Andrew Posted August 16, 2022 Share Posted August 16, 2022 This is a guide on how to change the front wheel bearing on an F10 or F11. To access the wheel bearing retaining bolts you must first remove the tension arm from the steering knuckle. I found a bit of wear in my tension arm bush, so I just fitted a new one as its only one more bolt to undo on the front subframe and it’s off. Tools needed 8mm socket 10mm socket Trim/expanding rivet removal tool 17mm socket 18mm socket 24mm socket 24mm ratchet spanner 6mm Allen Key E16 Torx socket E20 Torx socket T50 Torx bit M12 spline bit TP60 TorxPlus bit Ratchet Big breaker bar Parts needed Wheel bearing 31206872888 Tension arm nearside/offside 31126775971/2 Tension arm fitting kit nearside/offside 3822901/3822801 – Lemforder part numbers After 56,100 miles my front wheel bearings started to grumble so I opted to replace them. FAG appeared to be the OEM supplier. I also replaced, the caliper cradle bolts, disc retaining screw, ABS sensor screw, caliper spring clip, while I was in there and all that. Ignore the drop links, I’ll fit them another time. Drive the car up onto ramps. This will allow you to remove the underbelly, see later and access the front jacking point on the cross member. The inside rear edge of the tension arm bush has started to crack. Might as well replace the whole arm if it’s coming out on the steering knuckle side and the big issue for me, these arms don’t come out without a fit when counter holding the balljoint end so it will get replaced at the same time as the grumbling wheel bearing. Doing the arm requires you to remove the underbelly but it’s not a big issue to remove. Having a power tool for this certainly speeds up the process of removing all the 8mm hex bolts that hold the underbelly in place. Set it aside and be prepared for this pile of parts to grow, significantly. Jack up and support the car following this thread With the car securely up in the air and with the wheels off, lock the disc against rotation and undo the 6mm Allen key retaining bolt. Take note of the routing of the brake hose and ABS sensor wiring, unclip the brake hose from its brackets to give you a bit more room to store the caliper out the way. Undo and remove the two 18mm hex bolts that secure the caliper cradle to the steering knuckle. These bolts may have been replaced with E16 Torx head bolts so be prepared for that if you have a newer model or had your front brakes previously changed. These are the four bearing retaining bolts. M12 spline. Note the bottom left hand bolt is partially obscured by the tension arm balljoint, hence why it needs to come out. That’s the ABS sensor, it doesn’t need to come out for this job. The middle balljoint here is the tension arm balljoint that needs to be separated. I take the brake splash shield off to get better access to it and prevent damage to my new brake shields. Using an 18mm socket remove the caliper cradle retaining bolts so you can remove the complete caliper and after removing the brake disc… Stow it up out the way up above the upper wishbone. I secured it with cable ties. To get to the tension arms subframe fixing you need to remove the front section of the wheel arch liner. It’s held on with lots of 8mm hex bolts. This now exposes the Torx head bolt of the tension arm at the subframe Remove the 4No. 10mm hex bolts to allow the brake shield to be removed, I did this to improve access and prevent damage to it. But it's not essential. I refit the top two bolts to hold the ABS Sensor cable/hose retaining bracket in place. The bearing retaining bolts look quite crusty. Get some penetrating oil on them now so it has time to work before you need to undo them. Using a 24mm socket and a breaker bar (I was expecting a fight and came equipped with a 1000mm long ¾” breaker bar) loosen the balljoint nut. Once the nut is turning and by now the balljoint will also be moving and thus parted, keep it moving with a 24mm ratchet spanner while counter holding the balljoint shank with a T50 bit… …until those horrible nyloc nuts jam on the exposed corroded thread and you need to get hold of the mushroom head of the balljoint with a pair of self-locking pliers. Balljoint out of steering knuckle. This is why I maintain you should replace the arm at the same time as I’ve damaged it getting it out. Perhaps if I took even longer, I could have wrestled it out without damage but the internal Torx end of the balljoint shank was beginning to deform in the counter hold process. I used an impact grade Torx bit as I keep snapping ordinary Torx bits on this car. Another long breaker bar with an E20 Torx socket to crack loose the subframe bolt on the tension arm. Because I’m old and suffer from tennis elbow (not that I play tennis) having the powered ratchet is a godsend. Pull the bolt out. The nut is a clip nut that fixes to the subframe which needs to be replaced, but it will stay in place while you undo the bolt and you don’t need to worry about it. Knock the arm out of the subframe with a tap of a hammer. Use a pry bar, remove the captive clip nut from the subframe and bin it, all the fixings are replaced in this job. With the arm out of the way, you can now access the one bearing retaining bolt that was previously impossible. I use an impact grade M12 spline bit again so I don’t run the risk of the ordinary bit breaking. I used a breaker bar to crack these loose as the strut blocked my way for my impact wrench. Once all four bolts are out… …pry off the old wheel bearing flange… …and when that fails, hit the back of the wheel flange with a hammer to get it moving. The rear cover of the old bearing stayed in the steering knuckle…. …which needed pulled out with a pair of long nosed pliers. Give it a clean with a wire wheel. Carefully as that is the ABS sensor at the top centre of the recess. Told you the pile of bits was going to get bigger. Now for the re-assembly, but some very important info first. On the newer versions, BMW changed the design of the wheel bearing. The original bearing is secured with four M12x1.5mm spline headed bolts. These have been replaced with four M12x1.25mm bolts. Therefore you cannot use old bolts in a new bearing! The new bolts also have a TorxPlus drive compared to the old bolts which have an M12 spline drive. Fit the new bearing to the steering knuckle and tighten the new TorxPlus TP60 bolts to 20Nm to seat the bearing into the recess in the steering knuckle. Torque the bolts to 120Nm. Now for the final stage in tightening, I drew vertical lines on the end of each bolt so that I could see when these bolts had turned thru a further 90 degrees. Bolts are now fully tightened, 20Nm, 120Nm plus 90 degrees. It wasn’t too bad with a 750mm log breaker bar. Install the new tension arms clip nut and using the arm itself, align it in the subframe using the new bolt. Do not fully tighten this bolt as the suspension needs to be at it’s normal (compressed) state so you do not lock any stresses into the new bush. To give the same result as the suspension in its normal state, adjust the arm so that you can measure 20mm from the tip of the new balljoint end to the topside of the domed recess for the balljoint. Start tightening the subframe bolt. Tighten to 85Nm, that’s nothing, but we aren’t done yet. Make some alignment marks and turn the bolt thru another 180 degrees, yes that’s half a turn. I was surprised how easily it was to do just with a 750mm long breaker bar. Install the balljoint end into the steering knuckle Counterhold the balljoint shank with the T50 bit while doing up the new 24mm nut. The taper of the balljoint will bite and you can then get on and tighten it to 100N Again, make some markings so you know when you have tightened it a further 90 degrees. That’s the hard bit done and me for the day. While I’m in there and all that malarky, I fit a new ABS sensor screw. It’s T30 tightened to 8Nm. I also replace some of the grotty U clip nuts for the underbelly… …for some nice new plastic ones that won’t rust and seize on the bolts. Like this one. Tighten the brake splasher bolts to 12Nm on re-fitting Refit the hydraulic line. Refit the brake disc and a new retaining screw Refit the caliper using new bolts, these have an E16Torx head Tighten to 110Nm. Now you have something to react against when tightening the brake disc retaining screw to 16Nm. New caliper spring clip fitted. Refit the front wheel arch liner, underbelly, put wheel back on and torque to 140Nm once weight of car is on its wheels. Job done. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve84N Posted April 28, 2023 Share Posted April 28, 2023 (edited) @Andrew why do you think that tension strut is tightened with the suspension unloaded with a 20mm gap, instead of just when the car's on the ground like the other bolts on the coffin arm? Is it just access, or does that position actually result in something else when sat at rest I wonder. Edited April 28, 2023 by Steve84N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted April 29, 2023 Author Share Posted April 29, 2023 Hi @Steve84N, I’d say it’s purely for ease of access. Unless you are on a four poster ramp with the car at head height, I would be tricky. The 90mm measurement is an alternative. See this post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve84N Posted December 19, 2023 Share Posted December 19, 2023 @Andrew did my front bearings today. All went as it should, those new bolts are tight! The old bearings were a bit stiff to turn, although not particularly noisy. Think it felt better on the way home but I've got lots of motorway journeys coming up to see more. I had planned to do the rears as well but was thwarted due to tools. I had the 36mm 12 point socket and the big nut was no problem. However, the four E14 bolts are right next to the CV joint and even a 3/8 socket doesn't fit. I've now ordered a deep thin wall E14 as it must work because I've seen people do the job without taking the whole suspension apart to remove the axle. Also, I had naively thought the flange would slip easily onto the driveshaft splines but watching a video I think the tolerances are too tight. Therefore, I've ordered a tool that pulls the driveshaft through the hub. https://amzn.eu/d/gqwHpxX https://amzn.eu/d/gWPcok0 I'll have another go after Xmas, just a shame I couldn't do it before as we're driving to France on Saturday, then Belgium, back to France and home next Wednesday. At least it'll complete a little over 1,000 miles since my new engine was fitted to finish the break in period, so I can change the oil at the same time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4aceman Posted December 19, 2023 Share Posted December 19, 2023 2 hours ago, Steve84N said: Also, I had naively thought the flange would slip easily onto the driveshaft splines but watching a video I think the tolerances are too tight. Therefore, I've ordered a tool that pulls the driveshaft through the hub. Typically the issue is getting the driveshaft out of the wheel hub... Putting it in shouldn't be so hard since you can wire brush the rust off and use some lubricant. Once some threads show the axle nut should draw it in. They make tools to push the axle through, although sometimes it can be so seized it's impossible. Hopefully not 😄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve84N Posted December 19, 2023 Share Posted December 19, 2023 @4aceman I was thinking that a 3 leg puller would pull the flange off the driveshaft once the four bolts holding the bearing on are undone. The bearing should come with it as there's hardly any lip inside the knuckle. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted December 20, 2023 Author Share Posted December 20, 2023 9 hours ago, Steve84N said: @4aceman I was thinking that a 3 leg puller would pull the flange off the driveshaft once the four bolts holding the bearing on are undone. The bearing should come with it as there's hardly any lip inside the knuckle. Yeah that's that's the starter for ten, pull the bearing and flange together off the driveshaft, or rather push the driveshaft thru the flange and bearing. I've been helping @VPCAPTAIN re-build his E92 rear hub and bearings, gloss over the fact that the E92 bearing is a press fit into the hub carrier but has a similar flange arrangement. To get the flange off the hub, I used a large bearing separator to get in behind the flange and then screw in the wheel bolts thru the flange to bear against the bearing separator and pull the flange out of the bearing. This destroys the bearing so you are fully committed at this point. You then need to pull the outer bearing outer race off the flange. Bearing separator and a flat chisel is needed then a suitable socket to get it the last little bit off the flange Separated And no nicks or cuts in the flange unlike what you see on Youtube. Or when its all still on the car, you bolt a slide hammer to the hub and beat the living daylights out of it till you pull the flange out of the bearing, then undo and remove the bearing from the inside of the hub. You either bite the bullet and buy a new rear flange and then use the tool to fit the new one once the bearing is bolted to the hub carrier. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve84N Posted December 20, 2023 Share Posted December 20, 2023 (edited) Thanks @Andrew, I've tried to make my life easier by buying the flange as well. I've already got the hub flange and bearing pressed together as one unit, like it comes on the front. Fortunately, the lip inside the carrier is quite small on the F10 and not a press fit but bolted. I figured the bearing would be strong enough to pull it out before the race etc separated. I didn't fancy the slide hammer butchering to split the two parts and I couldn't have shiny front hubs and rusty rears now could I... That's the tool I've ordered, arriving Friday. Should pull the new one into place nicely. I'll be pulling the bearing into position using it, like in the video above at 4mins. Edited December 20, 2023 by Steve84N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacPedro Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 On 16/08/2022 at 15:35, Andrew said: This is a guide on how to change the front wheel bearing on an F10 or F11. To access the wheel bearing retaining bolts you must first remove the tension arm from the steering knuckle. I found a bit of wear in my tension arm bush, so I just fitted a new one as its only one more bolt to undo on the front subframe and it’s off. Tools needed 8mm socket 10mm socket Trim/expanding rivet removal tool 17mm socket 18mm socket 24mm socket 24mm ratchet spanner 6mm Allen Key E16 Torx socket E20 Torx socket T50 Torx bit M12 spline bit TP60 TorxPlus bit Ratchet Big breaker bar Parts needed Wheel bearing 31206872888 Tension arm nearside/offside 31126775971/2 Tension arm fitting kit nearside/offside 3822901/3822801 – Lemforder part numbers After 56,100 miles my front wheel bearings started to grumble so I opted to replace them. FAG appeared to be the OEM supplier. I also replaced, the caliper cradle bolts, disc retaining screw, ABS sensor screw, caliper spring clip, while I was in there and all that. Ignore the drop links, I’ll fit them another time. Drive the car up onto ramps. This will allow you to remove the underbelly, see later and access the front jacking point on the cross member. The inside rear edge of the tension arm bush has started to crack. Might as well replace the whole arm if it’s coming out on the steering knuckle side and the big issue for me, these arms don’t come out without a fit when counter holding the balljoint end so it will get replaced at the same time as the grumbling wheel bearing. Doing the arm requires you to remove the underbelly but it’s not a big issue to remove. Having a power tool for this certainly speeds up the process of removing all the 8mm hex bolts that hold the underbelly in place. Set it aside and be prepared for this pile of parts to grow, significantly. Jack up and support the car following this thread With the car securely up in the air and with the wheels off, lock the disc against rotation and undo the 6mm Allen key retaining bolt. Take note of the routing of the brake hose and ABS sensor wiring, unclip the brake hose from its brackets to give you a bit more room to store the caliper out the way. Undo and remove the two 18mm hex bolts that secure the caliper cradle to the steering knuckle. These bolts may have been replaced with E16 Torx head bolts so be prepared for that if you have a newer model or had your front brakes previously changed. These are the four bearing retaining bolts. M12 spline. Note the bottom left hand bolt is partially obscured by the tension arm balljoint, hence why it needs to come out. That’s the ABS sensor, it doesn’t need to come out for this job. The middle balljoint here is the tension arm balljoint that needs to be separated. I take the brake splash shield off to get better access to it and prevent damage to my new brake shields. Using an 18mm socket remove the caliper cradle retaining bolts so you can remove the complete caliper and after removing the brake disc… Stow it up out the way up above the upper wishbone. I secured it with cable ties. To get to the tension arms subframe fixing you need to remove the front section of the wheel arch liner. It’s held on with lots of 8mm hex bolts. This now exposes the Torx head bolt of the tension arm at the subframe Remove the 4No. 10mm hex bolts to allow the brake shield to be removed, I did this to improve access and prevent damage to it. But it's not essential. I refit the top two bolts to hold the ABS Sensor cable/hose retaining bracket in place. The bearing retaining bolts look quite crusty. Get some penetrating oil on them now so it has time to work before you need to undo them. Using a 24mm socket and a breaker bar (I was expecting a fight and came equipped with a 1000mm long ¾” breaker bar) loosen the balljoint nut. Once the nut is turning and by now the balljoint will also be moving and thus parted, keep it moving with a 24mm ratchet spanner while counter holding the balljoint shank with a T50 bit… …until those horrible nyloc nuts jam on the exposed corroded thread and you need to get hold of the mushroom head of the balljoint with a pair of self-locking pliers. Balljoint out of steering knuckle. This is why I maintain you should replace the arm at the same time as I’ve damaged it getting it out. Perhaps if I took even longer, I could have wrestled it out without damage but the internal Torx end of the balljoint shank was beginning to deform in the counter hold process. I used an impact grade Torx bit as I keep snapping ordinary Torx bits on this car. Another long breaker bar with an E20 Torx socket to crack loose the subframe bolt on the tension arm. Because I’m old and suffer from tennis elbow (not that I play tennis) having the powered ratchet is a godsend. Pull the bolt out. The nut is a clip nut that fixes to the subframe which needs to be replaced, but it will stay in place while you undo the bolt and you don’t need to worry about it. Knock the arm out of the subframe with a tap of a hammer. Use a pry bar, remove the captive clip nut from the subframe and bin it, all the fixings are replaced in this job. With the arm out of the way, you can now access the one bearing retaining bolt that was previously impossible. I use an impact grade M12 spline bit again so I don’t run the risk of the ordinary bit breaking. I used a breaker bar to crack these loose as the strut blocked my way for my impact wrench. Once all four bolts are out… …pry off the old wheel bearing flange… …and when that fails, hit the back of the wheel flange with a hammer to get it moving. The rear cover of the old bearing stayed in the steering knuckle…. …which needed pulled out with a pair of long nosed pliers. Give it a clean with a wire wheel. Carefully as that is the ABS sensor at the top centre of the recess. Told you the pile of bits was going to get bigger. Now for the re-assembly, but some very important info first. On the newer versions, BMW changed the design of the wheel bearing. The original bearing is secured with four M12x1.5mm spline headed bolts. These have been replaced with four M12x1.25mm bolts. Therefore you cannot use old bolts in a new bearing! The new bolts also have a TorxPlus drive compared to the old bolts which have an M12 spline drive. Fit the new bearing to the steering knuckle and tighten the new TorxPlus TP60 bolts to 20Nm to seat the bearing into the recess in the steering knuckle. Torque the bolts to 120Nm. Now for the final stage in tightening, I drew vertical lines on the end of each bolt so that I could see when these bolts had turned thru a further 90 degrees. Bolts are now fully tightened, 20Nm, 120Nm plus 90 degrees. It wasn’t too bad with a 750mm log breaker bar. Install the new tension arms clip nut and using the arm itself, align it in the subframe using the new bolt. Do not fully tighten this bolt as the suspension needs to be at it’s normal (compressed) state so you do not lock any stresses into the new bush. To give the same result as the suspension in its normal state, adjust the arm so that you can measure 20mm from the tip of the new balljoint end to the topside of the domed recess for the balljoint. Start tightening the subframe bolt. Tighten to 85Nm, that’s nothing, but we aren’t done yet. Make some alignment marks and turn the bolt thru another 180 degrees, yes that’s half a turn. I was surprised how easily it was to do just with a 750mm long breaker bar. Install the balljoint end into the steering knuckle Counterhold the balljoint shank with the T50 bit while doing up the new 24mm nut. The taper of the balljoint will bite and you can then get on and tighten it to 100N Again, make some markings so you know when you have tightened it a further 90 degrees. That’s the hard bit done and me for the day. While I’m in there and all that malarky, I fit a new ABS sensor screw. It’s T30 tightened to 8Nm. I also replace some of the grotty U clip nuts for the underbelly… …for some nice new plastic ones that won’t rust and seize on the bolts. Like this one. Tighten the brake splasher bolts to 12Nm on re-fitting Refit the hydraulic line. Refit the brake disc and a new retaining screw Refit the caliper using new bolts, these have an E16Torx head Tighten to 110Nm. Now you have something to react against when tightening the brake disc retaining screw to 16Nm. New caliper spring clip fitted. Refit the front wheel arch liner, underbelly, put wheel back on and torque to 140Nm once weight of car is on its wheels. Job done. Thanks @Andrew for another informative tutorial. I'll be replacing the tension arms soon on my 520d. Will tracking need to be done on the car afterwards? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted April 27 Author Share Posted April 27 2 hours ago, MacPedro said: Will tracking need to be done on the car afterwards? It would be a good idea and BMW say you should but there is nothing to adjust on the front apart from the toe with the track rod ends and you’ve not touched them so…. I didn’t get mine tracked. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve84N Posted April 27 Share Posted April 27 The tension arm is part of what locates the hub. If the bushes were heavily worn it'll now sit in a slightly different position, requiring alignment. However, I'm with Andrew in that it probably won't need doing as they'd have to be in bits. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacPedro Posted April 29 Share Posted April 29 @Andrew, i'll take the risk of asking something stupid, but i'm wondering why did you not use a penetrating oil to help loosening the bolts on the tension struts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted April 29 Author Share Posted April 29 11 hours ago, MacPedro said: @Andrew, i'll take the risk of asking something stupid, but i'm wondering why did you not use a penetrating oil to help loosening the bolts on the tension struts? I did, you can see the dribbles on to my driveway in the pics above, I just don’t think I mentioned it. I had more success on the ball joints on the other side with plusgas and working the nut in both directions. The big subframe bolts all came undone without lube. Big threads don’t corrode as much (or the effects of corrosion aren’t as dramatic) and with an impact wrench they come apart without difficulty No such thing as a stupid question. Stupid answers perhaps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacPedro Posted April 29 Share Posted April 29 1 hour ago, Andrew said: I did, you can see the dribbles on to my driveway in the pics above, I just don’t think I mentioned it. I had more success on the ball joints on the other side with plusgas and working the nut in both directions. The big subframe bolts all came undone without lube. Big threads don’t corrode as much (or the effects of corrosion aren’t as dramatic) and with an impact wrench they come apart without difficulty No such thing as a stupid question. Stupid answers perhaps That's great, thanks @Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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