2007 R56 Mini Cooper Hatchback, 91,000 miles. Sounds as though a front wheel bearing is going out.

What is THIS going to cost me?

I just dropped $1100 on wheel bearings, ball joints, and control arms for my 2004 Explorer. I can't take much more of this.

 

Some of the forum sponsors that sell these parts at a pretty reasonable price. It's not a huge job that might be worth attempting as a diy. Otherwise I'd assume you can have it done for a couple of hundred dollars. The bearing itself is around $200 I believe.

 

I had a wheel fall off and it marred the threads in the wheel hub, which is attached to the wheel bearing. Cost me about $600 with labor to get a new hub/bearing assembly at my local shop.

 

This. Most jobs are fairly simple. It's the labor that bleeds.

 

It will be around $550-$600 per wheel on a mini dealership and maybe a around $450-$500 on a independent shop. As long as it is not too noisy yet, you do not push the car to its limits and don't drive too far you can do it later but some people will say do it asap as you might damage some other parts or worst falling off wheel (not likely to happen).

 

Um, have we forgotten that the first step is diagnosis? Could be something less expensive.

 

This is the part cost. Then if you DIY it yourself you will save or have another indy shop do it.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-bearings.html

 

Who makes the wheel bearings for MINI? is it NTN or NSK? Would appreciate the help. Thanks.

 

They use both suppliers. Most of the time its NTN. But I have seen NSK in the past.

 

Unpopular opinion:

I chanced a cheap set of Detroit Axle wheel hubs. This was based on a few factors:
1) Reviews. This company and these hubs do have an overwhelming number of positive reviews.
2) Immediacy of required repair. The lot where I bought the car knocked money off for the necessity of bearings, but they were starting to sing to me (no drivability input though).
3) Cost. Obviously if money was no object I would have bought a vehicle w/ zero issues, was newer, done all my work at a dealership or all of the above.
4) Annual mileage. In a big year I'll do ~10k miles, 98-99% of which is trips that don't venture more than 20 miles from home. Most years, that distance is less than half of that. So I should get some notice of a pending failure, and be able to limp home.

Basically it was a calculated gamble. For 2 months it's been fine, and I feel like I've gotten my money's worth at this point. If these go while I still own the car, I'll replace them w/ OEM supplier hubs.

Disclaimer: If you are less lucky than I have been w/ cheap wheel hubs, it was still on you, not me, that you purchased said hubs! (I'll feel a little bad that you had bad luck though).