The sorry saga of 1200GS/GSA fuel pump controller failures (410 so far)

Fuel pump failure

Yip had the very same problem with my 2004 GS back in July of this year!

- When did it happen?:September 2008

- Where were you?: In Co. Galway out for the weekend

- bike details (model and year): 2006 R1200 GSA

- remedy: electrical bypass fix on side of the road using direct feed from Auxillery socket using cable from Sat Nav . Toured for rest of day before calling BMW assisst to recover Bike whilst i returned to UK by Plane

- How many days work/holiday did you lose? None, just had a good friend who talked me through the fix

- Were there any incidental costs? Not yet
 
Met a chap yesterday when I pulled up next to him on my 2008 12Adv

He had a 2007 12 Adv model

He was hoping this was 3rd Sunday lucky

Last Sunday he was recovered with a Fuel Pump Controller and the Sunday before that he suffered EWS failure

2 BMW Assist recovereies on consecutive Sundays

He'd never heard of UKGSER and thought he was unlucky

I pointed him here to find the real deal:augie
 
When did it happen? 2005 after seal was replaced on recall
- Where were you? middle of nowhere single track road inthe lake district
- rider name william short
- bike details (model and year) r1200gs 2004
- remedy BMW recovered and repaired at dealer
- How many days work/holiday did you lose? 1day
- Were there any incidental costs? No
 
year of bike: 2005

mileage when failed: approx 18000 miles and 2 months out of warranty

symptoms:engine stalled a few times on tickover then packed up completely about 3 miles later

trailered home by AA

contacted local dealer who were certain it would be the pump controller at fault without even seeing the bike so ordered and fitted new style controller which rectified problem

I don't think congratulations is the right expression, but phc1058's FPC failure is the 200th documented incident amongst UK owners, 99 of which have happened so far in 2008.

BMW UK is aware of this thread and I have received a response to some of the questions I posed and BMW Munich has been asked to comment on others. I will post if and when there is anything concrete I can share.

Tim
 
Year of bike: 2004
Mileage: 42,500 and a bit.
Where: Waternish, Isle of Skye.
When: 29/08/08.

Phoned RAC. RAC deployed Portree Coachworks, who phoned Oonyack, who managed to get the bypass thread emailed to Portree Coachworks..

Back on the road 3 hours late...but not in a truck.. :thumb2

FPC, as yet un-replaced is working again without bypass fused-up..

:confused:

Strangely, I ordered a new FPC from Cooper BMW, Boldon and they claim never to have had the part in stock or ordered one... ... 1 week later it has not arrived...

Chris - I know this to be incorrect.

I can loan you one until yours comes (latest part number) as I have two. :eek:

So do i as when mine failed they replaced it under waranty. 2004 model
perhaps your bike has a new type with different part number? or the FPC was supplied by BMW or BMW assist and not ordered by coopers:nenau
 
2005 model - 8400 miles. Mine just gone in Pyrenees. This bike is has been French registered for a year or so and not sure if BuMW GB will entertain a goodwill claim but I'm going to try anyway. Cost 112 Euro for replacement part and fitted it myself.

Not having a good year as my almost new GB reg GS Adv also stranded me in middle of France with ring antenna failure a few weeks ago. BuMW GB investigating my complaints over this episode as we speak.

Both issues could have been largely prevented by proper recalls as any other manufacturer would have done.

The fcuking money I've spent with them on cars and bikes over the years!

Now where's the nearest KTM dealer...:eek:

Cheers

Roger

Out-of-warranty costs to owners was one of the issues I raised with BMW.

The response so far is that there are a number of factors that BMW consider in goodwill 'claims' such as the age of bike, the mileage covered, number of owners and whether the bike is dealer maintained.

BMW has said that whilst no promises are being made, they will look into the parameters that are set for this component.

Tim

Cheers Tim, one lives in hope!
 
When: June 2006

Where: South of France

Name: Donnie MacLeod

Bike: 2005 R1200GS - 15k miles

Remedy: BMW Assist returned bike to BMW Nime. Spare taken from new bike in showroom. They claimed it was the first time they had seen this problem. BMW Assist was excellent.

Cost:15 hours lost
 
yes - another one
happened yesterday 15th sept - at Navan , Ireland
Damian Crummey
1200gs 2006
aon axa free breakdown cover to local bmw dealer ( joe duffy motors ) Dublin
1 DAY lost and very important meeting missed !!
NO expences BUT - booked to travel to France on 27th sept with 2 mates for a weeks bikin ( i dont think so ) - dealer has stated he is out of the part as there is such demand for them !!! - i have to wait until 13th oct for the part to arrive - no bloody holiday !!

Sounds like you need to bypass the controller. Simple enough:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6898745

Jerry

I took the liberty of changing Jerry's link to a post slightly further down the AdvRider thread that shows the procedure more clearly.

I ran my 1200GSA with the bypass in place for several weeks whilst I was in Morocco, and then rode back to the UK.

Tim

thanks for the info - may just have to do that ( and will if no better alternative arises ) but as ive over a week before the trip - anyone know where to source a new unit in the uk ? - irish dealers say none available from the official uk dealers

23.9.08 having been told by local dealer that part would not be available until mid oct , got a call last friday to say they had received some parts and my bike was ready !! - thanks to joe duffy motors ( i think ) - so i assume ive got the newest type now fitted - still bringing printout of the pictures showing how to bypass the unit if im stuck on holiday ( the pictures show how to cut the wires etc .. but to the less mechanically minded of us - where exactly is the part and how do i access it ????
 
Bike: 05 R1200GS
Fuel Pump Failure: May 2008
Where: Cork
mileage on clock - 14,500km
Cost: - 50 euro collection, labour on the part - 120 euro

My whole bill came to 700 euro (service as well)

Days lost - about 8 weeks - this is how long it took to get the parts!

They also highlighted the ABS controller as having gone -this involved the replacement of the entire CPU for the bike.

I came off 8 years of riding Honda Blackbirds for this?

Great bike for our roads but the minute a new VFR 1000 is launched I'm outta here and back to Honda
 
When - 2 weeks ago on fourth day of european hols

Where - La Spezia, Italy (Bike lost power on stretch of dual-carriageway. Restarted but died completely a mile later, where I was able to get off road onto garage forecourt)

Name - Barry (Tyremark)

Bike - 2006 R1200GS

Remedy - After dropping H&B tank bars/fog-lights was able to get at tank panel and remove fuel pump controller (totally dry and no sign of moisture)
cut wires below unit and pushed them into connector that plugs into controller then pvc taped them in place
Days lost - None, took an hour to sort mainly due to removing/refitting the tank bars/lights.

Incidental Costs - Next day (300 miles later) found a motorrad dealer 'Moto Sport' at Pistoia who were extremely helpful and sold me a controller off a new Gs in the showroom. Cost 104 euros fitted myself and bike completed the remaining 2500 miles of hols flawlessly. By the way bike seemed to run perfectly without controller with no noticeable difference in fuel consumption

A Big Thank You to Tim and all those who contributed to the workaround it certainly saved the day and the holiday
 
When - 21-09-2008
Where - B6270 Gunnerside, N. Yorks Moors (Middle-of-nowhere)
Name - POG
Bike - R1200GSA 2006 '06

Remedy - Recovered to home address as dealers were closed (Sunday). 3 hour wait for recovery, 2.15 recovery back to home, having to listen to inane recovery driver :sleep:sleep:sleep:duno

Time Lost - Unknown (spoke to dealers - they have none in stock and won't have until mid October)

Cost - Unknown, 3 weeks without bike. Will fit myself as won't want to fork out for 1 hours labour. FPC part is changing along with part number. Cost of new part as yet unknown.

The bubble has burst :(

25-9-08: The new controllers are now being shipped to dealers (Alan Jeffries, Shipley) and are available. The rest of their order should arrive in early next week - I guess that this might be the case with other dealers as well.

I was contacted by AJ's today as they have a lead on their shipment and have received 3 of the new FPC's (one of which they have very kindly put aside for me :thumb).

The other extremely good news for me is that BMW are paying for the FPC (which will save me about £70, and this is very good news for me in this economically arid period). :clap:clap:clap:clap

Thank you very much to Mike, the Service Manager, for pulling out the stops and getting the part for me, thus enabling me to get my bike back on the road :thumb Top bloke and a great dealer :beerjug: :clap:clap
 
Update on failures

2004: 7
2005: 14
2006: 30
2007: 51
2008: 105

Total: 207

According to BMW a new version of the fuel pump controller was introduced a couple of weeks ago.
However it seems many dealers do not have this in stock.

Will the new version of the FPC be any more reliable than the version introduced in May?

Tim
 
When: sept 2008
Where: huddersfield
Name: paul stephinson
Bike: 04 1200GS
Remedy: pushed home for 3 miles
on order should take 2 days

fuel controller was dry but smelt like it had burnt out
 
Fuel pump controller failure

Mine failed 2day just as i was pulling out onto the road on a nasty adverse camber dumping me on the road injuring my right leg.The only saving grace was the Bmw technician turned up and had my bike fixed in less than 45mins from my initial phonecal, not too bad i suppose
1.24/9/08
2.Leicester
3.Spannerman
4.2006 r1200gsa
5.New controller fitted on scene
6.None
7.Just took painkillers and went to work
 
- When did it happen?......................................................11/09/08
- Where were you?......................................... .................Canterbury Services
- rider name...............................................................Andy Stott(karnevil)
- bike details (model and year)...........................................1200GS 2006
- remedy.......................................................................Fixed by attending BMW/Mondial technician
- How many days work/holiday did you lose?........................ none
- Were there any incidental costs?......................................none
*****Note This is the second one I have had on this machine.*****
 
Hi all,

Firstly, great work in getting this thread and the resulting stats together and putting it under the noses of people who could if they're so inclined actually do something about it.

Here's my contribution.

Bike : 2006 model R1200GS
Date of failure : Oct 2007
Where : Battersea High St, South London
Symptom : Engine cut out in traffic, coasted to side of road, all attempts at restart failed
Result : AA recovery after 4 hours wait to home. BMW service visited and replaced the fuel pump controller. Technician recommended carrying a spare.

I know this is a little off topic, but in the 15 months and 10000 miles I've owned the bike, I've suffered the following:

- ABS failure
- coil failure
- gearbox oil seal failure
- fuel pump controller failure
- worn out rear brake disc

not to mention all the usual problems with corroding bolts, engine covers, footrests etc.

My view is that this particular 1200 GS is the most unreliable, poorly built and costly to run bike I've ever owned in more than 30 years of riding. In comparison I also own a VFR750 on which I've done 80k miles in the last 12 years without a single breakdown.

I've written to BMW UK about the above, and the bike will be in Auto Trader very soon.

Sorry if this sounds a bit disgruntled but that's kind of how I feel about the bike just now.

I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has suffered any similar failures to the ones I've mentioned

cheers

John
 
Updated figures where model year available:

2004 Bikes

2004: 7
2005: 8
2006: 10
2007: 7
2008: 9

2005 Bikes

2005: 2
2006: 7
2007: 15
2008: 19

2006 Bikes

2006: 0
2007: 6
2008: 28

2007 Bikes

2007: 5
2008: 23

2008 Bikes

2008: 4
 
My electronic fuel pump relay failed last Saturday. (20th September).
My colleague Noel always travels with one in his tool roll.
He lent me it. I quoted the part number to Motorworks for replacement, & they told me it was for a new "800". I ordered one anyway, because it was supplied as the current part. No: 16 14 7 708 312.

Regards Michael

The part number of the new controller is 16 14 7 720 776

I guess a working FPC off an F800GS is better than a non-working one from the R1200GS!

Tim

After the fuel pump electronic relay failure I suffered during the week, I started to do a little research into how they work. This resulted in finding the following Italian site:
http://www.quellidellelica.com/vbforum/showthread.php5?t=72125

Down the page I discovered that the controller works on a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) principle. A continuous string of pulses are sent to the electronic pump controller from the ECU. These pulses always at the same frequency. They are a "Square" wave, whose on duration ON to OFF duration varies according to the pump speed required. ( Just like the tail/stop lights on many BMWs)

As a consequence of this knowledge, it is obvious that any fuel pump controller from any model will swap, since the control taks place in the ECU, & the fuel pump controller is just interpreting the PWM signal to decide what speed to run the pump at. This also partly explains the intermittent nature of the faults which occur in them, since the pulse train interpretation section messes up when they go faulty.

Since I will be travelling to far side of Europe next year, I decided, whilst I had the bike apart, to remove the security screws from the key antenna, & carry a spare antenna with me. The screws required are M8 x 25 stainless allen screws.

Regards Michael
 
I'm particularly upset by this failure, middle lane of the M11, bike in my care for 1 whole week, having picked it up as a ex-demonstrator from SBW in Hertford, the bike is nine months old. Faulty controller fixed by the roadside by nice BMW engineer from Mondial assist. Thing that I was most upset about, the faulty controller was really corroded, something that you would expect a poorly looked after 8+ year old bike to have.

1. 26/9/08
2. London
3. Dan_M
4. 2007 57reg R1200GS
5. New controller fitted on scene
6. Two hours on motorway hardshoulder
7. No cost

Don't worry it seems to strike at any age or condition of bike, like you I also had an ex demo bike from SBW which looked pretty well prepared, similar age to yours with about 8k on the clock when mine went, also similar to you and many others, outside lane of the M6 at around 90 when it went! Surprising how truckers react when you are forced to cut across 2 lanes of traffic to get to the hard shoulder. I have coated mine in ACF40(?) to see if that gives better protection. Just waiting for the EWS problem to hit me now..although I have been assured that my June 06 bike is not one of those that will suffer with this particular problem..time will tell I guess.

Cheers Brian, have you lost any trust in the bike? I must admit that my journey in today was cautious, as I was waiting to feel the misfire again! I did notice that it didn't want to start in the morning (on the day of the failure - but I just put it down to being damp), so will be checking it if/when it doesn't want to start.

I just want to add my words of encouragement to Tim and the others involved in this thread, it was easy to just read the thread thinking it wouldn't happen to me, but having it fail on me (especially on the bloody motorway), this has to be fixed. Not sure if the replacement one was of the new type or not though!

Apart from this, I love my GS! What a singularly spectacular bike.

Yup, I was the same :eek:

The new FPC is the one the left and the old style on the right.
 

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