zbyler

Hey guys,
I have to replace the driver's side front axle seal on my 09 535i X drive. I found a few good write ups (one great one on Pelican Parts) but none of them mention the torque specs for a few key parts, listed below. I'm trying to tackle this tomorrow and unfortunately do not have a Bentley manual (yet). If anyone can confirm these specs it would be much appreciated.

Axle nut (36mm, 12pt): 420 n m (310 ft-lbs)

18mm bolt that mounts the lower control arm to the subframe: 100 n m (74 ft-lbs)

21mm nut that connects the ball joint to the lower "strut arm": 165 n m (122 ft-lbs)

Here's the listing for the pelican parts write-up (notice no torque specs):
https://www.pelicanparts.com/techart...eplacement.htm

Thanks!

~Z

kd7iwp

You are correct.

Axle nut: https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...nuckle/5SOuxZa They want you to replace the nut.

Lower control arm (wishbone) to subframe: https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...mounts/5jtS88K but this one I believe wants you to replace the nut and bolt and use a TTY value of 100Nm but I'm not sure what the 90+-15 degrees is. Does that mean 100Nm and then do roughly 90 degrees? Weird notation, not sure what I did when I did this on my similar car!

Tension strut arm to 21mm nut at ball joint: https://www.newtis.info/tisv2/a/en/e...mounts/5jtS88K They want you to replace the nut

zbyler

Thanks for double checking me! Looks like we ended up getting the info from the same place. The 90+/- 15 degrees is a torque angle measurement. So you would torque it to 100 Nm and then, using a torque angle gauge, turn it another 90 degrees or 1/4 turn basically.

kd7iwp

I'm very familiar with the TTY bolts having an angle measurement, I'm just surprised to see that particular one where it says 90+/-15. Everything else I've ever seen shows things like 100Nm +90degrees, but it's weird to me that this one gives sort of an acceptable +/- range (if I'm interpreting that correctly).

For the axle nut I have no idea how to get it that tight. Plus, once you punch in the sides of the nut (also something I'm not sure how to do as my pry bar was too fat to fit into the hub to hit it, and my screw drivers not strong enough) it won't be coming out. My torque wrench doesn't go nearly that high and a breaker bar with a few extensions on it was making the wheel spin even while someone held the brakes...

zbyler

Yeah the 310 ft-lbs has been the biggest obstacle. Luckily I have access to a 3/4" drive torque wrench at work.

I'm not sure if you did it this way, but the instructions for tightening the axle nut says to perform the final tightening with the wheel on and car on the ground. You would remove the center cap of the wheel and do it that way to keep it from spinning. If that's how you did it and it still spun........ DAMN!

kd7iwp

Definitely did it with the car on the ground. Part of the issue was that since I can deadlift more than I weigh, I was pulling up on the breaker bar as I could put more force on it than pressing down, but that was relieving some of the weight of the car from the wheel which would allow it to spin more easily.

seanjordan20

That torque is high. I have an 05 530i and it requires 310 ft lbs. When I changed my hubs 4 years back I just hit it with an impact wrench, pinched the edge and called it a day. Not saying it's the correct way to do it but it's the way I did it.

kd7iwp

I'm on board with that idea. I also did it as tight as I could and then bent the lock nut. There's no way it's coming out on it's own. I read somewhere once that the high torque is not to prevent the nut from coming off, but rather to put a certain amount of pressure on the wheel bearing. No idea if that's true.

zbyler

Replaced the axle seal yesterday. Took about 4 hours in my driveway.

While the Pelican Parts write up was good, here are A few suggestions for making this repair easier:

• Remove the engine and transmission splash guard (8mm and phillips head fasteners)
• Remove the large "reinforcement plate" (6 x 16mm bolts and 1 x 8mm)
• Separate the tie rod from the spindle (24mm nut and T40 torx bit) to allow more play in the spindle when separating it from the axle

Torque specs (from newTIS.com) are as follows:

• Tie rod nut (24mm): 60 ft lbs (80 Nm)
• Control arm bolt (18mm): 74 ft-lbs (100 Nm plus 90 degrees +/- 15)
• Strut arm nut (21mm): 122 ft-lbs (165 Nm)
• Axle nut (36mm, 12pt): 310 ft-lbs (420 Nm) Note: I used a 3/4" drive torque wrench to get this done and it worked like a dream
• Lug bolts (17mm): 88.5 ft-lbs (120 Nm)

• 
  tie rod being removed from spindle
  
  old seal removed
  
  new seal in