Mobius
03-12-2005, 06:24 PM
About a year ago I noticed a small squeak in long, sweeping corners. Just barely noticeable.
That barely noticeable squeak developed into a full-on 'wirrrrrrrrr' at highway speeds, and then just in the last couple days, a serious metallic growl.
A call to BMA and $89 later - I've got a brand new wheel hub and bearing.
$30 ($19 for the socket and $6 for a 1/2"-3/4" adaptor) later at Sears I have a 1 13/16" socket to take off that massive nut. :(
$20 later I have a 250lb torque wrench from the rental place down the street.
This is what I took off:
PRETTY! (not really)
http://home.comcast.net/~rjchristie2/SA/535i/bearing/bear1.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~rjchristie2/SA/535i/bearing/bear2.jpg
Inner race:
http://home.comcast.net/~rjchristie2/SA/535i/bearing/bear3.jpg
Outer race:
http://home.comcast.net/~rjchristie2/SA/535i/bearing/bear4.jpg
Well so much for that problem. :)
One thing I don't understand is why all the writeups I've read (on bmwe34.net and other places) say to mount the wheel and lower the car when torquing the hub nut. -The spindle is completely solid. You don't need the wheel on the ground to provide turning resistance - or am I missing something here?
Also, 214 ft-lb is a lot less torque than I thought. I didn't need a breaker bar or a pipe extension to remove or tighten the nut. I thought I'd have to jump on a 6' extension to do this. I guess this is good because I didn't have a pipe anyways. :)
Hey - why can't we post more than one [img]? Huh?
1. You have included too many images in your signature or in your previous post.
That barely noticeable squeak developed into a full-on 'wirrrrrrrrr' at highway speeds, and then just in the last couple days, a serious metallic growl.
A call to BMA and $89 later - I've got a brand new wheel hub and bearing.
$30 ($19 for the socket and $6 for a 1/2"-3/4" adaptor) later at Sears I have a 1 13/16" socket to take off that massive nut. :(
$20 later I have a 250lb torque wrench from the rental place down the street.
This is what I took off:
PRETTY! (not really)
http://home.comcast.net/~rjchristie2/SA/535i/bearing/bear1.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~rjchristie2/SA/535i/bearing/bear2.jpg
Inner race:
http://home.comcast.net/~rjchristie2/SA/535i/bearing/bear3.jpg
Outer race:
http://home.comcast.net/~rjchristie2/SA/535i/bearing/bear4.jpg
Well so much for that problem. :)
One thing I don't understand is why all the writeups I've read (on bmwe34.net and other places) say to mount the wheel and lower the car when torquing the hub nut. -The spindle is completely solid. You don't need the wheel on the ground to provide turning resistance - or am I missing something here?
Also, 214 ft-lb is a lot less torque than I thought. I didn't need a breaker bar or a pipe extension to remove or tighten the nut. I thought I'd have to jump on a 6' extension to do this. I guess this is good because I didn't have a pipe anyways. :)
Hey - why can't we post more than one [img]? Huh?
1. You have included too many images in your signature or in your previous post.