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Anyone had to invoke the Lemon Law for a BMW motorcyle?

T

tgrandpre

New member
Hello.
I understand this topic has the potential to go full flame. Especially since this is post #1 for me.
Just hear me out.
I am curious if anyone has gone through with the Lemon Law process or a buy back with a BMW motorcycle.


I am on Water Pump #4 with 1900 miles on a 2015 R1200GSA. 6 months old.
Original failed (1)
Replacement 1 failed. (2)
Replacement 2 failed. (3)
The bike is in now for number 4.

I have researched the dreaded blue weep hole issue up and down. I came to the conclusion that it may not be that big of a deal. Until the dealer/service center told me today point blank to start working on invoking and proceeding with the Lemon Law. They are currently replacing the water pump again and want to work with BMW to see if there is another issue somewhere else in the bike that could be causing this problem.
Between how many times this has been replaced and the number of days in the shop already I am close or in the Lemon Law area.

There is a whole legal industry dedicated to exercising my Lemon Law protection and those who want to deny it. So I am here to ask if anyone has had to deal with the Lemon Law and in particular with a BMW motorcycle. I am now beginning my research on this and thought this would be the a good place to ask for any past experience from BMW riders directly.

Any input in having to deal with such a situation would be beneficial.

Thank you!

If BMW made this as easy as an Amazon.com return I would just ask for the same bike. No hassle. I really do love this bike despite the pump/seal issue.
 
Last edited:
I'm close to the same situation as you. Do not want to discuss it in public yet so feel free to PM me to share info and ideas.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 
Lemon laws vary a lot from state to state. In my state, they don't apply to motorcycles or RVs.

But my first ever motorcycle was a 2008 F800ST. It was a lemon. In two years of ownership, I'd had six separate major mechanical issues and it had been towed three times. I didn't trust it enough to go on long trips. On the last issue it sat at my dealer for nearly a month awaiting parts from Germany.

Basically I began a campaign of haranguing BMW North America about it. This went on for months, with many, many phone calls, emails, and public Twitter complaints. I was close to taking the loss on trading it on on a Triumph and BMW finally agreed to give me $1500 credit toward another BMW. That was a win/win: I bought a 2010 R1200R which I dearly loved, and now have a 2014 R1200RT.

Ironically I talked to the guy who bought my ST after I traded it in and he said he'd had no trouble with it, so I guess it was just me.

One other point: I'm also on water pump #3 on my RT for the weep hole dribble and it now seems to be OK.
 
I know nothing about lemon laws, I can't help you there, but I am saddened by your troubles and sincerely hope you can find resolution. We have a lot of evidence that these bikes can be "bulletproof" when done right. Very few things in this world suck more than a your bike in the shop during riding season.
 
In Washington State the Lemon Law applies to motorcycles too. I'd think the BMW NA Customer Relations system would not want to go down the Lemon Law road, and would step up to help. At the least, they'd want to know about the nature of the failure and attempt to determine the cause.
 
Lemon?

You might considering sending a letter with a copy of your repair history to the VP - sometimes starting at the top of the food chain brings faster results.

Kris Odwarka
Vice President
BMW Motorrad USA
PO Box 1227
Westwood, NJ 07675
 
tgrandpre said:
Hello.
...
I am on Water Pump #4 with 1900 miles on a 2015 R1200GSA. 6 months old.
Original failed (1)
Replacement 1 failed. (2)
Replacement 2 failed. (3)
The bike is in now for number 4.

I have researched the dreaded blue weep hole issue up and down. I came to the conclusion that it may not be that big of a deal...
Click to expand...

In your research, you must have seen that most of the water pump "failures" have involved very slight leaks of a only few drops, no puddles on the floor when parked, no engine overheating, no appreciable drop in coolant level and many of the leaks have stopped within a few thousand miles of use.

I'd agree with your conclusion that it is not that big of a deal. I'd suggest that you keep an eye on it and spend more time riding. You still have 30 months and many miles of warranty available to deal with the problem if it continues.
 
Thank you for all who chimed in

Thank you for all that have chimed in and sent me PM.
I appreciate the feedback and am delighted to get sound professional advice from all of you. This will help shape my path forward.

I agree with many comments and PM that state I should work directly with BMW and that I should not mention that the dealer gave me possible advice that would sabotage the dealer/manufacturer relationship.

More research is due and I am patiently waiting for the service department to conclude their investigation of the technical situation with BMW directly.
Going straight to Lemon Law seems to be the "big guns" full "F.U." approach. At this point I will take it step by step based on information as it comes in from the service department while I open communications with BMW and formulate a desired outcome.

Crowd sourcing opinions and experience from all of you is very helpful. My dealer/service department is my single point of info for this technical problem. Like anything else, another opinion is very much welcome.

Thank you all very much.
 
My 2015 R1200GS leaked a little coolant. I took it in to my dealer after a long road trip (to the Billings Rally) and he had just talked with BMWNA over a similar issue with an R1200RT. BMW told him not to worry about it, there can be minor seepage at times.

I cleaned my bike where the seepage occurred, at the weep hole. It has not leaked a drop since. The coolant level has not changed.

Apparently ill-informed dealers are replacing water pumps that don't need to be replaced.

Harry
 
tgrandpre said:
Hello.
I understand this topic has the potential to go full flame. Especially since this is post #1 for me.
Just hear me out.....snip......
Click to expand...


I must say, this post by the OP might well be the best first post by someone entering the forum with a problem that I can remember. It was well written, well thought out and not angry like many first complaint posts.

Well done OP, and welcome.
 
rad said:
I must say, this post by the OP might well be the best first post by someone entering the forum with a problem that I can remember. It was well written, well thought out and not angry like many first complaint posts.

Well done OP, and welcome.
Click to expand...

You noticed that as well :thumb

Welcome and good luck with the bike.
Gary
 
mikegalbicka said:
I would have to assume you are not acquainted with real suffering. A blessed man you are if so.
Click to expand...

I am a very blessed man but in the context of my quote it's moot. My use of the s word is flip and glib. More annoyance than problem. It is a satirical use of the word common in military circles... As in: "Embrace the suck."

rad said:
As my buddy dbrick says, "first world problems"
Click to expand...

I thought about that for a second and then thought considering most of the third world uses motorcycles for their primary source of transportation and commerce, having a bike in the shop or down for maintenance, would definetly up the suck factor of third world living.

And back to the original post, I'd like reiterate what others have said, awesome first post with follow up. Seekers of knowledge; welcome here.
 
rad said:
As my buddy dbrick says, "first world problems"
Click to expand...

rangerreece said:
I thought about that for a second and then thought considering most of the third world uses motorcycles for their primary source of transportation and commerce, having a bike in the shop or down for maintenance, would definetly up the suck factor of third world living.
Click to expand...

Of course it would. But the inspiration for this quote — I'm the guy from whom rad got it — was recognizing that we are extremely wealthy compared to most others on the planet. A broken bike would be a personal catastrophe for many in the world. For us, the same broken bike is more likely a mere bump in the road or the wallet, and then it gets fixed and/or we move on.

For us, bikes are almost always recreation and choice. But in most of the world, as Reece reminds us, they're a necessity.
 
rangerreece said:
I thought about that for a second and then thought considering most of the third world uses motorcycles for their primary source of transportation and commerce, having a bike in the shop or down for maintenance, would definetly up the suck factor of third world living.
Click to expand...

In the few parts of the 3rd world I have visited they wouldn't notice a little drip from a bike, covered with mud or dust, parked in the dirt. If by accident they did notice they might add some water and then they would ride the thing. Just like I would have back in my high school and college days when not everything was, or needed to be perfect to work well enough to meet my needs and make me happy.
 
David we are truly blessed in many ways in America and other countries, I agree. I watched Road recently and saw Joey Dunlop, bringing food and clothing in a van to the orphans of Bosnia. I wasn't even aware of who Joey was when my unit was building playgrounds and delivering food, soccer balls, and clothing, to what looked like the same orphanage. The gypsy kids made the orphans look rich. The degree of suffering and poverty in this world seems overwhelming when you leave the states and get up close and personal with it.

Paul, yes, you are right, a few drops from a weep hole will not Red X a bike in the third world. That is why my comparison stopped with down for maintenance. I'm sure they wouldn't be running high end late model beemers either. I wasn't comparing apples to apples or oranges, dbick's quote just made me think, to which I was compelled to pontificate.

OP yes, the forums are a wealth of knowledge but it always comes wrapped in an eclectic bow.
 
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