Wheel bearing, questions on Pure Motorsports bearings

[James]

Hey all,
I'm new to this board but I just got an '05.5 A4Q 6spd and took it to my dealer for the first oil change and inspection. I also had them look it over to give it just an overall check for any glaring issues.. All came back well but I did have have listen specifically to the car when driving as I am getting alot of road noise. Turns out, they said its a bad rear wheel bearing (which I kinda thought). Dealer wants $500 to replace it (car is out of warranty 2k miles ago, go figure the previous owner didn't know enough to get it done). Is there any other option for this? I saw a post about wheel bearings before but I can't find it again. It was talking about the bearing from Pure Motorsports. I am wondering the quality of these and if I should get these or just go with the OEM for 4 times the price.. Please let me know if anyone has experience with these. Also, the noise I experience goes away when I turn to the right around a right hand bend but to the left, it stays. Dealer told me its the right rear that is bad, is this true? I thought it was the opposite side of the direct you turn in when it goes away. http://www.purems.com/products/product.php/II=1422

Thanks!
James

[S1LVERBULLET119]

sounds exactly like a bad wheel bearing.

[James]

Yes I know its a bad bearing.. I am asking about the aftermarket bearings or would it be best to just go with oem. Or just any cheaper way.

[James]

Anyone? I need some help on this.. again, I am looking for info on the wheel bearings from Pure Motorsports and if they are reliable or not. Just any info regarding wheel bearings going out on the B7's would be much appreciated. Thanks.

James

[passatkid]

Would not be surprised it is the same as OEM or same manufacture as OEM, check your local auto parts store, lots of them sell the same bearings you see on Ecstuning and Mjmautuhaus.

[Mike@PureMS]

Our bearings are genuine OEM from *** and SKF. They'll be identical to the part you get from the dealership, except they're in the manufacturer's boxes, instead of an Audi box.

Our bearings are the best quality available in a replacement bearing since they are true genuine OEM.

Please email us if you have any questions, always happy to help.

[artinmoTTion]

Have always had good luck ordering from Mike and crew at PureMS.
No way I'd pay for OEM here. Sounds like a driver's side bearing to me, but could be the other side. They are the same part, so if it doesn't improve with the new bearing, you could swap to the other side.

http://www.purems.com/products/product.php/II=1422

Hope that helps.

There's a fair amount out there on wheel bearings, search on audiworld or here.

[James]

Yeah I have done a lot of searching on the subject since before I brought the car in. I honestly couldn't find that much stuff relating to the B7 platform. I just don't get how a wheel bearing can be shot after 50k miles. Although, like I said, I was kinda confused about the diagnosis being the "rear right side" bearing as the problem b/c the hum goes away when I am driving around a right turn bend, noise does not go away on left hand bend. What kind of job is it to do myself? And should I just do all 4 bearings to be on the safe side? At the prices PureMS offers, it really isn't too bad getting 2 front and 2 rears if the job isn't that hard. I know I'd have to get the wheel hub off in the rear and have a shop press the old out and the new in, but what about the front? By the look of the part, it looks like it is just bolted on to the hub and seems like a pretty easy repair, no?

Mike,
Thanks for your input on the subject. I really like the fact that this community has people like you who frequent these boards to answer questions like this. My other forum I am part of for my other car is the same way and its so nice just to be able to ask questions directly to the businesses rather than relying on "well I think I heard this" or "I think I heard that" type of responses.

James

[artinmoTTion]

James,

Both rear wheel bearings in my B5 A4 went bad within the 50k mileage timetable, which was convenient warranty-wise (aside from the fact I was driving cross country and had to find what turned out to be a very helpful dealer in Salt Lake City). So I don't know about the job difficulty wise, I believe they put a couple of hours time into it for one. If it were me, I'd get the parts from PureMS and have an indy shop do it, unless you're really into it and have all the tools. FWIW, I never had a front bearing problem on either my previous A4 or S4, I don't know what's up with the rear wheel bearings on these cars, or if they for some unknown reason are under undo stress. I don't think I'd go replacing the fronts unless they have an issue.