The long brake is almost over

After a couple of days the new one piece hub arrived including bearing. Very expensive, almost 2000 SEK for BMW original. Maybe I should have gone for an oem on Ebay.

Used a 46mm socket to get the hub nut off.

Once I knocked the hub off part of the bearing was left behind. Always seems to be with bearings.

Easily removed with a puller.

I wanted to replace both shock absorbers as they were looking quite corroded, but after checking the price at Protech (around £95 each - ask for GKD custom shocks) I'll leave them until they are actually worn out. 

While waiting for the new hub I marked the position of the steering rod adjusting nut with white plastic tape. Then removed the steering ball joint and dragged off the rubber boot which had broken. Touched up the paintwork with silver ..

... and put a new boot on.

Cleaned up the spline, put a little grease on it and gradually tapped the new hub into place. The 46mm socket is exactly the right size on the edge of the bearing to lightly tap the hub on to the spline.

Once enough thread is showing tightening the hub nut (I replaced the nut which probably wasn't necessary) will push the hub onto the spline for it's final tightening (the ws manual says 290Nm). Then use a chisel or screwdriver to bend in the ring of the nut.

I bolted the disc into place and cleaned up and painted the caliper, got the brake pads in place and then bolted the caliper back in position. The black anti corrosive coating on the disc brake surface will be removed by the pads once in use.

The new rear pads fitted nicely in the caliper ready for the wheel to go back.

Wanted to first replace the connector for the rear light cluster as it's quite corroded after more than 5 years of driving. Also took the opportunity to clean up and remove some small rust marks on the frame and add silicon to some of the panels. Next step is to repeat the process for the left front and rear disc and pads.