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Tupperware Screws Source 2018 R1200RT

gride

New member
I’ve gone ahead and done it. Each time I put it all back together, invariably there is either one extra, one missing, or the wrong one(s) available for the final panel install.

Would love to buy some extra Tupperware Screws. The next time I’m apart, I will take the time to verify correct placement of all the screws. Is there perhaps a kit or a supplier that is easier than picking it out of the OEM parts catalog and ordering them onesey twosey ?

For the future I’ve printed the great diagrams from previous posters and will use the story board technique with the holes and call out for each Screw.

Thanks BMW MO’s !
 
I have not seen fasteners that are a exact copy of the ones BMW uses.
I just pick up a couple of each size from the dealer.

There's kits out there in different colors if you want to replace all the fasteners.
The ones I've seen are hex, not torx.
 
I just tape the screws to the back of each panel as I remove it. With 2-3 screws per panel it is fairly simple to decide which hole they go into.

I have still misplace a few screws and just ordered a few from the dealer. It doesn't hurt to have a couple extra spring nuts too. They will walk away too!
 
There are complete sets of OEM fasteners for sale on eBay that are from salvaged bikes. What is available varies.
 
I just tape the screws to the back of each panel as I remove it. With 2-3 screws per panel it is fairly simple to decide which hole they go into.

I have still misplace a few screws and just ordered a few from the dealer. It doesn't hurt to have a couple extra spring nuts too. They will walk away too!

I do likewise, my dealer was happy to scource out the various sizes and shank lengths, bought a dozen of each just in case. Funny thing since buying my extras I haven’t misplaced any, go figure!!

Jim
 
There are only a couple of sizes for the tupperware, 5mx14.5mm and 5mmx17.5mm both shoulder bolts. Taping them to the panel is a great idea. I spent 20 minutes last night scanning the fische to get the right ones in the right holes, frustrating.

Max BMW has them for $2.91 each, rich but the right ones.
 
The secret to the right screw in the right hole is to understand why a particular screw goes in a particular hole.

This takes some doing and like another poster said go to realoem.com or other web site that shows which is which.

Then examine the holes and the screws and understand why that one fits there.

On the old bricks it was one panel = short screw; two panels = medium screw; two deep panels or three = long screw.

Our 2016 R1200RS has thrown in screws with recesses.

Once the "logic" is figured out it becomes routine.

I understand that BMW has simplified some of the screws on later bikes because the shops were complaining about the difficulty in getting the right screw in the right hole.

And breaking Tupperware mounting clips...
 
On our GS/GSAs I write a code on the panel which describes the fastener that goes in a hole. For example: “SC” means a short collared fastener or “L” means a long screw. If the screw is not visible when the panel is in place I write it next to the hole, if it is visible I write it on a piece of painters tape that I remove on assembly. That being said, I find that most times getting the wrong fastener in a hole does not matter very much. Long screws work in holes that a short screw was originally in, and vice versa. Even collard and uncollared screws seem interchangeable.
 
I have a pizza box with two pictures, one of each side of my R1100RT. With the box open the pictures are visible, each glued on the two inside faces of the box. Whenever a fairing bolt is removed, it goes into a corresponding fairing hole on either the right or left side picture. Box is only opened to insert or remove the bolts.
 
A lament to a lost screw...

A little screw fell in my bike.
In the blink of an eye it was out of sight.

I searched and searched to no avail,
Like trying to find the Holy Grail.

Now for a screw I have to pay
A cost I'd rather not say.

So to that little screw that fell
I hope you went straight to hell!
 
Does anybody have a road map to screw placement?

I bought my bike used, with 64,000 miles and there are a few I suspect are not correctly placed.

I got it all back together, but I am sure some are in the wrong spots.

John.
 
Proprietary on my 2017 RT and previous RT's...

If you have already noticed BMW goes to great lengths to make sure that the parts on these bike are as proprietary as possible and therefore can only be sourced from them. They aren't always successful but in the case of screws, electrical connectors, nuts etc. that is how they are able to charge some pretty outrageous prices for bits and pieces, because you just can't get them from anyone else. In all my many years of bikes and cars I have never encountered anyone else doing this so much or as well as BMW does.

In fact, I am convinced that they have a whole department devoted to just making what should be a regular multisourced part only sourceable from BMW! Admittedly this plays well from my ever increasing paranoia, but when your bike has a spark plug that only fits this bike and oil in a non widely standard grade (now I can't keep using my trusty Mobil 1 brand bike oil anymore) it makes me believe that's their goal. What's next, tires that only fit this bike and only made by BMW? It wouldn't surprise me.

If the proprietary bend always resulted in a superior product I might not mind so much. But when they install a total POS radio receiver with bluetooth from 2005 that only works properly when you buy their systems it's hard to tolerate. Why doesn't my bike have a flashing brake light and blind spot warning like all their cars do?

I feel a rant coming on...:banghead
 
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