Adjusting the front wheel bearing?

benke_berguv · Post by **benke_berguv** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 8:14 am

hello there!

Just bought a 323i -81 and I have som e questions regarding the front wheel bearings.
The left one isnt tight enough. If you grab the wheel at 12 and 6 you can here a "click" so I bought Haynes manual to try to adjust it.
The manual says "tighten to 33Nm, then release the bolt and tighten it by hand until i stops". When I done this it stops to make the clicking sound for a while but then it comes back.

Is the manual correct? How do you guys do when adjusting it?

Thijsse · Post by **Thijsse** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 11:29 am

do you have the pin mounted to lock the nut?

and did you tighten it while the car was jacked free from the ground?

e21-Mark · Post by **e21-Mark** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 12:27 pm

1. Remove wheel, dust cap and split pin.

2. Slacken off castle nut a turn or two and then tighten to 30 - 33 Nm's but while doing so, spin the hub to line up the bearing taper rollers.

3. turn the castle nut back just far enough to be able to re-insert the split pin.

Make sure the bearings are in good condition and greased too.

Hope this helps?

benke_berguv · Post by **benke_berguv** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 1:00 pm

The car is jacked free while tightening the nut.
I have the pin inserted but I thought it was a bit strange to release the bolt and then tighten it with my fingers...

If it stops raining I will go out and try again,

thanks for the quick answers!

btw, here's some pictures of the car:

http://www.garaget.org/?car=74298

e21-Mark · Post by **e21-Mark** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 1:20 pm

Like the re-trim on your seats.

Let us know how you get on?

Pho21_girl · Post by **Pho21_girl** » Wed Jul 07, 2010 1:33 pm

I seriously love this car! Hope you start a thread and keep the pics coming...

benke_berguv · Post by **benke_berguv** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 9:33 am

I adjusted the bearing yesterday i it stop clicking... at least for now. Will take the car for a spin later and see how it goes.

I don't think the interior has been re-trimed, that's the original interior (from an e21, not from mine, this one had an olive green, the carped is still green...).. I can take some more pictures if you want to see how it looks. There's some tears in the drivers seat so a re-trim would look nice.

My plans for this year is to keep it rolling until october, then it will go to sleep in my garage. I will also re-adjust the height the car. The rear suspensin is adjustible i 4 steps and it's a bit too low for swedish speedbumps

. I also looking for a black or grey carpet , the green one is quite ugly...

The future plans are to give it a paint job (bright red och black, cant decide) and change to an 2,7 motronic engine.

I'll keep you posted on the wheel bearing problems!

J.K.jr.bad. · Post by **J.K.jr.bad.** » Thu Jul 08, 2010 10:18 am

Just did front wheel adjusting like you said. No more clicking and now I've got lot less wheel shake when driving.

Wonder what are instructions to rear wheel bearings with disc brakes.

Anybody knows?