I bought my 1998 1.9TDi SE (110) 2 years ago at 60k miles and have enjoyed very economical driving since. I stopped using the main dealer at 100k miles when I decided I would keep the car until it fell apart.
At 110k mile I had the front tyres changed at the same time as the service. Immediately after the car was left idle for 2 weeks as I was away. Since then, for the last 3,000 miles (6 weeks) there has been a very noticeable speed-related 'roar' coming from the front wheels.
The new Dunlops (same tyre model that I've had fitted twice before) have a slightly different tread pattern now than before - a small extra thin slot down each of the two major read blocks and for a while I wondered if this might be the problem.
However, today, I noticed that by steering to the left (going round a bend at 30-50mph) the noise disappears, but returns when I straighten up or go round a righthanded bend. To me this indicates that the wheel bearings may be failing. I had previously checked by taking each front wheel off and listening to the hub by manually spinning it and could not hear any chrunching or graunching.
Does any have any ideas of what else it might be or what sort of cost the parts/labout might be to fix the bearings?