I have a G650GS Sertao which recently suffered catastrophic water damage. I would greatly appreciate any advice on what I should do next. Here’s the situation: while green laning near Rhayader a couple of weeks ago, my bike fell on it’s right-hand side while attempting to ford a stream. The engine was still running when it went into the water and the right hand side was fully submerged. I hit the off-switch after probably 3 or 4 seconds (cleverly hitting the ABS button a couple of times first) by which point the engine was all but dead anyway. After a considerable team effort to recover the bike to a loggers’ trail we did manage to tow-start it and briefly got the engine going again, it sounded alright but it was streaming custard-coloured gunk from the top of the cylinder so cut the engine and left it. After much further buffoonery and expense, my Sertao is now in the care of a BMW franchise in London.
The service manager contacted me yesterday to say that water had got into every part of the engine and that they’d drained over 4L from it. I was advised that the engine could be stripped and rebuilt but that such extensive ingress of dirty water meant that there was no guarantee of the engine being the same again. Their advice was to replace the entire engine at an estimated cost of £5,500 for parts, labour and VAT.
This is a horrifying amount of money and I doubt that just gritting my teeth and paying up is the best thing to do. Some of the other things I am considering are:
1. Spend a couple of hundred quid cash to get a good local MX mechanic to strip the engine down himself and make a more informed assessment of how severe the damage is. The guys at the BMW garage have only had a very quick look. To properly strip it down would be a day’s work, there wouldn’t be much change from a grand if I got a BMW franchise to do it, but said MX mechanic (I have one in mind) would take cash and be far, far cheaper. Depending on what the outcome of this is, I can decide to either:
2. Get the same mechanic to sort out the engine by:
a. Rebuilding the existing unit himself and ordering what few new parts I expect are actually needed (connector rods, valves) direct from BMW. The BMW franchise told me “it’ll never be the same again” if I do this, but I am sceptical and suspect that they are trying to steer me towards a costlier (for me) and easier (for them) new engine replacement.
b. Sourcing a used replacement engine from a crash-related write off (how and where can I find one?) and installing that one into the bike.
3. Writing off the bike and keeping it to cannibalize spare parts off. Looking on eBay, I see that I can buy an identical Sertao (2012, 2500 miles) for £4,000. It would be a day’s work for me to transfer my aftermarket parts (crash bars, strike plate etc.) and a bit of DVLA paperwork but nothing more than that.
I live in London and have family in Suffolk where I often visit. Any suggestions, contacts or ideas would be very gladly received – thanks for looking and for your help.
The service manager contacted me yesterday to say that water had got into every part of the engine and that they’d drained over 4L from it. I was advised that the engine could be stripped and rebuilt but that such extensive ingress of dirty water meant that there was no guarantee of the engine being the same again. Their advice was to replace the entire engine at an estimated cost of £5,500 for parts, labour and VAT.
This is a horrifying amount of money and I doubt that just gritting my teeth and paying up is the best thing to do. Some of the other things I am considering are:
1. Spend a couple of hundred quid cash to get a good local MX mechanic to strip the engine down himself and make a more informed assessment of how severe the damage is. The guys at the BMW garage have only had a very quick look. To properly strip it down would be a day’s work, there wouldn’t be much change from a grand if I got a BMW franchise to do it, but said MX mechanic (I have one in mind) would take cash and be far, far cheaper. Depending on what the outcome of this is, I can decide to either:
2. Get the same mechanic to sort out the engine by:
a. Rebuilding the existing unit himself and ordering what few new parts I expect are actually needed (connector rods, valves) direct from BMW. The BMW franchise told me “it’ll never be the same again” if I do this, but I am sceptical and suspect that they are trying to steer me towards a costlier (for me) and easier (for them) new engine replacement.
b. Sourcing a used replacement engine from a crash-related write off (how and where can I find one?) and installing that one into the bike.
3. Writing off the bike and keeping it to cannibalize spare parts off. Looking on eBay, I see that I can buy an identical Sertao (2012, 2500 miles) for £4,000. It would be a day’s work for me to transfer my aftermarket parts (crash bars, strike plate etc.) and a bit of DVLA paperwork but nothing more than that.
I live in London and have family in Suffolk where I often visit. Any suggestions, contacts or ideas would be very gladly received – thanks for looking and for your help.
