Wheel bearing - did I screw it up?

I may have made a mistake. I used a hammer and bearing driver to put the hub back into the bearing after I got the bearing in. It now seems to wobble a bit inside the housing if I wiggle the hub side to side - did I wreck the new bearing or do they have some play? My other problem is getting the half shaft back in thru the splines - seems to be stuck I cleaned and put thick axle grease on the splines. seems to me of I get the shaft back on there wont be much play. PS love your book and Bentley's
Thanks for any advice you can give

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This post was auto-generated based upon a question asked on our tech article page here: Pelican Technical Article: BMW E30 3 Series Rear Wheel Bearing

[Wayne 962]

I have sad news for you - you should *never* use a hammer to insert the bearing back into the hub - doing so can indeed damage the bearing. It should not have any wobble. I have a much more detailed article on wheel bearing replacement here on the Porsche 996 - it's also very applicable to almost any car: http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/Boxster_Tech/40-TRANS-Wheel_Bearings/40-TRANS-Wheel_Bearings.htm

- Wayne

[911ETR]

Hi Wayne, I have the 101 performance projects book that links to this site. I cant find a step by step for E30 Wheel bearing replacement. Do you know of a step by step guide specifically for the E30 BMW? You said the 911 is close, I just didn't want to get into one of those situations where I am left making a decision and choose wrong thanks in advance

Bryan