JAY said:
If BMW cars - or any car for that matter - had similar problems, there would be a recall.
Hello,
i just like to remember for people that are curious and are involved in some kind of trouble that officially does not exist, how things are handled in case of the Mercedes SBC brakes:
Mercedes software problems with SBC Brakes caused a recall of about 700,000 E and SL class vehicles, do your remember? It was a big deal!
And remember, that in the event of failure of the complex electronic 'brake-by-wire' set-up, a back-up hydraulic brake will be applied. Keep in mind, that everything is okay, i mean, really okay, and that everything is legal.
But – the customers did just not accept the fallback, they did just not like having longer breaking distances and they did not like pushing breake pedals like elephant's.
Well – i have to tell you, that i do have experience in loosing the brake booster (on BMW R1150GS Adv) at 100 mph on a german highway (and that's war on the road!). And i do think, that it is much more easy to stop a mercedes car with four wheels and a lot of airbags in case of the fallback, than a bmw linked-brake bike without brake-boster and without abs just on two wheels, without any airbags as far a i know.
do have about 25.000 miles experience in riding a BMW R1150GS Adventure with I-ABS III anti-lock brakes since august 2003 on nearly every terrain and speed in europe.
I recently noticed, that we do have large discussions on BMW related motorcycle internetboards in germany about brake failure of the famous I-ABS III anti-lock brakes during riding bmw motorcycles. there are also surveys of rider's opinions and experience in this matter available on nearly every board.
Well, some guys and me are in connection with the Kraftfahrtbundesamt (KBA) in Flensburg/Germany and a major automobile club for Germany and Austria (ADAC). We also tried to find a solution (cause a recall) by the manufacturer. It did not work. The spirit of the letters seems to be, that there are no problems with the braking systems I-ABS III at all (attachement in german language in the end).
Summary:
First of all: There are no problems with the BMW linked anti-lock brakes at all. Second: If there are reports about customers in the world who complain, the customers are all wrong, because they don't anticipate the system's behavior, they don't accept the system's fallback and the system's behavior. And last but not least: The BMW anti-lock brakes are save under any circumstances, and they are legal in any system behavior. There is no recall in the US or Germany known, and there is no evidence for any recall at all.
Well, really everybody knows what happens, when brake failure (booster kaputt) happens:
you just have residual braking power. that's fine! and everything is okay, because you have seen the warnings lights, right? however, what if that failure comes at a not appropriate time? what if you don't recognize the warning light? in some cases i was examining, people did not recognize any warning light at all! but in any category of system malfunction - you have to learn to operate with an very unfamiliar feeling brake, and you better learn very fast.
I "learnd" to operate with residual breaking power riding fast on a german highway when i reached a truck, aktivating brakes at nearly 100 mph. well, indeed the warning light showed me the system malfunction just in the second, when i touched the brake lever. was it a help for me? no, it was not. i was really scared to death. BMW mobile service called the breakdown van and they picked it up.
Well, i did some investigation of my own, since noboby really is interrested in evaluating the risk of brake failure on a BMWI-ABS III antilock-brake bike. There is a reason why nobody wants to know about that risk. And i found a lot of information about brake failure on the internet (Germany / USA). I had to do something.
Because the investigation in germany failed due to peculiar processing of the bureau KBA (Kraftfahrtbundesamt) and obvious legal restrictions in germany, i called for intervention of the president of the KBA. he is reviewing the case since 12/01/04
Well, because of legal restrictions in germany I just asked today ODI of NTHSA if a failure that might cause a crash could find their attention. I just want do my part in bringing hazardous failures to the attention of the right bureau anywhere in the world.
Consumers have to know at least the unsatisfactory limitations of fallback and the consequences they face in case of the fallback.
And of course i like to know how many particular cases are an exception.
Dr. ABS Brake (Germany)
