BMW Motorcycle Reliability Quality Support Failure

[Dr. Strangelove]

Fuel Strip Sensor Failure and how BMW Responds

I am not alone in suffering a fuel strip failure on my R1200R 2009. You know who you are; the failure is not subtle and can, as in my case, result in a crash with injury and property damage witnessed by my riding companion.
I bought my 2009 used from an owner of the nearest BMW Motorcycle dealership. It had just over 14k miles when purchased. During negotiations for purchase I specifically asked the seller if the bike had an issue ever with the fuel strip sensor.
He said no.

I asked, thinking as the owner of the dealership he could approve, if he could warrant the bike for a couple of months as a gesture of goodwill, since I have been using their dealership to service my 1150 for 6 years--on work I could not do myself.

He said "No, It's a Used Bike," I just fill up at 180 miles."
Within 3 weeks of purchase the fuel strip failed and I ran dry at 180.8 miles on the odometer. I called the dealer and asked if, since I asked about this issue, and now it's happened, could they help somehow with the repair costs? I truly would have been very satisfied with credit for the part or labor. His response, and since he is an owner I have to believe that this is the philosophy of the dealership, his response was "Tell him it's a used bike, No."

As Don points out " BMW has given them carte-blanche to replace the strips. No documentation needed," and "This REALLY depends on the dealer. One of those hidden secrets of BMW land."
This dealer emphatically said no. True, I was not the original owner, but he sold me the bike and had every convenience to do goodwill and repair it. He choose not to. He did not suggest writing BMW or calling corporate, just No, It's A Used Bike.

I paid $296 for the repair/replacement. That replacement lasted about six weeks then it was responsible for a crash when it failed. The dealership replaced it under warranty from the prev strip. I told them what happened. The owner was there, never spoke to me of the failure, preferred to drink saturday morning coffee with the other old flati that hang there on a Saturday morning.

On the r1200rforum.com forum a member who drove her 2013 roadster out of the dealership only to have the strip fail within 20 miles, encouraged everyone with a failure to report it to the NHTSA.
The efforts to encourage all of you with failures to fill out this simple form has been well documented on this as well as the advrider and bmwsporttouring forums. It is out there on BMWMOA.com also.

What I also did was contact BMW Customer Service reporting my failures as well as putting in links to the various threads around BMW centered forums that discussed the notorious repeated failures of this ill-designed and poorly performing essential component of the dasboard.

I think because I told them that a crash occurred because of this failed essential component, and that property damage also occurred I began to get calls from them. To at least two people I reported the sequence of events of the two failures. I also mentioned that I had a minor sprain to my wrist. They were very concerned about that. After a few calls, they offered to reimburse me for the replacement of the first fuel strip. As there were two failures and the second one with the crash and the sprained wrist damaged beyond repair my Cee Bailey screen and bracket, I asked for replacement of that also. They wanted receipts. I have them receipts. The total cost would be about $520.

Here is where BMW corporate stands behind their customers. Here is where BMWNA stands behind their product.

They deny payment for the windscreen

Hello Mr. XXXXXXXXX

I checked and I will not be able to get payment approved for the windscreen.

Please sign and Notarize the attached release for the fuel level sensor payment. Return this to my address below and I will have a check processed.

Thanks,

Kind Regards,

And check out the "release"

GENERAL RELEASE

IN CONSIDERATION OF a one-time Goodwill payment in the amount of Two-Hundred-Ninety-Six and 28/100 ($296.28) Dollars, the receipt and sufficiency of such, which is hereby acknowledged, the undersigned releases and fully

discharges BMW of North America, LLC ("BMW NA"), BAYERISCHE MOTOREN WERKE AG ("BMW AG") and each of their predecessors, successors, subsidiaries and affiliated entities, parents, partners, dealers, officers, directors, shareholders,

agents, servants, employees, representatives, attorneys, heirs, successors and assigns, past and present, and each of them (hereinafter collectively referred to as the "Releasees"), from any and all claims, demands and causes of action of

any and every kind and nature, including, without limitation, claims for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, non-disclosure, fraudulent misrepresentation, negligence, personal injuries, product liability, breach of express and implied

warranty, emotional distress, loss of use of the vehicle, property damages, attorneys fees, damages, costs and expenses, whether known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, which the undersigned now owns or holds or at any time

heretofore has owned or held against the others arising out of, resulting from, or in any way related to the all repairs up to the “Date” below in the undersigned's 2009 R 1200 R motorcycle, bearing vehicle identification number

WB1039801xxxxxxxxxx.

The undersigned recognizes that in executing this General Release that this instrument shall be effective as a bar to each and every action, claim, demand or cause of action released hereby.

No action taken by the Releasees, either previously or in connection with this General Release, shall be deemed or construed to be an admission of the truth, falsity, fault or liability of the matter pertaining to any action, claim,

demand, or cause of action referred to herein or relating to the subject matter of this General Release.


The undersigned will keep confidential the existence and terms of this General Release. The undersigned agrees not to reveal the facts leading up to, the terms or the conditions of this General Release in any communication form

including, but not limited to, word-of-mouth, print, broadcast or Internet.



By: _____________________________
John XXXXXXX
Date: __________________


State: __________________

Sworn to and subscribed to me
this day of , 20 .

____________________________
Notary Public in and for the
State of __________________.
My Commission Expires _____________.

"Of any and every kind and nature without limitation..."
Really? Anything at all it seems. No mention of a fuel strip, just a release of BMWNA its lawyers, officers, gardeners, crazy aunties and tropical fish from any responsibility for anything related to this bike. And for $296.

No thanks, BMW.
Is this the way to do business? Is this how all those loyal and repeat customers expect they will be treated after they come to the defense of fuel strips and final drives and clutch splines and switches and ABS that others have repeated and expensive problems with?

I hope potential first time BMW buyers see this

This is not your daddy's BMW.

I tell you, I feel sorry for the actual machines to have their reputed quality and reputation, their reliability, thrown under the bus like this. And by such corporate legalese?

Caveat Emptor

John

[websterize]

…I think because I told them that a crash occurred because of this failed essential component, and that property damage also occurred I began to get calls from them.

John, could you elaborate on this? How did a bad fuel sensor strip cause a crash?

[Dr. Strangelove]

Hey, Bill,

Many have posted that they've run out of gas, with the fuel strip telling them they had gas and no yellow warning light on. This has been reported happening at very inopportune moments, in the middle of a busy intersection, on a busy interstate in the middle lane.
Those reporting the failure report that they felt their safety was very much in question.
In my case I was southbound on I 55 near Granada Ms. My odometer read 202, miles to empty read 119. Thats impossible. I knew the sensor had failed and planned to fuel at the next exit, like 5-6 miles away.
Also, I was carrying about 2 qts of gas so if I ran out I have some to get me 10-15 miles.
At 75-80 mph I felt the engine sputter but then catch. That is a warning sign I've unfortunately learned because in a minute the engine will stop.
With this warning I started to look at the shoulder, saw a place to pull off ahead and as I did the engine quit
My plan was to go to neutral after engine breaking in 6th slowed me down. Also I had to get off the interstate. You get one chance to do this right. No power no second chances.
I guided the bike toward the shoulder when suddenly I felt the entire bike vibrating severely under me. I though somehow I had blown both tires. It felt like that.
Turns out it was deeply grooved rumble strips. I was distracted enough to not pull in the clutch so 6th and the rumble strips slowed me down so quickly that when the bike came to an abrupt stop or very nearly a stop I lost balance. Fortunately there was a concrete vertical barrier, about 40" high and as the bike fell to the right I put out my right hand to catch the wall, stop the fall.
I wasn't strong enough to do this and my right wrist had a minor sprain and the cee baileys was toast.
This happened, ultimately, because of the fuel sensor failure.

[Catchina]

That's a completely different kind of failure than what I experienced. When my fuel strip went the fuel indicator suddenly went to empty, no bars, and the fuel light came on. The tank was about half full at the time. So I filled up the tank and watched mileage to judge when to refill until the strip got replaced under warranty.

In your case it seemed like the gas indicator was "working" and misled you into thinking you had gas when in fact you ran out of gas.

[Karamazov]

That's a completely different kind of failure than what I experienced. When my fuel strip went the fuel indicator suddenly went to empty, no bars, and the fuel light came on. The tank was about half full at the time. So I filled up the tank and watched mileage to judge when to refill until the strip got replaced under warranty.

In your case it seemed like the gas indicator was "working" and misled you into thinking you had gas when in fact you ran out of gas.

I've experienced both... On my first R, when the fuel strip went - Post - the light never came on and the status bars/miles to empty were optimistic.

My fuel strip on my new R went last Fall. The status bars dropped to empty and the low fuel light came (and stayed) on.

[Bill Stevenson]

Since you took the time to write this post, I assume you are looking for feedback. Don't get mad at me, but in my view you are being unreasonable. You bought the bike used, as is, and understood that at the time of purchase. Not withstanding that fact you then tried to get some consideration for the repair. I see no harm in asking, but the response you got "no" should have been accepted without complaint under the circumstances. Then you had a second failure and contrived to blame the faulty gas gauge for your loss of control of your motorcycle. My read of your mishap is that you would benefit from taking a motorcycle safety class. I am sorry you got hurt, but can assure you that with more skill you could have avoided both your injury and damage. Then you find fault with BMWNA for the offer of reimbursement for your first repair, which under the circumstances seems very fair. Why you would even post this story is beyond me. Get well quickly, work on your riding skills, and get over your unjustified angst about your fuel level sensor. It is a trivial matter and can easily be dispensed with anyway. Mine has been broken for 2 or more years and is not missed. I have never run out of gas either. Your odometer is the key to solving this problem. Nobody owes you anything.

Take care,

Bill

[Dr. Strangelove]

Hey, Bill
I have a Ford Pinto I want to sell you. Believe me, It's Just Fine.
PS It's your responsibility to have a functioning fire retardant suit and clairvoyance

Those who forget the past are condemned to relive it

And damn, man! would you have signed THAT!?

PPS Other than a generic answer of keep control of the bike, what aspect of my "riding skills" in your view need improvement? I ask this seriously because I have relived this in my mind and now have a different plan. And I fully recognize anyone can improve their skills.
When it happened I thought the best course was to let the engine slow me down then go into neutral and come to a controlled smooth stop on the shoulder. I thought it best to do it this way rather than go to neutral immediately and coast. Remember I was on an interstate and traveling 75 mph. I felt I would have more control by allowing the engine to do some of the braking, then at a lower speed go to neutral and coast braking as needed but gently.
The complication arose when I hit the rumble strip. It was a WTF moment. That much violent shaking and yes I was distracted by that. It felt like I have never felt anything before in over 100k miles of riding. It was significant and severe and compelled attention from all but the brain dead.
Next time--awful to think of planning for next time--I will plan on going into neutral earlier, certainly before I leave the roadway, hope no one runs me over from the rear, be aware that not all rumble strips are created equally.
But I will defer to the voice of more experience. What would you do? What would you have done? This scenario was not taught in the MSF I took

[Bob Ain't Stoppin']

I don't want to flame anybody, but I have to side with Bill here. You may be a good Doctor, but you made some poor moves on this detailed situation.

> I don't know about you, but when I run out of gas I have several miles of warning from the bike. Plenty of time to get in the right lane and prep for the engine stopping
> It's really bad behavior to ride a bike in gear with the clutch engaged and the engine not running. Good recipe for locking the back wheel. You should have pulled in the clutch and coasted to a stop. Then find neutral.
> How is it that you are pulling off the highway and don't know what's in front of you. Rumble strip not visible? Really! Open your eyes and pay attention to where your are riding.
> If you are running out of gas at 202 miles, you need to practice filling the tank. I get 250 miles before I look for gas.
> I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and say you were way tired and just out of sorts when this incident happened. In that case, you need to suck it up and admit this whole thing was your fault. Has nothing to do with the fuel strip.

Just my humble opinion. Ride on.

[mogu83]

I think I have to come down with Bill/Bob on this one. Every motorist, automobile or motorcycle should be able to handle certain situations. Running out of gas, flat tires, loss of lighting and brake problems are all situations that could be encountered while riding down the road and a rider should be prepared for it.

I was talking with an OSHA guy about the failures of the Twin Cam Harley engine and compared it to the frame failures in the early 1800 Wings. OSHA declared a recall on the Honda Frame failure but not on the Harley engine failure - reason, they didn't consider the loss of an engine a life threatening event.

[jkhomes]

I too am tired of this whining. Someone buys a motorcycle with a known defect, isn't diligent enough to use simple alternative methods like a trip odometer, and then keeps crying over and over and over again?

Too bad this board doesn't have a "block" feature like Facebook.

[Acpantera]

This is the first time I have commented on the fuel strip deal(didn't want to jinx myself). I bought my 2007 brand new and now have about 45,000 miles on it with no fuel gauge issues . One thing that frustrates me with this issue is that so many people run sooooo many miles before getting gas, on a trip I would start looking for gas at about 150 miles and while commuting I would never go more than a couple of days with out topping off. I have always used E-10, and every oil change it gets a shot of sea-foam, and at storage time the tank gets filled to the brim and gets a shot of foam and sta-bil. Could this issue be related to extended periods of low fuel(exposing the strip to air for a long time) or the use of other additives like tech-tron ?

[deilenberger]

Could this issue be related to extended periods of low fuel(exposing the strip to air for a long time) or the use of other additives like tech-tron ?

Not at all likely. The problem is in the junction between the strip and the copper wiring that goes to the fuel pump mount and hence to the computer. The junction is encased in an epoxy blob. Use or non-use of additives is unlikely to change it, nor is low fuel. For a while people thought Techron was a magic elixir that would avoid fuel strip problems. It isn't - nor will it cause them. Anecdotal "proof" such as "I used this.. and nothing bad happened" really isn't terribly valid without a standard to gauge the result against. Someone else might well say "I didn't use that.. and nothing bad happened" - both would be correct, but neither will prove anything.

[deilenberger]

I think I have to come down with Bill/Bob on this one. Every motorist, automobile or motorcycle should be able to handle certain situations. Running out of gas, flat tires, loss of lighting and brake problems are all situations that could be encountered while riding down the road and a rider should be prepared for it.

I was talking with an OSHA guy about the failures of the Twin Cam Harley engine and compared it to the frame failures in the early 1800 Wings. OSHA declared a recall on the Honda Frame failure but not on the Harley engine failure - reason, they didn't consider the loss of an engine a life threatening event.

Harry,

I think you were talking to the wrong dude. OSHA isn't declaring any recalls, that's NHTSA's job (Occupational Safety and Health Administration doesn't have this in their purview..)

NHTSA did consider the failure of a fuel gage in BMW cars to present enough of a hazard and risk of harm that they demanded a recall be done by BMW. If a car is risky - imagine how much more risky it might be on a motorcycle (I'm thinking of something like the Outerbridge Crossing - which Harry undoubtedly knows - about 1 mile of very narrow 2 lanes each way, no shoulder at ALL, a knee high Jersey barrier the only thing between you and 100 feet down to the water.) Just over the crest of the bridge isn't the place I'd want to run out of gas due to a gage failure, you'd likely be dead in minutes.

BMW sold bikes with an on-board-computer and a fuel gauge. As part of the normal commercial code, if you sell something with promises of features, you are guaranteeing it is fit for the service it's intended for. This is called the implied warranty of fitness. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implied_warranty (cliffs notes - if you sell an item, it should do what you claim it will do.) In this case BMW is knowingly selling motorcycles with a known flaw that should call that warranty into effect, ie - you bought a fuel gauge, you should get one that works. Since brand new bikes exhibit failures, it is not unreasonable to expect BMW to make good on their promise of fitness.

For all the people as old as me who are talking about riding before fuel gauges and how you managed just fine - you also were riding with a reserve in the tank, easily swapped to at the slightest sign of fuel failure. That was a SAFETY feature designed to keep the engine going until you could SAFELY get to a source of fuel. A fuel injection system has no such safety backup, so instead it includes a device to tell you when you're getting close to running out of fuel. Failure of the fuel strip negates that safety feature, and does deserve a recall from NHTSA. We're not going back to carbs anytime soon, so it isn't unreasonable to expect a major manufacturer to know how to design a fuel indicating system that actually works reliably.

[mogu83]

Your right I'm not big on acronyms. I do however think that when a person throws a leg over a motorcycle or gets behind the wheel of a car he accepts certain responsibilities like knowing how much air is in the tires, oil in the engine, all the lights work and how much gas is in the tank. A failure in any of those areas would still put you in a dangerous situation on that bridge. Sometimes their isn't someone else to blame.
I doubt the government will force a recall as it's more of a customer satisfaction issue than a safety issue IMHO, but if they do have a recall I'll be in the front of the line to get a new fuel gage.

[Dr. Strangelove]

I don't want to flame anybody, but I have to side with Bill here. You may be a good Doctor, but you made some poor moves on this detailed situation.
snip Ride on.

No flame taken, Bob. Let me just clear some misconceptions about all this.
I recognized that there must've been a better technique to handle the situation. Pulling in the clutch lever was going to happen, and it has been pointed out that it should occur immediately. No argument. I didn't do that. As a relatively new rider--8 years-- the situation had not presented itself. I did not see that in my reading, nor was it mentioned in the MSF course. Or somehow I missed it. Constructive criticism is fine. I did ask Bill for advice, and I thank you for providing it.

>>I don't know about you, but when I run out of gas I have several miles of warning from the bike. Plenty of time to get in the right lane and prep for the engine stopping
I get no warning whatsoever until it sputters. None. And I try not to run out of gas. No time to do anything but handle what you call accurately a "detailed situation."

>>How is it that you are pulling off the highway and don't know what's in front of you. Rumble strip not visible? Really! Open your eyes and pay attention to where your are riding.
I saw them fine. I knew they were coming. Looked benign. Nice shoulder. I've stopped on a shoulder before, over rumble strips. My eyes were open. I did not appreciate that these were not your momma's rumble strips. They were wide and deep and spaced so that it was a stability issue. Not typical rumble strips.
Fair warning to all--the rumble strip on 1 55 S around Granada Ms is dangerous.

Bottom of the filler tube, right?
No matter what else is my fault, the fuel strip design and operation and reliability is not.

My main point is not the crash. It is BMWs response. I expected more from this company and the dealer regarding this "known defect."
And the ad hominem attacks are beneath the dignity of this forum.

John

[angellr]

John,

Glad you are OK. It is surprising to me that BMW has recognized some fault in this mess (letter) but is also wanting to bury it (my OWN assessment here). Fortunately my 2007 still is working as designed. I also never really rely on it as I always fill up at about 180 miles or so. I probably would have had similar or even worse results with those "big a$$" rumble strips.

Hope BMW actually takes all of these issues into account and fixes the problem permanently (my guess here is that this is not possible).

[dbrick]

A cursory search revealed a number of recent NHTSA investigations targeting inaccurate or inoperative fuel gauges in cars and SUVs made by GM and Infiniti, as well as the BMW 5-series recall Don mentioned. NHTSA is not treating BMW any differently than any other manufacturer.

Bikes are like cars in many ways, but they're quite unlike them in significant aspects - that's why we ride. Because riders are so much more exposed and vulnerable than drivers, many of us pay more attention than car drivers do. We dress for the crash, we take more training than car drivers, and some of us don't even listen to tunes out there. We think there's a very good reason for this.

We also know that instruments are inaccurate. They're all inaccurate, to a greater or lesser degree. We know this, and we compensate by maintaining our own awareness of speed, of how the tires feel, of temperature, of how far we've ridden at what speed since we last filled the tank. Because we know not to wholly trust what the instruments say, we compare what they say to what our senses say. We don't take the gauge's report as infallible.

BMW presents the bikes as having a fuel gauge and, for OBC-equipped machines, a miles-to-empty function. I think that when a fuel gauge (or the OBC miles-to-empty function) fails, BMW has violated the Implied Warranty of Fitness. BMW should not advertise that these bikes have these features unless both are reasonably dependable. No one but BMW knows the failure numbers, but I'm satisfied at this point that the fuel strips and resultant computations are often not reasonably dependable.

Still, I don't think this means that BMW is responsible for every occurrence of damage related to a fuel strip failure. I'm a retired lawyer. The legal concept that comes to mind is proximate cause. The idea of proximate cause is that the injury has to have been so closely related to the fault that it can be said that the fault was the cause of the injury. For instance, if I'm walking down the sidewalk and someone comes up behind me and hits me with a club and injures me, it's pretty easy to conclude that the club strike is the proximate cause of my injury. I commend you to the Wikipedia article if you want more.

The MSF class teaches the concept of Ladder of Risk: a collision only occurs if all the necessary facts line up correctly. For example, a rider runs into an open manhole and is hurt. This injury requires: a) that a municipal worker forgot to replace the manhole cover, (or that someone stole it, and the city's workers didn't notice it was gone), b) the rider chose to ride on that particular street, c) the rider did not see the open manhole (or if he saw it, that he did not brake to a stop or swerve around it). If any of these factors weren't present, or occurred differently, the rider wouldn't have ridden into the open manhole and gotten hurt.

Addressing John's crash, that means that he had to have no consciousness of the possibility of gauge failure or running out of fuel, no consciousness of fuel actually running out (when that's happened to me on an fuel injected bike the failure was not abrupt, but was preceded by several miles of increasing jerkiness as the motor starved for fuel), no awareness that there was a rumble strip, no ability to manage the rumble strip, no ability to maintain control, and so on. If any one of these factors had come out differently, no crash would have occurred.

Because of all the ways this story could have ended without a crash, it seems to me that the failure of the fuel strip was not the proximate cause of the crash. I think that legally BMW owes no compensation for it; given that, I think its offer of some compensation was reasonable. From a career's worth of work in contracts and agreements, no one's likely to pay money without the recipient's agreement that there will be no further claims from this individual about this issue.

[deilenberger]

Because of all the ways this story could have ended without a crash, it seems to me that the failure of the fuel strip was not the proximate cause of the crash. I think that legally BMW owes no compensation for it; given that, I think its offer of some compensation was reasonable. From a career's worth of work in contracts and agreements, no one's likely to pay money without the recipient's agreement that there will be no further claims from this individual about this issue.

David - great summary, and appreciate the confirmation of Warranty of Implied Fitness fitting this issue. It's not only that BMW hasn't done anything to fix the problem that we know of (aside from shipping out more defective fuel strips) - it also irks me that they continue to ship new bikes - our R1200R's with the defective component/system, and sell it as an optional feature (although they all come with it.)

I thought John's complaint was more about the release that BMW sent him. My brief read of it (and I'm not a lawyer, retired or recovering) was they were asking for a quit-claim agreement for any faults that might have been found in the bike, and any injuries the faults might have caused up to and prior to the payment of compensation. That seemed unreasonable to me (and perhaps unenforceable.) I can certainly understand them not wanting to expose themselves to any additional claims against them due to the incident that was reported, but I wouldn't agree to a denial of future actions for other, perhaps not-revealed yet flaws in the bike that would be a manufacturer's responsibility.

Did I read the disclosure agreement correctly? Or did I miss something?

Best regards,

[Tr250Tom]

Hi Don,

For the record, my fuel strip was replaced under warranty in 2007 and has worked fine ever since. These gauges work perfectly well in most of the world. It's not BMW's fault that Americans put corn in their gasoline.

Cheers, Tom

[Bob Ain't Stoppin']

John, All talk about your tip over aside, I think you said the bike had 14000 miles on it when the strip first failed. I think BMW owed you a warranty at that time. The warranty transfers to second owners as far as I know.

I would be looking for a new dealer that would go to bat for me. Sounds like the one you bought from is not your friend.