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

Looks like it's just had a coat of paint:nenau
The amount of magnesium in the shit alloys's BMVV use it won't be long until that bubbles and peels

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1200GS/GSA fuel pump controller failure

Hi,

Details of my failures (2) below.

First failure occured in Germany so was able to take advantage of free rocovery to dealer in Bamberg, fixed & back on the road within 4 hours but €80 lighter.

When: July 07
Where: Near Bamberg, Germany
Rider Name: Terry Hartshorn
Bike Details: May 04, R1200GS
Remedy: Replacement unit fitted
How many days lost: 4 hrs
Any Incidental costs: None accept for part & fitting cost

Failure occured for a second time a couple of months later in the UK within rolling distance of home, bike collected by Vines of Guildford who tried to charge me for a new controller & fuel pump due to corrosion on the contacts, I basically said 'on your bike' due to the previous failure & they contacted BMW, the new module & fuel pump were fitted FOC.

When: October 07
Where: Lightwater, UK
Rider Name: Terry Hartshorn
Bike Details: May 04, R1200GS
Remedy: Replacement unit & fuel pump fitted
How many days lost: Bike not available for 7 days (other transport available)
Any Incidental costs: None

Best Regards

Terry
 
when: Saturday 04/10/08
where: in my garage
Rider Name: halfjob aka mark Burton
Bike Details: 2007 GSA 6600km
Remedy: still at the dealer
How many days lost: 2 days and counting :augie:augie
Any Incidental costs: none so far
 
FPC Failure

When: August bank holiday
Where: Taunton
Name: Matt Khan
Bike: '05 R1200GS
Remedy: RAC recovery to CW dorchester replaced FPC.
Cost: Intended ride out aborted and £120
 
Fuel pump failure

Oct 08
Spain
Pete F
1200GSA 56 reg 10600 miles and only 14 months actual use due to 11 month layoff following accident.
Recovered to BMW dealer in Santander. Parts trucked up from Barcelona overnight. lost 20 hours of 4 day trip. Had third year warranty which paid fr hire car. Because no warranty docs with me had to pay for repair up front prior to claiming back. €560 (about £480).
BMW really need to address this as the percentages are going up rapidly and it will soon have to be admitted that this is an inherent design problem, something that is covered for 6 years in England and Wales and 5 years in Scotland under consumer law.
 
- When did it happen? Today 17-10-08
- Where were you? Bell Harbour Co Clare
- rider name Aubrey G
- bike details (model and year) R1200gs Feb 07
- remedy recovered Within 1 hour & on its way to the dealer
- How many days work/holiday did you lose? 1 nice saturday afternoon (and they're scarce)
- Were there any incidental costs? 5 fags (cigarettes for those divided by acommon language) & leg pulled mercilessly

Recovery here ,Ireland, does not have spares. If the bike wasn't under warranty I would have had a go myself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWPE_VkssEw
 
re fuel pump controller,
When; May 2007
Where; outskirts of Scunthorpe, ride out to Bridlington, never got there!
Bike: 2005 1200 GS
Remedy; BMW assistance, when I explained to lady on phone that bike would not restart, she phoned back to say BMW man was attending and even though his main remit was cars he knew what the problem was and even had the part in his 5 series estate amongst the fan belts!!!. Part fitted.
Kept old part and took to Piddys, where just out of devilment they fitted it to another bike and it worked!!!
Days lost; none but ride out spoilt for 3 fellow bikers
Cost; done on warranty/BMW assist
Just hope new GSA fares better
 
Hi Tim
An addition to a previous reply.
Third failure of the FPC.
When: oct 2008
Where: At my work outside Edinburgh
Bike:2004 gs1200
Rider: GAG
Remedy: I have carried a spare after the last failure in April 2007. 10 mins to change
 
Tim - you've logged my first failure on my 04GS. Unfortunately I've now suffered a failure on my new GSA:

When did it happen 25th October 2008
Where Beaminster, Dorset (nice place to break down!!)
Rider name GSMonkey
Bike details (model and year) R1200GSA Nov 07
Remedy BMW Tech was with me in 30min and was back on the road after he replace the controller in 10min.
How many days work/holiday did you lose? About 1hr of riding, which meant we missed some twisties
Were there any incidental costs? A Cafe Latte in the local pub
 
Doesn't bother me any more, just traded in my R1200GS for a Yamaha FZ1000s. BMW=unreliable, with dealers overpriced and underskilled in my experience (charge you a fortune for failing to fix problems). So welcome, BMW, to a small and possibly increasing number of customers who are unlikely ever to buy BMW again.
 
Hi Tim, not sure if this any use but the following is extracted from an article in the latest BMW Motorcycle Magazine the English version of BMW Motorrad. BMW Motorrad spokesperson Rudi Probst is replying to questions about the EWS and faulty fuel pump.

Magazine: Lately there also seems to be a growing breakdown problem due to faulty fuel pumps. Can you confirm that and how are you dealing with it to keep riders on the road?

Probst: In Germany this happened to just over 100 of the R 1200 GS models, the reason being a faulty electronic connection to the pump. Models affected were built before the last revision of the GS. Using a pressure washer, for instance, can force water into the electronic unit. Meanwhile we have improved the sealing and while upgrading the GS we also altered the mounting position of the unit to avoid water collecting at that spot. End of quote.

So obviously all of those new GS owners must be mistaken.

The answers given for the EWS debacle also make entertaining if not frustrating reading.

I wish you luck with your campaign.
 
I note the quote only refers to the R1200GS, not the R1200GSA where the position of the fuel pump controller remains unchanged.

Are we really expected to believe that there have been only 100 failures in Germany when we have already identified more than 220 failures in the UK amongst just the UKGSer community? I should think the REAL figure for Germany is more likely to be in excess of 400 failures.

I continue to be disappointed at BMW's inability to own up to the seriousness of this problem. Is Probst ill-informed, is he being economical with the truth, or is he deliberately lying?

Tim
 
I note the quote only refers to the R1200GS, not the R1200GSA where the position of the fuel pump controller remains unchanged.

Are we really expected to believe that there have been only 100 failures in Germany when we have already identified more than 220 failures in the UK amongst just the UKGSer community? I should think the REAL figure for Germany is more likely to be in excess of 400 failures.

I continue to be disappointed at BMW's inability to own up to the seriousness of this problem. Is Probst ill-informed, is he being economical with the truth, or is he deliberately lying?

Tim

That BMW Assistance carry this as a standard part, that dealers will lend a spare for holidays, that the part has been redesigned several times not to mention your list says it all really.
 
I continue to be disappointed at BMW's inability to own up to the seriousness of this problem. Is Probst ill-informed, is he being economical with the truth, or is he deliberately lying?

Given the answers he provides to the EWS debacle I would say very economical with the truth
 
When did it happen: 2nd November 2008
Where: North of Tokyo (about 60kms from home.)
Rider name: Delirious
Bike details (model and year): R1200GS '08 (6,600km's in 8 months)
Remedy: Recovered on flatbed by BMW Assist.
How many days work/holiday did you lose: 3 days. BMW shop closed for 2 day holiday.
Were there any incidental costs? Onwards journey travel by car. Kind friend came to pick us up and took us to our next destination. Taxi to BMW shop to collect bike.
Notes: BMW Assist in Japan are pretty bad about sorting you out. They'll happily recover the bike and send someone out to pick it up speedily but they will only reimburse you for transportation home via public transport. Not much good if your next destination is not home! No hire car niceties or such things for us here in Japan. Also recovery truck is simply that, not an engineer, so cannot fix anything for you by the roadside. You call them, they recover you, not fix you then leave you stranded to find your own way.

Cheers,
Delirious.

P.S. Had the EWS fault at 4,000km's if anyone is counting those as well.
 
When did it happen: 6nd November 2008
Where: Ncl, England
Rider name: AC1200
Bike details (model and year): R1200GS '05, 37k miles
Remedy: Recovered on flatbed by Carol Nash
How many days work/holiday did you lose: 1/2day
Were there any incidental costs? 3hrs wait in rain

Recently started running fuel down close to empty, suspect this overloads the fpc which gets hotter when less fuel pump resistance. FPC was recently inspected with no water ingression. Fins were badly corroded and polished up.
 
Hi all.
My fuel pump controller failed after 18 months it corroded right through. The BMW service engineer called to my home within 90 minutes of me calling them. Before he even looked at my bike he said it will be 1 of 2 possible problems, it will either be the fuel pump contoller or the battery, I explained that the bike would start, run for a few seconds and then cut out. He knew right away what the problem was and as it was a common fault with the bike he carried the part in his truck.
Great service, great bike, shame about build quality. Under warrenty they have replaced the fuel pump controller, the entire exhaust system because the chrome came off and the front engine casing because of corrosion. Heaven help me now the warranty has run out. That said the bike always leaves me with a smile on my face. My next big choise is tyres. has anyone got anything to say about Conti Trail Attacks?
Ride safe:thumb

I forgot to say I also had he final drive oil seal and the clutch slave cylinder oil seal replaced under warranty :rolleyes:

Thanks but could you please provide the info requested

When did it happen: December 2007
Where: At Home
Rider name: sburny
Bike details (model and year): R1200GSA 2006 7,500K
Remedy: Replace by BMW road side service vehicle
How many days work/holiday did you lose: None replace within 90mins of reporting problem
Were there any incidental costs?: Half a days paid leave
 

After some digging I've found that the F range models appear to have a different design
controller (1614 7 708 312) from the 1200GS and as yet I've not identified any failures
- F800S, F800ST
- F800GS, F650GS twin

The fuel pump controller from the 1200GS/GSA (1614 7 694 999 and subsequently
1614 7 719 844) is fitted across the R and K ranges, e.g.
- HP2 Enduro, Sport and Megamoto
- R1200GS and GSA
- R1200RT, R1200ST, R1200R, R1200S
- K1200R, K1200GT

Update: as of August the 1200GS/GSA FPC part number is said to be 1614 7 720 776

Tim


Due to paranioa I bought a spare controller for my 2005 1200GS in preparation for an upcoming trip. I've had the bodywork off & compared the two units side by side & the newer one has the different cooling fins.

The part number on my purchased item is 16 14 7 694 373 (purchased 04/05/07 with a new 'o' ring for £49.91)

I'd be interested to know if I'm carrying a new item that is part of a faulty batch.
 


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