Last week my Indie was doing an alignment on my 2005 BCGT front end and heard a wheel bearing noise on the front left. There was no play in the bearing and I couldn't hear it (I'm hard-of-hearing). I went for a 2nd opinion and got the same answer...bearing noise on the left front. Note: car has circa 55K miles on it.

After a lot of research, I thought I might get away with an Audi S8 bearing. My hope was to reuse the Bentley hub. Everything on the spec appeared the same and the Audi bearing was only $300.00 Cdn.

WRONG!! The hub on the Bentley is exclusive to Bentley and you can only use the OEM bearing/hub combination. The price ranges from $500.00 US (including shipping to Canada [but not including duty and tax] from the UK from Scuderia systems) to $1231.00 Cdn (from the Bentley dealer). (Gasp!). Because we had the car apart and I couldn't tie up the garage's hoist, I was forced to source from local Bentley dealer. Parts plus two hours of labour = $1740.00 CDN (HST tax in).

It is not a difficult job. However, you will need a press to separate the bearing/hub assembly.

Put the car in "jacking mode". Remove the wheel, loosen the center bolt to the shaft; unbolt the caliper (huge) and hang it off the knuckle to avoid having to disconnect the lines; remove the brake rotor; remove the center bolt to the shaft and then remove the lower wishbone mounting bolt (very long). You can then remove the shaft from the bearing by pushing back the shaft. Once the shaft is out, unbolt the bearing from the rear of the knuckle and the hub and bearing can be removed simply. Before we removed the hub/bearing, I could hear the grinding noise when I spun the hub with my hand.

Remember to use NEW bolts for the bearing and the center bolt. They are not included in the price. Because you are not altering the suspension geometry, you don't have to do an alignment.

Everything seems fine now.

 

Glad this got sorted out! Have you tried to order from Flyingspares. You can typically get the part within 3 days if the item is in stock. The shipping is literally next day via FedEx air and if you give them a call, I'm sure they can try to accommodate and ship out the order as soon as you place it as well. I've used a scuderia part several time and the process is very painful. Last minute surprise shipping cost (they don't tell you shipping cost until all the special order parts have arrived to their warehouse). My $300 Bentley side grille, the small one, costs $100 usd to ship... The slow turnaround really put me off from Bentley ordering from them unless necessary... The ordering process online is not automated or streamlined like Flyingspares. The order form is submitted to a person and subsequent communication via email. They also seem to have nothing in stock and have to special order parts from factory which adds to the delay. I have to give them credit though for getting this particular part from the factory for me because I ordered SS grille part in August last year but was a backorder part and finally ready to dispatch now after 8 months.

 

It is also worth noting that the car is MUCH quieter on the road. What I assumed was tire noise, was in fact bearing howl. I was complaining about my Yokohama tires previously on this forum. Now that the bearing has been replaced, tires have very normal road noise. My apologies to Yokohama.

 

Sorry to revive a several year old thread...

One question to the OP (or anyone who knows...):

Do you still need a bearing press if you're buying a replacement/new bearing/hub assembly? Any reason they need to be separated? (clearance / access to bolts on back?)

I'd assumed you could take them off without separating and replace wholesale?

 

Installing a hub assembly will not require a press. The key word here is assembly. Both Hub and bearing will come married together.

 

Thanks for confirming!

Wasn't sure as the original post stated "It is not a difficult job. However, you will need a press to separate the bearing/hub assembly. "

 

ps.. anyone know the torque specs for the 2 caliper, 4 hub and axle center bolts?

Might have to fire up my ancient windows pc for ietis that I'd installed a long time ago. Will post what I find out.

 

Buying the bearing separately is less expensive. Then it is necessary to press the old bearing out of the hub and press the new bearing in.

 

I'm the OP. I am confirming 1eapplebaum's statement. If you buy the complete assembly, you DON'T need a press. We used a press originally as we thought we could use the Audi bearing.

 

Thanks clarifying PMS.

Ordering up a pair to do the fronts, while I'm in there doing rotors, as I'm hearing noises on the driver's side.

Hopefully not too rusty/stuck.

 

Don't know if you received they info yet, just in case you didn’t. Let me know if you need anything else.

 

Thanks teamjones1962! You've beat me to it.

 

Do u know what is the part no of the bearing separately So we can buy?
thank you

 

The part number for the assembly which you probably know is 3W0407613E. On eBay there is an OEM unit $450.oo US. Flying sSpares also carries this assembly.

Thought I had the individual bearing part number but I cannot find it. Pressing the bearing out and a new one in requires a substantial press. When pressing the bearing in if not done correctly it can be ruined. There has to be counter support otherwise the center bearing and outer bearing races get pulled apart. That said $450 might be cheap.

 

I had the same experience wit the A8 bearing

I had my car's front left bearing replaced at 40.000mi. Altough manufacturer garanties it for 80.000+km. So I got in contact. No reaction from them.

At 60.000mi my right back bearing is going. Bentley dealer blames it on power-washing the wheels....
Recently saw on Ebay that there are alternatives now to the Crews-bearing. About 350€.
Anyone any experiences with these ones ?