[NanasBack]

Have you booked it in for a 'diagnosis ' or for the wheelbearings to be hanged?
I think you'll struggle with claiming.

[330XDave]

Originally Posted by JNW1

You'd certainly like to think so and in the event a replacement wheel bearing doesn't solve the problem I'll be saying it's up to them to keep going at their expense until it's sorted!

However, it seems some dealers are prepared to try it on - see post number 7 in the thread below!

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1544192

Shocking. Think it's just worth taking a flyer without to be honest.

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by NanasBack

Have you booked it in for a 'diagnosis ' or for the wheelbearings to be hanged?
I think you'll struggle with claiming.

The wheel bearing problem was flagged by the dealer when the car went in for the EGR recall inspection last week and it's booked-in to be changed the week after next. The dealer has confirmed replacement will be covered under the extended warranty but I'll have my £250 excess to pay.

[JNW1]

So just by way of a further update my car had the "faulty" wheel bearing replaced earlier this week and........the whine's still there.

I spoke to the Service Manager today who interestingly was asking lots of questions about what tyres were on the car, their relative wear front to back, etc. That said to me he was thinking this might be an X-Drive or transmission problem and I did say I'd been sceptical all along about a wheel bearing being the cause of the noise I'd highlighted; anyway, the outcome is I'm going to take him out for a run in the car to show him the problem and we'll take it from there.

Unfortunately he's busy tomorrow and on holiday next week but hopefully there should be some progress the week after next......

[Watsey]

Originally Posted by JNW1

So just by way of a further update my car had the "faulty" wheel bearing replaced earlier this week and........the whine's still there.

I spoke to the Service Manager today who interestingly was asking lots of questions about what tyres were on the car, their relative wear front to back, etc. That said to me he was thinking this might be an X-Drive or transmission problem and I did say I'd been sceptical all along about a wheel bearing being the cause of the noise I'd highlighted; anyway, the outcome is I'm going to take him out for a run in the car to show him the problem and we'll take it from there.

Unfortunately he's busy tomorrow and on holiday next week but hopefully there should be some progress the week after next......

Where do you stand in terms of having paid the XS for warranty work which has failed to cure the problem ? Presumably BMW will refund the XS and you get a wheel hub/bearing FOC.

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by Watsey

Where do you stand in terms of having paid the XS for warranty work which has failed to cure the problem ? Presumably BMW will refund the XS and you get a wheel hub/bearing FOC.

The short answer is I don't know where I stand at the moment!

However, the position I'll be adopting with the Service Manager is "you haven't solved the problem I identified and I'm not going to keep paying £250 each time you have a go at putting it right. I presented the car with a problem, you diagnosed it and I paid my excess in the expectation it would be resolved; that it wasn't isn't my fault and hence I don't expect to have to pay any more to get this particular issue sorted".

I don't think that's unreasonable on my part but what sort of response I get remains to be seen. I daresay they'll claim the wheel bearing was faulty and needed replacing but I have no way of proving that one way or the other; all I can say is replacing it hasn't solved the problem I highlighted even though they assured me it would.....

[Polo08816]

Originally Posted by kzg1969

I had a front left wheel bearing replaced recently on my 1year old car under warranty. It did however have a rather large hit on a pothole.

you dont just replace the bearing, you also replace the hub (why i do not know, but this is the way it is on this car) and hence the price of the part.

my symptoms were EXACTLY the opposite of what i have experienced on other cars - turn left and noise gets worse AND faster. Turn right and it gets slower and disappears.

Originally Posted by Rukka

As has been commented on above, they don't just change the bearing these days - the complete hub is changed and hence the higher cost. My dad had the same recently on his XC60. Less than 50k miles and both front bearings shot.

Volvo charged around £750 for the pair so that price seems consistent with major main dealer pricing.

Might be worth asking an Indy if intends to press the bearings out as opposed to just replacing the whole hub. Pair of wheel bearings (inner and outer) is no more than £50 from an engineering company and not much difference in labour cost to change.

I just tried to change the rear wheel bearing on a 2014 Subaru Forester. It was completely fused to the knuckle/wheel hub. We tried to separate it with a slide hammer, big fucking hammer, air chisel, and torch. No luck.

I can see why they replace the entire hub. The labor to separate the wheel bearing assembly could be pretty expensive that it may be easier just to buy the entire knuckle/wheel hub.

Also, the BMW procedure usually calls for dropping the rear diff, removing the axle shafts which requires a special tool that's $400 and specific to F chassis, and then a hydraulic wheel bearing machine that costs $2400. I can see why it's easier just to have the owner pay the $650 for a new knuckle/wheel hub.

[saltyamigo]

JNW1 Did you get this issue sorted and find out the cause? I am suffering from a similar problem with my 335dx although my noise is from the front not the rear. Would be interested to hear what the problem was, thanks.

[GOF_430d]

I too would be very interested in the outcome as I can hear a rumbling sound when driving which always makes me think is due to worn wheel bearings even though the car is 3 years old and has only covered 32,000 miles. Though the car has rumbled since day one and both of the two dealers the car has been to, claim that it is a 'normal' noise.

Strange that my wife's 3008 is totally quiet.

[Russbmw]

Originally Posted by JNW1

The short answer is I don't know where I stand at the moment!

However, the position I'll be adopting with the Service Manager is "you haven't solved the problem I identified and I'm not going to keep paying £250 each time you have a go at putting it right. I presented the car with a problem, you diagnosed it and I paid my excess in the expectation it would be resolved; that it wasn't isn't my fault and hence I don't expect to have to pay any more to get this particular issue sorted".

I don't think that's unreasonable on my part but what sort of response I get remains to be seen. I daresay they'll claim the wheel bearing was faulty and needed replacing but I have no way of proving that one way or the other; all I can say is replacing it hasn't solved the problem I highlighted even though they assured me it would.....

I'd suggest you don't say the highlighted. It was them who told you the wheel bearing needed replacing - it needs to be demonstrated as entirely their doing.

FWIW, I would have been very surprised had it been a wheel bearing. On teh 7-10 or so BMW's have over the years, I've never needed to replace a wheel bearing on any of them (they had on average about 60k on the clock when I bought them and sold at anywhere between 90k-120k miles with no issues). Sure it can happen, but it's very rare and would arguably be a manufacturing defect and not normal wear and tear.

My e39 with about 90k on started a real humming/whirring/wheel bearing noise - exactly like a wheel bearing noise - started about 35-45mph and increased in noise to about 60mph and then didnt' get any louder (or you couldnt' hear it over wind and engine noise, etc anyway). Also got worse when turning, like a wheel bearing tends to. However, turned out to be the tyres were getting near the wear markers. They were not at the markers, and no feathered edges or anything either.

[JNW1]

Originally Posted by saltyamigo

JNW1 Did you get this issue sorted and find out the cause? I am suffering from a similar problem with my 335dx although my noise is from the front not the rear. Would be interested to hear what the problem was, thanks.

Sorry, only just spotted this!

Anyway, the problem was resolved and it wasn't a wheel bearing, it was the front differential. In fairness the dealer (Stratstone Harrogate) and BMW were fine about it and the part was duly replaced without even the mention of having to pay a second £250 excess (which I'd have refused to do if asked!).

However, it was disappointing in my view that the front differential failed at what seemed to me a relatively modest mileage (the whine first appeared at just under 60k miles and got progressively worse). I was just relieved I had the extended warranty (which has now paid for itself several times over) as otherwise I think I'd have been looking at a four-figure bill even if BMW had made a goodwill gesture.

Hope yours isn't the same problem but good luck with getting it sorted whatever it is!

[saltyamigo]

Thanks, I have extended warranty too until late October so hopefully get it resolved easily if it is a problem with the car, still trying to see if I can figure out if it's a tyre issue or mechanical first. Don't want to go to the dealers for a diagnostic to find out it's just tyre noise as that would be chargeable, it's also a 80 mile round trip and a day off work.

[AndyKoyo]

Just for your info the BMW uses a 3rd Gen bearing which is a complete hub assembly, there is no separation possible without destroying the hub unit. It is 4 bolts at the back once the disc / caliper assembly is removed.