2009 R1200GS - So Long Fuel Strip #4

[marchyman]

They have no plans to correct this. They are making a lot of money on this for those who are past their two year parts replacement period.

May I gently snicker?

Given the number of folks that have had multiple strips replaced under warranty I'd guess that BMW loses more than they make on the occasional full price repair. The mark up on a $150 item isn't going to make BMW a bunch of money when offset by the fact they have to pay for the item and the labor to install the item when handled under warranty. They may have no plans to correct the issue, but the money they are (not) making on replacements is unlikely to be the reason, IMHO.

Several people have reported their solution to an out of warranty failed strip is to pay more attention to their trip odometer. Others have gone as far as making mods so their gauge always reads full, negating any bothersome flashing warnings. BMW makes no money on these solutions.

 

[LOSTBOY]

BMW always blames their mistakes on the customers, their dealers, or just being in the USA! Rear main seal problems on the Airheads were because the owner didn't seat the rings. Problems with exhaust valves were because of American gasoline. Bent rims on K1 and K1100 were due to lousy American pavement (some truth there..). Flat spots in the power band in the K1 and K100RS-16V simply didn't exist. I could probably go on for days.

I bought my K1200RS because I thought it was the last rational motorcycle BMW would ever build-and that took some rationalising on my part. So far, I think BMW has proven me right.

 

[deilenberger]

If I read the article in the latest ON magazine correctly, the VP of BMW NA blamed the fuel strip issues on fuel.

Gotta love it.. (will have to look for that article..) Yup, people in this country shouldn't be putting fuel in their bikes.

Funny thing is - it also happens in other countries (some which don't have ethanol added to the fuel) and it seems a much less frequent occurrence on earlier hexhead bikes. That doesn't exactly mesh with the theory that our gas is to blame.

Even if it was a fuel related problem - IMHO, this doesn't relieve BMW from providing a product that performs as expected in this market. It's not like we're hiding the gasoline being used. A BMW engineer could easily obtain samples of fuel from the US by simply buying some, and design a part that will work with the mix we get.

As far as a class-action lawsuit, unless we have a very generous attorney or lawfirm (perhaps a member?) - most firms that pursue this sort of suit expect to get paid for their efforts, some even hope to make a generous profit from the effort. To do that - they have to show that each person in the lawsuit (and by default it's everyone with a fuel strip) has suffered some monetary damage due to the failure or potential failure. Certainly doable with people who have replaced a strip outside of warranty, probably less so for people where BMW has covered the replacement (warranty or "goodwill".)

In cases I know which were successful against BMW - the resolution often isn't what the owners might really be happy with. On BMW cars with certain engines, BMW agreed to fix some engine problems and extend the engine warranty to something like 100k miles. On BMW car models which suffer unreasonable frame damage due to suspension mounting point failures - BMW agreed to a 1 year period to examine (at no cost to the owner) the cars, and repairing any found to be damaged at BMWs expense. After the 1 year period was up - owners were once again on their own.

So - long story short:

To have a successful "class-action" suit you'd need:

1. Proof the product isn't working as designed and marketed.
2. Proof of monetary damages.
3. Proof that most vehicles are affected.
4. A resolution satisfactory to the owners of the vehicles.
5. A way for the attorney who files the suit to make a reasonable profit as part of the outcome.

I don't see this happening, but I'd be happily surprised if it did. (I'm on fuel strip #4.) One outcome that might be good is - a class-action lawsuit might encourage BMW to allocate some funds to actually solving the problem, I've seen that happen more then once on the car side.

 

[henzilla]

The 2012 R1200R still came with a fuel strip. Go figure, we're always the red-headed stepchild in the BMW lineup.

at least the Roadster has a fuel filter

 

[dstuckmann]

2008 RT fuel strip fail?

Can failed fuel strips read too much fuel? Most of the post I saw complain that the low fuel light is always on...

In any case, my RT's fuel gage (38,000 miles) was right on until this spring. Then it read an 1/8 tank (low fuel light was not on yet) but I was out of gas.

It read about 1/8 tank off for about a month and then the 1/8 tank error climbed to 1/4 tank. It held that 1/4 tank error all summer but got drastically worse during my 4200 mile trip to Florida.

The tank now reads full for almost 200 miles and then does down to maybe 1/2 when the tank is almost empty. I rarely use ethanol gas, but had few options down south. Maybe it was a coincidence, but it really started getting bad after the third tank of that crap.

So back to my original question. Did my strip go bad or did it just come loose and is laying on the bottom of the tank, which is always giving me my over fuel reading?

 

[leadfoot]

Check this

Just a tip for those with a fuel strip issue, especially those out of warranty. I thought mine had finally crapped out on me last year. Turned out that during my last self-service I decided to do some preventative maintenance on the connectors at the tank (fuel pump drop-in) and cleaned the connectors with contact cleaner. I then sprayed some white grease to prevent corrosion. Next day I noticed my fuel level suddenly started going to zero at a very fast rate. Panic set in (warranty up). After a few days of diagnosing I finally discovered that the grease I put on the connectors was the problem. It was not dialectric grease. Basically the improper grease caused the resistance to read incorrect. I cleaned the mess up and was extremely happy to have my gauge back.

After relating this to my BMW tech he agreed that this was the issue, and added that he has seen more than one bike with moisture in the connectors causing this problem.

On a side note, while everything was off, my 08 RT had a clogged fuel vent tube going down thru the fuel pump assembly. The culprit was the metal tube in the pump assembly. Apparently moisure causes the metal tube to corrode closed, causing venting issues. A small drill bit or item can be run thru this tube (by hand) to clean the debris. Follow with a low pressure shot of air. Tech showed me this, said it is quite common.

Cheers!
Jim

 

[deilenberger]

at least the Roadster has a fuel filter

True... and it's not known for fuel system connector failures, nor is it known for having failing fuel-pump-controllers (mounting the pump on the inside lobe of the tank probably is the reason why.. water naturally will drain out, not pool there.)

 

[deilenberger]

Can failed fuel strips read too much fuel? Most of the post I saw complain that the low fuel light is always on...

In any case, my RT's fuel gage (38,000 miles) was right on until this spring. Then it read an 1/8 tank (low fuel light was not on yet) but I was out of gas.

It read about 1/8 tank off for about a month and then the 1/8 tank error climbed to 1/4 tank. It held that 1/4 tank error all summer but got drastically worse during my 4200 mile trip to Florida.

The tank now reads full for almost 200 miles and then does down to maybe 1/2 when the tank is almost empty. I rarely use ethanol gas, but had few options down south. Maybe it was a coincidence, but it really started getting bad after the third tank of that crap.

So back to my original question. Did my strip go bad or did it just come loose and is laying on the bottom of the tank, which is always giving me my over fuel reading?

They often fail reading a full or partially full tank. Rider doesn't learn this until they run out of fuel at the most inopportune moment. It's the reason I ride a black with white stripe R1200R instead of the gunmetal gray one I originally was going to buy. Failed on the final test ride..

BTW - the strip isn't coming loose from anything. It's rigidly mounted in a plastic mount that fastens inside the tank.

 

[henzilla]

True... and it's not known for fuel system connector failures, nor is it known for having failing fuel-pump-controllers (mounting the pump on the inside lobe of the tank probably is the reason why.. water naturally will drain out, not pool there.)

It sure is a drier, better location for sure

Helen had 21 miles to go showing this past Sunday...I got this picture sent to me as I was waiting for her to ride in. About 4 miles from the house...I took her some fuel and kept quiet!

 

[cookie]

I don't know about you guys but it is obvious by now if you have the fuel strip design for your fuel guage you can never trust it. To me it is a waste of money to repair it because you will never have the confidence it is correct and you risk getting stranded.
Like most of us I just set the trip and when my 08 RT gets 200 miles on the clock I am looking for fuel. I was stranded once because I used the miles to empty, never again. It showed 112 miles to empty and I was bone dry. When I filled it up it took 5.9 gallons. That is another mystery, the specs. say the fuel capacity of an 08 RT is 7.1 gallons. Maybe if you have a gallon jug in the paniers.

 

[henzilla]

My 05RT routinely went over 300 miles w/out concern. The tank is shaped so strangely that I most likely never got all the 7 gallons anyways. I actually put almost 7 in on many occasions.
Once rode it 20 miles past the 0 miles left when the stations that used to be in the boonies and had used over the years were closed It was not going to be a fun walk as I had not seen a vehicle in over an hour, nor was there a cell tower out that way.

 

[java1968]

I read the same thing Ponch did.

On page 114 of the October, 2012 issue of ON author Bill Dragoo summarizes remarks made by BMW North America VP Hans Blesse during the Sedalia Ralley:

"He also discussed the challenge of making fuel gauge strips compatible with variable additives in fuels worldwide. It was interesting to learn that chemical coating/contamination is the issue. Fuel formulas change by region and sometimes even between fuel loads, making it a frustrating challenge for the engineers as well. Some areas have few if any reported failures while others are more frequent. Trouble spots seem to move from place to place. Fuels have been sampled from all over the world in an effort to identify the culprit. They are making strides at curing these woes, but perfection is elusive. It was encouraging to hear that BMW is actively seeking solutions to our concerns."

 

[f14rio]

i hope BMW has..

..a newly hired young pencil necked geek whose job it is to scan forums like this one and report customer disatisfaction to his pencil necked geek boss.

 

[Polarbear]

Computers and electrics;

Seems I remember computers were the end all to all our concerns! Now, our computer driven bikes and electric fuel readers have issues beyond most engineers ability to solve quickly. I am on number three fuel strip on my GSA1200, at 88000 miles now and its been quite a while since the #2 was changed out, perhaps 40000+ miles ago. ONE thing certain, Im sure glad I have my Airhead, 70s era BMW as a backup, Simple by Design. BMW lost this somewhere. At 388000 mile on the old R100/7 that I bought new, it never seems to have issues like the new one and I figure it still has a likely chance of outliving any new BMW made. Summary; Just wish BMW would give some thought to hindsight and NOT over engineer these bikes to what we see today. A fuel strip failing regularly is a SLAP in their face, so ugly, its a huge DENT in their marketing ability. This is from a 40+ year BMW owner, never being without one in the garage a long time now. Yep, they may sell bikes and even in increasing numbers of recent years, BUT, the pendullum swings and roosters come home to roost! Old school, maybe and typing here is only therapy, not much else. It does give relief, as owners, we have one another to rely on and quite frequently come up with better ideas/fixes than BMW. Still lov'in my 2 wheel'in about and guess BMW is always with me into Seniorism. Ride well, Randy

 

[Ponch1]

Seems I remember computers were the end all to all our concerns! Now, our computer driven bikes and electric fuel readers have issues beyond most engineers ability to solve quickly. I am on number three fuel strip on my GSA1200, at 88000 miles now and its been quite a while since the #2 was changed out, perhaps 40000+ miles ago. ONE thing certain, Im sure glad I have my Airhead, 70s era BMW as a backup, Simple by Design. BMW lost this somewhere. At 388000 mile on the old R100/7 that I bought new, it never seems to have issues like the new one and I figure it still has a likely chance of outliving any new BMW made. Summary; Just wish BMW would give some thought to hindsight and NOT over engineer these bikes to what we see today. A fuel strip failing regularly is a SLAP in their face, so ugly, its a huge DENT in their marketing ability. This is from a 40+ year BMW owner, never being without one in the garage a long time now. Yep, they may sell bikes and even in increasing numbers of recent years, BUT, the pendullum swings and roosters come home to roost! Old school, maybe and typing here is only therapy, not much else. It does give relief, as owners, we have one another to rely on and quite frequently come up with better ideas/fixes than BMW. Still lov'in my 2 wheel'in about and guess BMW is always with me into Seniorism. Ride well, Randy

What's the old joke? The US spent a million dollars to develop a pen that could write in space: the russians used a pencil.

 

[jaherbst]

May I gently snicker?

Given the number of folks that have had multiple strips replaced under warranty I'd guess that BMW loses more than they make on the occasional full price repair. The mark up on a $150 item isn't going to make BMW a bunch of money when offset by the fact they have to pay for the item and the labor to install the item when handled under warranty. They may have no plans to correct the issue, but the money they are (not) making on replacements is unlikely to be the reason, IMHO.

Several people have reported their solution to an out of warranty failed strip is to pay more attention to their trip odometer. Others have gone as far as making mods so their gauge always reads full, negating any bothersome flashing warnings. BMW makes no money on these solutions.

This of course is your smug opinion. If it were you having the problem I am sure your demeaner would be different.

Try having a little empathy for those of us having gone through this problem numerous times. It is not nice to "snicker" at some one else' misfortune.

Jack

 

[marchyman]

Try having a little empathy for those of us having gone through this problem numerous times. It is not nice to "snicker" at some one else' misfortune.

Read my comment again, including the part of your original post that I quoted. Context is important. In case you still can't see it I'll be explicit: I was not snickering about your misfortune. I was snickering about your "BMW wont fix it because they are making money on the replacements" comment.

 

[deilenberger]

Moderator suggestion:

Move on. This sort of bickering doesn't belong here and will result in removed posts if it continues.

 

[deilenberger]

..a newly hired young pencil necked geek whose job it is to scan forums like this one and report customer disatisfaction to his pencil necked geek boss.

BMW actually has an entire department that monitors any web mention of BMW. There is a branch of it in NJ at BMW-NA headquarters. Any smart manufacturer is going to do this - it's virtually free customer info there for the taking. There have been instances where enough people complaining on a web forum has resulted in BMW taking some action on the complaint.

 

[acejones]

This is one reason I keep my '03 R1150R. It doesn't have a lot of doodads to fail. My experience over the last 45 years with German vehicles (cars and bikes) has shown me that the Germans cannot design reliable electronics. They are only slightly better than Lucas and the older Italian Magnetti Marelli.