Pannier Corrosion

STORM1

Guest
My BMW/Touratech panniers have been ruined by one journey on wet roads! My bike has been garaged for most of the winter but I did ride for about an hour on wet roads recently. I gave it a good wash a day or two later and found that although the bike came up fine, the panniers were wrecked! :blast

I have attacked the corrosion with a buffing wheel and aluminium polish but this just gives a highly polished finish but still with black corrosion spots.

My bike was new in September and it still looks great but the panniers look like they have aged 1o years! Bahnstormer say that they are not aware of this happening before but are looking into the possibility of replacing under warranty. If they do, will I have to avoid riding in the wet ever again! What about the £50 pillion pad on the top box, will I be expected to buy another? Meanwhile I have no luggage while the fate of my knackered ones is decided.

Both bike and panniers have been regularly washed so I can’t see any reason why they should deteriorate so quickly. I know that people will say that I am being overly precious but they did cost £1000 and are supposed to be robust. Aren't they? :nenau

Has anybody else experienced this problem?
 
Do a Search there was a whole load on this last year.The panniers are raw Alluminium and will pit at the first sign of salt/water. I use ACF50 on mine but yes you shouldn't have to,my old 1150 ADV BMW Boxes needed little care and attention .But hey you now look like you,ve travelled the world with those rufty tufty panniers:thumb
 
My top box is also ruined. SLM are replacing under warranty. I'd only had the bike a week and the damage was done. Looks bloody horrible.

Probably the salt on the roads, but thats still not good enough for kit costing almost a grand!
 
Must be something to do with the grade of aluminium they use as my cheapo alpos boxes which are bare aluminium, whilst they have oxidised slightly, have not corroded anything like as bad as those pictured on the thread....
 
There is always another way : take a look at what the skilled craftsman MikeP has done with his:-

You can find it in Panniers

Chin up, we've all been there :thumb
 
My Toratech Zegas started nice and shiny but soon became grey and pitted. I used to clean them with Solvol Autosol and they came up really good but after my wife complained that when she was following me the sun reflecting off the panniers was blinding her I gave up. They looked crap for a while but eventually take on an overall grey which is OK
 
Just cleaned my 2 year old side boxes with Halfords chrome polish and they look like new :cool:

I think that spraying on Motrexx protect and shine helps stop salt attacking in the fist instance. You certainly need to put some kind of protective polish/spay on them to stop salt attacking the bare aluminum.
 
robbo1200adv said:
Do a Search there was a whole load on this last year.The panniers are raw Alluminium and will pit at the first sign of salt/water. I use ACF50 on mine but yes you shouldn't have to,my old 1150 ADV BMW Boxes needed little care and attention .But hey you now look like you,ve travelled the world with those rufty tufty panniers:thumb
Click to expand...

After last year I ACF50'd mine early, but for some reason I've still got pretty bad corosion on one of them. ACF50 is supposed to reverse some corrosion, so I've recoated them and we'll have to see what happens...

I had a similar experience last year a couple of short rides was all it took for them to look really bad, but its the salt not the water you need to worry about - I've riden all through last year and into the Autumn with mine and they where fine. The Annoying thing is same as last year, even though they were treated I didnt think there would be any salt out on the roads.

Oh well maybe KTM have the right idea with plastic boxes
 
Timolgra said:
Are panniers pieces of jewelry:confused:
Click to expand...

no, but we all take pride in the things we have dont we? and when you spend a premium for something you kind of expect a premium product...

I never went down the warranty route with mine, but if I think about it I still find it disappointing that something that costs so much should arrive unfinished without any kind of warning or advise as to how to keep and maintain it

The BM was the first new bike I've ever owned, its great fun getting them dirty, but its equally nice to see them clean
 
LiquidLAN said:
no, but we all take pride in the things we have dont we? and when you spend a premium for something you kind of expect a premium product...
Click to expand...

I don't know about you but if I'm about to spend a 'premium' for something I would find out beforehand whether it's a premium product...although then of course you need to decide whether bare aluminium panniers fit that description.
http://www.key-to-metals.com/Article14.htm

I take a pride in my van but don't polish the chassis:D

The suggestion in the original post that the panniers were 'ruined' after one wet ride questions whether we're all on the same planet, particularly if he was daft enough to have spent £1000 on them.:aidan
 
Timolgra said:
I don't know about you but if I'm about to spend a 'premium' for something I would find out beforehand whether it's a premium product...although then of course you need to decide whether bare aluminium panniers fit that description.
http://www.key-to-metals.com/Article14.htm

I take a pride in my van but don't polish the chassis:D

The suggestion in the original post that the panniers were 'ruined' after one wet ride questions whether we're all on the same planet, particularly if he was daft enough to have spent £1000 on them.:aidan
Click to expand...


anyway, like I said, you live and learn - I'll know next time not to give so much credence to the brand ;)

bit annoyed at myself this time around though as I was pretty sure I'd treated all sides of all the boxes, but I guess not :(
 
NOT COVERED UNDER WARRENTY

Yesterday Bahnstormer told me that they had never heard of their panniers corroding and that this was new to them. Today I am told that they all corrode and that I should have used some kind of protective coating such as ACF50!

I would have protected them if I had known that it was necessary but they don’t even come with aftercare instructions? Why didn't someone at Bahnstormer warn me? Even cashiers in a shoe shops would know to recommend the appropriate cleaner/polish for what they sell. Its cross selling and good customer service.

It’s easy to say I should have know, but why should I? I have ridden sports bikes for ten years and regular washing and garaging has always kept them free from rust. My GS still looks great so there is an issue here with the materials used for the panniers and the way in which they are finished.

I know that aluminium corrodes over time but what I am talking about is excessive corrosion. one week is unacceptable! If this happens to all of the BMW panniers then BMW have used the wrong materials for the job! I notice that they have no problem in replacing parts of the bike when it corrodes prematurely so why not the luggage. BMW/Touratech would soon get the finish right if they did!

According to Bahnstormer BMW have never replaced panniers under warranty due to excessive corrosion. This contradicts threads that I have read on here. Do you know anyone who has recieved replacement luggage under warranty for this reason?

Bahnstormer have told me that they will try to polish them but that is all they can do. I will see how they turn out but when I tried to polish them they ended up like rusty old mirrors.
 
Last edited:
Panniers

I went for a warranty claim on mt ones. It was turned down. I thereafter took proceedings to sue the dealer under the sale of goods act, stating that the panniers were unfit for purpose, demanding a full refund / replacement. I also sent about 10 emails to BMW customer service. After about 2 months I got an email from BM telling me that they would replace them as a 'goodwill' gesture, following talks with the dealer. Make yourself as much of a pain in the arse as you can and they may show you some similar goodwill, just to shut you up.
 
corrosion

same here
last year i was warned by a member that this would happen to mine
i laughed
i spent a while riding through the alps - snow ice the lot
came home cleaned the bike for four hours and it came up a treat
carried on riding for next few months
then one trip 0ut recently and panniers covered in black corrosion
i cant work out why i had managed to avoid it for so long then all of a sudden after one particular ride out its all over
no matter what i do to these panniers now i can never get them back to how they used to be
 
BMW plastic system panniers were always ok, whatever the weather

Ahhhhhh............the price of LWR fashionistas:D
 
worse

i have been with two mates both have gs's
both have PLASTIC varios
both times after a simple dropping of the bike those poxy plastic locating tabs just snapped off
they are shi@ and god only knows what they would look like after a proper accident
of course both are BMW
both in there own way are simply about a grands worth of crap
just my HO:thumb
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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