2007 R1200R - Warped brake rotors/discs

Has anyone had their brake rotor replaced under the service bulletin regarding the wheel defect, only to have the replacement warp as well? I understand the wheel problem was corrected in a redesign for 2008 models, and a 2008 and later wheel may not be mounted on the 2007.

Heading to the dealer today to firm up these details and arrange for another warranty service. <sigh>

Fred

More info please, Fred. What's up with this brake bulletin?

I'm trying to get my rotors replaced on my 07RT with 4400 miles. After complaining twice the dealer said they filed paperwork with BMW to see if they will authorize the replacement. Been about 10 days and haven't heard anything. I can't believe how bad the pulsation is and how fast it came on.

Bob1100RTC said:

I'm trying to get my rotors replaced on my 07RT with 4400 miles. After complaining twice the dealer said they filed paperwork with BMW to see if they will authorize the replacement. Been about 10 days and haven't heard anything. I can't believe how bad the pulsation is and how fast it came on.

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The very good mechanic (who quit Saturday ) at my local dealer had told me the wheel is at fault, but BMW authorizes replacement of the rotor as the first attempt to relieve the owner of the symptom. I forgot all about it, but after 6,000 miles, the pulsations quickly came back with a vengeance, especially at the end of a stop. The grabbing with each rotation of the wheels is almost comical as I approach a traffic light. The mechanic had told me the next step is warranty wheel replacement. I hope the paperwork at the dealer shows all that's needed to rid my bike of this problem once and for all.

Fred

Phred,

How many miles when it first showed up? (Assuming 6k miles ago..)

Grumble.. this sort of thing was the reason I got rid of THE K75S.. it got new rotors every 6k miles. This sort of thing can't be rocket science.. 'ya think BMW would have sorted it out in 25 years..

deilenberger said:

How many miles when it first showed up? (Assuming 6k miles ago..)

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Whoops. Let's see. Last service was 18,000 miles, and they replaced the rear rotor around the same time. So 4,000 miles, not 6,000 (I'm at 22,000 now).

Fred

FredRydr said:

Whoops. Let's see. Last service was 18,000 miles, and they replaced the rear rotor around the same time. So 4,000 miles, not 6,000 (I'm at 22,000 now).

Fred

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Fred - I'm still confused. Did they do the front and rear rotors at 18k miles? (I turned over 19k last night.. so far so good..) Did the rear rotor warp?

Please 'splain in detail..

deilenberger said:

Grumble.. this sort of thing was the reason I got rid of THE K75S.. it got new rotors every 6k miles. This sort of thing can't be rocket science.. 'ya think BMW would have sorted it out in 25 years..

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The last warped rotors we had were on the '86 K100RSes. We've had K12RS and K12S and now an R12GS also (but too early to tell). No warped rotors since the '86es. I noticed that the '08 K12S has more play in the front rotor mounting than the '05 had, but I never had any issues with the '05. Makes me think some did.

deilenberger said:

Phred,

How many miles when it first showed up? (Assuming 6k miles ago..)

Grumble.. this sort of thing was the reason I got rid of THE K75S.. it got new rotors every 6k miles. This sort of thing can't be rocket science.. 'ya think BMW would have sorted it out in 25 years..

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Yours too? My K75S also had the rotors as a routine replacement item. Good thing the factory rotors were so cheap...

Rotors

First bike, wife's 2005 1200gs with cast wheels: The front brakes shook the bars violently at 10K. That was the miliage at which I rode the bike and noticed it. She said it had been doing it for a while, possibley 4k or 5k. The dealer examined the rotors and replaced one. The problem has been gone for 13k now.

Second bike, my 2007 Adv non-abs with wire wheels: Around 6k a very slight pulsation would come and go. At 10k constant but subtle. The dealer said at that time it was within specs and could nothing under BMW warranty guidelines. At 12k it was very noticeble and getting worse. I had to ride it for 4k on my vacation over the last 2 weeks and at 16k it is unbearable. It's going in again next week and I have been told "it it shake as bad as I say there should be no problem getting it fixed" We'll see.

Cast wheels or wire wheels didn't make any difference in our case. ABS power brakes or standard brake made no differnce in our case.
IMHO it is simply a faulty part from a vendor I'm hoping for the best.

We had 4 1994 and later BMWs with floating rotors and cumulative miliage of 245k which had no brake issues. We replaced pads and floating buttons when they wore out.

The dealer service manager in a conversation this week pointed out to me that to 2008 R bikes have a totaly new mounting which allows the rotors to float some on the wheel.

Time and progress moves forward. We are not changing brands.

Jimmy C

TR250Tom said:

Yours too? My K75S also had the rotors as a routine replacement item. Good thing the factory rotors were so cheap...

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It seems a quirk of the S model. We had another local club member who sold his after his 4th set of rotors.. and - yeah, $250 or so each was a bit of a bite every 6k miles (couldn't replace just one since the bike had ABS..)

TR250Tom said:

Yours too? My K75S also had the rotors as a routine replacement item. Good thing the factory rotors were so cheap...

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BTW - see you made the right choice for a replacement bike..

Sorry for the delay, but I just returned from Boston.

And sorry I wasn't more specific, but it is the rear rotor.

Fred

deilenberger said:

This sort of thing can't be rocket science.. 'ya think BMW would have sorted it out in 25 years..

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No it isn't rocket science until the rotor Manufacturer tries to save 5 cents more per unit. THEN it's rocket science.

How many vehicles have had chronic rotor issues? (All of them) A friend of mine changes warped rotors on his Jeep every year because they are too small(IMHO).

Quite frankly, I'm amazed the rotors work as well as they do. Mine are thin, drilled out, and work AMAZINGLY well. I'm wearing out front tires as a result!

If we're going to beat on BMW, lets beat on them for FD issues and not worry about rotors.

m_marr said:

No it isn't rocket science until the rotor Manufacturer tries to save 5 cents more per unit. THEN it's rocket science.

How many vehicles have had chronic rotor issues? (All of them) A friend of mine changes warped rotors on his Jeep every year because they are too small(IMHO).

Quite frankly, I'm amazed the rotors work as well as they do. Mine are thin, drilled out, and work AMAZINGLY well. I'm wearing out front tires as a result!

If we're going to beat on BMW, lets beat on them for FD issues and not worry about rotors.

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When the problem becomes chronic and repeated - like $600 worth of K75S/A rotors every 5-6k miles, it's unacceptable and I'll worry about them. I have never lost a final drive - but I've paid as much for rotors as several final drives would have cost me.

The brakes do work well, no doubt, that doesn't mean they can't also last. BMW knows how to do this on their cars - I'm pretty familiar with the car side of things and don't know of any of the cars (including the high-performance M series) that have repeated failure of the factory rotors.

As a FWIW - the final set of rotors I put on the bike were EBC floating rotors (I'd tried Braking - shudder back in the usual 5k miles) - which aren't made of stainless steel - a semi-mild corrosion resistant steel is used. I believe they now have about 12k miles on them since I put them on (I sold the bike when they had about 4-5k on them.) No shudder. Same thickness as stock rotors. Work just as well as stock rotors. Not quite as pretty (sort of dull finish vs the stainless finish of the stock rotors.) I can live with a dull finish if the rotors don't need replacing every 5-6k.

Like I said - it's not rocket science. It might just require engineering to override a bad choice by marketing.

On my SECOND set of rotors.......

I initially felt the brake "judder" at around 8,000 miles. I brought it to the dealer and they told me it was because my front tire was "cupped". Replaced the tire and still had the problem.......thought it was just me until I read about others having the issue.

Dealer replaced the front rotors at 14,000 miles. It made a WORLD of difference!!!

About 8,000 miles later the problem had again resurfaced. I took it back to the dealer and mentioned I thought the underlying problem must be the wheel.
Reply was "they never replaced a front wheel before". They replaced the rotors again and the brakes are back to perfect.

Bottom line is.......keep on the dealer. You paid good money for the bike and a THREE year warranty. My dealer initially told me it was a WEAR issue.....but I was able to convince him otherwise.

Last.......I have a copy of the bulletin for the brake judder if you need it. Just pm me with your email address and I will send it to you. Dealers don't like that you have the bulletin.......but it is worth gold when you walk in with a copy of it in hand.

Starting to notice brake pulsing

When I first read about this issue my bike was not showing any symptoms. Now at 25,000+ miles my '07 R1200R brakes are pulsing slightly. I guess it's only going to get worse, will wait a bit longer for the warranty work, so it's fully perfected I hope. Are the rear wheel & rotor the issue on the R1200R? Front wheel and rotors are good? My pulsing feels like it come form the front, I think.

R1200R Warped rear brake rotor

At 18,000 miles, I had a warped rear brake rotor replaced under warranty on my 2007 R1200R. I was warned by the mechanic that replacement may not solve it, and that warping is merely a symptom of a bigger problem.

The replacement warped at 22,000, and now with 24,000 miles on the clock, it is in the shop for the 24,000 mile maintenance but also undergoing major disassembly of the back end. An entire new final drive assembly has been ordered under warranty in anticipation of needing it to resolve the issue.

Only 12,000 left on the warranty. Can you say "extended warranty"?

Stay tuned.

Fred

The front brakes on my '07 R exhibit judder sometimes (10K miles), mainly in the last increment of braking. Thanks to this thread, I will keep my eye on it.

swall said:

The front brakes on my '07 R exhibit judder sometimes (10K miles), mainly in the last increment of braking. Thanks to this thread, I will keep my eye on it.

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I first thought it was my front brakes as well, but it turned out it was the rear rotor pulsating through the linked brake circuit as I slowed to a stop using the front brake lever alone.

Fred