espressoforyou
New member
I know that some of you think I must be making this up. But I just dropped my bike off at Bloodworth again for another leaking seal. This will be the 9th time my bike will be broken in half. Little Rock BMW did the repair work four times and Bloodworth BMW in Nashville the other four repairs.
Recap for new followers of the saga of the problems that I have had with my bike:
Recap of repair history:
Eight Compensating Shaft (Counterbalance Shaft) seals.
Five Transmissions Input Shaft Seals.
Two clutch plates and the clutch is making a funny noise and is now slipping.
Two clutch cylinders
Two Drive shaft seals
Five engine output seals
Replaced counterbalance shaft bearing and actual counterbalance.
The bike has been broken in half 8 times and is about to be broken in half for the 9th time to replace a leaking seal or seals.
Worked done in the last 30 days:
I dropped my bike off at Bloodworth on 06-04-2012 and the repair was not finished until 09-25-2012(14 weeks). I drove it 20 miles and the front counterbalance shaft bearing went bad.
Put the bike back in the shop on 09-26-2012. Bloodworth immediately replaced the bad bearing and seal and had it finished in two days.
I picked the bike up on 09-28-2012 and drove it 200 miles back to Memphis. Over the next week I noticed that the bike was leaking oil again from the same location.
So I drove the bike back to Bloodworth on 10-13-2012 and dropped it off for the same leaking seal issues.
So far the factory warranty or 2 year parts and labor warranty has been covering the repairs but I am getting tired of my bike being in the shop for months at a time.
I don't think that BMW of Little Rock or Bloodworth BMW are doing poor repair work. I believe that for some reason the bike is not repairable. It cost $1,500 to break the bike apart plus parts. You would think the BMW National would want to get this bike out of service. It has to be costing them a lot of money to keep repairing the bike under warranty.
Anthony at BMW National and Bruce the BMW Regional rep for my region have been helpful in getting the work promptly approved. I thank them for their help
Johnny the Service Writer at Bloodworth has been very pleasant to deal with also.
"Lemon" bikes happen, and that is to be expected. But it is how the manufacture handles the "Lemon" bike that is important.
I know that Bloodworth BMW is embarrassed, I know that I am embarrassed to tell my friends that my bike is in the shop again, and I would like to think that BMW National is embarrassed about this lemon bike and would like to do something about it.
Several people suggested that I should sell the bike and buy something else. But I can not in good faith sell this bike to anyone considering all the problems I have had with it.
I have been in contact with BMW National asking them to buy the bike back or swap it for a demo bike. I will keep you posted.
For all you folks that are dreaming about the new "wet head", remember, my 2005 r1200gs had an early 2004 build date and was a "first year" bike also. My bike is great when it is not leaking, but a pain in the butt when it is leaking oil.
BUYER BEWARE of first year model bikes, or for that matter first year model anything.
Recap for new followers of the saga of the problems that I have had with my bike:
Recap of repair history:
Eight Compensating Shaft (Counterbalance Shaft) seals.
Five Transmissions Input Shaft Seals.
Two clutch plates and the clutch is making a funny noise and is now slipping.
Two clutch cylinders
Two Drive shaft seals
Five engine output seals
Replaced counterbalance shaft bearing and actual counterbalance.
The bike has been broken in half 8 times and is about to be broken in half for the 9th time to replace a leaking seal or seals.
Worked done in the last 30 days:
I dropped my bike off at Bloodworth on 06-04-2012 and the repair was not finished until 09-25-2012(14 weeks). I drove it 20 miles and the front counterbalance shaft bearing went bad.
Put the bike back in the shop on 09-26-2012. Bloodworth immediately replaced the bad bearing and seal and had it finished in two days.
I picked the bike up on 09-28-2012 and drove it 200 miles back to Memphis. Over the next week I noticed that the bike was leaking oil again from the same location.
So I drove the bike back to Bloodworth on 10-13-2012 and dropped it off for the same leaking seal issues.
So far the factory warranty or 2 year parts and labor warranty has been covering the repairs but I am getting tired of my bike being in the shop for months at a time.
I don't think that BMW of Little Rock or Bloodworth BMW are doing poor repair work. I believe that for some reason the bike is not repairable. It cost $1,500 to break the bike apart plus parts. You would think the BMW National would want to get this bike out of service. It has to be costing them a lot of money to keep repairing the bike under warranty.
Anthony at BMW National and Bruce the BMW Regional rep for my region have been helpful in getting the work promptly approved. I thank them for their help
Johnny the Service Writer at Bloodworth has been very pleasant to deal with also.
"Lemon" bikes happen, and that is to be expected. But it is how the manufacture handles the "Lemon" bike that is important.
I know that Bloodworth BMW is embarrassed, I know that I am embarrassed to tell my friends that my bike is in the shop again, and I would like to think that BMW National is embarrassed about this lemon bike and would like to do something about it.
Several people suggested that I should sell the bike and buy something else. But I can not in good faith sell this bike to anyone considering all the problems I have had with it.
I have been in contact with BMW National asking them to buy the bike back or swap it for a demo bike. I will keep you posted.
For all you folks that are dreaming about the new "wet head", remember, my 2005 r1200gs had an early 2004 build date and was a "first year" bike also. My bike is great when it is not leaking, but a pain in the butt when it is leaking oil.
BUYER BEWARE of first year model bikes, or for that matter first year model anything.