Andrew Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 I am looking at changing out my rear wheel bearings when I do a number of other jobs. I’d managed to buy a complete used rear offside rear hub assembly for buttons to allow me to figure out the best way to tackle the job as it’s a tight fit going in with an E14 socket from the rear of the hub with the driveshaft fitted. Looking outwards on the inside of the hub you can see the four E14 bearing retaining bolts, albeit with the driveshaft removed. After stripping down the hub assembly I’d bought, this is what the rear bearing was like. It’s what’s known in the trade as fooked. BMW will tell you to remove the drive flange before attempting to unbolt the bearing from the hub carrier. What I wanted to see was if by removing the drive flange first, can you gain a bit of wiggle room (by wobbling the CV joints as the outer end isn’t restrained anymore) . So I thought I’d try to pull the flange off with a set of M12 bolts thru the wheel bolt holes Top two bolts bear on the bearing flange and bottom one onto the aluminium hub carrier Turning the bolt heads and nuts the flange started to come out the hub And after much effort on two of the M12 bolts the hub was out with the other bearings outer race. Problem I’ve now got is my bearing splitters aren’t big enough to let me pull the outer bearing outer race off. I will need fire to remove the race. To be continued…… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve84N Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 (edited) I just bought new flanges as well as bearings, not that costly and then you can avoid dealing with the race. I reckon you'll struggle to remove the flange like that with the extra friction of the axle in the grooves, mine was stuck together tight. Snapped a three leg puller. Whacking the axle with a hammer from the outside helped on mine to get it started. Access to the E14 bolts is horrible. Even with a thin walled socket we had to grind it right down and use heat to keep them turning. You're fighting for room to get the bolts out. You'll need one of these though: Mekanik Drive Shaft Puller Extractor Socket Tool Set M16-M30 4 Compatible with BMW VW BENZ Porsche https://amzn.eu/d/99f4p8w Edited August 3 by Steve84N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted August 3 Author Share Posted August 3 Yeah I remember your comments @Steve84N. My Machine Mart E14 will fit better than my Sealey E14, the MM one is slightly thinner. I was debating unbolting the hub carrier from the suspension arms, leaving the bearing and driveshaft in-situ and prising out the driveshaft from the diff and tackling it on the bench where you can wiggle the driveshaft easily to help access. Already have one of those tools Bought it for doing an E92 hub and bearing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve84N Posted August 3 Share Posted August 3 Unbolting suspension arms, alignment afterwards etc is a pain, it's a close call between that and doing it in situ but I'd go with the latter. Be prepared to sacrifice a socket, keep the axle pushing back towards the diff with a hammer (let's you keep the bearing mating face flush with the carrier for bolt clearance) and you'll get the bolts out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted August 4 Author Share Posted August 4 10 hours ago, Steve84N said: Unbolting suspension arms, alignment afterwards etc is a pain, it's a close call between that and doing it in situ but I'd go with the latter. I’m thinking if I just take the hub carrier from the arms, there is no adjustment at the hub carrier end of arms, only on the subframe end on two of the four bolts has adjustment 10 hours ago, Steve84N said: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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