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BMW 5-Series Front Wheel Bearing Replacement
(Model Years 1997-2003)
BMW E39 M5 Front Wheel Bearing Replacement
(Model Years 2000-2003)
How to determine if you need new wheel
bearings
The E39 5-Series and M5 front
wheel bearings are not known for being robust and
are frequent replacement items for racers. If you
have high mileage (75,000 +), it may be a good idea to
replace the wheel bearings. If you experience a low rumbling sound,
as if you have studded snow tires mounted,
it is probably time to replace the bearings, unless, of course,
you have studded snow tires installed! Also, if you experience
pad
knock-back, it may be due to bad wheel bearings.
Zeckhausen Racing has exceptional pricing on the 1997-2003
BMW 5-Series front wheel bearings and associated hardware.
The 2000-2003 BMW M5 uses different front wheel bearings, which do not work with
non-M5 models. Make sure you order the proper bearings for your model.
The hardware is the same for all models. See details and
installation instructions below.
* Pad knock-back occurs when a rotor high spot
pushes the pad and caliper piston back into the caliper body. The symptom
is that your first application of the brakes requires longer pedal travel
than the second.
Parts Required
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BMW Part Number |
Description |
Retail Price |
Zeckhausen Racing Price |
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31-22-1-093-427
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525i/528i/530i/540i Wheel Bearing
(1 per side)
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$246.00
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$145 each |
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31-22-2-229-360
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M5 Wheel Bearing
(1 per side)
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$260.00
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$174 each |
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31-12-1-093-843
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M12 x 1.5 (55mm long) bolts
(4 per
side) |
$3.47
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$2.10 each |
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31-12-1-094-298
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M12 x 1.5 (95mm long) bolt
(1 per
side) |
$1.84
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$1.20 each |
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33-32-1-093-103
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Self-locking nut for pinch bolt
(1 per side) |
$2.70 |
$1.50 each |
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Wheel bearing |
Required Hardware (1 set per bearing) |
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The M5 front wheel bearings are the same internal design as the
528i/530i/540i wheel bearings; however, the M5 bearings have three raised
dowel pins which mate with matching holes in the M5 rotors. M5
bearings will not fit your E39 525i, 528i, 530i, or 540i with stock
brakes.
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The external appearance of the bearing assembly may vary depending on
BMW's supplier. They
either have a large nut on the back or a pressed-on cover.
If this is your first time changing
E39 wheel bearings, you should budget three hours for
the job and plan on two hours for the first side and one hour for
the second. Subsequent bearing swaps take about 45 minutes per side,
assuming you have air tools. |
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The wheel bearing assembly is held in place from behind by four bolts.
Two of the bolts are easily accessible. Two of them are blocked by
the shock absorber. This turns what should be a 5-minute job into the more
complicated process documented below.
If you are considering
replacement of your front shocks, there is almost 100 percent overlapping
labor with the bearing replacement, so you should consider doing both at
the same time.
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Installation Instructions
Safety Warning:
Working on your own car can be dangerous.
Even quality jack stands can collapse if not positioned properly, and a floor
jack can fail suddenly and without warning. You can be seriously injured
or even killed if you do not follow proper safety procedures. Please use
both a floor jack and a good pair of jack stands to support your car so that a
failure of any single support is less likely to result in the car falling on
top of you! Zeckhausen Racing LLC assumes no liability expressed or
implied for the improper installation or use of these components.
Note: The
following steps are performed on a 540i and are the same for the M5. The 6-cylinder models
(525i, 528i, 530i) have a slightly different suspension configuration and these
instructions, while close, do not apply exactly. You may wish to
consult a service manual or a BMW mechanic before attempting this service
on any model other than the 540i or M5.
Place the car on jack stands and
remove the front wheels. Remove the brake calipers and rotors.
(I've upgraded to a big brake kit, which is
why my brakes look different.)
If you are
installing a big brake kit and your car has more than 60,000 miles,
it is a good idea to change your wheel bearings at the same time.
Worn bearings can lead to excessive runout at the rotors which will be noticeable as pedal pulsation during braking.
The factory shock absorbers on the E39 BMW are the same part
number for
the left and right side. There are marks on the back of the strut
("L" and "R") that are lined up during installation with a slot on the back of
the steering knuckle. Rather than using those marks, it's
easier and to draw your own, with a permanent laundry
marker, on the strut and steering knuckle. Clean the dirt off and mark one or two vertical lines on the strut and the aluminum
knuckle.
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A closer view of the alignment marks. A horizontal line
is not required since the strut has a shoulder that sits firmly in the
knuckle. Also, the strut will have a sharp boundary between the
clean and dirty sections, so it will be obvious when it is seated properly
in the knuckle.
Once you've marked the strut, remove (and discard) the pinch bolt
which is shown in the photo to the right of the alignment marks.
You'll need to use a wrench on one end to keep the bolt from rotating
as you remove the nut.
The pinch bolt also holds a small
bracket that supports the ABS cable and, on the driver side, the brake pad
wear sensor cable. After you remove the pinch bolt, simply push this
bracket out of the way.
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Remove the
18mm nut and bolt holding the
front lower control arm to
the chassis. A good whack with a rubber mallet should pop the arm
out of the chassis attachment points. The arm is not under pressure
and can be reinstalled without special tools. The arm is
shown in the lower left of the photo with the bright yellow "NO HOOKS" sticker
on it. The bolt should be marked "CONTROL ARM" with the laundry pen
so it isn't confused with the strut pinch bolt removed in
the previous step. When reinstalling, remember that the bolt goes
in from the rear of the car and the nut faces the front of the car.
Remove the nut from the swaybar end link where it attaches to the
aluminum bracket. You will need a 16 mm open end wrench to
prevent the stud from turning while you remove the nut. After removing the nut, wiggle the end link loose and push it out of the way.
You may need to compress the suspension slightly with a floor jack in order
to get the end link loose. Push it back and out of the way.
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A closer shot of the swaybar end link. The 16 mm wrench
is used BEHIND the bracket to keep the stud from rotating while the socket
wrench is used to remove the nut. |
Spray some WD-40 or other lubricant
on the lower part of the strut so that it will be easier to slide out of
the knuckle. Be careful not to wash away your alignment marks!
Grab the aluminum steering knuckle and pull it down as far as you
can. Your instinct will be to try to turn the knuckle side to side,
but it is held firmly in place by the rear control arm and can't turn. Instead, grab
the strut housing and turn the strut side to side while you pull down on
the knuckle. This is where it is helpful to have a second person working
with you.
Pull it down far enough that you can gain access to the four bolts
which hold the bearing/hub assembly in place.
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This is a view from behind.
The knuckle has been pulled down so the strut is no longer blocking access to the upper
two bolts. Be careful not to damage the ABS sensor wire.
An air wrench is helpful to remove these bolts, since the factory
used a thread locking compound and the bolts are very long. You'll
be sweating if you have to remove these bolts by hand.
Discard the bolts after
removal. They should be replaced. Note the orientation of the
bearing assembly.
Install the new bearing assembly
in the same orientation as the one you just removed using
four new bolts. It only fits in one direction because the bolt holes are not all the same distance apart. The new
bolts come from BMW with thread locking compound already applied.
However, if you find yourself reusing the old bolts (not
recommended), then apply
thread locking compound such as
high
strength (red) Loctite on them. Tighten to 75 lb-ft.
After pushing the knuckle back up, make sure the marks on the strut
align with the marks on the knuckle. Use a floor jack to compress
the suspension, but be careful not to lift the car off the jack stand.
Position the lower control arm back
into the chassis bracket and slide the original bolt through and attach
the nut. Don't tighten yet until the suspension is compressed in the
next step.
Compress the suspension with a floor
jack. Torque the lower control arm bolt to 60 lb-ft. Install a
new pinch bolt and nut and torque to 50 lb-ft. Don't forget to
reinstall the bracket which is held in place by the pinch bolt.
Insert the stud from the sway bar end link into the bracket and tighten,
using a 16mm open end wrench to keep the threads from turning while you
tighten the nut to 30 lb-ft.
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