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Fuel strip poll

Have you had at least ONE fuel strip fail?


  • Total voters
    835
I absolutely love my R1200RT 2009; however, I've gone through "4" failed fuel strips on BMW's dime, but my time and inconvenience. Sure wish this problem could be addressed once and for all. I purchased the bike new with 14 miles on the odometer, and now have 62,000 miles on the odometer. My plan is to log many more miles on this beauty.;)
My 2007 has an identical history. The latest one lasted less then a year (gotta remember to call the dealer tomorrow.) This is #4 failure.
 
09R1200RT. Lost 1 fuel strip and 5 headlight bulbs in 62,549. 4 bulbs on throttle side. Can't find a difference on either side.
 
'07gsa1200;

On my third strip. 1st one at around 25000m, second at approx.47000m on odometer and my third one is in place still working at 90000m. I like see thru tanks on dirt bikes:). Why complicate things, as BMWs done adding farkles that break a LOT? I vote "simple" is much better. An adventure bike can have the opaque gas tank, imo. OR, maybe a visable bar of the same, built into tank? Why add it(gas levels) to wiring(gauges), which we all know the answer now after HOW many years these things been failing? Found one thing is certain all these years! WE, the customers are the test riders for too many products sold, as the components in many cases are factory faulty and no fixes, except replacements under warranty(good), is the answer. Can be quite frustrating, but we still fail to make/build things very perfect in life. We move on. I would imagine product testing(ALL) of components going into out BMWs would drive the price so high, nobody could afford one. Sure love my GSA and will keep it flying, probably way past 100000m and beyond. May have to "engineer" my own fuel reading device, sell a TON of'em:). Randy
 
Doing something positive about the fuel strip problem..

On another forum I'm active on, there is a bit of a campaign going to get the fuel strip problem to the attention of the NHTSA - the only people who can coerce BMW into actually solving the problem. Since my 5th strip failed this weekend, I'm somewhat energized to actually fill this out. One of the problems with NTHSA submissions are - they tend to get lost since people pick different failure modes. This was worse on the earlier submission form, at least this one limits the number of systems that can be selected from, and there is a drop-down list of models that appears to include most recent BMW motorcycle models.

The following is what I posted to the other forum (an R1200R specific forum.) Since BMW has announced an investigation into the leaking fuel pump bosses on the recent models with only 24 failures reported, and since BMW announced a recall of several car models due to failing fuel gauges, I think this - done right -might have some chance of success. The trick is getting the attention of someone high enough up in BMW who has the power to say "Fix this NOW."

Here is my posting to the other forum:

Here is what I filled out (after selecting the on-line form found at: https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/) <---- LINK UPDATED 10/3/16

  • VIN: Entered my VIN#
  • VEHICLE: BMW R 1200 R 2007 (this is on the drop down screen once you enter BMW.. it's down a ways.. look for your bike if it's not there use the ones that are there as a pattern to create a new model listing.)
  • APPROXIMATE DATE: I entered the date it first happened (as the instructions say to.)
  • CRASH: No
  • FIRE: No
  • FATALITY: No
  • VEHICLE MILEAGE: I put down the approximate mileage it first happened at
  • SPEED: I put down 65 for good luck.
  • AFFECTED PARTS: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM <-- this is the important one. This is how the complaints get lost.
  • TELL US WHAT HAPPENED: Fuel gauge stopped responding, leading to running out of fuel while moving. This is a common failure on many bike models from BMW from 2005-2013. I have had this happen 5 times so far, and each time the fuel level measuring strip in the fuel tank was replaced. This is an unsafe condition since loss of engine power from running out of fuel can be quite dangerous on a motorcycle.

I then filled in my personal info.

My suggestion - if you've experienced the failure - take 10 minutes to fill in the form... it might just help, and it can't hurt. Fell free to ignore this if it doesn't seem reasonable to you.. and I have no delusions about getting a "Friend of the Marque" for posting this up.. If anyone wants to point the K bike forum (of models that used the fuel strip) to this post, please feel free to.
 
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One other thought..

Someone on the original forum I posted this on suggested that each failure be considered an incident, and deserves it's own report to NHTSA. Right now - my thinking is- he's right. It means I'll be busy filling out 4 more reports. :drink
 
Filed mine just a few minutes ago and confirming email just arrived. Hope it does some good...

09 RT, 58,000 miles First failure. Paid out of my pocket...
 
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At the beginning, understand this ...

The USA Federal Government ONLY mandates recalls for one of two issues.

1. The vehicle fails to meet emissions requirements

2. The vehicle exhibits a safety problem.


Anybody that thinks a failed fuel gauge is a safety problem is dreaming. BMW can voluntarily recall anything they want and that will describe the car problem, i.e. a voluntary action on BMW's part to keeps its customers happy. Clearly a fuel leak situation is likely a safety problem--hence the government investigation of motorcycle fuel pumps. No leak is associated with failed fuel strips.

If one were to be in the mode of "dreaming" here, i.e. seeing the world as all roses, I'd think BMW MOA would have such a relationship with BMW Motorrad USA that they could occasionally publish official responses/discussions of problems that only fit under the category "voluntary" action by BMW.

This for unknown reasons seems to have never become a BMW MOA agenda item.

Sure would save a lot of wasted forum bandwidth.

PS: Were BMW to liberalize its policies regarding voluntary recalls, we'd see the effects in increased prices for the bikes.
 
Kent,

Call me (and a lot of other people) dreamers - but having your engine stop in certain situations can certainly be considered a safety hazard. Just like with the BMW cars that ARE being recalled for the exact same fault. We know that would never happen to you - but to us less skilled riders who simply expect a feature of the bike that we paid for to work, it is a hazard.

BTW - you can't "waste" bandwidth, you can only use it. Bandwidth simply exists, and "using" bandwidth to complain about the use of bandwidth has always puzzled me. But if using it bothers you - then I'd suggest you pay attention to what I wrote:

ME said:
Fell free to ignore this if it doesn't seem reasonable to you..
No one is compelling you to read this, or do it. It's simply a suggestion. And as far as increased prices for BMW bikes - we see that anyway and they continue to have problems that are ignored by BMW, which loses them customers. Seems a rather shortsighted business viewpoint to me, but I guess they feel it works for them.

Have a nice day.
 
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If this can cause your engine to stop, then it is enough to make a vehicle a lemon. In AZ, fix the same driving-related item 4 times under warranty, you have a lemon under law.
 
Lemon, perhaps, but unsafe not a chance.

Fuel strips don't cause motors to stop, running out of fuel does.

If fuel gauges were safety items they would be required by law. They're not.

Back in the mid 1990s Mercedes experiment with biodegradable wiring harnesses and sure enough lots of them failed before their time. The motor would stop running. Despite lots and lots of efforts by cheapskates trying to get Mercedes forced to replace these harnesses under mandated safety warranty, it never happened. Why? It was a known defect, easily spotted by a professional technician and easily repaired before problems arose.

Again, this is a consumer satisfaction issue and NOT a safety or emissions issue. Recourse is with BMW, not the government. Be nice if MOA was interested in helping, but apparently it isn't.
 
Wrong again, Kent. My bike has no fuel gauge. So if the fuel strip goes I am fooled to think the bike has no fuel and pull over, turn the bike off and call for assistance. That can be dangerous itself, here where large trucks are known to hit stopped motorcycles. If you want details, I can provide the gory ones.
 
05 45000 miles and I believe it is the original fuel strip - I got the bike at 36000. Now is it functioning correctly, that's another question. Some times after a fill up it takes a few stops and starts of the engine before it registers the fuel correctly. Some times you start the bike and you have 120 miles left and within 10 miles you only have 40 miles left. Just one of the many challenges and joys. :laugh
 
We've had...I forget...somewhere between 5 to 7 fuel strips fail on 3 BMW K1200Ses. I finally figured out how to change one without removing the K1200S tank. My wife's small hand can reach down into the tank filler opening and unplug the fuel sensor and plug a new one in :).
But I fault BMW for the "fuel issue in the US" response by BMW since one on my wife's K1200S failed at less than 10 miles on fuel from Germany when the bike came out of the crate. The fuel sensors are clearly failing because of manufacturing techniques or poor design. Most of ours (maybe all) failed mechanically where the sensor strip is connected to it's cable wiring inside what looks to be an epoxy block.
BMW addressed the faulty key code sensors which I think were not as much as a safety issue as the fuel sensors. I can't come up with as many scenarios for safety issues with failing to start your bike in a parking lot or driveway as I can for running out of gas on an Interstate Highway. One can only guess that the key code issue was potentially more expensive to ignore (road side service, etc.) than the fuel strip issue. If you run out of gas, that is not a road side service issue...at least that can be the argument against coverage. But if the bike won't start...I see coverage there. I think that has to be how BMW decides to create a campaign or not.
So there you have it. It's not at all about safety in either issue...but probably all about warranty costs. I don't know why I keep buying these damn BMW bikes...maybe because when they're running, they're the best thing out there.
 
No Fuel Strip Failure

2007 RT, ~28K miles, no failure (although it's been slow to respond to a refill since the bike was new)
 
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