How to change a rear wheel bearing on an E30

[noid]

I felt there wasn't a good DIY out there for changing a rear wheel bearing on an E30, so I put one together.

http://www.rtsauto.com/how-to-change-rear-wheel-bearing-on-an-e30/

Enjoy.

[estoguy]

Awesome! Looks great!

[LateFan]

Nice!

[noid]

Looks like OEM tools just ripped off SIR tools; they copied their B90 tool.

Still not cheap, but a significant difference between the B90 at $700 and Oemtools at $316.05.

http://amzn.to/2uWmfvs

[Das Delfin]

^ harbor freight sells a version of that kit for $110. Called the "FWD wheel bearing kit"

This is a very satisfying job to do

[noid]

^ harbor freight sells a version of that kit for $110. Called the "FWD wheel bearing kit"

This is a very satisfying job to do

They do, as do many other makers. FWD kits don't include the horseshoe hub remover (which you dont really need if you're using a slide hammer). The HF tool also has a soft forcing screw; something that might not be a big concern if you're only doing the job once, or don't care about exchanging it.

A lot of parts stores rent FWD kits for free (with deposit).

The B90 tool is generally more complete for Euro cars than most FWD kits, so if its a long term investment, it makes sense since you can use it on other euros.

[rikaro]

very clear instructions thanks!!

[JasonC]

Nice write up and just used this yesterday. But I rented the slide hammer hub puller from Advance Auto, here it didnt fit the 4x100 bolt pattern. Without modifying their part and some hoe handle engineering I made it work. But looking on line at others they don't specify that they go down to that small of pattern. I did notice some had two flanges in them.

[SirMaxximus]

props for a proper write up!

[Das Delfin]

Nice write up and just used this yesterday. But I rented the slide hammer hub puller from Advance Auto, here it didnt fit the 4x100 bolt pattern. Without modifying their part and some hoe handle engineering I made it work. But looking on line at others they don't specify that they go down to that small of pattern. I did notice some had two flanges in them.

When I did mine I had to rent the slide hammer and hub adapter as two separate items. There were two different sized hub adapters and of course I got the wrong one the first time. This is what worked for me.



Got it from Autozone

[noid]

When I did mine I had to rent the slide hammer and hub adapter as two separate items. There were two different sized hub adapters and of course I got the wrong one the first time. This is what worked for me.



Got it from Autozone

Some kits come with both hub adapters some don't, before buying or walking out of the rental place, definitely confirm you have the hub adapter you need.

[E30 Wagen]

Great write up. The only thing I would suggest is adding to step 14 (reinstalling the hub) to support the backside of the bearing (re: step 11, length of green line) when pressing the hub in. I failed to do this my first time and pushed the inner bearing race apart.

[natefoo]

Thanks noid for the writeup, this was super helpful. Some notes here from the rust belt for anyone in the future who they might help.

I went the fancy route (w/ the OEMTools 27213) thinking that it's not that much more than a slide hammer and the cheapo bearings-only kit from HF and would probably work the best/easiest. But I kind of wish I hadn't, especially since I could've just borrowed those two tools from a parts store. Maybe the fancy kit works well for parts that aren't as fused as mine, but in my case I bent the cross bar of the hub puller, destroyed the washer and spacer, and had to buy an extra spacer to put direct pressure on the hub spindle (more on that). It will also mangle/flatten the slots that the e-brake shoes clip into. That said, I can't tell you how it would've gone with the slide hammer, maybe worse, so take that for what you will.

The Bentley says to break the axle nut first while the car is still on the ground, this ended up being how I did it (after hammering out the locking plate) with a breaker bar and cheater since my impact didn't have the juice.

There's one big issue with the hub puller design for hubs as fused as mine was: the tapered nut applies outward flaring pressure on the hub spindle, you can see here how it basically fits inside the hub and pushes both toward the outside of the car but also radially outward on the inside of the hub spindle:



In my case this was enough pressure to lock it to the bearing. And unfortunately, none of the provided plates are small enough diameter to match the hub spindle. You can install one backwards but it's not deep enough to push the hub the whole way out, and even once I got it started, switching back to the nut didn't work. What I ultimately did was buy a spacer that is close to (but less than) the diameter of the hub spindle, so it'd apply force only in the correct direction. Sockets won't work because they don't have enough inner diameter, you need something roughly 1.5" OD and 1" ID. If you don't already have something, what I got was an Amana Tool 67235 High Precision Steel Spacer, 1" in length, for $13. Then assemble with a plate like this:



Getting the old inner bearing race off the hub was not easy with it super fused, I tried chisels but that just mangled the lip on the hub. Ultimately what worked was borrowing a bolt buster, wrapping the coils around the race, and getting it as glowing red molten as possible. With the hub face up, the race just dropped off for me once I got it hot enough (you want it flipped over from how it is in the photo and come at the race from the bottom, I perched it on the hub puller):



As E30 Wagen says you have to support the bearing as you're installing the hub or else you will push your brand new bearing apart.

The Ford axle kit worked exactly as advertised and made that step a breeze.

[noid]

Thanks noid for the writeup, this was super helpful. Some notes here from the rust belt for anyone in the future who they might help.

I went the fancy route (w/ the OEMTools 27213) thinking that it's not that much more than a slide hammer and the cheapo bearings-only kit from HF and would probably work the best/easiest. But I kind of wish I hadn't, especially since I could've just borrowed those two tools from a parts store. Maybe the fancy kit works well for parts that aren't as fused as mine, but in my case I bent the cross bar of the hub puller, destroyed the washer and spacer, and had to buy an extra spacer to put direct pressure on the hub spindle (more on that). It will also mangle/flatten the slots that the e-brake shoes clip into. That said, I can't tell you how it would've gone with the slide hammer, maybe worse, so take that for what you will.

The Bentley says to break the axle nut first while the car is still on the ground, this ended up being how I did it (after hammering out the locking plate) with a breaker bar and cheater since my impact didn't have the juice.

There's one big issue with the hub puller design for hubs as fused as mine was: the tapered nut applies outward flaring pressure on the hub spindle, you can see here how it basically fits inside the hub and pushes both toward the outside of the car but also radially outward on the inside of the hub spindle:



In my case this was enough pressure to lock it to the bearing. And unfortunately, none of the provided plates are small enough diameter to match the hub spindle. You can install one backwards but it's not deep enough to push the hub the whole way out, and even once I got it started, switching back to the nut didn't work. What I ultimately did was buy a spacer that is close to (but less than) the diameter of the hub spindle, so it'd apply force only in the correct direction. Sockets won't work because they don't have enough inner diameter, you need something roughly 1.5" OD and 1" ID. If you don't already have something, what I got was an Amana Tool 67235 High Precision Steel Spacer, 1" in length, for $13. Then assemble with a plate like this:



Getting the old inner bearing race off the hub was not easy with it super fused, I tried chisels but that just mangled the lip on the hub. Ultimately what worked was borrowing a bolt buster, wrapping the coils around the race, and getting it as glowing red molten as possible. With the hub face up, the race just dropped off for me once I got it hot enough (you want it flipped over from how it is in the photo and come at the race from the bottom, I perched it on the hub puller):



As E30 Wagen says you have to support the bearing as you're installing the hub or else you will push your brand new bearing apart.

The Ford axle kit worked exactly as advertised and made that step a breeze.

Crazy to think its been 8 years already since my post.

Sounds like the OEMTools clone version has some weak metallurgy compared to the SIR kit.

I think, I may redefine 'fancy' now as using the OEM Tool - 83300492287, especially because its less than even the OEMTools kit. It doesn't have provisions for removing the hub, but the factory manual looks like it intends for you to hammer it out anyways; and so a slide hammer is the tool of choice.



As for removing the inner race, my preferred tool of choice is a posi lok (103, or a 104 might fit too).

[natefoo]

Oh that's a nice looking tool - I am not sure it would've been able to wedge in between the race and the hub on mine, but definitely better to try than hammering the lip into a mess.