[wafflesminbin]

Hi, was just wondering whether any one has had to change there wheels bearings on the mini. i have got 18" wheels with eibach lowering springs and these have been on for about 6months. I have done about 5-6k since putting them on and the car has about 33k in total. There seems to be a loud noise coming from the rear which sounds bearing related as i have had them go on other cars. Can anyone tell me if they have had the same problem? thanks

[duncanbanana]

My front wheel bearing went i discovered it when changing the wheel , the wheel hub was very wobbley ,its held on by 4 bolts and a big nut on the driveshaft, i bought a new one form BMW for about £78 but the problem i had was the ABS sensor which i couldnt get out without braking it ,another £40 for that ,it was easy enough to do and i dont know if the back are similar to the front , i followed the Haynes manual to change it
You are better off ,if changing it yourself ,refering to the Haynes manual or you may get it done under warranty by your dealer

[Capsaisin]

Could be a wheel bearing, 33k miles is a bit low though.
Luckily it is at the rear so there is not much else to mask the symptoms.
I would suggest you jack up the car off the wheel you suspect, and rotate the wheel by hand. It should spin free (handbrake OFF of course) without any excessive groaning noises.
Try to rock the wheel vigorously up and down, and then from side to side to check for free play or a slight knocking. Free play means new bearing for you.
Finally remove the wheel and turn the hub/disk by hand. Again it should turn with a uniform resistance, there should be no points at which the hub binds or suddenly frees up. You could remove the brake pads just to be sure they are not binding against the disk.
Again to be safe you could check the other side, sometimes sounds travel in mysterious ways through cars. As the bearing is built into the hub, they are expensive IMO to replace. But the rears are an easy DIY.
Best of luck.

[Owl]

Hello !


I just returned from my MINI garage after they replaced the front wheel bearing on the right side. I had my MC for about 10 months and we travelled only 10K kilometers together so I was quite surprised to experience a mechanical humming from the front of the car one day.

The sound was clearly originating from the drivetrain somewhere since it was consistent with speed and not engine rpm. Of course I did a visual check from underneath and also rocked and spinned the wheels and sure enough, when spinning the right drivewheel, I felt it was'nt healthy.

I drove around with the sound for about 500 Km and it kept getting worse, it started to be noticeable in about 30 Km/h, was at it's peak in about 80 Km/h and slowly went into hiding in the wind and tyre noice thereabove. The sound also became significantly louder when turning to the left so it was clearly the wheel bearing on the right side that needed a replacement.

Since the car wasn't even a year old, my dealership took it in and replaced the wheel bearing unit today at no expence, this was covered by the warranty. Replacing it was fairly simple, just four bolts to remove the old unit, took about an hour.

The garage supervisor told me the bearing seal inside the unit probably was ruptured and some water and dirt got access to the bearing, wearing it down fast. He said this was the first replaced wheel bearing they had done on the MINI so it shouldn't be a common problem.

Live long and prosper...

Owl

[ONED]

Quote: Originally Posted by Owl

He said this was the first replaced wheel bearing they had done on the MINI so it shouldn't be a common problem.



Owl

...they would say that!

We had rear left replaced after 30K!

[Wurzel]

I just had the front passenger side wheel bearing replaced on my 05 MCS at 7000 miles, it kept clicking and dealer replaced it under warranty.

They were surprised it failed at 7000 miles.

[fireman01]

hi there,i'm running 19"s on my car and had the rear wheel bearings replaced at 30k ish,standard wheels on and done under warranty(sneaky i know)

[Owl]

You bad boy...however, the wheel bearings should handle 19" wheels without problem so it´s morally okay IMO.

[British SD]

A year ago I caught the curb at 80kmh and destroyed the alloy wheel and tire. Replaced and aligned everything but a year later the bearing on that wheel went. The dealer says its a result of the bearing taking a beating when it hit the curb and wearing down. Car has 43,000 km on it. Its in the shop now being repaired at my cost.

[05MCS]

Mine has gone with 9k on the clock front drivers side its booked in to get fixed but the noise is so irritating

[GNDMini]

Front O/S wheel bearing went after 18,000 miles of fairly easy driving. Nothing else failed since, apart from door pillar trim falling off, broken exhaust bracket and some extra rattles!