Front wheel bearing on BMW e34

	Cost: $100 or less Difficulty: Time: 1-1.5 hours
In the Bmw E34/E32, you can't change the bearing only, you have to change the whole hub (around $100 or less from BMA). Failure syndromes: • Whine or howl that increase in pitch as you increase speed. • Really bad bearing noises would be a grind you would hear and feel, especially when turning and applying lateral stress to the bearing. There is two different types of wheel hub for the E34: buy the following parts. Double check what type of wheel bearing you have before buying the parts. I have a 89 535i but I had the '91 bearing on...
Big thanks to BMA for the two wheel bearings for picture purposes. Up to 3/91, ABS ring diameter = 97mm: Picture on the left Wheel bearing: 31-22-1-129-386 Dust protection collar: 31-21-1-131-266 From 3/91, ABS ring diameter = 83mm: Picture on the right Wheel bearing: 31-22-1-139-345 Dust protection collar: 31-21-1-136-466 All models: 46mm axle nut: 31-21-1-128-336 Dust cap: 31-21-1-130-124
Procedure
Floor jack, jackstands. 46mm or 1-13/16" socket and T bar (I bought mine from Princess auto for US$5.00) 250 lb-ft torque wrench, pliers, WD40, rubber hammer. Tools to remove the caliper/carrier and rotor. Maybe puller if the inner race is stuck

1. First, lift the car on the side you want to work on. Install jackstands. 2. Remove the wheel then the dust cap with pliers. If you have 850i brakes, you won't be able to use your spare 15" rim for more leverage so remove the brakes now...
2. Bend the staked part of the collar nut back. 3. Install the wheel back and lower the car to the ground. Use your 46mm socket, T bar and a 1 meter bar if you want more leverage and LOOSEN (do not remove) the big nut.

5. Lift the car again, remove the wheel and the 46mm nut. Pull the wheel hub out. Gentle blows with a rubber hammer on the outside help. If nothing moves, use a puller.

6. If the inner race the inner race remains on the stub axle, simply tap around the edge of the race with a hammer and cold chisel, or use pliers and WD40. It is easier to get it out if you remove the big brake dust shield (held in place with 3 x 10mm screws) 7. Remove the dust protection collar (yellow piece on the left picture) and clean the stub axle.

7. Insert the new dust protection collar, then insert gently the new hub bearing. If it is hard to insert, use a piece of hood and tap with your rubber hammer, until it is fully inserted. You can also use a pressing tool if you have one.
8. Place the new 46mm nut back and tighten it a little bit.

9. If you have 850i brakes don't forget that the 15" rim doesn't fit under the brakes. 10. Install the brakes, the rim then lower the car to the ground. Torque the big nut to 214ft-lb (290 Nm). 11. Stake the nut to the axle. 12. Install the new dust cap on.

Sway bars installation on BMW e34

	Cost: $350 or less Difficulty: Time: 3-4 hours
Procedure and pictures courtesy of Johnny T.
Sway bars tie the lower suspension components together across the front and the back, they affect the car oversteer and understeer. Bigger sway bars improve stability while cornering, the best setting is fully soft for the front and hard for the back.
Front
Front sway bars are plug and play, very easy. Followed the sway bar link replacement directions. Then just drop the bar and replace it. All 13mm nuts on the sway bar. 1 wrench job. (1 1/2 hour)
Rear
Floor Jack 2 Jack Stands 13mm socket Socket extension 13mm wrench 18mm socket Additional 18mm socket or ¾ socket 22mm socket Vice Grips (small) 1. Raise the car and put securely on Jack stands. Use wheel chocks on the front tires to prevent roll. There's no need to remove any tires at this point unless you feel the need to. Everything is accessible from below. 2. Remove the rear sway bar links using the 13mm socket and 13mm wrench. 3. Remove the sway bar brackets using the 13mm socket and extension. 4. Place the bolts and nuts in a secure place, you'll need them later. 5. DO NOT remove the sway bar links from the sway bar. They're so cheap, just replace them. Plus unless you're a bushing magician, you'll damage them during removal. 6. That was the easy part, now for the work. There's a bracket on the right rear that will interfere with removal of the sway bar. You don't need to remove it, just swing it out of the way. It's held in place with an 18mm nut and bolt. 7. You'll need 2 sockets to remove it. I used a ¾" socket to hold the top nut and a 18mm socket to turn the bottom one and that worked fine. It takes a hard first turn to break it loose, but after that it's simple. Once the 18mm bolt is removed, take a 22mm socket and place it on the other end of the bracket you'll need to give it a good solid pull and it will turn the entire bracket. I turned the bracket toward the front of the car, away from the wheel well. 8. OK, now you have a loose sway bar and no way to get it off without removing the exhaust. If you have access to a lift, you can probably work it off. On the ground with jack stands there's no way. Believe me, I spent 1/2 hour trying to figure out the easiest way to do it. 9. Take your 13mm socket /wrenches and get ready for removal of the sway bar from under the maze of exhaust and brackets under the car. 10. Take the floor jack and place it under the exhaust. I put it under the 2 pipes, about 18 inches before entry into the muffler. Starting at the rear, remove the muffler brackets, you'll need the 13mm socket and extension. The hardest one to remove is the one by the rear lower valance. You'll need to work the socket and extension in place. Once those are removed, move under the car and get your 13mm wrench. Remove the 13mm nut holding on the exhaust brackets, there are 2, one on each side. Don't try and work off the rubber hanger. Just go ahead and remove the nut. 11. Now move back to the muffler. Let pressure off of the jack and let the exhaust work its way down. You may need to assist it past the left rear valance. I used a screwdriver to help it. 12. Now it's time to remove the wheel, remove only the left rear. Take that one off and you'll be able to remove the sway bar through the wheel well. Work it back to that point of the exhaust and it will slide right out. Ok, maybe not right out, but it is pretty easy. 13. Now it's time to remove the wheel, remove only the left rear. Take that one off and you'll be able to remove the sway bar through the wheel well. Work it back to that point of the exhaust and it will slide right out. Ok, maybe not right out, but it is pretty easy. 14. Now, after risking your life lying under the car and almost blinding yourself from getting rust in your eyes, take a break for a minute. 15. Place the new sway bar in a vertical position. Wet the link with a soap solution and twist it slowly onto the sway bar. Once complete, turn and repeat with the other end. 16. With sway bar links in place work the new sway bar through the rear wheel well and into place. 17. From this point forward, when placing on the nuts, only tighten them to firm resistance and then where applicable go back and tighten them to BMW torque specifications per the Bentley. 18. Attach the sway bar links to the chassis via the 13mm bolts. 19. Wet the new rubber bushings with soapy water and place them into position on the sway bar. (Before you install urethane sway bar bushings, buy a tube of Teflon grease and place the around the bar just where the bushing will sit. Slide the bushing sideways on the bar through the grease and then do the same again the other way. Center the bushing and a voila! You are done. Courtesy of Phil C.) 20. Put the 13mm bolt into the mounting hole threads down. 21. Get the Vice Grips and have them handy. 22. Take the bracket working it into place on the rubber sway bushing. 23. Wedge the "tab" end of the bracket into place, working it up and using the threads from the bolt as you guide. Strong hands help here, no room for weaklings. 24. Press up until it is in position. Take the Vice Grips and lock the bracket into place. (Holding a bolt, nut, bracket, wrench and socket is impossible with 2 hands.) 25. Now with the bracket in position, thread on the nut, remove the Vice Grip and tighten up with the 13mm socket and 13mm wrench. 26. Now with the sway bar in place go around and torque all nuts to Bentley specs where applicable. 27. Using the floor jack raise the exhaust into place being careful again with the rear valance. 28. Use the Vice Grips to hold the rear muffler brackets in place and get the nuts started. Don't tighten them. 29. Use the 13mm wrenches to tighten the exhaust brackets into place. 30. Now go back to the muffler and tighten those nuts. 31. Mount the wheel and slowly lower the car to the ground. Tighten the wheel bolts to spec. Remove the front chocks. · Drive and enjoy! Rear 20mm compared to 15mm Pricing for M tech Nur Touring Sway bars, 2 weeks delivery from Germany Price with BMWE34.net discount 2 x 31 35 1 131 622 Frt support bracket $3.42 each 2 x 31 35 1 134 582 Frt Link $21.30 each 2 x 31 35 2 226 334 Rubber mount $4.56 each 1 x 31 35 2 227 276 Frt Stabilizer bar $115.74 2 x 31 35 1 124 995 Rear support bracket $1.14 each 2 x 33 55 1 135 307 Rear link $18.36 each 2 x 33 55 2 227 240 Rubber mount $3.37 each 1 x 33 55 2 227 416 Rear Stabilizer bar $74.46 Total: $ 294.50 +s/h

BMW E30 3 Series Differential Oil Change

In this continuing series of maintenance article for the BMW E30 3 Series models, we will focus on changing the differential oil. This article is written with the 325is model in mind, however this article applies to all BMW’s in general.

Why change the differential oil? The differential is just like any other mechanism with moving parts. It generates heat and friction while in operation. Just like an engine, regular oil changes help to keep parts such as gears well lubricated and clean. Over time, the differential wears just like any other component. The differences between the differential and an engine is that the differential has no internal filter to capture small particles of metal as the gears wear. Also, the differential uses oil that is much thicker than engine oil. Usually differential oil is good for up to 80,000 miles without changing. However it is commonly overlooked in the wide spectrum of vehicle maintenance. Failure to change the fluid at regular intervals can cause a variety of problems, eventually causing the bearings in the diff to fail. In this article I will go over the simple steps to changing the oil yourself and avoid a costly trip to your mechanic for something you can do in under an hour in your driveway.

First, drive the car around the block a few times to get the oil inside the differential warmed up,

Now, let’s jack the car up. First, chock the front wheels to keep them from rolling while you have the rear wheels jacked up. Be sure to jack the car up on a re-inforced part of the body, such as a crossmember or chassis beam. Be sure not to jack the car up on any other part, as you could put a hole right through the bottom of the car. I have seen Porsches in the past where jacks have punctured the floorboards. A handy reference is Wayne’s article on jacking up your BMW.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/bmw/techarticles/E36-Jacking_Up/E36-Jacking_Up.htm

Now jack up the front wheels of the car as well. We will want to get the car as level as possible in order to drain all the old fluid out of the differential.

Now crawl under the car and look at the differential. On the very rear of the differential towards the bottom, you will see two 17mm internal Allen head plugs (NOTE: the size can vary with the year and model of your car). These are the drain and filler plugs for the oil. Put a suitable drain tray under the plugs and first open the top plug to relieve any possible vacuum inside the diff and help the oil drain out. Now loosen the lower plug and thread it out by hand. Keep in mind that the old oil will start to flow out as soon as you remove the plug, so make sure the drain pan is directly below. Also, gear oil is some of the worst smelling stuff on earth. If you get any on your clothes, you will never get the smell off again, so be sure to wear your worst work clothes or just work naked! Well, maybe that’s not such a good idea.

Anyway, let the old fluid drain out of the car completely just watch it, it will go from a full stream to a small trickle then it will stop flowing. Once it has stopped, thread the drain plug back in and torque it to 41 ft./lbs. Now, get the new fluid and using a siphon, pump the new fluid into the filer hole at the top. When the fluid begins to flow out of the top hole, it is full. Now re-install the filler plug and torque it to 41 ft./lbs.

Be sure to check your owner’s manual as to what oil to run in the differential. I always use Swepco oil. This stuff is great, it keeps the diff cool, lubricated, and most of all, quiet!

Now lower the car off the jack stands and take your car for a spin to work the new oil into the gears.