I have just read this thread and would like to know the result of your ultimatum.
Cheers,
Yuksel

Me too.

Did they use the phrase "They all do that Sir" ?

Still, think of how much the lawyers will have charged since June 2010 if this is still going on

Andy

"They all do that Sir" ... is exactly what they came out with.

The excuses were unbelievable.... the BMW-SA National Sales Manager even uttered "don't you agree that in some cases pinging is not detremental and non-destructive, and merely the way the engine was saying it was still functional" - WHERE in your life have you ever heard such crap?

The way the American Consumer law protects their people was also mentioned, and basically the fact was agreed that because the South African Consumer law was not so strict - I had no recoursse!
In fact I was told that the vehicle's ECU was set for EU-3 standards and I was only one person to take on the system - therefore BMW-SA did not have enough to approach Germany for resolution to change the ECU mapping for use in Africa (in Europe they use 98 & 100 Octane - we used 95 Octane and at Sea-Level the HP output of the bike was only 92Hp instead of the marketed and promised 105HP - FALSE advertising!!)..... so much for caring about their clients!

After so-called checking and testing, not under the conditions we discussed, and with a riding style that purely disgussed me..... they declined to accept any responsibility or even to try and offer assistance.

The bike was garaged while we then hedged our options - however a family crisis arose in the UK, which meant I needed to sell my GSA ..... however I received a really good offer for the bike, which allowed me to purchase a brand new 2011 GSA a month ago in England - for less than I sold the 2009 SOHC for!

I have however only managed to do about 18 miles on the bike.... waiting for full UK license and Insurance to allow me to ride... will then see whether this one is any better?

Basically the attitude I received from BMW management sucked!! One' things for sure.... I'll never buy a BMW in SA ever again......

All that and you bought a brand new GS with the money???? :confused1::confused1::confused1:
Geez. Apparently you still think very highly of the model, brand, and riding experience. I'm not sure how seriously to take all your previous complaints, but I do begin to see why BMW would continue to treat their customers poorly: it's obviously a viable business plan!

Back to my Kawasakis and Suzuki.

Mark

+1 on that markharf.. seems utter madness to go near them again.

I have many many MZ's in many pieces. I'm am under no illusions that they really have any saving graces in terms of looks, performance, reliability, attractiveness to the opposite sex etc. In short they are, and really always were, pretty crap in the scheme of things.

However, give me a stormy night, a knackered bike and nothing more advanced than a can of cola and a Swiss army knife and can you guess what I hope the bike is?

Having learned that South African petrol is the issue, why start the learning curve at the bottom by buying a Triumph, Yamaha, Honda, Ural, Cagiva or whatever that's going to have an equally hopeless bit of design somewhere? Admittedly, after the F650 water pump thing I will never buy a new BMW again and I will never have any faith in any brand, but this also, logically, means using the hard gained knowledge should make the Rotax engined pig a logical choice for me. I guess Canard likes the 1200 when it works and knows them well.

Of course, as the great man (Homer Simpson) said; "Listen to the song in your heart, not the voices in your head".

Andy

I hope for Canard's sake that the BMW he bought in the UK is fault free as otherwise I suspect he'll find out that the only difference between there and here is the salesman's accent.

Good luck with the bike but "better the devil you know" is not a buying philosophy I'd have followed in his position.

Maybe he won't need to reflect on the truth of "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" but based on what I've seen of the BMW experience I wouldn't bet on it.