section.. these are all basic tools and shit from the hardware store...
I've done this before on an old E23 many years ago, i seem to recall the procedure being very similar. It wasn't difficult and we did it at home with not special tools.
@natiun05 Hello! Thanks for the comment. The race is the inner part of the bearing. The balls roll between the inner and outer bearing race. When you remove the hub the inner race may not stay with the bearing and separate like mine did, but sometimes the bearing stays together and comes right off the hub. If the inner race is stuck on the hub, you will have to remove it before installing the new bearing. I hope this helped.
i wonder if the debate on whether special tools were used is still active. i liked the video, i have all of those except the bearing separator. i don't have the harmonic pulley like that, but i've always used a 3 jaw puller. either way, not expensive at all and i knew i should eventually get them. definitely wouldn't categorize them as special tools, nice video! i will have to do this when i get the bearings in.
There have been a few people that have had trouble getting the shaft out of the hub because of rust. It should pull out. If it doesn't you may need to put penetrating oil on it for a couple days to break it loose.
@MrLatino80 You're not the first one with this issue. If you look through the comments you'll see. It seems the two get rusted together. You may need to use a gear puller to force them apart.
Not sure if the 96 is exactly the same but I think it's very close. Your axle shaft may be stuck in the hub. This seems to be common. Soak it with penetrating oil to loosen it up. Good luck with the repair.
@leevinylcritic I had no trouble at all getting the axle shaft out. You need to remove the end links on the sway bar to get the axle shaft out. It should have come out very easily.
The bearing separator is the Large one. I have the other ones in the case too, but they are too small. Good luck on your repair!
I had a half shaft siezed too,,,I used a 20 ton press and heat and she finally popped... However I did use your method to pull the new hub and bearing in, so again, thanks for that.
Ed, improvising tools save you a lot of bucks, as we know special tools are expensive.. very good job..the 4in.pvc should be schedule 80 in that way it has a strong wall to hold the pressure...thanks Ed...I am working tomorrow with my 1989 bmw 735i..
You use that makita impact quite a bit and seems to get the job done from what i have seen in most of your videos. Thinking bout getting one instead of always lugging around this heavy electric dewalt impact.
Hey just so ya know that little bolt holding on the rotor doesn't have to be there. the only reason it is there is so when it is on the assembly line it doesn't fall off. The wheel when it is on the car holds the rotor in place. Just letting you know
@projectgothamgtr Thanks for the comment! The parking brakes are easy to remove/install. There are push and twist tabs holding the pads in place. Just do one side at at time so you can refer back to the other for reassembly.
@romeotxt1 Thanks for the comment. The washers I used were nothing special. I found them in my junk drawer. Try to get washers that are just smaller then the outer race of the bearing. Be careful not to damage the inner race when installing.
@edzgarage The FRONT bearing of BMW is completely locked up, you cannot change the front bearing as such but only the complete wheel hub (in case a normal rear drive BMW we are talking about). By the way, the BMW front wheel hub includes the ABS sender (magnet) too (not the sensor, the sender...). Anyway, changing the BMW FRONT wheel hub for that matter can be done WITHOUT any real special tools.
Thanks for the video, I'm $125 into my project... going to fix in a couple of days w/ a friend. I'll let you know how it goes. I think I'll save a good 200 bucks by doing it my self.. Park Rose hardware had everything I needed.
@thefacaa The best way to figure out what bearing is bad is to drive the car at about 45MPH turn the car Left to Right in your lane. You should hear the bearing noise when turning one way more then the other. The bearing that's bad will be the one opposite the way you are turning. If it's louder when turning Right the Left bearing is bad. I hope this helps.
@1972marathon Hi Paul! Thanks for the comment. I am really puzzled why your axle shaft wont come out of the hub. I have had a few people say the same thing. Did the other side come out? I am going to have to take my car apart again to see how this is happening. If you do figure out the issue please post back. -Ed
Tank you from Norway for good instructions. Have to replace it on my 1-series, think it is about the same tecnic on that car too.... Have a 325xi e46 also with high milages, so I might do the same on that car soon. 270.000km...
@andymanpham Yes, you need to loosen the exhaust enough to get the shaft out. The exhaust does not have to be removed.
@florinel181 Yep, I had the same issue before I replaced my struts and shocks. The rear mounts were completely blown out. Thanks for the comment!
@lauracadman I believe the bearing separator was a4 inch. I'm not exactly sure because I borrowed it from a friend.
Good video, I used a few of your tips to do both of mine over the weekend. My biggest suggestion is to be careful when you are using the lugs to pull the hub off. I was pretty lucky, only one lug got ruined. I managed to save the others. It mushrooms the tips out a bit.
Very good video, easy to understand... although finding a puller with the correct length of threaded rod is tricky. The only thing I dont like about this video, is the removal of the parking brake assembly is completely skipped; I am looking to replace my rear bearing as well on my e36 and I hoped to see how to remove the parking brake assembly on video. Unless its easy to figure out ( I haven't torn my brakes apart to see myself yet) I wish it was included. Thanks for the high quality vid!
@andymanpham Yes, It's a 30mm 12 point. Mine is a standard thick walled Crescent socket. It has held up for 4 bearing changes now.
You may need to use a dead blow hammer and hit the rotor on the front and back a few times. If you don't have s dead blow hammer wrap a regular hammer with a towel and hit it with that. You don't want to damage the rotor.
I ended up using 4 M12x1.5x50 bolts rather than my lugnuts - I mashed one and decided that was enough motivation to head down to the local hardware shop.
@comedytoddler An E14 is required, bearing puller $25, lugs.. really??? they come with the car, harmonic balance puller $15, and the plumbing pipe $2.
Thanks for the comment!
ED, Im going to tackle this myself soon, but im curious to know where you got the washer big enough to cover bearing? thanks
That is part of the one special tool he created. I'm hunting for that now !
Thanks for the detailed tutorial, helped me alot with my E87 120d.
However, I'd like point out one thing that the tutorial didn't mention. That the CV axle may be very, VERY stuck! I ruined 2 lugnuts and one puller, trying to get that sucker out but finally some brutal sledgehammering did the trick.
Just perfect. How can one dislike this helpfull video?
Many thanks for upload!
I don't know the measurement, but what you wrote looks right from how you said you measured it.
@accord03 If you listen to beginning of the video, I recorded that sound while driving down the road of my bad bearing. The sound gets louder as you go faster and in some cases as you turn the wheel left to right the sound will get louder in one direction if one bearing is bad.
Wow, I am impressed by your ingenuity on this. I use the OTC Hub Grappler tool at my shop, but this is a great video for DIY. I'd recommend getting a couple new lug bolts as using them to force the bearing out will mushroom the ends. If you attempt to use them you may damage the hub threads. Overall great video and use of what's just laying around the shop!
@NoMonkeyDoClub Don't apply a lot of force on the inner race you will ruin the new bearing. Get washers that are the exact size of the new bearing if possible or use the old bearing to push the new one in.
Good vid with a couple of new ideas.
To get a bearing race out or off, if one has access to a stick welder, heating up the race in one spot to red hot by welding a short bead of metal onto it with your electrode (welding rod) will expand or contract the race so as to make its removal easy. I don't bother with an acetylene torch. (Not enough concentrated heat in one place.)
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@MrGAbreu Hello! You are the second one with this problem. I assume you have the axle shaft disconnected from the transmission. The shaft should loose and away from the transmission. I would soak the shaft and hub with PB Blaster or some other penetrating oil. Let is sit for a while then use a piece of wood as a drift placed on the exposed axle shaft, be careful not to damage the threads, and try using a hammer on the wood to knock it out.
I might be being picky here, but I'd call a bearing puller and bearing separator 'special tools' - unless you have them, you're going to have a fun time trying to this job...
@edzgarage ok, I had everything disassembled, and all I neede to do was get that off but was unable to, I was using that axle puller set from advanced auto, which uses a slide hammer, and a yoke that bolts to the hub, so I returned the rental tool that day cuz it just wasnt gonna come out with that
You can also remove the centre axle nut with the wheel still on the car and the weight of the car on the floor, have to get the centre cap out first, also loosen the wheel lugs at the same time just a little so you can un do them when the car gets jacked up, and can also tighten the centre nut with weight of the car on the floor, its safer cause the high torque might move it off the stands, you could also use the old bearing to push the new one back in thnx for the vid
FINALLY the sound I've been looking for. Thank little baby jesus!!!
@Bimmermau You push the two springs in that are holding the pads in place and turn them a half turn either way, they should release. Do one side at a time so you can get it back together by looking at the side that's still together. Thanks for the comment!
Great Tutorial. I tell you though, you make it look easy. Kicked my butt - I think I may just be getting old. Everything worked great tho. Thanks for putting this together.
If you can get a Dremel tool with a wire wheel on it you might be able to clean it up before installation.
You could also use a big screwdriver and wedge it against the seat pushing on the brake pedal for the beginning part where you need to hold the rotor assembly in place
just started doing my wheel bearing 15 minutes ago.. maaannn its bad! everything was so messed up and loose, i pulled the hub off the bearing with my hands. when it popped off the ball bearings started going everywhere.
this guy is a genius
what can go wrong
1 the lug nuts are too short for the initial pull out
2.the drive shaft bolts can seize and shear off ( causes 3 hours of torture with a chisel and penetrating oil, prep them with heat and penetrating oil days before the job
3. the "thick wall plastic " spacer will collapse, use steel.
4. find a bearing surface OTHER than the back plate as the parking brake will be distorted
This job is can be a can of worms on a 15 yr old car.
But thanks for the inspiration and tips Ed
E14 torques you can just use a regular socket
Thank you so much for your help!!! Kia Ora from New Zealand.
@Davidm3286 LOL Yeah, it's tough to run the camera while doing these jobs. Thanks for the comment and good job improvising and getting your job done!
@MGregoryB126 Thanks Buddy! Wow good job hanging in there and completing the job! It is nice once you're done and the car drives and sounds so much better.
Great content on this channel. Could you please provide info of what size of the bearing separator you are using. I see various sizes of this online.I want to make sure what size I need before I go out and get one myself. Thanks!
It's 5" x 4" closed together. Just says Large Bearing Separator made by Pittsburgh. Good luck on the repair and thanks for watching.
CORRECTION: axle bolts are NOT E14, it's E12 external torx (I strongly do NOT recommend using any other type of tool like hex wrenches).
Additional information: loose the axle boot to remove these e-torx bolts so you don't risk stripping their heads.
I do recommend changing these bolts by female allen or hex head bolts to make things easier the next time.
(I've done the job myself last weekend)
I assure you it was an E14 on this 2001 325i when I did the job... Yours may be different (post your year of manufacture), thanks for the comment.
Well Ed, I have to thank you for your video, otherwise I would not have done the job, I just have a few more things to comment:
My car is a 94 325i, so it looks like the models have different bolts. I bought the E14 socket because I saw on the video, but then I had to buy an E12 which was the correct one. Anyway I bought a set of allen bolts to replace them, because these torx were already a bit stripped and they seem very easy to get stripped.
I did not have a bearing separator and was not willing to buy one as these cost upwards of $100 here in Brazil, so to remove the wheel hub I just put the wheel back on the hub so I could use it as a lever to pull the hub. I've done that on my other car twice (honda fit) so I can tell you that it works haha!
I could not find a 100mm (~4") straight pipe, thick wall, so I bought a 110 to 65mm connection which also worked very well.
I also was able to not pull off the handbrake mount (so I wouldn't need to reinstall those hard pad springs), just loosened the adjustment screw and removed those two small springed bolts so I let the handbrake mount kinda hanged by the cable, but still assembled.
A. Shiga how'd you get the axle out. Ed skips this part in his video. mine seems to have seized into the hub.
I took the axle out easily, just had to remove the bolts. If I were you (in case you didn't do this already), I'd apply some wd40, let it sit for a while and then hit on the side with a rubber hammer.
@Bananaboy2601 Yes, you push the spring in and turn it a half turn either way and it should release. Do one side at a time so you can get it back together by looking at the side that's still together. Thanks for the comment!
Hi two questions firstly what size bearing seperator did you use? I've seem the 30-50mm and 75-105 mm and others??? Also as you have not shown removal of brake shoes is this easy? Thanks
@Checkern1 Nope! not a joke... I guess if all you have is a pair of scissors and a rubber band in your tool box, then yes, there may be some tools you have never seen before. Thanks for the comment!
Just watched both vids very good and very informative thanks.
And to stouthuyzen bob, special tools are the ones that car manufactures do not allow or like you to have, hardly applies to torx sockets.
Good luck! Sometimes those hubs can be a real problem. I have a lot of comments on this video from others to that effect.
@cxxa1 Your bearing race was really stuck on if you blunted the lug bolts. All I can say is you have to tighten the lugs a little at a time and keep going around to all the lugs you have against the puller.
@99jfs The hub is pressed into the bearing. Hopefully NAPA can remove the hub for you before they press out the bearing or do it after.
I found that the wheel bearing was strangely eating up the hub and so it created a slack and the wheel was a bit loose. Thanks!
@GearHead1625 It's good to use the bolt to get the lug holes lined up. Just makes putting the tire on much easier. Thanks for the comment!
@BRogers2767 Thanks for the comment! You are not the first to say they were stuck at the axle removal. I don't know why it's not coming out. Mine slid right out. If you do figure out why it's stuck could you post back so I can add it to the video?
question: before removing the axle shaft, is it possible to use a 3 jaw puller to remove the hub? Or that might damage the axle shaft since it will apply force against it? Thanks! G
Great use of the bearing separator, will make it that much easier for me!
Great vid! Can you advise which way the new bearing is meant to be pressed in? The new bearing kit i have has the same colour dust covers either side so i don’t know which side has the encoder in it for the ABS sensor to read. Can you help advise?
@deweywsu Thanks for the comment! The jack is from Harbor Freight. It works great and has a very low profile to fit under the my car.
It didn't mention it because it wasn't a problem for me. There are numerous comments saying the same thing you are saying though.
thanks for the video. It took me a bit as I was unsure what the race was. I went to realoemdotcom and looked at the exploded view and finally realized that it was the Securing plate. I didn't see you reinstall that in the video so I was totally thrown off. The camera angle on how the hell that bearing was pulling out also still confuses me. If you ever get around to doing another video please explain all these pieces but thanks again for what the video it helps.
Ed! I forgot to ask you where you purchased your Harmonic Balancer Puller. I plan on replacing my rear wheel bearing soon, I would like to use your method with as much precision as possible.
@RDIzzle109 I do use that little impact a lot. It's a light and powerful tool. I would recommend it. The Lithium Ion batteries are really good too. I've had mine for 3 years now.
Not true... I've done this a few times and it does not matter. Thanks for the comment!