Partslopnik Questions

"404 - User No Longer Available" (toni-cipriani)
10/22/2020 at 10:17 • Filed to: partslopnik

Anyone have experiences with Mevotech suspension components, specifically wheel bearings ? I need a new wheel bearing for my F30, BMW wants $520 for the original one, closest one I can source is a Mevotech one for $150.

I don’t remember bearings being so expensive... I replaced one for my Solstice and it was much cheaper, and that’s a bearing with an integrated sensor.

DISCUSSION (30)

E90M3 > 404 - User No Longer Available
10/22/2020 at 10:23

Did you google the part number or just look for a bearing with matching specs?

404 - User No Longer Available > E90M3
10/22/2020 at 10:28

Started with BMW part numbers and that was the cross reference. Superseded number matches what I found on RealOEM.

Kinja'd!!!

facw > 404 - User No Longer Available
10/22/2020 at 10:33

No experience. Personally I’d be checking Rock Auto and FCPEuro for an overview of what the parts landscape looks like.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > 404 - User No Longer Available
10/22/2020 at 10:37

Haven't had any experience with em...i have Moogs on my cars, they seem to work for now...

E90M3 > 404 - User No Longer Available
10/22/2020 at 10:37

Figured you’d already checked there, but on the off chance you didn’t figured I’d ask.

ibRAD > 404 - User No Longer Available
10/22/2020 at 10:38

I’m pretty sure I put mevotechs on my echo. IIRC, the guy at Napa said they were lifetime warranty too. No issues so far.

404 - User No Longer Available > facw
10/22/2020 at 10:38

Yeah, I found them via RockAuto. I stupidly forgot to check the wheel bearing and did a recent order to rush in brake pads since the light came on, yet forgot the big one. Mevotech is the only one a closer parts store had, my appointment is tomorrow.

404 - User No Longer Available > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
10/22/2020 at 10:40

Moog is like double the price of Mevotech, yet still half price of OEM. I was looking at them for maintainable sway bar links for my Solstice too, but the review and fitment seems mixed.

DipodomysDeserti > 404 - User No Longer Available
10/22/2020 at 10:42

It’s the entire hub, which explains the pricing. AutohausAZ has a diffeent brand for around $110.

https://www.autohausaz.com/pn/OL-31206876840

404 - User No Longer Available > E90M3
10/22/2020 at 10:42

Yeah, given my experience with ordering rotors when I first got mine (RockAuto mixing up E92 and F30 parts in a big soup mix), I stick with part numbers and part numbers only. I kinda start appreciating GM going full blown with parts bins.

adamftw > 404 - User No Longer Available
10/22/2020 at 10:43

Mevotech’s stuff is fine. Wheel bearings are a crap shoot if they aren’t OEM.. sometimes even a top dollar Timken is made in china junk.

404 - User No Longer Available > DipodomysDeserti
10/22/2020 at 10:45

Same thing with my Solstice, it even had a wheel speed sensor in it. I wasn’t expecting it to be less than a hundred, but $500 is a bit much, especially one with no electronics...

jminer > 404 - User No Longer Available
10/22/2020 at 10:46

I’ve put mevotech ball joints, tie rods and other suspension components on before. Quality was good out the box for install and held tight. Only put them on project/beater trucks so can’t speak for how they perform in a car or longevity but cheap as hell and always worked for me.

Sovande > 404 - User No Longer Available
10/22/2020 at 10:53

I would buy the Moog or OEM. 1/4 the cost of OEM would not inspire much confidence in me.

Bearings I would think you would want to stick with OEM, FAG, SKF, Sankei 555 or Tiimken - the mainstream popular brands.

dogisbadob > 404 - User No Longer Available
10/22/2020 at 10:54

Mevotech is generally regarded as garbage. Get SKF, Timken, or BCA from Rock Auto

And why does a car that new need new wheel bearings? :O

66P1800inpieces > 404 - User No Longer Available
10/22/2020 at 10:56

How long do you plan on keeping the car and how easy is it to replace the bearing? B ased on the image it is bolt on so even if it fails early you can change it for less than the cost you are gambling on the less expensive bearing. I feel that once you skip the dealer part, next down is the oem supplier, after that it is whatever factory can churn out the aftermarket part. If for track use I am not sure I would trust a brand I haven’t heard of without a lot of research as you never know, it could even be the OEM supplier.

For my VW I think the press in bearing was $60, and since it was much easier to do with the knuckle off the car in my Harbor Freight press it wasn’t worth it to cheap out on the $30-40 bearing. I think the brand was FAG but even then I read that the VW branded FAG was a higher spec and out of the German or other quality manufacturing center and the regular non-branded FAG was from Mexico or other. Probably would have been just fine, but I didn’t want to deal with fixing it again.

*I guess I wasn’t fixing it as there was nothing wrong with it but at 180k miles I was refreshing the whole front suspension including subframe bushings so $120 for new bearings felt like the right thing to do.

Bandit > 404 - User No Longer Available
10/22/2020 at 11:19

They dont look like they are a Tier 1 OEM supplier , looks like they cater to the repair shop market but everything I can find online makes them look legit. HQ’d out of Ontario and they’ve been around since the 80s. I’d say send it if it’s half the cost

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > DipodomysDeserti
10/22/2020 at 11:32

Replacing just the bearing and reusing the hub is cheaper, but man, fuck that. Pressing bearings in and out sucks ass, then they call apart when removing and I have to break out a dremel, notch the inner race, get a chisel, crack the inner race without fucking up the hub... the next time I have a wheel bearing go bad, swear to God, I’m just going to order a whole knuckle assembly. $120 more a side, but IMO that’s worth it rather than having to fuck around with old rusty iron and shit. Front bearings are pretty much a one or two times in the life of the vehicle thing anyways.

I suppose I could just take the knuckle with the new bits over to a shop and have them do the pressing. Or just buy a new hub with the bearing. I dunno.

Death_To_Rev_Hang > 404 - User No Longer Available
10/22/2020 at 11:35

I would trust their chassis parts before their bearings fwiw

DipodomysDeserti > 404 - User No Longer Available
10/22/2020 at 11:43

I would imagine a BMW part being much more expensive than parts bin GM parts . My WRX had a similar set up and were about $75 for the Timkens, but that was nearly a decade ago.

404 - User No Longer Available > dogisbadob
10/22/2020 at 11:44

Well my car came with bent rims, already repaired one and now found another , I just didn’t notice it much because I promptly put winter tires on them with new rims.. .

DipodomysDeserti > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker
10/22/2020 at 11:45

I’ll gladly pay another $100 if it means I don’t have to screw around with pressing bearings in and out.

404 - User No Longer Available > Sovande
10/22/2020 at 11:49

SKF seems comparable to Moog in price, found them at a specialty German parts dealer.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > DipodomysDeserti
10/22/2020 at 11:55

Fuuuuuuck that. I wish my car had the a bolt on bearing assembly like this one. Instead this is what I’ve got:

Kinja'd!!!

Bearing goes right between knuckle and hub. Yes, it is a huge pain in the ass to do. The first (and so far only) time I’ve done it, it took like four hours. Jack up the car, remove wheel, unbolt axle from hub, remove brake caliper, remove brake carrier, remove rotor, remove tie rod end, unbolt ball joint from the control arm, remove knuckle from strut, press hub out of wheel bearing (taking the outer race with it), remove circlip, press the rest of the bearing out the other way, put hub in the vice, dremel a notch in, whack it for a good ten minutes with chisel and BFH, remove the remains of the race, install new circlip to knuckle, press the bearing in, install other circlip, press in hub, reinstall everything, go for a drive, realize you’ve fucked up your alignment considerably, say fuck it I do not care it’s 11pm I’m going home, ignore it for two weeks, break out a camber gauge, tape measures, and masking tape, and get everything where you’d like it... then realize the ball joint was the cause of the slop to start with.

MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) > 404 - User No Longer Available
10/22/2020 at 12:19

In my research for suspension stuff I didn’t hear good things about them. I’m of the opinion that the harder the thing is to replace the less likely I am to take a gamble on the parts brand

Textured Soy Protein > 404 - User No Longer Available
10/22/2020 at 13:56

The OE piece is SKF BR930885.

https://www.eeuroparts.com/Parts/182934/Wheel-Bearing-and-Hub-Assembly-Front-BR930885/

FAG is another OE BMW supplier but not the original bearings apparently. They have a cheaper option 713 6495 400.

https://www.eeuroparts.com/Parts/75442/Wheel-Bearing-and-Hub-Assembly-Front-713649520/

EngineerWithTools > 404 - User No Longer Available
10/22/2020 at 13:57

I can’t help at all with advice on BMW parts. (hash tag b lessed?)

But, holy smokes, BMW uses shaded views for assembly explosions, instead of wire frames? So fawncy. I was going to wonder why, but the shading does help with nuanced geometry.

404 - User No Longer Available > Textured Soy Protein
10/22/2020 at 14:09

C $262 quoted from one of my go-to parts store for the SKF . But they have suspended in-store purchases, so I guess my only option now is to buy it via my indie shop, their quoted price seems to be 10% off BMW MSRP . I’ll see if I can negotiate it down.

404 - User No Longer Available > EngineerWithTools
10/22/2020 at 14:27

It’s a surprise why not more manufacturers do this, considering cars these days are all designed using simulations and stuff. They should have all those already.

Jayvincent > 404 - User No Longer Available
10/22/2020 at 19:43

bmw parts? tried pelicanparts.com? they list the OEM hub SKF BR930885 for $ 305.00, no idea how badly they will get you with shipping, or they have some alternates for $139 to $190 if that fits your vehicle and need