'08 K12GT Brake Questions

I'm the proud owner of a gently used 08' K12GT. It's the nicest bike I've owned (Kaw. Z1B, Yam. FJR1300, Honda GL1800) and I'm looking forward to a lot of great riding years ahead. Brakes - OK their intergrated...is the front power assisted? This bike really stops!...I just had the 12k check done at the dealership (the nearest one is 5 hrs away)..got the recalls fixed also. When I left the shop, the brake pad wear indicator light came on (12,500 miles). They showed me the rear pad and said that the wear sensor was worn thru and a new set of rear pads was $130 plus labor. About half way home the light went off for about 45 minutes. A call the next day asking about why the light can go on/off got me "It just depends how they're (the pads) riding". The mechanic said that there was 1/2 of the pad still available. I've read the thread on "Brake wear indicator" spring of 2009. It seem that the choices are-- 1. Pony up $150 and change the rear pads with about 8,000 miles of life left on them...2. do something else to defeat the system...Is there a way to bypass the warning with a wiring gimic?...can the bulb be removed from the instrument cluster? I hate to resort to a piece of black duct tape to cover the red light...It seems criminal that the sensors alarm at 1/2 of the service life and to replace all the pads would run somewhere around $400. Any ideas?

Bill Thomas

There is

I gather that you can bridge the sensors on the brake calipers and thereby defeat the system.

I don't think so

I'm at work right now and don't have the bike here...but as I understand the system...one pad has the sensor and as that pad wears down the sensor gets abraded...to the point where it becomes "open" and trips the light. It seems like there should be a way to solder the wires together somewhere and have the system think the pads are always good. Has anyone ever bypassed this system?

There is also a sensor on the front brakes which may be the one that is down to the limits. Ususally front brakes will wear faster than the rears will. The sensor should not go off at half wear, it is a wear through plastic block on the pad with a contact wire inside that grounds out on the rotor. There should be no way it could contact with half the pad life remaining. It is only on one front and one rear pad so it is possible that if the pads have worn unequally that one is OK while the other is down to the minimum.

On the rear brake pads, the visual wear indication is the hole in the back of the pad, if you can see the rotor through the hole, the pads are below the 1mm limit. The fronts have the grooves cut in the face, when those are gone, the pads are done.

You may want to look at this thread:

http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?t=35773&highlight=brake+warning+light

And this one:

http://www.i-bmw.com/showthread.php?t=33170

Before you buy new pads, look at them and be certain they are worn out. There is a little notch in the pads that goes away as the pads get worn. If you can see the notch the pads are ok. My '08GT had a broken wire on the wire going to the front brake pad and the pads were fine. It was an intermittent fault at first, then became a constant brake pad light problem. Do a web search and you should find some more info too.

Regards,

Greg

Looks like a wire issue

Sorry for the delay...been out of town and then the frig broke..The front pads have less wear than the rear set. Both the groves in the front set and bore hole on the rear show plenty of pad remaining. I'm guessing the delarship some how broke the rear wire when they changed the final drive oil. I'd still like to know if I can just tie the wires together somewhere and defeat the system. Evidently BMW only used the wear indicator a year or two before discontinuing it. There must be a way to (1) tie the wires together or (2) remove the indicator bulb. Thanks for all the input!

Bill

If the bike is still in warranty, they will fix it. If they broke it doing your rear drive fluid thing, they SHOULD fix it.

If not, you can look at the wires attached to the pads. Trace the wire back to the connector (there's a connector for both front and back). Your choice is to put an ohmmeter/continuity tester on each wire from the pads and find out if it's the front or rear that's broken and either a) fix it, or b)cut the wire, connect the two ends and plug the jumpered wire back into the bike harness. BTW, I found the plug to the rear of mine not fully plugged in after the dealer bled the brakes. OTOH, the wire on my front pads broke, and I repaired it. If you know someone with a GS911 who would be kind enough to read the code for you, it will tell you which wire is faulted.

Best Regards,

Greg

Thanks

Thanks Greg...the seats are off to Russell...I'll try to get some time to look at the wires and bridge around the sensor.

Sincerely,
Bill T.

I had a front pad wire break at 6500miles and the dealer warrantied the pad due to a overtight wiretie from the factory,

I am approaching 20 grand and still have a good pit of both front and rear pads
left. If yours has been gently ridden you should be in good shape for another 8 or 9 grand at least.
Yes a K12 can stop on a dime. Beautiful ride, I rode about 200 last week and had
smile cramps. Made it thru winter