[Jay Gwyer]

Firstly, hello, new on here and i thought maybe i could come in here and share my current feelings on mercedes ownership (van). I have owned a few mercs in the past all great cars, mostly 190s, and one previous vito. Thought i would buy a new shape vito for a few reasons, but reliability and good residuals being paramount. What piece a work this has turned out to be, yeah its an 05 with 98k, but its a merc!! least i thought it was. The paint must be applied so thin that the rain can almost smell the iron beneath ready to accept its decaying chemical compound as this van has so many areas of corrision in the least likely of spots! The bearings whine, the buttons fall off, radio LCD screen knackered, the list goes on. One question, why does the entire hub have to be replaced for a wheel bearing, main dealer part at over 500quid, thats a grand every 100000 miles (average bearing life expectancy apparently) and thats just for the fronts!
anyway, like i said, hello, i'm Jay, another happy van driver, NOT, lol.:surrender:

 

[Musikmann]

It seems like everybody wants to replace the hub assembly rather than exchange the bearing. I went through that on my Toyota recently. I bought the OEM bearing from a dealer for $70 and a guy air chiseled out the old bearing and pressed in the new one. I stood there and watched him and it was a tricky job. The hardest part was removing the ABS sensor from the wheel so he could take off the hub (20 year old car). Total cost of job was about $200. It would seem this is possible on our MBs too.

 

[Kajtek1]

you have to get used to the fact that not too many cars allow replacing single seal or single bearing without paying big bucks for whole assembly.
Can you still buy starter brushes separately?
This is like asking for replacing a single transistor only in your hard drive. Some things simply don't exist anymore.
So pick up your rotary phone and call around for the best price on whole hub.
Welcome to the forum and please fill the profile with model and location?
BTW last time i replaced automotive bearing was over 20 years ago.

 

[eric242340]

You were simply unlucky as these bearings almost never fail.