At what point.

Greetings All
Our 2007 RT with 68k and fully farkled for LD two up, broke a drive shaft/u-joint, and possible finial drive failure. In the shop awaiting the repair estimate. We bought it used with 17k, 38k clutch replacement $2700, 58k shock replacement from Works $2400 and 5 times over a year in the shop to make it right (the dealer was Great in making this correct), headlight fixture melted $900. and more smaller items and 3 missed Rallies this year. What we have spent monthly to repair would have would have covered a loan for a new BMW under warranty.
We hear about all these great BMWs that have 75k and not cost a dime to repair and wonder why not us.
At what point do you stop repairing your old BMW and buy a new BMW?
Thanks Tony

That's about $6K so far. That's a lot of scarole. At this point, you are in pretty deep. I have to wonder though, how did the headlight assembly melt and 38K is kind of soon for a clutch?

motocamper said:

Greetings All
Our 2007 RT with 68k and fully farkled for LD two up, broke a drive shaft/u-joint, and possible finial drive failure. In the shop awaiting the repair estimate. We bought it used with 17k, 38k clutch replacement $2700, 58k shock replacement from Works $2400 and 5 times over a year in the shop to make it right (the dealer was Great in making this correct), headlight fixture melted $900. and more smaller items and 3 missed Rallies this year. What we have spent monthly to repair would have would have covered a loan for a new BMW under warranty.
We hear about all these great BMWs that have 75k and not cost a dime to repair and wonder why not us.
At what point do you stop repairing your old BMW and buy a new BMW?
Thanks Tony

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As Bill Clinton would say "I feel your pain"
My 2007 RT farkled for LD riding (Day long seat, GPS, Trunk etc) left me stranded at 14,000 with a fuel pump controller failure. Second controller at 40,000 when I was 2000 miles from home, fortunately I had a bypass cable. Ohlins at 42000 about $2000. ABS Pump Failure at 50,000 ($750 rebuilt)
Drive Shaft failure 750 miles from home. (54,000 miles) That was going to be $2700 and too many days. I traded it in on a Triumph. This was my second BMW and I loved the bike and planned to ride it to 100,000 miles but that obviously was not going to happen.

I would seriously question why you would be considering a new BMW. Other than the warranty you might be in the same boat.
My k has 180k plus, normal wear items and a used starter ($50) but I think those days are over with the newer technology laden bavarian rides.

35634 said:

I would seriously question why you would be considering a new BMW. Other than the warranty you might be in the same boat.
My k has 180k plus, normal wear items and a used starter ($50) but I think those days are over with the newer technology laden bavarian rides.

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I'm not sure when reliability of BMW's started getting worse, but from what I read, it certainly hasn't started getting better. The newer BMW bikes have some great features and are, I'm sure, a great pleasure to ride WHEN THEY ARE WORKING. But an unreliable bike is a PIA, even if it is under warrantee. (Just ask the people who have been told to not ride - or sell - their brand new BMW's until such time as they figure out how to fix the problem and then get the parts to the dealer.) I always wondered about people who owned two or three road bikes. Believe I'm starting to understand.

If you want a more modern bike (for whatever reason,) the big question is what make/model gives you most of what your selected BMW model does with much greater reliability? I've gone with lower mileage older K bikes ('87 and '92.) They have had their problems too: final drive on the '87; ABS, lots of plastic and rubber on the '92 and it STILL needs (at 25K) an after-market exhaust to replace the badly designed OEM that always fails, and a new rear strut. Of course a clutch spline lube is also in its future. I can live without ABS which wasn't great when it worked and the brakes are otherwise just fine. Not happy about the exhaust, now twice-welded, but sure I can find a used "final solution" to that problem. The rest of the stuff is just expected maintenance based on years and mileage. And, of course, because the bike will not be worth much - even if I have put $2500 into it - I don't insure it for theft, fire, or collision.

Still not cheap for this low mileage rider, but what counts is that I like the bike. Hope it continues to serve me well if I serve it well.

I've got a buddy that loves his 325i and is looking to go newer. I said, "NO". I've been fixing it for years and there is a ton of aftermarket parts for it. His wife, god bless her soul, get's rid of her BMW cars before they need brakes. He argued that since I have three BMW bikes, I must love BMW. I returned the argument that I don't pay myself labor and when one goes down, I go to the next, and when it goes down, I go to the next and when it quits, which they do, I have a little antique Kawasaki that fixes my need to ride. I then have the advantage of six months to look for parts at a reasonable price.

The opinions I have get mixed. I have a 2013 Ford pick-em up truck that is my work horse. It's on engine #3 with less than 25k miles on the truck. Ford dealer tosses me the keys to a Fiesta thinking that will do. I love the Ford for work, comfortable, good on fuel, lots of horsepower but my old Chev truck does it all as well. The Chev is fun to drive but wickedly hard on fuel and it's a regular cab. Not very practical for the job.

I don't mind spending the coin to keep my bikes running and in good shape because it's a hobby and not a way of life. I love my old Chev but I don't count on it to earn my living. At the mercy of the dealer to keep my hobby going, Beamer be gone.

motocamper said:

At what point do you stop repairing your old BMW and buy a new BMW?

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You have a 2007! That is a new BMW.

When I read "fully farkled" and "headlight fixture melted", I have to wonder if it isn't due to some modification.

Its an on going joke in our BMWMOA chapter. I will pull into a Rally riding my Electra Glide, because the BMW broke again...

motocamper said:

Greetings All
Our 2007 RT with 68k and fully farkled for LD two up, broke a drive shaft/u-joint, and possible finial drive failure. In the shop awaiting the repair estimate. We bought it used with 17k, 38k clutch replacement $2700, 58k shock replacement from Works $2400 and 5 times over a year in the shop to make it right (the dealer was Great in making this correct), headlight fixture melted $900. and more smaller items and 3 missed Rallies this year. What we have spent monthly to repair would have would have covered a loan for a new BMW under warranty.
We hear about all these great BMWs that have 75k and not cost a dime to repair and wonder why not us.
At what point do you stop repairing your old BMW and buy a new BMW?
Thanks Tony

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Bought an R1200RT brand new - in seven years, averaged $1,000 per year in maintenance and repairs.

Obviously, I reached the point where that was unacceptable, no matter how much Kool-Aid I downed.

I feel your pain. Buy something new.

Greetings All
Our 2007 RT with 68k and fully farkled for LD two up, broke a drive shaft/u-joint, and possible finial drive failure. In the shop awaiting the repair estimate. We bought it used with 17k, 38k clutch replacement $2700, 58k shock replacement from Works $2400 and 5 times over a year in the shop to make it right (the dealer was Great in making this correct), headlight fixture melted $900. and more smaller items and 3 missed Rallies this year. What we have spent monthly to repair would have would have covered a loan for a new BMW under warranty.
We hear about all these great BMWs that have 75k and not cost a dime to repair and wonder why not us.
At what point do you stop repairing your old BMW and buy a new BMW?
Thanks Tony

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Unusual for a clutch to be worn out at 38k. Maybe it wasn't adjusted correctly at some point?

Replacing the shocks is a personal farkle. Some feel strongly about changing their shocks, while others couldn't be bothered.

Melted headlight sounds like wiring mistake. Maybe when adding some of your farkles?

The U-joint sounds like a real issue, and not that uncommon.

I think you have to question how much money have you spent because of a real failure, and not extraneous issues. There are some BMW's out there with 1/2 million miles on them. I have owned vehicles that have never broken, while others were problematic. There is always a certain amount of fate in owning vehicles. Always nice to have a vehicle under warranty. If you don't do your own maintenance and repairs, then maybe owning a new bike (under warranty) may resolve some of the personal inconveniences and be financially advantageous.

greenwald said:

Bought an R1200RT brand new - in seven years, averaged $1,000 per year in maintenance and repairs.

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If you ride 12K/year and the bike is dealer serviced that's about two services and a set of tires, i.e. normal BMW maintenance costs. A new bike will likely cost about the same. You can, of course, swap your labor for lots of that cost. On my GS I do my own service and mount my own tires. At 12K miles/year that still costs me about $500. Tires are expensive.

23217 said:

Replacing the shocks is a personal farkle. Some feel strongly about changing their shocks, while others couldn't be bothered.

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Perhaps, but it depends on when the shock is replaced and for what reason. For those who purchase a new bike then replace the shock within the first year, then I would say you are correct. However, shocks are wear and tear items that will wear out and require replacement. It's possible at 58K, the original shock had worn out.

marchyman said:

If you ride 12K/year and the bike is dealer serviced that's about two services and a set of tires, i.e. normal BMW maintenance costs. A new bike will likely cost about the same. You can, of course, swap your labor for lots of that cost. On my GS I do my own service and mount my own tires. At 12K miles/year that still costs me about $500. Tires are expensive.

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FYI, I ride 15,000+ miles a year, do my own oil changes, get about 10k out of a pair of tires, and had several sets provided to me at zero cost for product reviews.

Final drive failure, ESA issues, fuel strip, leaking fork, snapped lower windshield strut, fuel pump flange and a host of other issues/breakdowns accounted for the majority of the one grand a year.

At what point do you stop repairing your old BMW and buy a new BMW?

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At what point do you stop repairing your old "new" BMW, and buy an old, OLD, BMW.

I'm feeling a deja vu thing here.

My 07 RT is my rally bike. It's something over 100K. My expenses on it so far are - tires, oil, gas, and a set of Ohlins I put on it at about 85K - obviously not including the fuel cell, GPSs, RDL etc, etc, that is common to most rally bikes. It handled the Iron Butt Rally better than I did.

I just hope I get some more miles before I have problems. It's kinda hit or miss.

Sorry to hear of the troubles but frankly, I start looking in a lot of directions for a replacement machine - not necessarily a BMW.

dieselyoda said:

The opinions I have get mixed. I have a 2013 Ford pick-em up truck that is my work horse. It's on engine #3 with less than 25k miles on the truck. Ford dealer tosses me the keys to a Fiesta thinking that will do. I love the Ford for work, comfortable, good on fuel, lots of horsepower but my old Chev truck does it all as well. The Chev is fun to drive but wickedly hard on fuel and it's a regular cab. Not very practical for the job.

I

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Did I read that right? third engine on a '13?!

jforgo said:

Did I read that right? third engine on a '13?!

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I once had a Ford; my one and only American car. I then switched to Toyota and Honda in 1983 with hardly ever an issue other than brake wear. I now drive a new VW Jetta TDI (love the mileage) and hope it is as reliable.

GlobalRider said:

I now drive a new VW Jetta TDI (love the mileage) and hope it is as reliable.

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The worst car I ever owned was a 2001.5 VW Passat. It made my American cars seem like pillars of reliability. The car was awesome in many ways, but it absolutely failed in reliability.

kgadley01 said:

Its an on going joke in our BMWMOA chapter. I will pull into a Rally riding my Electra Glide, because the BMW broke again?

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+1, Gunny; same here kgadley01 at AZ Beemers MOA Club #89 in Phoenix, except I will pull into a Rally riding my Yamaha FJR 1300 because the BMW broke again?