CAR House

I was considering replacing my right front wheel bearing hub/housing because I have a stripped retainer screw that holds my disc hub to the bearing housing. The stripped screw cannot be removed because my "easy out" broke inside of it and a drill cannot penetrate it to remove it. There is nothing wrong with the bearings and I could just leave it as is since the wheel lug nuts are what really fix the disc to the bearing hub, but I located a used bearing hub that I thought I could replace it with. In looking at the BMW repair website: (http://www.bmwtechinfo.com/repair/main/721en/index.htm it states that you should never reuse a bearing hub, its securing collar nut or grease dust cap! Is that just overkill to get you to buy a new assembly or something to religiously abide by? Which brings up another question: Since the bearing hub is a complete assembly, does that mean that one never repacks front wheel bearings but buys a new bearing hub at $200 per? This is my first BMW and it seems that what use to be a simple bearing repack routine in other cars is very restrictive and expensive with this manufacturer. http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/h/r/50.png

Her is some for cheaper.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-front-wheel-bearing-hub-for-E31-E32-E34-E36-E46-Z3_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ42609QQihZ023QQitemZ 360007766578QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

I would not reuse a wheel bearing out of safety concerns myself, JMO.

It is true that you should not re-use the wheel bearing or hub once taken off. They do not and should not need to be re-packed. The bearing will last well over 100K miles so it is considered a throw away item by BMW. These are ball bearings not taper roller bearings like we all used to have to dissemble and re-pack.

Check with Charlie at Gault for a far better price. I just replaced one on a '91 and it was right at US$100.

Be sure that you get the right hub/bearing for your model/year, there are two sizes.