Cardan Shaft Inspection - Who Decides?

[rtnhueys]

A very interesting thread, thanks to all for the updates and information!!
I have not received my letter but I see that Davemoto got his yesterday. (I have a 2017 1200RT).

Last April I asked Alamo BMW if my VIN was on the list, they said it was not (but most likely on the August Revision). I told them I could feel a vibe (that was not there before but had slowly gotten more noticeable), we scheduled my bike in for the test. Shortly after, the Service manager said "all done, with a new drive-shaft". They said that they were replacing any driveshafts that did not pass the test under warranty, even though my VIN was not on the SB; mileage on the bike and original d/s 43K.

John
Central TX.

 

[lee]

It was pointed out on the RS forum, the updated service schedule included with the letter no longer shows a fork oil change on the R and RS at 18,000 miles.
The latest digital Riders Manual on the BMW website still shows it.
Hard to say if the one in the letter is correct.

 

[bigjohnsd]

You won't need to worry about that will you?

No, unless something miraculously happens, I won't have to worry about it, but a future owner may well be interested. Thus, my question. Dealers seem to be refusing to work on bikes over ten years old, often due to a lack of OEM parts support (not usually the case with BMW, mind you).

 

[brownie0486]

No, unless something miraculously happens, I won't have to worry about it, but a future owner may well be interested. Thus, my question. Dealers seem to be refusing to work on bikes over ten years old, often due to a lack of OEM parts support (not usually the case with BMW, mind you).

Many BMW dealers are also part and parcel to not working on bikes older than 10 years. Has there ever been a warrant/replacement for any part in BMW's history covered more than 10 years in the past? I'm not aware of any, which would lead one to wonder if BMW will force their dealers to work on motors older than 10 years.

It's likely a question for the mother ship in Germany. One they should probably address as some covered drive shaft replacement bikes are over 10 years old today. 2013-present correct?

 

[20774]

Received an email in which BMW will be replacing 1200/1250 driveshafts as required. The link lead me to this on ADV.

BMW Will Replace R1200, R1250 Driveshafts - Adventure Rider

BMW will inspect and replace driveshafts of certain R1200 and R1250 models as routine maintenance at their expense.

www.advrider.com

 

[kbasa]

Many BMW dealers are also part and parcel to not working on bikes older than 10 years. Has there ever been a warrant/replacement for any part in BMW's history covered more than 10 years in the past? I'm not aware of any, which would lead one to wonder if BMW will force their dealers to work on motors older than 10 years.

It's likely a question for the mother ship in Germany. One they should probably address as some covered drive shaft replacement bikes are over 10 years old today. 2013-present correct?

They covered the replacement snowflake wheels for a really long time.

Got my letter from BMW yesterday. While I have a BMW dealer close by, they're not great, so I'm considering where to take my GS for inspection. It's almost at 12K miles and ready for first look.

 

[lee]

Has there ever been a warrant/replacement for any part in BMW's history covered more than 10 years in the past?

I think fuel strips were covered for 12 years. I never had a BMW with a fuel strip so I'm not 100% sure on the 12 years.

 

[brownie0486]

I think fuel strips were covered for 12 years. I never had a BMW with a fuel strip so I'm not 100% sure on the 12 years.

Yes, I think I remember that they extended the warranty on the strips to 12 years as well.

 

[smswy]

“The full vehicle lifetime” definition will be locked inside a vault at the BMW Legal Department in Germany. And no amount of email requests to BMW Motrrad USA will be able to pry out a written response. And the call from CS that you might receive will surely leave you more confused.

 

[strataj]

A local dealer isn't doing any drive inspections since they don't have parts should they find a failed drive. The driveshafts are on back order. So hold on to your seat.

 

[ldhardy12]

Thought I’d throw my 2 cents into this discussion and say that I’m on my 4th driveshaft. All under warranty and it is 2014 RT with 63,000 miles on it. You’d almost think I was trying to destroy it. Happy to see BMW covering this.

My FJR doesn’t act like this and neither did my Honda ST1100. The ST had 123,000 on it when I got the RT.

 

[scott9999]

Thought I’d throw my 2 cents into this discussion and say that I’m on my 4th driveshaft. All under warranty and it is 2014 RT with 63,000 miles on it. You’d almost think I was trying to destroy it. Happy to see BMW covering this.

My FJR doesn’t act like this and neither did my Honda ST1100. The ST had 123,000 on it when I got the RT.

Wow, something has to be wrong with the shaft alignment, vis-a-vis the transmission and final drive gears. 15K miles per driveshaft?!! Lol, that makes it almost a consumable part.

 

[ldhardy12]

I never detected any unusual tremors or vibration at all with this bike. My local dealer put it through the diagnostic test that BMW has and they just replaced one that only had 8000 miles on it.

No leaks or anything at all. No idea why this is failing at this rate.

 

[pauls1150]

The Ventura shop?
The "diagnostic test" looks at the driveshaft, but they haven't looked for a Root Cause yet.

 

[ldhardy12]

The Ventura shop?
The "diagnostic test" looks at the driveshaft, but they haven't looked for a Root Cause yet.

This is the BMW dealership in Newbury Park.

 

[tonybob]

Hi all, I thought I'd share my experience (so far) with my 2017 12GS. I'm the third owner, bought the bike with 20k miles on the clock. Prior owner had the driveshaft housing drain added under warranty at 4900 miles. Shop paperwork states "checking cardan shaft", which I would take to mean they performed the inspection.

Reading about the 36k mile shaft replacement extended warranty (which is shown on the BMW Motorrad web site, stating all 5x models 2023 and older are covered), I called BMW NA to see if I was covered; was told my VIN was not included in the extended warranty. Has anyone else experienced this and still found a way to get warranty coverage?

I did my first service and was able to get the cardan shaft off the transmission output splines (and re-lubed), but the final drive end splines are rust welded together. Debating what my next steps are at this point.

 

[PGlaves]

Hi all, I thought I'd share my experience (so far) with my 2017 12GS. I'm the third owner, bought the bike with 20k miles on the clock. Prior owner had the driveshaft housing drain added under warranty at 4900 miles. Shop paperwork states "checking cardan shaft", which I would take to mean they performed the inspection.

Reading about the 36k mile shaft replacement extended warranty (which is shown on the BMW Motorrad web site, stating all 5x models 2023 and older are covered), I called BMW NA to see if I was covered; was told my VIN was not included in the extended warranty. Has anyone else experienced this and still found a way to get warranty coverage?

I did my first service and was able to get the cardan shaft off the transmission output splines (and re-lubed), but the final drive end splines are rust welded together. Debating what my next steps are at this point.proach/advice

I would talk directly to your BMW dealer to see what their approach / advice would be.

 

[riderr1150gsadv]

Hi all, I thought I'd share my experience (so far) with my 2017 12GS. I'm the third owner, bought the bike with 20k miles on the clock. Prior owner had the driveshaft housing drain added under warranty at 4900 miles. Shop paperwork states "checking cardan shaft", which I would take to mean they performed the inspection.

Reading about the 36k mile shaft replacement extended warranty (which is shown on the BMW Motorrad web site, stating all 5x models 2023 and older are covered), I called BMW NA to see if I was covered; was told my VIN was not included in the extended warranty. Has anyone else experienced this and still found a way to get warranty coverage?

I did my first service and was able to get the cardan shaft off the transmission output splines (and re-lubed), but the final drive end splines are rust welded together. Debating what my next steps are at this point.

I just read a similar story about this on ADVrider and that person removed the FD and shaft off the bike as a whole and got them separated on a workbench.
This is much safer than trying to separate the two while still on the bike. In any case it is a PITA to deal with..

 

[lee]

Debating what my next steps are at this point.

Like Paul mentioned I would call a dealer.
Where are you located? Do you have a BMW dealer in your area?

 

[tonybob]

Thanks Paul and Lee. I went to my local dealer (Lynnwood Motoplex) initially and was told to talk to BMWNA. NA has told me to get a diagnosis from the dealer, so that's my next step.

I'm weighing two options:
1) take the bike in, have the tech confirm the rear splines are frozen, then have then use the tool to break the shaft from the final drive (which I'm told will crush the oil seal needing replacement). Then they re-assembly everything.
2) take the drive shaft and rear drive assembly (only) in and have them split it. Then I change the oil seal and re-assemble the bike myself

With option 1) I'll be out a lot more shop labor $$ with no guarantee that NA would cover any of it. Same with option 2) but potentially less out of pocket. One consideration is that BMWNA would probably want verification the actual bike came into the dealership before any consideration for payment (option 1). I'll be heading to the dealership this weekend to talk more.

I'm a bit stumped about the supposed VIN exclusion claim from NA if the replacement runs through the 2023 model year. Having a material, heat-treat or assembly lube process change that skips production runs doesn't make sense (but I guess you never know).

Alternatively, I would like to see what other owners have used for home-made tooling to separate the shaft from the rear drive.