Brake fluid change - A con ??

[Bury_Dave]

I've booked my F800GS into Lind to have it's 6,000 miles service. £110+VAT. No problem.

However, the guy tells me that they will need to see if the brake fluid is 'too old' and, if it is, drain and refill with new at a cost of £170+ VAT

He says they won't know til they look at my service book and the condition of the fluid ........

Is this legit' or a con ?

Should I be looking at an independant to service my bike and have done with BMW ?

Cheers, Dave

 

[ppgser]

Con

Booked my 1200 in for a 6,000 service at main dealer. They asked if I needed the fluids changed. I said, what fluids and how much? Not sure was the answer, I will phone you.
Did get a call to tell me the bike was done. The bill was getting close to £500 and the 'fluids' had been changed.
£160 to change the bevel and gearbox oil!!

 

[Dean]

I've booked my F800GS into Lind to have it's 6,000 miles service. £110+VAT. No problem.

However, the guy tells me that they will need to see if the brake fluid is 'too old' and, if it is, drain and refill with new at a cost of £170+ VAT

He says they won't know til they look at my service book and the condition of the fluid ........

Is this legit' or a con ?

Should I be looking at an independant to service my bike and have done with BMW ?

Cheers, Dave

Interesting

I'm going for a legit con where they have you by the short and curlies

I was debating this a while back iis it not all new cars and bikes they say that after a period it gets to old and their guide lines say change it otherwise if you say no it defaults your warranty

Is it a moisture build up threat thing, does it get less efficient

When did this start ? is the fluid much different to fluid before this started? I wonder how long the fluid would last before it breaks down or fails to do its job ?

some one in the know must know

 

[BBB61]

I've booked my F800GS into Lind to have it's 6,000 miles service. £110+VAT. No problem.

However, the guy tells me that they will need to see if the brake fluid is 'too old' and, if it is, drain and refill with new at a cost of £170+ VAT

He says they won't know til they look at my service book and the condition of the fluid ........

Is this legit' or a con ?

Should I be looking at an independant to service my bike and have done with BMW ?

Cheers, Dave

£170 to bleed the brakes???? They are having a laugh!! A litre of BMW brake fluid is only a tenner and it should take them no more than 30 minutes to bleed both front and rear brakes. If their labour is £80 per hour then that should be a total cost of £50.

 

[BBB61]

Booked my 1200 in for a 6,000 service at main dealer. They asked if I needed the fluids changed. I said, what fluids and how much? Not sure was the answer, I will phone you.
Did get a call to tell me the bike was done. The bill was getting close to £500 and the 'fluids' had been changed.
£160 to change the bevel and gearbox oil!!

How do they come up with such a figure? A litre of even the expensive Castrol oil is £18. It takes a couple of minutes to remove the rear wheel, a couple of minutes to remove the drain plug and then let it drain out while other jobs are being done. Same on the gearbox. 30 minutes labour tops, total cost (assuming labour at £80 per hour) should be £60.

 

[cookie]

brake fluid absorbs water. when it gets hot, it boils. when this happens with the lever comes back to the bars and you have no brakes. not generally considered a good thing.
water in the system also causes corrosion. brake parts can be expensive, particularly ABS units.

£170 quid to change the fluid though, is a joke.

 

[Bury_Dave]

Thanks for your thoughts guys

I was told that moisture gets into the system and this causes the brakes to become 'spongy'.

The bike is an April 2009 registered bike and had 1800 miles on it when I got it in Early July. Now it's at 6500. It's last service was at 1740 in August of last year when the chain & sprockets recall was also done. I changed the oil and filter at 4,000.

I have told them to put a hold on that works and to call me first. I can't believe the costs they charge but then again, they do have a VERY nice showroom

Don't have any warranty to worry about so as long as I'm still stopping ok, I can't see the point. They've already told me that there are no outstanding recalls to be done.

I'll get the official 6,000 miles service done and then start using an independant. This is the bunch that bled my 1150GSA earlier this year and the servo unit happened to pack up whilst they were test riding it and i ended up having to get the gubbins removed a week before I went off on tour in late May. My confidence in them is a bit shakey !

Any recommendations on service intervals or should I go with BMW's and just change the oil every 2,000 miles between ?

Cheers, Dave

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

what a fekin joke bmw stealers are - and more fool is anyone that pays them

 

[rce]

Any recommendations on service intervals or should I go with BMW's and just change the oil every 2,000 miles between ?

Cheers, Dave

Why change the oil at 2000 ? Seems overkill for a motor designed to go 6000 miles between oil changes.

I believe the brake fluid change is recommended after first year, then every two years. To be honest the engine braking is so good I can't see the fluid getting that stressed, especially on the 8 with twin discs so after first year I would push fluid change to three years.

On my 650 I had the brake fluids changed on the first proper service at 6000 as recommended, the rear brake certainly needed doing as the fluid was nearly black. 1 year / 6000 mile service with fluid change came to well under £200

 

[stever1]

I think that to change the oil and filter at less than the specified interval may be a waste. My bike is a 2010 1200 and at 3500 miles i changed the oil and filter just to see what the oil was like. To look at it was fairly light (ie not much carbon contamination) and doing the "rub it between your fingers test,and see what it feels like" led me to believe its in good condition.(ie, just as slippy.)
Personally i would stick at the 6000 mile oil change. Obviously its different on a 1200 as it uses oil and so at 6000 miles a good proportion of the oil has not done the mileage.

 

[cookie]

what a fekin joke bmw stealers are - and more fool is anyone that pays them

last time they did mine, i think it was a slightly more reasonable £70.

of course, i could do it myself, but it was under warranty

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

that's stupid money to change the fluid. Last year my 1200 gsa 6000 mile service which included fluid change and gearbox oil change was £210. As to whether it really has to be done, there are two camps. One says absolutely or you will die and the other says no. Look at the number of old clonker cars and bikes out there, the majority of them probably haven't had the fluid changed in years, most likely since they came out of warranty. Personally I would say its more important to do it if you have ABS, not because your brakes will stop working but because it will protect the components from corrosion but not at your dealers prices!

 

[stolzy]

Is there something especially crap about bike brakes that causes them to need fluid change every other year?

My 10-year-old BMW528i has covered 300k km, and, AFAIK, has never had the brake fluid changed

 

[cookie]

those of you that have ever taken an old, poorly serviced brake system apart and seen what comes out, may be more keen on regular changes

 

[Brucey]

Well I would have agreed with Stolzy BUT, I had one experience that makes me a bit more careful now. Coming off the mountain down into Ramsey (on the IOM) in and old Reliant Scimitar GTE....Bit of brake fade coming into the Gooseneck made it round JUST...brown pants moment. After that...no brakes at all! Gulp! Managed to stop using engine braking and a bit of hedge. Basically the brake fluid had boiled and blown back all the fluid over the engine compartment. One hell of a lot of white smoke (due to fluid going through the vacuum hoses) and a very chastened driver!

So, now I do change the fluid every few years but I do know Why!

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

Is there something especially crap about bike brakes that causes them to need fluid change every other year?

My 10-year-old BMW528i has covered 300k km, and, AFAIK, has never had the brake fluid changed

You will probably find that the recommended change interval is 2 years the same as a bike. Most cars are still 2 years just people never get it done.

Brucey, Any evidence it was old fluid that caused the problem and not just the usual Scimitar servo seals blowing? I own an SE5 with a V8 in it by the way.

 

[Brucey]

You will probably find that the recommended change interval is 2 years the same as a bike. Most cars are still 2 years just people never get it done.

Brucey, Any evidence it was old fluid that caused the problem and not just the usual Scimitar servo seals blowing? I own an SE5 with a V8 in it by the way.

TBH I think that it was Britpart or similar cheap pads which generated a lot of heat combined with old fluid. It blew the fluid all over the engine bay and took ages to bleed again. The servo wasn't too bad (I previously had an earlier SE5 that the brake pedal would slowly go to the floor). That is of course ignoring the fact that I had been hammering it over the mountain and so deserved what I got! It had a rally tuned ford v6 3.0 with tuned exhaust (but the timing wheel (made of some fibre product) eventually disintegrated and knackered it later unfortunately).

 

[duckspeed]

Is there something especially crap about bike brakes that causes them to need fluid change every other year?

My 10-year-old BMW528i has covered 300k km, and, AFAIK, has never had the brake fluid changed

Well it should have had

 

[casperfelix]

brake fluid absorbs water. when it gets hot, it boils. when this happens with the lever comes back to the bars and you have no brakes. not generally considered a good thing.
water in the system also causes corrosion. brake parts can be expensive, particularly ABS units.

£170 quid to change the fluid though, is a joke.

I agree. Changing fluids is a good thing. £170 is silly.

 

[Bury_Dave]

Hi Casper, you're local to me. Where do you get your steed serviced ?

Dave