Bang goes my engine.

[Greggers]

PAddy ...

How much has the diagnosis already cost you?

Don't forget that BMW's 'kind offer' of a 50% discount on a new engine will still cost you thousands ...

Prolly better to fix your motor - did they give you any clue as to what the problem/failure was?

IMHO - as long as the engine cases aren't fooked, then it will be more cost effective to fix rather than replace.

G

 

[Dave Ett]

@ Shep:

 

[austen_gs]

i know of a clean and well maintained (according to the advert) for £650, you'd get you money back on that plus maybe more in the spring. Hell i was even thinking of it for myself to save the corrosion over the winter!!

 

[mr_magicfingers]

Hey Paddy, hope you manage to find a cheap commuter bike, there must be some out there, get something that keeps you working and earning, even if it's not that shiny, work is better than dole. Maybe put a wanted post up here on the forum, someone's bound to have a cheap runaround sitting in a garage they want getting rid of.

Bummer on the F800, if it was serviced professionally and the motor went bang, then there has to be a cause. I'd hassle bmw direct, I can't believe they're not interested in why one of their bikes failed that early in it's life. If it was due to an error or failure in the servicing then someone is responsible for it as it sounds like the failure was catastrophic.

Keep pushing and try not to be too disheartened.

 

[Greggers]

I was thinking on the way home ...

Why would BMW offer 50% discount? If the motor has gone bang due to user negligence (this is a generalisation, not directed at you Paddy...) why would they absorb a huge lump of that cost?

I'm wondering though, when the biek was in the hedge was it running for long on its side? I guess there could have been an oil starvation issue if it was ...

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

I'm wondering though, when the biek was in the hedge was it running for long on its side? I guess there could have been an oil starvation issue if it was ...

Did you see Svengalie's bike in his vid, running for ages on it's side whilst he was in agony with a broken leg...................I bet his bike may go BANG too

Sorry to hear about yours Gunz

 

[rick]

Sorry to hear about your bike blowing up Paddy. Just shouldn't happen at that mileage.

I think if you take up BMW on their offer you'll still be in for a hefty bill. Its just half the cost of the motor they're offering. Labour will be on top of this. If the bike did spend some time running on its side after your mishap then this might have caused this. They're designed to run upright.

Hope you get the speed awareness course.

Rick

 

[mikeyboy]

hi paddy ,sorry to hear about the motor,if you get no joy out off bmw ,if you can find a s/h engine ill fit it for you..mike

 

[Dave Ett]

They're designed to run upright.

It's an adventure bike, so you'd think they'd expect some lying down to happen. If the engine is that sensitive, they should have fitted a tilt switch!

 

[GunZenBomZ]

Well bmw-northampton reckon its going to be £3k roughly.

New engine is £5350; which are prepared to call it £2,500 for me (Also gaining a 2-year guarantee on the engine.). £300-400 for fitting it; whilst letting me hire a bike for the foreseeable future time-frame. Still got to wait till saturday for firm agreement & then live on beans-on-toast. A further hope is that beemer will do me a reduced hire cost once my beast is sorted & then, add what I can't pay for to a finance deal over the coming year/6-month period.

Nice surprise is that I have been offered a Driver Education Workshop for my speeding offense. Plus the tax-man is refunding me £700 for over-payments in 2007-08.

You know what, I was hoping too look at getting finance for a nice rukka set of clothing. All in good time I suppose]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BAVE3ttUe-c" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[David Nimrod]

I'd buy a cheap car for a few hundred quid to use for work, rather than hire a bike from a BMW Dealer...

 

[flatdog]

Gunz, watching that video, does not look like a normal failure.
A piston breaking horizontally across the gudgen pin cannot possibly be due to any riding style - or lack of oil, overheating.
Lack of oil would take the bigend crank bearings out before the bearings with little movement.
Looks to me like BMW would be pleased that you accept the 50% offer.

I'd be pushing them to supply a replacement engine due to manufacturing defect.
Thats my armchair view anyway

 

[Dave Ett]

I'm with Flatdog. What the hell can cause a piston to do that??

I've siezed a two stroke so badly I had to hammer the piston out of the barrel (coolant pipe came off) and it STILL didn't break the piston.

If it'd simply run out of oil, the worst that would have happened is the piston would have siezed in the barrel and stalled the engine.

Have you had an independant inspection of the engine?

 

[(RIP) Proff]

Me and Monk just watched the vid, we're in agreement with Flatdog..

Does not look like it seized, does not look like seize marks in bore..

Just a crap Taiwanese piston

As long as oil level was OK when it went bang you should give it a go
We'd be pushing BMW for a new engine because of shoddy materials..

 

[john_aero]

ah id be going for bmw to replace it full stop.

not fit for purpose, looks like crappy parts and bad quality by bmw so dont accpet 50 50 payment. get them to do the lot.

i would ask independant mech (maybe one here who is excellent with bmw's hint hint) to review this and get an outside report on their findings regarding incident. dont always trust your bmw dealer, most will try screw you instead of taking the blame.

 

[Greggers]

Gunz ...

I have to agree with FlatDog - not in a million years should a piston fracture laterally like that ...

I'm sure that BMW have offered the discount because they're aware that it's not an 'operative' failure...

Keep pressing them and ask them how a piston could have failed like that without it being a component failure.

G

 

[JayC]

Gather what you can of that piston and take it to a metallurgist for a full report on its structure/failings etc.

BMW owe you nothing so there is a reason why they are offering you a half price motor, and it's not because you are their mate!

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

i think any engine that has been serviced to manufacturers standards should certainly not go bang at 50K

I think there is a design defect or quality problem with these pistons that they are loosing the top of them.

BWM are offering the 50% as part accaptance of a problem they probabaly know about and have quietly fixed up in later designs without putting out a recall.

the fact that yours has let go is a small price to pay for them.

I'd be livid and push for a lot more

 

[Goose]

yep - agree 100% with Flatdog as well............... this is not on mate!

a design defect or quality problem ........ sums it up!

sorry this happened ... hope it gets sorted

 

[v8legend]

Hi Paddy. I'm gutted for you mate. Real Bummer.

So the purple throbbing monster is just a purple monster!

I'm with the others on the piston failure, very strange. I've never seen one like that before (ooh er missus). However, you need to be careful when pushing BMW. The bike is out of warranty, and they don't have to offer you anything. My first course of action would be to push the dealer a bit more. Have they seen this before (on any bike let alone an F800GS)? How can it fail like that with no sign of seizure? What could you have done to prevent this? Get the dealer on your side, and ask them to ask BMW again about there contribution. You can always get heavy at a later date if you get nowhere.

Where there any tell tail signs, or did it just let go?

Modern engines can and do take an enormous amount of abuse. This kind of total failure is practically unheard of nowadays. The only potential issue with this engine is a few cases of piston slap. Did yours have this when cold?

Does anyone (Greggers?) know if prolonged piston slap can lead to piston failure?