1200 GS engine
 

hey guys,
On my way to the riders meeting in Colorado last week, with 31000 miles on my bike I got had hard tapping noise in the engine. The dealer in Grand Junction said I blew the motor. I had to rent a truck to get back to CA with it ,anyway has any one else had a problem with so little miles and if so will BMW warranty it or look for a reason not to. the warranty is for 36,000 miles

You aren't the only one.
BMW must be aware of these failures, as they're paying for them.

Can you describe this knocking noise some more?

Mine is sounding rough but is still pulling over 220 miles to a tank of gas...

32k on the clock and bust my final drive this weekend.. :censored:

1200 GS Noise
 

The noise I have sounded like a bad valve tapping, I still had power, no engine lights on and had oil pressure. I told the mech that it sounded like valves and he agreed. He looked at the right side valves and they were alright so he drained the oil and it was full of metal.
The mech showed me the oil and the bottom of the pan was like mud with metal. When he put a stethescope to the engine I could hear metal on metal scraping. there was no doubting the engine is gone.
The funny thing was that the engine would still run and have oil pressure but sounded terrible.
Ratso

Over on the KTM thread, they are building a picture of the problems with that marque of bike - is this thread to go the same way?

The Rotax engine on my wife's GS650 is doing just fine, but it has not done a lot of miles.

My riding mate is on his second 1200GS and both have been fixed under warranty. The first for the final drive problem (which was completely replaced) at about 24000 miles and the second for a leaking oil seal, somewhere in the innards, at around 15000 miles.

Unfortunate that the motor failed, but you're lucky it did while still under warranty.

[QUOTE=Walkabout;143518].......
The Rotax engine on my wife's GS650 is doing just fine, but it has not done a lot of miles.
........QUOTE]

I wouldn't expect problems from that motor. It does have things such as water pump failure pop up, but it's a proven motor over many year. On the BMW bikes, the motor isn't necessarily the the most common cause of problems.

I'll try to compare this to a scrub pad, with your goal being to clean something well.

The SOS scrub pad is fairly simple and there's little to go wrong, and it will take the hide off most anything. When all is said and done, whatever you wanted to clean is probably clean.

Now, the BMW version of a scrub pad has retractable handles, pressure sensors, automatic fluid delivery veins, a different color of built-in cleanser than the 'other' pad, can be dealer serviced, cost 2 twice the 'other', and comes in a nice box with embossed lettering.

"Sounds" familiar
 

What you are discribing sounds very familiar. Let me give you a rundown...
Before the knocking(which sounds like a valve) did you notice a slight rise on the temperature gauge? The knocking started abrubtly without warning (not quiet and got louder over a period of time). You also seemed to be using more oil or had to add oil more often than you felt reasonable (even though the dealerships(I was on a 15,000 mile trek) insisted each bike is different and that was probably normal?). The bike still rode O.K. even with the knock. Started O.K. but the temperature would rise above normal. Everyone who looked at it assumed it was a valve or berring. Upon checking the valves, they proved to be O.K..(Sound familiar so far?). What I was told was the cylinders are made in two different countries and the right one was underbored or out of round. Upon dissassembly, it was scored and the rings were broken. The other side was fine. The bike had 16,500 miles on it when this occured.The BMW rep looked for the "cheap fix" to just replace that cylinder. I told the dealer to back me up on this one and I wanted two new cylinders and pistons to keep everything symetrical. He agreed with me and I got both replaced (cylinders, pistons, etc.). The total waranty work came to $5500.00. Without the dealers support, I would have been at the reps mercy or litigation would have followed. I since know of at least six similar instances and one RT. My bike seems to run O.K. now with only 2000 miles on it since the occurance. I also never got reimbursed from roadside assist. Post back when you find out what happened. Good Luck. Smitty

1200 GS engine
 

Smitty,
You got it exactaly right I did see a rise in the temp about a 1/2 hour before the noise started, and I did add a 1/2 qt. of oil the day before with only 1500 miles after the service. thebike did run fine with the knock as I rode it into the dealer.

The dealer in CO said I needed a motor and the rep there agreed and more or less approved a moter, I was stranded in CO and live in CA so I chose to rent a truck and go back home.

My dealer hasn't one way or the other , but with a stethescope to the engine you can hear metel to metal in the blick and the cyclinders, so I want a new motor. And i hope I dont have to litigate to get it.

The CO dealer said they had one like this before and after two weeks of tearing it apart and having to call back and forth with the rep. the final word was NEW MOTOR, so my fingers are crossed.
Ratso

Good for You!
 

I pressed for a new motor at first. The song and dance I got was that there were none available in New Jersey and that there were none available in Germany! According to the "Rep", when a new motor is "proven", they take all the spare motors stocked and put them onto the line. Whose to say it ain't so? If you try to contact BMW direct, you get the BMW firewall. E-Mail intercepted by USA motorrad before it gets to the Fatherland. I hope you're still warranteed. They wil of course "fix" it. Push them on the new engine thing and see what happens. When mine broke down, I had 10,000 more miles than most of the owners of the 05 model according to the dealers I encountered. It could be construed at the time as an "isolated incident" and not the "tip of the iceburg" so to speak. As we are now surmizing that we had the same problem, it may "not" be the case. Keep in touch. I would be interested to hear what the prognosis is after surgery has been performed. Make sure to take a "looksee" at the pistons and cylinder walls. They will of course will let you see what "broke". They miked my new pistons and cylinders before installation. I plan on changing the oil as I have 18,000 miles just around the corner and want to get back on track. I will be present to inspect the oil and filter for "Goblins". Hopefully it will be clean. I do like the bike. Sorry things went south like they did. Hope they get you back on the road soon. Good Luck! Smitty

New top end
 

The dealer called today and said the whole top end is blown on both sides and that I do not need a bottom end.
The first dealer wanted to put a new motor in so I am suspitious of the new diagnosis.
They said the bottom looks good, but with all that metal in the oil how good is it.
They also do not know why it blew yet.
I am going to call the other dealer and talk to the mechanic and ask his opionion, since he is now not involved and I can then use his advice.
And YES I am warranteed so no out of pocket cost except for the $575.00 rent a truck to get home and the 4 lost days on my trip ( which is priceless)
Ratso

Pistons
 

Ask him if the pistons hit the head. That was a concern they had on mine but apparently wasn't the case. Smitty

Ratso,
Ask/tell BMW to reimburse you for those costs as well; if it works in the same way as the European warranty then these costs should be covered under their breakdown cover.
If you don't ask, you don't get!

engine repaired
 

Well after 4 weeks I finally got my GS back. The shop said that one of my coils went out and problems with no or low spark eventually made the right side stop firing and the grind to pieces.

I really dont understand what he said but I did get a whole new top end, heads, pistons, rods, and so forth.

I reallly think they dont know exactly what happened.

BMW did warranty every thing and the manager is sending in my invoice for the rental truck, hoping to get something back.

Any way runs great put over 200 miles on this weekend. and now I get a new 2 year warranty on all the new parts also.

hopefully this will never happen again.

Ratso

Ratso,

Great to hear that you had a happy ending. Enjoy! :thumbup1: