2005 GS with 37K miles on it. All service done by BMW Charlotte and then Motorcycle R&R here in SLC. I'm very disappointed. I love the bike, but I suspect that this will be the last BMW that we purchase. Way too much $$$$$ for something this important to fail.
Sorry to hear that, and yes, it is way too much up front money to take a chance on quality concerns. I refuse to consider to buy another until some of these well documented issues are addressed, and proven fixes are in place. Since BMW ain't talking, that may take some time............ Are they extending the warranty to cover the failure?
Was there any indication it was failing? Did you notice anything specific warning signs prior to it failing? Sorry to hear about your luck. I have 2 BMW's and just keep hoping I do not become one of the statistics.
I took it in for an oil change, and they said not to ride it again until it was fixed. It was found during routine service.
kind of weird i have final drive out in the field with 100k plus..one LT with 82,000 miles on it never been apart. but yet i have done final drives in inside of 20k. still better then most other bikes out there.
Another note...the bike has never been down, and 99% of the miles have been on the road. The bike was not abused at all.
Can you elaborate on exactly what failed? Bearing? I'd also be curious once it's fixed how much $$ was for parts and how much was for labor/shop fees/etc.
Per BMW, the 2005 was "maintenance free" until the just recently changed the service guidelines. As I said, BMW did all of the service. The bearing failed, and they are replacing the entire final drive. This is a $2500 repair, so I'm told. BMW is covering most of it in "good faith", but I'm still going to be out almost $700 in parts and some labor. They claim that because the last 2 years of service was done by the local indy shop and not a dealer, they don't have a record of the service. That's a bit of a lame excuse to me, but it is what it is. Not much I can do about it. Gotta get the bike fixed. We have 2 BMW's now. I'm not sure we'll buy another one any time soon, that that stinks because I love the bikes. Nothing else really compares.
Stinks, yup. That does sound like a reasonable more by bmw however. If mine fails (please no) I would think 700 out of pocket isn't out of line.
So, are you saying the FD fluid was never changed or was it changed at a much later mileage? Your bearing failed prematurely, but ultimately, every bike with shaft drive will fail, unless preventative maintenance is done, but... BMW does not have a maintenance schedule for when to replace the FD bearings. Why is that?
The difference is... I can walk into most any bike shop and buy a chain for about $100, and I know that that chain is going to last about 15k. So, I can have one on hand. Hell, I can carry a chain and the tools in my cases. Whats a GS final drive good for? 15k,115k?
The fluid was NEVER changed. But like I said, the maintenance was all done by BMW Charlotte and Motorcycle R&R to spec per BMW. They've now changed the specs, but it's too late. I think they're now saying to change the FD oil every year.
I bought my '06 in May of '06. In spring of '07 my Dealer told me that BMW was recommending the Fluid be changed out something like every 12K miles or after the first year, whichever comes first. So, my FD fluid was changed out somewhere at about 3K miles and again 2 years later at 12K miles. Sounds like your Dealer didn't know, or act on, the information my Dealer had. I just keep my fingers crossed. I'm now contemplating getting the extended waranty.
What's the cost to change the FD oil at shop rates? I've got a new GS and the new mainenance schedule is to do it at 1000 KMs, which was done. I'm considering doing it at every maintenance.
Took my '06 in for 24k service and the dealer told me it was a "no maintenance" FD on mine. I asked for the oil change anyway and he did it.
Hey Farnsy, At one point they were replacing the FD in total, basically a compoent swap. That was when they were all under warranty, and they were sending the complete units back to Berlin for "das inspekton mit der Col. Klink monicle." For that price I would assume he is getting a complete assembly out of a box, although he said he had to kick in for some parts. I guess the short answer is I dunno. You going to BYOB this year?
Sorry to hear about the failure......Don't blame you a bit for wanting to stop paying the big bucks for such poor engineering....How much fluid is in the 1200 fd? I ride an 1150 and keep track of the 1200 stuff, because sooner of later I might have a 12... Changing the fluid is easy on the 1150, so I started changing it with every oil change. 80k later still like new...I figured, I could afford to buy 6 oz of final drive fluid each time i did the engine oil...Dropping and then adding the fd fluid in the 1150 takes about two minutes... One of my complaints in the evolution of the GS to 12, was how much harder BMW made it to service the final drive....No drain/fill plug???? Kinda looks like we got Sucker written on our foreheads.... I asked a BMW Tech how they changed the oil without the drain/fill plug...He told me, they pull the final drive then drain and fill thru the ABS sensor hole....Sounded pretty dumb to me, spending all that time taking stuff apart..
