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

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

[Tim Cullis]

When: Sep 2008
Where: Edinburgh
Name: Tinker1955 (from HUBB)
Bike: 1200GS
Remedy: bypassed controller
Days lost: was on way from Aberystwyth to join up for weekend on Skye

[spannerman]

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

[karnevil]

- When did it happen?........................................... ...........11/09/08
- Where were you?......................................... .................Canterbury Services
- rider name[b].................................................. .............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.*****

[John Clarke]

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

[Owen Snell]

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

[Myke Rocks]

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

Originally Posted by POG

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

Originally Posted by Tim Cullis

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/vbfor...d.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

[dan_m]

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

Originally Posted by brianmaslen

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.

Originally Posted by POG

Yup, I was the same

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

[Tim Cullis]

When: Apr 2008
Where: Hammamet, Tunisia
Bike: 1200GSA
Rider: Stan46
Remedy: bike shipped back home. Dealer "we've had quite a lot of these failed recently".
Days lost: bike took four weeks to arrive

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

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
Any Incidental costs: none so far

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

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.

[sham]

- 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

[fatlad]

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