Problems with the new 1600 models

PGlaves said:

I had an older Golf. The 4th time it left me stranded at an inconvenient time and location (starter twice, ignition module twice) I hitchhiked home, got my truck, took the VW title to the salvage yard, told them where it was, handed them the title and told them they could have it for getting it off the shoulder of the highway.

Never look back!!

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Sometimes I feel like doing that with my 2009 Suburban.

I had a '05 Passat wagon towed home from Nashville after a wedding at the Hermitage two years ago. Alternator went and left us stuck. Oh, how I was wishing for my '02 Z71 with 200,000+ (now 240,000 on its way to 300K).

My old lady still won't come off the VW though, even though it rides like a little red wagon with a wheel out of alignment, IMO. I hate that car, but she loves it. Guess that's what makes the world go round.

I was the same way about my 1991 300ZX. Sometimes you just mesh with a machine. I gave $1300 for my old K75, have spent about that much on her again, and I'd spend that much on her again if it was to keep her on the road. Its not reasonable, but I'd do it.

jcj78 said:

I had a '05 Passat wagon towed home from Nashville after a wedding at the Hermitage two years ago. Alternator went and left us stuck. Oh, how I was wishing for my '02 Z71 with 200,000+ (now 240,000 on its way to 300K).

My old lady still won't come off the VW though, even though it rides like a little red wagon with a wheel out of alignment, IMO. I hate that car, but she loves it. Guess that's what makes the world go round.

I was the same way about my 1991 300ZX. Sometimes you just mesh with a machine. I gave $1300 for my old K75, have spent about that much on her again, and I'd spend that much on her again if it was to keep her on the road. Its not reasonable, but I'd do it.

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My 2009 Suburban sucks a quart every 1800 through #1 cylinder. The all aluminum 5.3L v-8s are prone to this problem because of the cylinder deactivation and doing a lot of highway miles. The oil consumption doesn't come on until 40-50K miles. GMs fix was a windage tray and a updated valve cover with a revised PCV valve. It has 92K miles now and I know it'll never make 240K or 300K. It still sucks oil. I have to change that plug every 7K miles or so. My brother has a 1995 Yukon. 250K on it with original engine and transmission. When he needed another truck I told him my problems. He bought a F150 with the eco boost. He loves it. I used to be big on GM, no more. I'll never buy another one. VW yes, GM no, BMW still out on that one.

Every BMW I've owned has had some mechanical eccentricity. Same with a lot of cars. My current ride is 2014 GTL Exclusive. I had the water pump replaced before 10K miles. They probably were still using the older version. I'm told the new ones have a redesigned ceramic seal. In any case, I noticed little drips or spots on the right side exhaust shield. Apparently, the seal was leaking but my bike did not overheat or prevent me from riding another 1100 miles before it was replaced. I had to chuckle at the idea the GTL is not a solid all around bike or the inference the RT is a better mechanical choice when it had a significantly greater, actual catastrophic failure resulting in a "do not ride" bulletin from BMW. Don't get me wrong, the new RT is a great bike and eventually they worked out the shock problem along with a meaningful customer exchange program which lead quite a few of those RT riders to trade for, wait for it, GTLs. By the way, in my humble opinion, the GT is the one-up version of this bike design. Different strokes for different folks? Why buy two beers when you can buy a six pack?

ponch1 said:

My 2009 Suburban sucks a quart every 1800 through #1 cylinder. The all aluminum 5.3L v-8s are prone to this problem because of the cylinder deactivation and doing a lot of highway miles. The oil consumption doesn't come on until 40-50K miles. GMs fix was a windage tray and a updated valve cover with a revised PCV valve. It has 92K miles now and I know it'll never make 240K or 300K. It still sucks oil. I have to change that plug every 7K miles or so. My brother has a 1995 Yukon. 250K on it with original engine and transmission. When he needed another truck I told him my problems. He bought a F150 with the eco boost. He loves it. I used to be big on GM, no more. I'll never buy another one. VW yes, GM no, BMW still out on that one.

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I fixed mine by deactivating the deactivation. No more oil use. Runs better too. Mileage is down by 1 MPG. It now as 190,000 on it and is behaving well. I am pretty confident that it will see 250,000 without much trouble.

beemerphile said:

I fixed mine by deactivating the deactivation. No more oil use. Runs better too. Mileage is down by 1 MPG. It now as 190,000 on it and is behaving well. I am pretty confident that it will see 250,000 without much trouble.

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It's probably too late for that now, no? I mean sucking a quart every 1800 through #1 is a lot. That said, I've heard people doing that early on. What did you use to do that?

ponch1 said:

My 2009 Suburban sucks a quart every 1800 through #1 cylinder. The all aluminum 5.3L v-8s are prone to this problem because of the cylinder deactivation and doing a lot of highway miles. The oil consumption doesn't come on until 40-50K miles. GMs fix was a windage tray and a updated valve cover with a revised PCV valve. It has 92K miles now and I know it'll never make 240K or 300K. It still sucks oil. I have to change that plug every 7K miles or so. My brother has a 1995 Yukon. 250K on it with original engine and transmission. When he needed another truck I told him my problems. He bought a F150 with the eco boost. He loves it. I used to be big on GM, no more. I'll never buy another one. VW yes, GM no, BMW still out on that one.

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that sucks. My p/u's 5.3L is pre-DoD, and just 285 hp, so it'll last forever. You can disable the DoD you know. Or a competent chevy mech can anyway, my buddy had his Impala SS reprogrammed. Now it doesn't sound like a Chinook helicopter anymore. But we also don't have emissions testing here.

jcj78 said:

that sucks. My p/u's 5.3L is pre-DoD, and just 285 hp, so it'll last forever. You can disable the DoD you know. Or a competent chevy mech can anyway, my buddy had his Impala SS reprogrammed. Now it doesn't sound like a Chinook helicopter anymore. But we also don't have emissions testing here.

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Either I have to get a $350-400 tuner or a $200 device that disables the AFM. With the later, just unplug it from the OBD II port and it's stock. A Chevy dealer could disable it too, but That would cost too and it would be one computer flash from a dealer back to stock.

GM laid an egg with this, but they don't care. The owner is left to eat it. I wouldn't be surprised if that piston should be replaced. What happens is that when the cylinder is deactivated, it still pull vacuum and there's still crankcase pressure from the other side, so oil gets sucked by. After awhile, the rings get coked up and it gets worse. It's a poor design. A salesmen from the dealer I had "the fix" applied called to ask if I wanted to trade it in for a new one. I let him know just how I felt. Never again. I paid 44K for a defective product. I'll never buy another GM product again.

I was an early adoptor of the K bikes - K75T, 1986. We were early adoptors of the F650, early 1997. Ditto the Oilheads - 1994 model in May of 1993. I am not a Luddite. But BMW has done some things of late that amuse me if not dismay me. We did a two month tour in Africa in 2005. Of the two months, we hauled a new R1200GS on a trailer for 7 weeks while the tour guide rode an F650 because the ignition key antenna ring had shot craps and the Jo-Burb, Capetown, and Windhoek dealerships didn't have parts to fix it.. I watched the angst as folks tried to figure out the whizzy brakes. Simple things like auxilliary lights became a problem with Canbus. I am all in favor of quality technology - I loved the LJetronic in its day and the Motronic wen it came along: but there comes a time that us old guys decide we don't need any more. I think maybe I am getting there.

Yes Paul, if the new tech is not up to real world riding, better to not have it. I subject my self to all kind of headaches and hassles at work. I ride for the relief and pleasure to get away from all that. When riding becomes as big a headache as work, what's the point.

Paul, I am now BMW-less for the first time since 2001 due to the "tech". My 2011 RT had the faulty handlebar switches. All you had to do was park in the sun, or even in the shade if it was a really hot day and you couldn't start the bike.

Got it to the dealership and the service manager laughs (!) and asks me hadn't I heard that you should just put a bag of ice on the switch for 10 minutes and then it would start? I said that's fairly ridiculous on a 25K machine with less than 10K miles on it. What if I wasn't near a store that sold ice? His answer was that a can of compressed air works also, and I could just keep a can in my saddlebag.!

OK, they finally get replacement switches in that seem to work and I get them changed out. A short time later, the bike won't start again and the fault code is the ignition key antenna ring. Of course I'm not at home, I'm on the road, so a call to roadside assistance, the wait for the tow, the tow, and the one hour wait at the service department to be seen since its a Saturday takes up 5 hours of my time. Oh, and since I came in without an appointment (with a bike under warranty) the earliest they can look at it will be Wednesday.

All, in all I had 4 or 5 RTs and I still miss not owning one, but my HONDAs have been rock solid for the past few years, whether it's the brand new one or the one that's now 37 years old.

I was on the fence back in 2014 reading the posts. I am so glad i purchased the 1600 - it continues to put a smile on my face. When the new waterpumps came out and fixed any previous problems, i had the dealer switch mine. (just for a piece of mind). This is probably the first bike i would replace with the same model if stolen.

Me too!

mopo said:

I remember the first batch of 1600 had quite a bit of troubles (water pump, the electronic on the handlebar, squeaky forks, some oil leaks)
Has that all been taken care of?
Are there any problems with the 2014 or 2015 16hundreds?

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I have the 2014 exclusive, absolutely beeeutiful, nae problems Jimmy(10600 km's)

A little over a month ago one of the idiot lights came on. Got the owners manual out and all it said was
I had an electrical fault. Hooked my GS911 and it showed a logged fault of cooling fan over currant.
To verify I let it idle till the fan would come on. Over currant verified.
Called my dealer and talked to the mechanic, he had me turn the fan by hand and see how it felt.
It had a tick to it as I turned it. He ordered up a new fan.
Other then the fan I've no issues with the bike.

ClassicVW said:

I feel the same way. The RT is the 'go anywhere' bike, short or long trips, and the K16 is the cross the country bike.

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Amen brother. Testify! I like to think that the RT is a cross country bike too.

2013 K1600GT squeak in front

I have had a loud annoying squeak in the left front. It is not all the time, but seems to start after riding 10 minutes or so. Been to two dealers. Neither had the answer. One dealer told me it was a common complaint with this model. Could it be in the forks

tomkennedy said:

I have had a loud annoying squeak in the left front. It is not all the time, but seems to start after riding 10 minutes or so. Been to two dealers. Neither had the answer. One dealer told me it was a common complaint with this model. Could it be in the forks

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Common for there to be a squeak in the front shock, not in any of the joints of the DuoLever front end.

beemerphile said:

I fixed mine by deactivating the deactivation. No more oil use. Runs better too. Mileage is down by 1 MPG. It now as 190,000 on it and is behaving well. I am pretty confident that it will see 250,000 without much trouble.

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Sold mine last week and just bought a Beetle Convertible. Glad to be rid of a GM product and one that was destined to cost me a lot of money if I kept it.

bigwaves said:

I was on the fence back in 2014 reading the posts. I am so glad i purchased the 1600 - it continues to put a smile on my face. When the new waterpumps came out and fixed any previous problems, i had the dealer switch mine. (just for a piece of mind). This is probably the first bike i would replace with the same model if stolen.

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I think the old saw hold true with BMW bikes and buying first or second year bikes. Let a few years pass to work out the bugs.