The wheel bearing is a set of steel balls held together in a metal ring called a race. This is located in the wheel hub of your Mini Cooper. It helps control the friction level produced by the wheel’s rotation and allows for a smooth ride.
Each wheel hub has its bearing, and the bearings require grease to lubricate them, with a seal keeping the grease in the bearing. The seal also acts as a barrier against corrosion-causing dirt and debris. Hence, the seal is critical to the wheel bearing’s longevity.
Causes of Wheel Bearing Failure
Although the wheel bearings are sealed, they can be destroyed for a variety of reasons, including:
- Damage from road conditions: Frequently driving on bad roads tends to impact your wheel bearing, thereby accelerating its wear. Gradually, the steel balls wear out and reduce the ability of the wheel bearing to reduce friction for the wheels. Driving through a flooded area can also accelerate the wear of the wheel bearing malfunction. This results in contaminants getting past the seals into the bearings, affecting the grease and damaging the bearings.
- Natural wear: The wheel bearing seal starts to wear out after an extended period of use. This causes debris and dirt to enter the wheel bearing, causing it to fail.
- Wrong Installation: If you recently replaced or repaired your wheel bearing and you can hear noise coming from the bearing, the wheel bearings may have been damaged or fitted incorrectly during installation.
Other factors that could damage your wheel bearing include accidents and poorly-inflated tires.
Symptoms of Wheel Bearing Failure
The following are some of the symptoms of a damaged wheel bearing:
- Irregular Noises: This is the most common symptom of bad wheel bearings. Loud metallic rolling noises are a sign of faulty wheel bearings. It could be grinding, hissing, rumbling, humming, or whirring This noise may increase if you test your car in a parking lot or safe area and swerve your car gently from side to side.
- Vibrations: Excessive shaking when the car is in motion could be a warning sign that it is due for maintenance. If a wheel bearing seal is broken and contaminants make their way into the bearing, it could cause a rougher-than-usual ride and vibrations.
- Uneven Tire wear: Many individual mechanical problems can lead to abnormal tire wear; however, one of the most common sources of uneven tire wear is worn-out wheel bearings. As the ball bearings wear down, they will start to loosen up within their housings and lose some of their effectiveness. Because of this, the tire with the bad wheel bearings could wear down unevenly from others.
- Wheel lock: Where there is wear to the wheel bearing of your Mini, debris, dirt, and other contamination may get to it, and it could reduce lubrication and increase friction. This could result in a locked or jammed wheel. A locked or jammed wheel bearing makes driving forward a challenge making your vehicle feel weighted or stalled.
- Loose Steering Feel: Though loose steering is not always due to a problem with the wheel bearings, it can often be a cause. As the bearings begin to wear down, they become loose inside the wheel hub and spindle, making your vehicle feel loose while steering.
Driving with a bad wheel bearing puts stress on other vehicle components, including the wheel hub and CV joint, brake system components, and ultimately transmission. This may put the driver and other road users at risk of accident in a situation where the bearing fails in motion.
Whenever you notice any of the symptoms discussed above, you should bring your vehicle to our expert mechanics for proper diagnosis. Replacing wheel bearings is a somewhat complicated process that requires professional assistance and the proper tools.
Dart Auto: Denver’s Premier German Auto Repair Shop
At Dart Auto, we perform high-quality 
maintenance, and our technicians are experts with rich knowledge and years of experience in German vehicles. They are familiar with the wheel bearing failure drivers have reported in Mini Coopers and can help solve the problem. We have helped drivers throughout the Denver, CO area and surrounding cities of Centennial, Englewood, Littleton, and Aurora.
We are confident that we will deliver high-quality services as we utilize the latest tools and technologies to solve your vehicle problems. Please call or visit our shop today to schedule an appointment or learn more about our services and maintenance programs.
