2019 R1250 GS Hayes Brake Caliper Failure

When I was asking about what Beemer to buy, it was suggested NOT to buy the first year of a change. In this case it's a 1200 to a 1250. After reading this thread, that appears to have been very solid advice.

What a mess with this issue, I'd be some hopping PO'd if I was without a new bike for 8 weeks. Especially if I was making payments on one.

Is the 1250 GS chassis still the same as the prior year? I know on the RT is.

Did the '18 GS have Brembos up front?

My RT has Hayes on the fronts and Brembo on the rear. Strange.

Good luck. Thanks for the informative update.

Well the issue was already with some 2019s and now with the 2020s. They know now for a year about the leaking Hayes calipers. I did not - when I traded my perfectly fine 2016 GSA against my 2020 GSa in December. After riding it home (75 mi) it has been sitting in the garage ever since. Called my dealer back in December and am still waiting for the new calipers to come in. Today the dealer told me they received a new bulletin that the calipers he ordered are no good and he needed to order different ones to be arriving the end of March...

Today I stopped out of curiosity at a different dealership in northern WI. 3 GS/GSAs on the showroom floor with leaking calipers for sale!! This is incredulous. They were leaking so badly that drips were hanging off it and the caliper mounts were stained.

Filed a complaint with NHTSA. Called BMW customer service which did not get me anywhere, except that they acknowledged I should try for a buy back if not resolved by the end of March. I have been a faithful BMW owner since 1998, but cannot believe this is being kept so hush hush by BMW. And nothing in the MOA magazine about it! MOA should be loyal to its members and stand up to the Marquee if warranted.

Brake caliper failure

@gm81275 - have you asked BMW for compensation for the downtime; ie monthly payments and warranty extension?

The only thing I can say that if you're trading a 2014-2018 GS/A or RT for a new 1250, you can make the dealer swap the "old" Brembo calipers off your old bike onto the new bike.
A few peeps down here have done that. It is the only workaround to get proper brakes on a new bike which really is a ridiculous thing to have to do.
So happy I didn't become a beta tester for BMW.... YMMV

kaileybutt said:

@gm81275 - have you asked BMW for compensation for the downtime; ie monthly payments and warranty extension?

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No I have not. I gave them my perfectly fine 2014 700 and roughly $19K so I have no payments. In terms of a warranty extension I suppose I could have but where I live I consider the winter a "warranty eater" anyway and this happened during that time. My opinion might change if the new calipers start leaking but for now I would view it as simply exacting a pound of flesh. Probably warranted here but that's not me.

No my issues continue to be existential in terms of my relationship going forward with BMW. Since 1997 we have bought 8 cars spending roughly $380K and two motorcycles for roughly $40K. We happily did this because we had a partner relationship based on engineering, safety, fun, and trust. People and companies make mistakes. It's how you respond that matters. For me and my wife, and now by extension my kids, BMW's response has shaken my belief in three of the four pillars in our relationship. That's for us to chew on going forward but for now as I stated before the bike is back safe in my garage and not exhibiting any caliper issues.

gm81275 said:

No I have not. I gave them my perfectly fine 2014 700 and roughly $19K so I have no payments. In terms of a warranty extension I suppose I could have but where I live I consider the winter a "warranty eater" anyway and this happened during that time. My opinion might change if the new calipers start leaking but for now I would view it as simply exacting a pound of flesh. Probably warranted here but that's not me.

No my issues continue to be existential in terms of my relationship going forward with BMW. Since 1997 we have bought 8 cars spending roughly $380K and two motorcycles for roughly $40K. We happily did this because we had a partner relationship based on engineering, safety, fun, and trust. People and companies make mistakes. It's how you respond that matters. For me and my wife, and now by extension my kids, BMW's response has shaken my belief in three of the four pillars in our relationship. That's for us to chew on going forward but for now as I stated before the bike is back safe in my garage and not exhibiting any caliper issues.

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I admire this attitude. Current behavior nowadays seems to be to yell and scream and threaten and pontificate, all from behind a keyboard - and then wonder why the dealer we used to relate to now thinks we are jerks.

Brake Caliper Failure

gm81275 said:

No I have not. I gave them my perfectly fine 2014 700 and roughly $19K so I have no payments. In terms of a warranty extension I suppose I could have but where I live I consider the winter a "warranty eater" anyway and this happened during that time. My opinion might change if the new calipers start leaking but for now I would view it as simply exacting a pound of flesh. Probably warranted here but that's not me.

No my issues continue to be existential in terms of my relationship going forward with BMW. Since 1997 we have bought 8 cars spending roughly $380K and two motorcycles for roughly $40K. We happily did this because we had a partner relationship based on engineering, safety, fun, and trust. People and companies make mistakes. It's how you respond that matters. For me and my wife, and now by extension my kids, BMW's response has shaken my belief in three of the four pillars in our relationship. That's for us to chew on going forward but for now as I stated before the bike is back safe in my garage and not exhibiting any caliper issues.

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@gm81275 - well stated and kudos for being the good guy taking the high road. With your loyalty to the brand, I'm surprised BMW didn't offer you some relief as a goodwill gesture to mitigate the 'sour' experience with the calipers. An extended warranty costs them, essentially, nothing but rewards you for being loyal, perhaps a brand advocate and being very reasonable in your dealings with them.

Hopefully this issue will be resolved quickly and become but a distant memory

Brake Calipers leaking

https://www.ohiolemonlaw.com/ohio-motorcycle-lemon-law/

kaileybutt said:

@gm81275 - well stated and kudos for being the good guy taking the high road. With your loyalty to the brand, I'm surprised BMW didn't offer you some relief as a goodwill gesture to mitigate the 'sour' experience with the calipers. An extended warranty costs them, essentially, nothing but rewards you for being loyal, perhaps a brand advocate and being very reasonable in your dealings with them.

Hopefully this issue will be resolved quickly and become but a distant memory

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Update: As stated earlier my bike sits with leaking calipers since I purchased it 12/6 and 75 mi on it. Ever since my dealer is waiting for new calipers, which are now due to arrive 3/24 (but that has been a moving target for the last couple months). I also filed a complaint with the NHTSB but unlike others have not heard back.

My dealer found used Brembos from a 2018 1200R to put on until my new calipers arrive, which will happen tomorrow.

I had my third call with BMW Customer Service today (a case manager of the "escalation" team) and simply asked for some compensation for the 3 months the bike has been sitting (hoping I can pay for the Brembos and install). He just repeatedly said there is nothing BMW can do for me since the bike sat in my garage and not at a dealership for all that time. Even if the bike gets picked up tomorrow and the service manager sees the leaking calipers that doesn't change a thing. Voicing how incredulous I was how they were treating a 25 year customer of 5 bikes, he simply kept repeating "there is noting we can do". I hear what you and Paul are saying, but just not acknowledging a problem and not being willing to compensate a customer for not being able to ride his bike, is just not the way for treating a customer. It will make it much more difficult for me to stay with the brand going forward.

Brake Calipers leaking

Unfortunately typical "hold the fort at all costs' mentality by a lower level rep - don't know if your state allows lemon law options - if so, you may find a different response from BMW if you have your attorney pen a letter of demand.

Sad that a company with such deep, deep pockets spends millions on advertising to attract new customers but won't spend pennies to help current customers with a problem created by one of their suppliers.

Update #2--well that was fast...

I apologize for the delay but dealing with some family health issues. Several weeks ago (and several weeks after my bike was brought back) when there happened to be a nice day I made a decision. I said I'm going to get over it, trust the engineers (and by extension the BMW Product Liability lawyers) that they would let the dealership put on working new calipers, and go for a ride. As an aside, the bike was originally delivered to the dealership by roadside assistance with 750 miles on it. I got it back with 870 miles. That means they needed 120 miles to go through the BMW protocols to test my new calipers. On this particular day I rode 11 miles. I only rode 11 miles because the feel was "off." So I parked it in my garage and said nope, I'm not going to be that guy that calls and says something's not right after all of the ordeal I've endured. So I fretted for a few days.

After a few days of ignoring this sinking feeling I relived an old familiar event. As I walked past my bike to my car to go out and looked down at my rim (those who have this blight know what I mean--it's a newly developed habit) I could not believe what I saw. A new puddle of fluid.

I called BMW customer service, my contact at the NHTSB, and my lawyer in that order. The next day I called the dealership to let them know but again I stress they are simply doing what BMW tells them. I cannot stress enough how helpful the guys at BMW of Cincinnati have been. We agreed we may be speaking soon but needed to get my "situation" resolved. He did say it would not be a problem to put on some Brembo's as a last resort.

Given that the nuances of my situation have changed considerably I'd like to report:

1. I've been in regular contact with BMW customer service. I told them I'd like to throw in the towel and asked them to buy my bike and (still) brand new cases back. They said no. The reason they said no is a newly designed caliper will begin to ship in late March and since my bike is down I have priority. So they would like me to wait and see if these work. I asked is late March realistic given the virus' effects on the supply chain. He said he hasn't heard of any problems/delays being caused by the virus. This was yesterday 3/13.
2. Indiana does not have a lemon law (see response from BMW in #1). So I have no choice but to agree to this. For now.
3. BMW knowingly sent my bike back with calipers that have a faulty design. This faulty design resulted in a second failure of my calipers (again, the second pair were new). They did this while they were working on a new design.
4. As a result of #3 and after I signed a release there are now a team of people who in concert with my attorney are preparing an article for a regional and a national publication that describes my situation. These are lawyers and their aim is to point out the perverse nature of this situation and how consumers should and can be better protected. No one is suing anyone here, but there are now a lot of people (riders and non-riders) who are so astounded they simply want to get the word out and maybe save a life.
5. Not much more I can add here. As always I will update as warranted.
6. If you have these particular calipers, please be aware and please be careful.
7. Finally, for those of you in my situation I know mostly how you feel. And it's horrible.

In the corporate world , as in many other aspects of life, problems will arise. While it's great to prevent as many problems as possible there will always be some, whether it's one in two or one in a hundred billion. The test of character is how one responds. Seems like BMW has covered both ends of this spectrum.

When the shock absorber problem showed up on the first wethead RTs I would argue that BMW's response of sales hold/buy back/repair was about as good as one could hope for.

As to the reaction to the brake situation, I would remind BMW of the old adage:

Mothers tell their daughters.
"It takes a lifetime to build a good reputation
and fifteen minutes in the back seat of a Chevy to get a bad one."

I wonder why they did not install Brembos? (Guessing they still put Hayes calipers back on)

Been watching this thread. Sorry for your plight. I hope it gets sorted for you soon. Just hang in there.

I purchased my 2019 R1250 GSA just over eleven months ago. In the first five days, riding before and after work, I put 475 miles on the bike in very bad weather. Awesome bike, no problems. From the start, I liked better than my 2015 R1200GSA which I had ridden for 23,000 miles. I now have 13,300 miles on this bike. No brake fluid issues. No issues with the bike at all. For those who are having issues, I hope they are resolved soon!

Looking at my 2020 R1250 GSA front Hayes calipers, I see they are a 2 piece body. Where as the Brembo calipers on my previous 2018 R1200 GSA were a single cast body.
Is the two piece body of the Hayes caliper maybe causing leak problems? Just wondering.....
My Hayes calipers are not leaking as of yet.

Two days ago I checked my calipers and found brake fluid on them.

My 2019 BMWRT 1250 has just under 12,000 mile on it.

This summer I found a drop of an unknown fluid the garage floor. At that time I checked my bike but did not see anything obvious leaking on the bike. Subsequently I learned about brake issues on the 1250 model with the Hayes calipers.

My dealer picked up the bike today.

Just did my own upgrade to my RT

T-foiler said:

Just did my own upgrade to my RT

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Nice! And radial-mounted, too!


DeVern

T-foiler said:

Just did my own upgrade to my RT

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Are those the two or four-piston versions?