2009 r1200gs, intermittent ignition switch !

My bike has 41,000 miles with no other issues except the fuel strip and it is working now. Sometimes when you turn the key on nothing happens. Turning it on and off and so far it will come on. New ignition switch ?

Old Joe

Joe - this is when a GS-911 might be of some value in troubleshooting before replacing what undoubtedly will be an expensive, and PITA to get to part (anti-theft stuff gets in the way..) The GS-911 can read out what the control modules think the state of the switches are.. so it can tell you if the BMS-K or ZFE (not certain which one initially sees the ignition power switch - probably the ZFE) thinks the switch is on or off. If it thinks it's on and there still is nothing happening - it may indicate some other condition is causing this problem.

Dunno if the switch on a hexhead can be disassembled and cleaned - like old K bike ones could. The clue that it was needed on the K-bike switch was if you wiggled it in the on position - the warning lights on the instrument cluster flickered. That was a sure sign the switch needed disassembly and cleaning.

Can we assume the instrument display does nothing when you turn the key on and "nothing happens"?

2009 r1200gs

oldjoebmwrider said:

My bike has 41,000 miles with no other issues except the fuel strip and it is working now. Sometimes when you turn the key on nothing happens. Turning it on and off and so far it will come on. New ignition switch ?

Old Joe

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Good luck finding out what the problem is .. my r1200gsa is an 2009 with 42,000 miles for the last 25,000 miles I have been without a fuel guage it reads 1/4 tank when its empty or full. that's not my big problem , when I turn on key sometimes I have to wait 5 to 10 sec. or more for the computer screen to light up an allow me to start , this is much worse in cold weather !!!sometimes no delay at all in the summer month's. and on a rare occasion maybe once or twice during 3,000 miles it will stall and completely shut off all electric power for about 3 to 5 sec. then fire right back up on its own, usually while entering freeway in front of semi. very dangerous!! have taken it to BMW shop put on computer, said maybe a sencor?? but we cant find it till it completely quits ,still riding been on some 2000 mile adventures and it ran fine IDK.. have replaced battery ,and checked all terminals >>>> Terry

My Bro-in-laws 09 R12R had most of the symptoms mentioned here. Stalled a few times under power, re-started on it's own a few times, had to turn key on/off several times, the display would light up, then go out. He had to wait minutes at time between key cycles to finally get it to stay on.

The GS-911 did not recognize any issues or faults. We checked/cleaned every possible connection with no change .

He finally got it to duplicate at the dealer...new switch was installed and no issues since. Switch was around $100, and about 1 hour shop time. #2 in the fiche...seemingly non-serviceable these days.

Thanks Guys for response. When I say nothing happens "nothing happens" not a flicker of anything. Sometimes the computer will display but nothing else. I can keep turning switch on and off and so far when the computer displays and the lights come on the starter will turn her over! No stalling problem so far.


Old Joe

The R12R I mentioned didn't stall early on, it just wouldn't light the display up when key turned.
Sometimes the display would come on for a few seconds, then go black again. He would turn on/off about ten times until it stayed on
The stalling issue came a few weeks later.

Ok fellas, looks like I'll be off to Bloodworth Motors as soon as the weather breaks. Thanks for your help!

Old Joe

Delay on instrument display ? Probably the ignition switch

oldjoebmwrider said:

My bike has 41,000 miles with no other issues except the fuel strip and it is working now. Sometimes when you turn the key on nothing happens. Turning it on and off and so far it will come on. New ignition switch ?

Old Joe

Click to expand...

My 2005 R1200 ST display was starting to give long delays before the diagnostics ran. I traced it down to a bad ignition switch ($105 as of Nov 2015), which is just a microswitch that the key depresses, and that just shorts 2 wires. So to avoid that problem in the future I added a toggle switch that shorts those 2 wires. Of course the key needs to be inserted for the antenna ring to activate. (But I did replace the ignition switch.) Problem solved!

Can someone send me a link to fuel filter replacement on these models, many thanks...

Only the steel tanked R has a replaceable filter.

I had my ignition switch go intermittent on my 2005 R1200GS. Only it wasn't the ignition. The battery cable was loose under the seat.