Front wheel Bearings?

[SAMM3Y]

My car has 85k miles on it and I have the front wheel bearings off currently for a brake cooler retrofit. Is it worth me pro-actively replacing them? How many people have had one fail before? Thanks

[deansbimmer]

No need to replace them unless they're noisy or loose. Certainly no harm in replacing them either. The new ones would certainly be in better condition than the originals, even if you can't notice any improvement from behind the wheel. Replacement would give you the opportunity to coat them for corrosion protection and cosmetics as well.

Only use Genuine or F A G brand. I would rather have originals at 80k miles than a brand new inferior quality part.

[amrazM]

wouldnt bother changing them unless there is an issue, replace the bolts when installing though

[pjk380]

I had to replace the front wheel bearings on my 2010 M3, which only has 24,500 miles. Passenger side bearing became noisy and made the tire wear funny. The shop guy said some of the early years had bad batches of bearings, not sure if that is true or not. He recommended sticking with genuine BMW bearings. He said he had much better luck with OEM instead of aftermarket. I wanted to install F A G brand but he had customers return within a couple years that used F A G bearings as they began to fail.

[DRLane]

Originally Posted by pjk380

I had to replace the front wheel bearings on my 2010 M3, which only has 24,500 miles. Passenger side bearing became noisy and made the tire wear funny. The shop guy said some of the early years had bad batches of bearings, not sure if that is true or not. He recommended sticking with genuine BMW bearings. He said he had much better luck with OEM instead of aftermarket. I wanted to install F A G brand but he had customers return within a couple years that used F A G bearings as they began to fail.

F A G is OEM, no?

[deansbimmer]

Originally Posted by DRLane

F A G is OEM, no?

Yes, Or SKF.

[Ram3n]

Hi mileage m3 here. 129,000 miles. 2008. So far the wheel bearings have been quiet and smooth. I've replaced the usual things that fail on the S65. Like someone said. If it's quiet and nothing abnormal don't replace it.

[tdott]

Installed some F A G ones preventively since I was swapping spindles for f8x brakes. They spin smoother but not something you can feel. The old ones didn't spin as smoothly but wasn't making any noises.

Worse case they have lifetime warranty.

[Bubbles]

Originally Posted by deansbimmer

No need to replace them unless they're noisy or loose. Certainly no harm in replacing them either. The new ones would certainly be in better condition than the originals, even if you can't notice any improvement from behind the wheel. Replacement would give you the opportunity to coat them for corrosion protection and cosmetics as well.

Only use Genuine or F A G brand. I would rather have originals at 80k miles than a brand new inferior quality part.

Do you spray coat before install? I just did all wheel bearings about 1k miles a ago and the *** units upfront looked like they had a protective coating applied.

[Bubbles]

Originally Posted by deansbimmer

Yes, Or SKF.

F@G upfront and SKF rears on my car.

[deansbimmer]

Originally Posted by Bubbles

Do you spray coat before install? I just did all wheel bearings about 1k miles a ago and the *** units upfront looked like they had a protective coating applied.

They come oiled. You can spray them for some extra protection. Mainly just the bore and the backside of the face. If you don't they'll surface rust over time. Totally optional.

[bmwm3s65]

Originally Posted by deansbimmer

They come oiled. You can spray them for some extra protection. Mainly just the bore and the backside of the face. If you don't they'll surface rust over time. Totally optional.

What kind of lubricant do you spray them with?

[deansbimmer]

Originally Posted by bmwm3s65

What kind of lubricant do you spray them with?

No...They come oiled....I'm talking about spraying them with paint for corrosion protection...

[kyippee]

Yup, shops I go to have spray painted the center of the hubs to get ahead of the rust colors

[Bubbles]

Originally Posted by deansbimmer

They come oiled. You can spray them for some extra protection. Mainly just the bore and the backside of the face. If you don't they'll surface rust over time. Totally optional.

Damn that makes sense. I guess I know what I am doing this weekend. Thanks for the info.