E36 Wheel Bearing Replacement, BTDT?

[PDenbigh]

Depending on my boredom level this weekend I may dig into the 325 and change the driver/left wheel bearing. Have a new one from PelicanParts on my bench, have a Bentley manaul, even have the BMW TIS manual. Looks fairly straightforward for a wheel bearing job. Just have to try to do it without an official "press."

Hunter? Anyone else BTDT? How is the job? Doable?

Thanks!
Peter

[white_2kgt]

if you are bored come up here this weekend and work on my piles, christina and the baby left for STL this AM. Bring your hub if you want, I know someone w/ a press.

[.RJ]

Does anyone have one of those HF/Northern Tool Presses?

I have been thinking about getting one.

[white_2kgt]

Does anyone have one of those HF/Northern Tool Presses?

I have been thinking about getting one.

I've used the 20 ton one. It's only good to about 1/2 its capacity, after that it starts to bend.

[JohnC]

I've got the 20-ton press. For what I paid for it (under $100, shipped) its fine. I pressed bushings for the Z, and a couple on the truck. Other than that, I really haven't used it much.

If anyone wants to use it, come on by. Bring beer.

[Jeff]

How do you do a inner wheel bearing in a drum brake? The van shit one and I am towing it back to woodstock tomorrow.

[PDenbigh]

So, anyone changed one on a BMW?

[.RJ]

Try bimmerforums.com to see if there are any DIY threads.

[BLINGMW]

front or rear pete? I've done a front on e36 and it's easy, you really only need a puller. Rears are another story, you either need to fabricate or rent a special tool, and depending on rust level, it can be a real PITA from what I understand. There's a few decent threads on e30 tech about that, at least one guy has a link to a writeup with pics. (yes I realize your car isn't an e30, but the bearings are similar)

[Nick325is]

Pete,

You shouldn't have any problem with the front wheel bearings. Just a matter of knocking the dust cover out then breaking the nut on the hub loose while the car is still on the ground. Then raise the car and remove wheel and brakes then use a puller to pull the old hub/bearing off.

On the other hand if you decide to do the rears....best of luck. I took the trailing arms off of the e30 and had a shop press the old bearings out.


Good luck,

Nick

[PDenbigh]

It's the front, so looks like I'm in good shape.

Thanks guys!

[Hunter]

Sorry I just saw this today, but you shouldn't have too much of a problem with the fronts.

e30 front wheel bearings

thats a quick article for the e30, but its pretty much identical to the e36 in how you change it. It's just nice to have a little bit more of the explanation that you get with the manual.

[PDenbigh]

Did it this weekend. Total time was less than an hour. Toughest part was removing a frozen caliper basket bolt. Broke a Craftsman socket trying to get it out. Finally just cut the head off and it came out by hand.

Inner race didn't come out with the outer, so had to work it out with a gear puller. Once that was done, I gently tapped the new bearing assembly on using a socket on the inner race and a hammer. As soon as I could get threads I used the nut and a hand ratchet to get it back on.

For the final torque I used the IR Thundergun ;-). Call it cheating, I call it brains over brawn (and a great GF that gave it to me for Xmas).

So far it works great!

Peter