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Is there a FIX for Oil Head surging? 95' R1100R

james1300

New member
I have owned my bike since new.
I have taken it to 5 dealers.
I even took it all the way down to Silicon Valley. (I live in the Pacific N.W.)
Nobody can seem to get the 'SURGING' out of the fuel management system.

Coming off the hi-way(75mph) down to 35mph in 5th gear the engine' hunts', surges.
Hold it at 35mph and it surges.
It surges at 35mph. When I open the throttle it goes away.

Is there a fix for the oil head surge?
A cure?
 
Assuming that your bike is in good tune, and in stock condition, you can try richening the mixture. There have been many different approaches to adding fuel, most of which work by disabling part of the function of your Motronic, the fueling computer. I experimented with another approach that works in harmony with the Motronic or BMSK to shift the entire fueling table.

Here is the report of one of our members who tried the beta device for r1100s:

http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread...and-O2-Sensors&p=880407&viewfull=1#post880407
 
I have owned my bike since new.....................................Is there a fix for the oil head surge?
A cure?


Wait, wait, wait, wait an minute.....................You have put up with the surging for what, 18 yrs? Your kill'n me here.

Best of luck to you, you are a patient man.
 
Go for the booster plug, a really good and verified valve adjustment, throttle body synch and I believe the iridium spark plugs. If you have gone through all this, have your injectors serviced by Marron fuel injectors, flush your tank or use known good 93 octane fuel. Air filter must be good of course and make sure you have NO vacuum leaks. Best if you do all this since you will KNOW for sure everything is as it should be. I do not trust the work of others unless I am there to see it. Call me cranky but that's the way it is.
 
Surging?

Here's my experience with surging... First, I have a 96 GS. Never did anything funky until the last couple years, then it developed what I termed a surging problem. Even at a steady highway speed throttle, speed would vary ever so slightly. You could feel an increase, then decrease in speed by a few mph. Every-so-often the engine would hick-up, too (that's my best explanation for it.) Another symptom was the engine would die when I slowed to park the bike. Lastly, when stuck in stop and go traffic, you could forget about keeping your speed at a even crawl.

What it turned out being was dirty, clogged fuel injectors. Went on You Tube to see how it's done and one guy that pulled his, hooked up a 9 volt battery to the injector leads, then sprayed brake fluid cleaner backwards, then forwards into the injector. I did this process for a number of minutes. Reinstalled them and it runs like it used to.
 
It can be fixed

First, I agree with several other posts that the surge could be the result of a need for maintenance (ie: injectors, etc.).

However, I've had a lot of success with Dobeck Performance products out of Belgrade Montana. They sell their products locally and internationally through other vendors like Wunderlich, etc.

They have several controllers that have been out for a number of years that have worked wonders for my R11's and R115's. Their "Generation 3" is a relatively simple add on that "piggy backs" onto the existing controller. No reprograming of the existing system required. If you don't like what it is doing, it can be adjusted. If you cannot get it to work for you, it can be removed.

I also have a couple of their newest "Gen 4" programmers. Very cool!! Has a on board fuel/air gauge and lets you adjust between idle, cruise and hard acceleration settings using buttons on the bottom of the gauge.

I and several of my friends in Montana are more than satisfied. Together we ride 1) 1998 R1100 GS; 2) 2001 1150 GS; 3) 2002 1150R; and 4) 2005 1200GS (two bikes).

I don't sell 'em...Just use them and am a happy camper. Check them out at http://www.dobeckperformance.com

Let me know if you want more feedback.
 
Wait, wait, wait, wait an minute.....................You have put up with the surging for what, 18 yrs? Your kill'n me here.

Best of luck to you, you are a patient man.

Not really. I bought an FJR1300 and shelved the BMW.
 
I can tell you I've had the bike to 5 dealers and had them 'tune it'.
It has been maintained by some of 'the best' recommended dealers on the west coast.
So I disagree with the 'needs maintance'.
The bike is modified only with a RS muffler. I used it to allow the use of a full size inner saddlebag.
The 95's have a history of this problem. Always have. BMW knew it as well.
Yet, as with the 'soft wheels' failed to acknowledge the problem.

Has anyone with a 1995 R1100R found a cure?
 
So I disagree with the 'needs maintance'.
Well. What if we called it "abnormal maintenance" ? Mine runs much better after cleaning the throttle bodies.
Clean is always better than dirty.
Also use the Bosch 4-electrode plugs.
Edit: Bosch 4418

I get the impression you don't do your own maintenance?

The bike is modified only with a RS muffler.
I don't know, but I seriously doubt this would make any difference.

Has anyone with a 1995 R1100R found a cure?
I have not experienced a cure first hand. I have made incremental improvements.
I think the gizmo to shift the mix richer throughout the "closed loop map" that Roger mentioned is the most harmless fix.
And one which does not have a big impact on fuel economy, and doesn't cost that much (we think).
It has been "beta tested" on the 1100 with success, and it is pretty much down to getting the packaging right and setting a price before it goes to market.

Now, if you want to experiment, there's an easy way to disable closed loop altogether.
Doing so will increase your fuel consumption. Somewhere around 40 mpg I predict.
Interested?
 
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I can tell you I've had the bike to 5 dealers and had them 'tune it'.
It has been maintained by some of 'the best' recommended dealers on the west coast.
So I disagree with the 'needs maintance'.
The bike is modified only with a RS muffler. I used it to allow the use of a full size inner saddlebag.
The 95's have a history of this problem. Always have. BMW knew it as well.
Yet, as with the 'soft wheels' failed to acknowledge the problem.

Has anyone with a 1995 R1100R found a cure?

BMW's cure for the r1100 and r1150 is the R1200. They thought the cure would be the dual spark 1150 (2004) but it turned out to be the R1200. The fundamental problems are too lean operation and AFR (air fuel ratio) imbalance left to right.

The R1200 solved both problems. The BMSK ECU is fast enough that it can run closed loop, accurately, most of the time. This means it doesn't get too lean. More importantly they put two oxygen sensors on the bike, one for each cylinder. That means they can perfectly balance the left/right AFR because the BMSK ECU can control the fueling to each cylinder separately.

Since we can't run dual O2 sensors on our R1100s and R1150s, the next best thing is to add 4-8% more fuel. This balances the left/right power by adding just enough fuel to consume all the air in each cylinder during combustion. There are several choices that I mention earlier for doing this.

Check with jammess who owns an R1100RSL and an R1150RT. Or check with Happy Wanderer who has an R1100RT they have each had success.
 
Well. What if we called it "abnormal maintenance" ? Mine runs much better after cleaning the throttle bodies.
Clean is always better than dirty.
Also use the Bosch 4-electrode plugs.
Edit: Bosch 4418

I get the impression you don't do your own maintenance?


I don't know, but I seriously doubt this would make any difference.


I have not experienced a cure first hand. I have made incremental improvements.
I think the gizmo to shift the mix richer throughout the "closed loop map" that Roger mentioned is the most harmless fix.
And one which does not have a big impact on fuel economy, and doesn't cost that much (we think).
It has been "beta tested" on the 1100 with success, and it is pretty much down to getting the packaging right and setting a price before it goes to market.

Now, if you want to experiment, there's an easy way to disable closed loop altogether.
Doing so will increase your fuel consumption. Somewhere around 40 mpg I predict.
Interested?

Are you talking about removing the 'pink' cat/code plug?
 
Maintenance

I do my own maintenance, so I have had some experience dealing with the problem. Once a year [usually around 12,000 miles.] , I clean the throttle bodies, adjust the valves, change the plugs and blow out the air cleaner. I am lucky enough to have ethanol free 93 octane available locally and never have the problem when running ethanol free gas. The problem has arisen while traveling when I cannot find ethanol free gasoline. But even then, it is not too bad. Of course, I ride in the higher RPM range. BMWs of any year do not like to be lugged around.
 
Are you talking about removing the 'pink' cat/code plug?

Replacing the red/pink plug with a light brown/beige plug, or with a home-made jumper between "30" and "87a".
The connection 87a to ground tells the Motronic you have the long skinny intake tubes (possibly other geometric differences) which I think gives you more aggressive spark advance - or something. I think leaving that off will have a negative impact.

Whether this is a fix or not depends on your point of view.
As Roger hinted this disables some of the Motronic's functionality.

The pink plug can be modified (clip one leg off) but they run about $10 to replace. Try the jumper first.

beige_cat_plug.jpg
This is looking down on the socket from the left side of the bike.

bmw_motronic_code_plugs.gif
Part numbers.

Oh, and as mentioned by someone else it will run better on non-ethanol fuel, 89 or 91 "octane" in the US, or 95 RON in Europe.
It is not a big problem on the RT to ride far enough to get non-ethanol...
 
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Replacing the red/pink plug with a light brown/beige plug, or with a home-made jumper between "30" and "87a".
The connection 87a to ground tells the Motronic you have the long skinny intake tubes (possibly other geometric differences) which I think gives you more aggressive spark advance - or something. I think leaving that off will have a negative impact.

Whether this is a fix or not depends on your point of view.
As Roger hinted this disables some of the Motronic's functionality.

The pink plug can be modified (clip one leg off) but they run about $10 to replace. Try the jumper first.

View attachment 41076
This is looking down on the socket from the left side of the bike.

View attachment 41077
Part numbers.

Oh, and as mentioned by someone else it will run better on non-ethanol fuel, 89 or 91 "octane" in the US, or 95 RON in Europe.
It is not a big problem on the RT to ride far enough to get non-ethanol...

Scott, You're right 30-87a is the right plug/jumper to use for the 1100R. This idea works well if he is running fuel without Ethanol. If his fuel has ethanol (10%) then the richness added by running 30-87a is completely negated by the leanness of e10 fuel. If that is the case he could go with 30-87a and add a Boosterplug. (I have a loaner.)

The Boosterplug is $150 as compared to a better solution with the BMW-AF-XIED and a universal cable which is $200. The XIED maintains closed loop and is adjustable.
 
Scott, You're right 30-87a is the right plug/jumper to use for the 1100R. This idea works well if he is running fuel without Ethanol. If his fuel has ethanol (10%) then the richness added by running 30-87a is completely negated by the leanness of e10 fuel. If that is the case he could go with 30-87a and add a Boosterplug. (I have a loaner.)

The Boosterplug is $150 as compared to a better solution with the BMW-AF-XIED and a universal cable which is $200. The XIED maintains closed loop and is adjustable.



After reading this thread, I went out and looked at mine. {R1150R} "04" That 'cavity' is empty. I bought it second hand, as such I have no idea what the PO may have done, or didn't. Is empty good,bad, or??

I have cat eliminator and a Remus pipe. A soon as i get around to making the correct low mount pipe adapter [for full left bag] I'm going to switch to a Ztechnik pipe.
 
After reading this thread, I went out and looked at mine. {R1150R} "04" That 'cavity' is empty. I bought it second hand, as such I have no idea what the PO may have done, or didn't. Is empty good,bad, or??

I have cat eliminator and a Remus pipe. A soon as i get around to making the correct low mount pipe adapter [for full left bag] I'm going to switch to a Ztechnik pipe.

Have a look at the BMW document that shows how the coding plugs were meant to be used. (Although the RT isn't shown on this it is the same as the RS.) By comparing this and the parts list you can see that the R and GS share the same heads, cams and intake tubes.

So I'd say that no plug (which means ignore the O2 sensor and use a fixed fuel table for the RT/RS) is okay but a better plug would be Beige (30-87a). The beige plug says to the Motronic that your bike is an R1100R or an R1100GS and that it should ignore the O2 sensor--Open Loop fueling. When you run Open Loop configurations, the Moteonic looks for something called a CO Potentiometer which it measures to set idle Carbon Monoxide, and hence AFR settings.

I have measured a spark advance timing difference on the R1150RT (my bike) for the RT plug vs. the GS plug. So an educated guess would be that Spark Advance is more different between the coding plugs and fueling is more similar.

So my bottom line, if you like the way it runs, keep it as it is.
RB

bmwcodingbulletin.PNG
 
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