03MCS I was doing some maintenence and while I had the drivers side jacked up I noticed thst if I grabbed the tire at 12 o clock and 6 o clock there was play when I pushed the tire in twords the car. Ball joint ??

 

Could also be the hub. Notice any excessive noise or vibration while turning or driving?

 

Not really noticing any noise .

 

Side to side play or rock at 12 and 6 o'clock?

 

I actually has Play both ways . I'm thinking it's the bearing

 

Sounds possible, if you remove the wheel and the caliper you should be able to feel how smooth the bearings are.

 

My 04 R53 just rolled over to 100k the other day.
I've had the car since new (2003) and the wheel bearings are original to the car. I just recently started to hear a soft grinding noise coming from the right front wheel while rolling along at low speeds. Yet I felt no vibration while driving or push/pull play @ 12 & 6 after jacking up the front - But nonetheless - I know the signs of failing wheelbearing all too well. I ran P325/50R 15''s
on many​ of my previous cars which ate up a lot of bearings over time.
I'll be changing mine on my Mini as well - in the next 2wo weeks.
Glad you caught it.
Good luck!

 

 

Oh no - Absolutely not (325's) on my Mini!!
Nothing but stock 205 or 215's on S-Lites for my Mini. I'd like to think I've done a little growing up since those days. But yeah - those N50 15's may have been torture on my classic Beetle(s). Surprisingly, I never broke any transaxles
​​​​​​

 

Not intending to hijack this thread...
Well I am back here with an update.
This afternoon the grinding sound coming from my right front wheel seemed progressively worse.
When I returned home; I decided to take the advice above and was prepared to remove the wheel for further investigation.
With all do humility (per my previous, somewhat, "pretentious" comment" = "I know the signs of a failing wheelbearing all too well...") I admit - I am about to be proven wrong.

This is what I discovered wedged between the backing plate and the rotor...



Perhaps, I should consider myself lucky.

For now.

 

Wow.