I'm getting a humm (getting louder each week) between 15mph and 20mph. From reading on this forum, it seemed apparent it was wheel bearings.
I replaced the right front and now have to do the driver side. I sure hope it goes much faster and easier than the passenger side. It was hell trying to get the bearing out with a 12ton press. Then, lining up the ball links wasn't easy either. Not looking forward to doing this all over again on the driver side.
I drove the car after the passenger side install and the noise didn't get any better.

I'm starting to wonder if the noise is coming from the rear wheel bearings or the CV joints???

My question is, in the B5 is it more typical for the front or rear bearings to go first? For those of you who had similar issues, was it wheel bearings or CV's. If bearings, was it front or rear?

Looks like I'll be doing all 4 before the end of this.

 

does it sound like a "wah wah wah wah" and gets louder when ur turning one direction compared to the other? mine is doing that i think its my rear driver bearing

 

LOL. Its funny you ask. Well, I get a lot of noises and it's hard to tell them apart. I have serious issues between the road and my suspension. I get the Wah Wah noise but contribute most of that to the bent rims I'm planning to replace next.
The humming only seems to be bad between 15-20. It's predominant when stopping, as soon as I hit 20 I hear it.
I haven't noticed it get worse or less when turning.

 

Lift each corner of the car and shake the hell out of the wheels, one at a time. There shouldn't be any play - do the one you just changed first so you have a baseline on what a good one is like. If you have play in any of the wheels, you may well have a bad bearing. If you don't find anything overt, try moving the front wheels to the back and vice versa. Note any differences in sound. Then swap side to side and repeat the process. Try it alone in the car, as well as with a friend riding shotgun, then behind you, then in the rear right seat. Do this for each positioning of the wheels. This way, you can have a second set of ears, you'll be able to see if the noise moves with any of the wheels or if it stays in one spot, and if it is stationary, you may be able to make it more pronounced with the extra weight over each corner - that may help a slight noise become more noticeable.

 

Thanks for the detailed tips ITD.

I have the driver side pulled all apart and pressed the new bearing in. I found the CV boot was split and puked grease all over the caliper and hub. Yuck! I also noticed the tie-rod end was shot. I replaced it while in there.

I ordered a new whole new axel. I find it much easier to just replace the whole axel instead of dealing with CV rebuilds. Plus, it's only few extra bucks and get the whole axel with both CV's. $116 brand new. So, this bad CV could have been the issue too.

After I get the bearing and axel installed, I'll take it for a test drive and see what I get. I did notice that many on this forum did report their bearing problems where usually located in the rear. I bought rear bearings and plan to put them in anyway. I have 103k miles and they should be changed.

Before changing the bearings, I did rotate the tires. I still got the same noise. I'm sure it's the bad CV or a bearing. I have a feeling, it's one of the rear. I'll get to those this weekend. After all this work, I should be running pretty smoothly

 

Dang, still have the noise.

I replaced the passenger side wheel bearing. I replaced the driver side. During the driver side, I replaced the driveshaft and tie rod end.

I only have two hubs left. lol. I'm planning to replace the rears this weekend. I hope thats it. If not, I don't know what the hell it is.

 

FWIW, I got my rear wheel bearings for $56 shipped apiece from German Auto Parts.

 

Thanks. We actually have a pretty good auto parts shop here that carries all Euro at really competitive prices, (depending of course).

I got the two front for for $58 each and the rear were $47 each.

So, I installed the passenger side rear and guess what.... Yup, I still have the dang noise. LOL.

I took ITD's advise and had a friend drive while I crawled to the very back corner while he drove between 15-20mph (when the noise is predominate). I even opened the CD changer/jack kit door. I can tell, it is clearly the driver side rear wheel producing all the racket! Murphy's law, I replaced all 3 other wheel bearings and the one that needs it was the last one. LOL. After changing the others, I know they needed replacing as well at 103K miles. Plus, I was able to put that new driveshaft in and tie rod end.

I'll be wrenching away on the driver side rear come Friday! After all this work, I can't wait to drive it without that friggin noise! LOL.

 

Going back to what I mentioned earlier about what I found after researching what wheel others on this board said they had problems with; it was the drivers side rear. Go figure.

 

Glad you figured it out. I have a similar noise but I only hear it when I turn left. I assume it is the driver's side rear wheel bearing but like you I also have a torn cv boot up front so that could be it as well.

I've never done a wheel bearing before. I don't have a press but I think I'm gonna try to take the hub out and take it to a mechanic to have the new wheel bearing pressed in.