I bought my '03 R53 a few years ago and finally got around to autocrossing it this year after some needed repairs. After a few races, both the front wheel hubs went a little shaky and needed replacing (I assume they were either 20-year-old originals or budget replacements). I can't find my receipt for the exact model number, but I bought some Moog wheel hubs which were each $130 after a clearance discount on Rockauto. So, maybe they were lower end within Moog's brand. Considering the cheapest SKF ones started at $28(!) I figured I was buying some decent ones. Well, I raced two weekends and on while on the highway headed to the third, I had a dramatic failure of just one of the new wheel bearings. The growling was so bad that I pulled over, and ultimately drove to the nearest parts store and got a Duralast replacement and installed it in the parking lot for fear that my wheel would fall off before I could get home. Despite having driven only a short distance on it, it was one of the worst wheel bearings I've seen on a car.

Naturally, I'm now rather paranoid of wheel bearing/hub failures. Do you guys think I just bought shitty hubs, installed them wrong somehow, or got really unlucky? Is there a trustworthy brand I should consider installing?

 

Your initial failure was most certainly that the bearings were old and going to need replacement anyway. Autocrossing really does put a lot of stress on them and sent them over the edge.
Moog is an iffy brand - sometimes they make good parts and sometimes not. I'm not surprised by that early failure.
The SKF for $28 is a red flag. SKF is a top quality bearing maker and they don't sell cheap parts. That was likely a knock-off.

My suggestion is to buy SKF hubs from FCPEuro. They have a lifetime warranty on all their parts (but I suspect there's a "no autocrossing" clause in their disclaimer).

 

I'm a bit curious as to the variety of aftermarket sources quoted. I ran an R53 from 2003 to 2009, winning several NER SCCA Class Championships. The final build was pulling 1.1g lateral. I sold that car at 185k miles, on the second motor. LF bearing replaced with OEM part at 92k, RF bearing similarly at 117k.

My experience is OEM works.

Kind regards,

Charlie

 

SKF NTN oem suppliers. salt, dirt, and water is the killer of the bearing, when the flange seal gets damaged/rust on the back side of the bearing that's when crap can enter and damage the bearing. Also it will touch the head of the ABS sensor and damage it if its really bad flared out.

I have done 12 bearings between 3 MINIs over the years since 2004.

We have lifetime replacement and it covers most items and performance parts which most places don't offer!

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...t-program.html

 

As with CV axles, wheel bearing / hubs are another non-scrimper; cheap and dirty aftermarket won't work for these cars. Last year had the left rear hub fail, presumably from age (2nd owner). Lots of binding and grinding, howled like a banshee at speed. Figured it was only a matter of time before I was under the car again doing the next one, so I just went ahead and did all four corners at once to start fresh; 'one and done' as they say.

Got two each NTNs and NSKs; OEM tier quality, not cheap but better than stealership prices. No issues to date with about 6K of open road on them (the car is not tracked or driven in snow). Also upgraded to the later built (post-7/2006) 14mm lug ones at the same time. Lugs are beefier / stronger than the original 12's and replacement hubs are more readily available.