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Bmw lack of quality on front crash parts 1200rt etc

ballen262

New member
Im now into my 27th year of Auto Body & Paint and currently run and operate my own facility.

This may have been talked about already.
I currently am the one who posted pictures of my Turkey hit last weekend that did $4300 in damage.

My hope here is to share with others thinking about the insurance on your bikes and also those who work on your own bikes.

After inspection of my BMW I was very disgusted in the lack BMW put into its painted body panels, the parts that cost the most after a crash with a Turkey or similar animal.
The tabs that hold these panels on are 100% designed to break very easy, attached to the back side of these painted panels with only 1 mil of plastic. I do know based on the hit I was in where the headlamp took most of the hit the side panels next to headlight and panels with the BMW logo attached disgust me in how BMW designed them.

I am currently putting a letter together with pictures that clearly show BMW's attempt to make more money on light hit accidents. Places where BMW could clearly beef up these attachment areas they don't.

Also to all be very very very careful pulling side panels off where the BMW1200 logo is placed, you can easily break the tabs that slide into the black panel where radio controls are on both sides of bike the round rubber grommets make it very very easy to pull on painted panel so hard aiding in breaking those tabs, any time you take off these side panels apply some grease or silicone to these black rubber grommets for easy future removal.

For the money we pay the pure lack of respect given in these panels for us as consumers makes me sick not just with BMW but any company's over reach doing the same thing.

I hope to bring awareness to BMW to fix this STUPID design and save all of us insurance premium hikes.
Even my adjuster said he could not believe such an expensive bike showed that much disrespect to its dedicated customers.
I will keep everyone posted.
 
You can always tell the Germans, but not much.

Your efforts and expertise would likely be better directed towards developing a retrofit/repair that would fix the inevitably broken bits and hopefully would be able to be applied in advance to prevent breakage.

Best,
DG
 
You can always tell the Germans, but not much.

Your efforts and expertise would likely be better directed towards developing a retrofit/repair that would fix the inevitably broken bits and hopefully would be able to be applied in advance to prevent breakage.

Best,
DG

And this is what I pay over 20K for, to apply a concept that should be done from factory???

This is more about insurance premiums going up, if you all don't think Insurance companies don't take note of stuff like this better think twice.

Most adjusters take only one or two pics of damaged parts while doing an estimate, so the fact my adjuster took 6 to 7 just of the broken tabs says to me they will adjust rates to compensate for such.
 
First, I'm sorry for the frustration and aggravation this accident and the aftermath have left you with. It's never painless.

There's another thread that approaches what you found from another direction. https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?88849-Who-makes-the-most-reliable-motorcycle

One of the posters there made a really good point. As long as people keep buying BMWs, BMW won't invest the money to make any changes. Instead, the marketing department will keep saying things like "BMW, the Ultimate Driving Machine" and said enough...we'll believe it.

Chris
 
Ok so they screwed up on the skinny tabs...let's beef them up by bonding on something stronger for future removals.


Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk
 
Well who broke the tabs? You or the turkey?

While a crap design I have had mine on and off at least ten times and no issues.

If you broke them removing parts for inspection of damage it really is your issue and mistake not BMW's.

Oh boy, so from all my comments here you assume my talk about me breaking tabs, WELL if that was the case I would of said I broke the tabs, which I didn't.

SO I would say the logical issue is the TURKEY broke the tabs, I also stated that even a smaller bird could break the tabs.
And I agree that people with experience tearing down items on a bike would not break tabs, but all that has been stated does not change the FACTS BMW makes very very weak tabs.
Anyone with a logical thinking way can clearly see that these tabs are weak.
 
First, I'm sorry for the frustration and aggravation this accident and the aftermath have left you with. It's never painless.

There's another thread that approaches what you found from another direction. https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?88849-Who-makes-the-most-reliable-motorcycle

One of the posters there made a really good point. As long as people keep buying BMWs, BMW won't invest the money to make any changes. Instead, the marketing department will keep saying things like "BMW, the Ultimate Driving Machine" and said enough...we'll believe it.

Chris

Thanks for the link and concerns.
Its not that I'm pissed, its more about awareness for others to be very careful for removal of these panels especially the one panels with the BMW 1200 etc logos below headlight on sides.
 
Ok so they screwed up on the skinny tabs...let's beef them up by bonding on something stronger for future removals.


Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

This is in now way just about removal from owners of these bikes for these panels, you will never break these tabs if you know the exact procedure and correct tools to do so.

This has to do with awareness not to pull panels unless you understand what could happen if you have never done it before, second the tabs WILL BREAK in minor small hits including bumping into bike to hard, or small animal hits including TURKEY's.

And yes you can take them off and put a two part plastic epoxy to put strength on it BUT there is little room for that on the one tabs I noticed that could break up by the radio control panel that the painted panel slides into with these tabs.
So some can be modified some won't.
 
I hit a bunny rabbit with my Ford Focus and the repair bill was $2,200 to replace busted plastic pieces. It isn't just BMWs folks. I do admit that a Focus is not a "premium" vehicle, but still ...
 
I hit a bunny rabbit with my Ford Focus and the repair bill was $2,200 to replace busted plastic pieces. It isn't just BMWs folks. I do admit that a Focus is not a "premium" vehicle, but still ...

Well said.

The fact is for making money is to maximize the profit on any given design.

It makes me sick to see that our kids will never be able to afford insurance because crash parts are designed to break making more money for companies, and insurance companies raising our rates to cover this cost.

A major concern is lack of awareness for the consumer.
 
Well said.

The fact is for making money is to maximize the profit on any given design.

It makes me sick to see that our kids will never be able to afford insurance because crash parts are designed to break making more money for companies, and insurance companies raising our rates to cover this cost.

A major concern is lack of awareness for the consumer.
There is a reason why car parts disintegrate on imact. It is for crash absorbtion, and passenger survival.
There is no need for that with bikes.
BMW could use less brittle plastic. The cost wouldn't be much higher.
 
There is a reason why car parts disintegrate on imact. It is for crash absorbtion, and passenger survival.
There is no need for that with bikes.
BMW could use less brittle plastic. The cost wouldn't be much higher.

The flimsy plastic "bumper" - that is what they call it - absorbs next to zero impact. The steel parts behind it do. The horizontal air dam also absorbs next to no impact but breaks loose. The inner wheel wells prevent splashing but absorb next to no real impact. The plastic box housing the engine computer likewise absorbs next to nothing. These parts are like they are because they are cheap to build and light weight. And these are the parts that, with installation, cost $2,200 from striking a bunny rabbit.

The days of the 5mph bumper are long gone, sacrificed to fuel economy and corporate profits.
 
The notion of judging quality of any part let alone the reputation of a manufacturer based on how the part survives hitting a turkey is ludicrous and ridiculous.

Worldwide, BMW has a reputation of the highest order and nothing noted in this thread can change that ... nor should it. Not even close.

In any event, "quality" is more often described around the driving experience, the appearance, etc. Making more money off crash repairs is grassy knoll conspiracy theory crud, really not worthy of discussion in intelligent circles.

I once new a guy that gave up BMWs when the /5 Airheads arrived with plastic instead of metal fenders. I really think that his and your heads will stop hurting when you stop banging them against walls.
 
The notion of judging quality of any part let alone the reputation of a manufacturer based on how the part survives hitting a turkey is ludicrous and ridiculous.

Worldwide, BMW has a reputation of the highest order and nothing noted in this thread can change that ... nor should it. Not even close.

In any event, "quality" is more often described around the driving experience, the appearance, etc. Making more money off crash repairs is grassy knoll conspiracy theory crud, really not worthy of discussion in intelligent circles.

I once new a guy that gave up BMWs when the /5 Airheads arrived with plastic instead of metal fenders. I really think that his and your heads will stop hurting when you stop banging them against walls.

+++1
 
There is a reason why car parts disintegrate on imact. It is for crash absorbtion, and passenger survival.
There is no need for that with bikes.
BMW could use less brittle plastic. The cost wouldn't be much higher.

Well said again, but please remember that the comment you made here that parts are made to ""disintegrate on impact"" ,,,,, the only parts that are made to disintegrate are sheetmetal structural parts, UNIBODY,
The bumper and headlights and cosmetic parts have nothing or very little to do with safety.

So the minor minor bumps and hits should hold up to smaller impacts.
 
Disappointment in a product or a brand that we assign such allegiance to cuts deep. Ballen262 has extensive experience in the crash repair industry and his summary of the fittings and fixtures on the parts damaged by the encounter with the turkey reflect his disappointment and this is truely unfortunate.

When someone is feeling bad and is looking to vent this with us all on the forum, it's always going to cut both ways.
Some will agree and some will disagree, but the bottom line is (or this is my take from it), if he didn't care he wouldn't bother going online to talk about it.

Having said all this, I have worked as a product designer all of my working life and I know how difficult it is to find the balance in the design and development of new products using new materials and processes, to create parts and assemblies that meet the demanding standards of users. Although cost effective design is always the target, I have never ever been asked to design something to break so that the company can make more money selling spare parts. Planned obsolescence is real but is not the "evil" it is often misunderstood to be, but rather a reflection of our modern disposable society.

Small plastic clips, tabs etc. that hold many of the parts together on almost all of the products we interact with every day, MUST be designed correctly in order to function as required. Sometimes we get this wrong, but most times, experience empowers designers and engineers to walk that fine line and provide a part or assembly that functions as required (no more, no less). Body parts (mostly cosmetic but not exclusively) are often designed as replaceable parts rather than repairable parts because of the true nature of the need. Accidents (even ones that make for great photos such as the one with the turkey) damage bikes to the point where parts would not survive unscathed unless they were built like tanks with the associated weight and cost. No, they are not intended as crumple zones but they are intended to avoid impaling bystanders. That's more about the materials than the design of the clips, and yes it could be argued that the clips should be stronger.

Where the "bean counters" do come into play, is when our bikes are involved in an accident (even a minor one), and we want a brand new one back when it is fixed. No panel beaten parts or repainted patched panels. "My bike was "perfect" and "shiny" before this accident that wasn't my fault, so I want it back the same way when the shop is finished with it". "So don't try and pull that part off, plastic weld it or try to match the paint." "And whilst I'm at it, that's what I pay my insurance dollars for anyway."
All valid and reasonable expectations, that when combined with the "lifetime repair warranty" provided by most insurers these days, effectively dictate that parts be replaced not repaired. So now we get to the part where we need to design parts that can be economically and cost effectively designed and manufactured to support this. Lighter weight, parts with plastic clips that shouldn't break but unfortunately sometimes do at precisely the wrong time.

BMW don't design rubbish parts and indeed manufacture some of the best bikes on the planet. Not perfect in every way, but their designers, engineers and manufacturing partners take great pride in their work and their product, and it is unfair, but in the heat and emotion of the moment somewhat understandable, when one of our own who has just had his faith in the brand tested, calls "little plastic clips" out for greater scrutiny.

I'll get back to my design work now. :thumb
 
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