BMW Equipment warranty,dont take at face value.

[BaldBaBoon]

When i bought my Adventure last year,i decided i may as well go the whole hog and buy the off-road gear as well.I had a good look about and as for the helmet the choice seemed to be Tour-x or the Bmw Enduro....i decided a nice satin Black Enduro was the buisness,so bought one with my bike.

Within a month,i had lost a visor/peak bolt from either some inherent fault or by vibration,and had to go through the drawn-out process of being the first customer to require a new bolt kit.....which they didnt sell at that point.The new bolts finally arrived,so i refitted them and made sure they stayed fitted by applying heavy duty tape to them.

After 3 months,it became apparent that the peak on my helmet was not quite right and was actually resting on my visor when it was retracted ( peak was stowed fully up and taped secure ) this created heavy scoring in two lines directly in front of my eyes with the visor down.

I mentioned this to the original dealer,who stated quite honestly i suppose that they had never had a fault like that reported before,and to hang on if i can to see if there was a repair kit coming out or other helmets at fault.No,problem as i liked the helmet and enjoyed using it with goggles on anyway ( im strange like that ) but decided to purchase a dark visor replacement for special occasions like bank jobs.

December this year,with the helmet being about 1 year old,I again had to purchase a new clear visor for the winter after struggling with the two now very deeply scored previous visors....as i was discussing this problem,the dealer mentioned that it might be hard to get a fix or replacement for this unique problem....BUT,hey the rubber visor seal has also detached and that is a warranty replaceable problem.Clean the helmet up and hand it in for an exchange.

January ( I am really busy at work and cannot get time off in the week and saturdays on a whim to visit BMW dealers )Hand helmet in and its refused for exchange ( on advice from BMW HQ ).

The reason was that my Helmet showed signs or wear and tear...such as scuff marks and soiling,as has every other piece of bike gear i own( BUT no impacts,fractures or deep scoring ) and as soon as i mentioned that i do about 50,000 miles on a bike each year...that was it,game over....( I should have mentioned that i have a proper offroad helmet,and two road helmets as well,so i really dont think the BMW Enduro has done anywhere near the miles,and the peak has been off for a total of 10 times since new....but i had lost my limited at best of times sense of humour at this point )

I contact Customer services and they again state,that because i have done more miles than the " average customer who does below 10,000 miles per annum " they cant do anything about it....but send it in and we might check it for faults.

Maybe i am mistaken...i thought the GS range were sold as " round the world bikes " and the gear that goes with them,you would have thought can go round the world with them.....unless you buy a Enduro helm,with seems can only go about a quarter of the way around the world?I even matched my old helm to a new one in the shop and you can blatantly see the peak mounts a lot lower on mine...but it was dismissed as wear on my one....i suppose it bloody well is after its been faulty for its entire life.

Rant over...and after i have sent my nasty letter to Customer Services tonight,looks like that is the last BMW product i will part money for.

 

[Schtum]

Would this be a good time to point out that Arais come with a 5 year warranty and a free service every 6 months during that time....?

 

[BaldBaBoon]

Very good point Schtum, i mentioned that in my letter....... " I understand that the Enduro Helmet is much cheaper than the Tour-X,but if I understood that the cost difference was made up in flimsy manufacture and sub-standard warranty,i would have bought the more robust and better quality Arai"....was the exact phrase.

 

[Mav]

I have the same enduro helmet. I use mine reasonably hard - it is my primary lid (the System 5 really doesn't get much use) have done about 25,000 miles in it and a fair amount of off-road. I noticed the scoring starting on my visor - it turns out it is due to the fact that the peak is too far forward. If you bring it back, just a little (like a couple millimetres) it will no longer score. Does having the peak in the wrong place really count as a warranty issue?

The seal went on mine as well - but North Oxford changed mine, after checking with BMW. To be honest, I thought I was being a bit cheeky - most riders do 5000 miles a year, often less. In my mind, 25,000 miles is pretty good value but the guys at North Oxford were really good about it.

I have had great experience with BMW warranty and I think it's typically good value.

 

[araspitfire]

Does having the peak in the wrong place really count as a warranty issue?

Read the 3rd paragraph in the original post... he says it was taped in the back position...

I'd send it in for an evaluation... if you think that it sits too far forward in fully retracted position, I'd drive that point home very hard before giving up on a warranty replacement...

Al...

 

[Mav]

Read the 3rd paragraph in the original post... he says it was taped in the back position...

I'd send it in for an evaluation... if you think that it sits too far forward in fully retracted position, I'd drive that point home very hard before giving up on a warranty replacement...

Al...

That'll teach me to scan read the post

I agree - if, with the peak fully retracted, it still scored the visor then I too would be pushing the point very hard

Although - having used a couple of them now, I find it really amazing that with the peak retracted it could still make contact with the visor

 

[araspitfire]

Although - having used a couple of them now, I find it really amazing that with the peak retracted it could still make contact with the visor

I think that for the cost savings over the TourX there is some manufacturing tolerance issues...

Mine can be pushed all the way forward without touching the visor... The salesman warned me about the scratches, but I later discovered that I'd have had to push my visor up hard to touch the peak...

Al...

 

[Neil W]

BMW state that all their kit carries a two year warranty FULL STOP.
I had a faulty System 5 which after having a new interior at 11 months old lost a front vent , which is not supplied as a spare part ,resulting in the lid being scrap.
Dealer didn't want to play ball but was replaced under warranty by BMW UK at 22 months old.
A well used lid according to most manufaxcturers has an expected life span of at least 5 years. So 50,000 miles isn't OTT.

 

[BaldBaBoon]

Success

Just an update to let you know how the warranty claim went.

Vines at Guildford sent the claim in for me,where it got sent off for a check-over and evaluation.

BMW agreed to replace the helmet with another brand-new one which i picked up yesterday,so it pays to write off a disgruntled customer letter to customer services.

Thanks to Vines for helping out with the claim as well.

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

Result