Hi all,

Has anyone successfully replaced their front hub assemblies in their garage? I've only found DIYs for the E39, and mention that there's significantly less clearance between the strut and the 4 hub bolts on the E60.

Any tips or special tools recommended for the job? Or should I plan on removing the entire carrier and removing the hub once its off the car?

Will be doing the replacement on a family member's car during a 3-day visit and want to be prepared for anything unexpected. Thanks for any input!

 

Hi
I hope I can help. I have done the front and rear on my E60 and my friends E60.

If you have a few tools and an impact wrench it will make it easy.
I have done it two different ways, but by far the second way was the easiest. (I learnt from my mistake)

I am writing by memory so I may get some spanner sizes wrong. If so please forgive me.
First jack your car up and put it on two jack stands and remove both the front wheels.

Remove your brake senor wire, brake calipers, bracket and rotors
You will then need to remove the bolts (18mm nut and bolt and a 16mm bolt) that hold your brake line and strut retaining bolt

Next you need to loosen the front and rear lower control arms bolts (16mm or 18mm) so the strut will drop down easily.(you dont need to remove them just loosen)

After loosening the bolts put a trolley jack or something under the strut to hold it in place while you remove the top three strut nuts (find under the bonnet) 13mm
Be careful when you lower the strut that it doesn’t hit your front guard or scratch the paint.

If the strut doesn’t drop down then you need to loosen your control arm bolts a little more

I then put my foot on the wheel hub and carefully push down which will allow the strut to fit under your guard and swing outside the wheel arch.

I then put a wedge between the wheel hub to release the pressure on the strut and remove the strut away from the car.
With a little wiggling you will be able to slide the strut out. (Notice the little locating lug on the strut for refitting)

Now you will clearly see the 4 x 18mm bolts holding in your wheel bearing in place

The bolts are originally fitted with something similar to lock tight so they will not come out easily. If you have an air or electric wheel wrench you can remove them easily but otherwise be patient and use a bit of elbow power and they will come out.
But if you can beg or borrow a wrench it will be far better and easier and faster.

Once you have removed the four bolts the hub will drop out easily and then it is simply the reverse putting it all back together.

A few points to remember!!
When you refit your new wheel bearing, you will notice a little “V” cut out on the hub, you will need to match it with the bearing and wheel hub.
Before you do the new bearing bolts up tight make sure they have a blue or red color to the thread which is lock tight. If not a little drop for security is wise.

Also don’t do all your bearing bolts up tight till you have fitted all four bolts into the bearing as there is a little bit of play which may make it a little bit difficult to fit all four bolts if you tighten one and then try and fit the other bolts.

Also make sure when you retighten your lower control arm bolts after you put your strut under pressure. Simply place a jack under the strut and lift the car so it is just of the jack stand before tightening then.

I hope this helps you.
It is an easy job and it took me about 1 1/2 hours each side.

The first time I changed the bearings I didn’t remove my strut and it was just crazy as it was so difficult to get tot two of the bolts.
Don’t waste your time trying as I did.
Remove the strut and the job is easy

If you have any questions please send me a private message and ill reply as fast as possible.

Good luck! I look forward to hearing about your success!

 

Thank you so much for typing this out!

I was planning to follow the E39 "shortcut" DIY which didn't involve removing the strut and would have probably struggled for a couple hours before proceeding the proper way. Will do it exactly as you've said and hopefully won't take me much longer than it did for you.

One additional point - I heard the original lock tight can be melted by applying a bit of heat from a torch for 20 seconds or so. Obviously need to let the bolt cool afterwards but something I may try as I'll be using a standard breaker bar.

Cheers!
Evgeny

 

Heat up a bolt with a torch and you may alter the mechanical properties enough that it becomes a huge liability.

Steel can be tempered at around 400f.

Are you going to replace them?

 

Yes of course. New set of bolts was only ~$35. Thanks for looking out though!

 

Here is a useful link.
BMW E60 5-Series Front Wheel Bearing (RWD) Replacement - Pelican Parts Technical Article

Pelican have a few of these DIY's

 

Oh that's perfect. I've ordered from them a couple times but never thought to check for guides. Will bookmark for future use, thanks!