Is there anyway to get the dust shield off without taking off the hub?

[Danny]

Because, fuck you BMW.

[619E30]

when I replaced my hub it looked like it was the only way you could, or you can just cut it :)

[Danny]

God damn it, then I have to buy a 32mm socket tomorrow :|

[dashboardmonkey]

God damn it, then I have to buy a 32mm socket tomorrow :|

another tool for the box, sounds good to me.

I always love it when I have to buy a tool to do something on the car.

[jlevie]

There is a 50% chance that when you pull a front hub that the bearing will separate and leave the inner race on the spindle, ruining the bearing. Best to have a new hub on hand.

[guibo09]

if you're not replacing it, then just cut it up to remove it and save your bearing. or else you have no choice put to remove the hub. most cars are like this, so dont hate on bmw for it.

[Jean]

Danny - I have removed them before with a cut-off wheel, didn't have to touch the hub.

jlevie - if the inner race stays on the spindle, why is the bearing ruined? You can just put the bearing back on and it goes on exactly in the same place as before?

[JTapper]

[BlueBMW]

It seems like whenever I pull a spindle on a BMW (new or old) the bearing separates and the inner race stays on the spindle. It breaks the seal of the bearing so even if you did put it back you'd risk water / dirt contamination and probably end up with a bad bearing very quickly.

[Danny]

I think I'll just trim it up with some tin snips.

[Jean]

Yep.... that's the way to go really.

I just did some suspension work today and one hub pulled out complete and one left a rear race behind FTL.

[e30drop]

Isn't it a 36mm Nut, I just did my wheel bearings...are there different sizes?