ews failure / waterproofing

[geek]

brilliant. today i joined the relay club.

because of recent changes in the law, being relayed 100 miles home involves two relay trucks as they are no longer allowed more than 65 miles from their base......!

bike working fine, 500 miles in three days. stop at service station on long way home today, bike don't start. nada!

thankfully a kindly elder gentleman riding a v new 1200adv popped by and happened to have his manual, so at least I had the pleasure of the eight hours it took to get home knowing that "EWS" was just the immobiliser/key/antenna ring bollocks. i hope i didn't scare him.

i rode through another monsoon today before it happened. there was enough water that i am prepared to believe it the cause ?? if so once fixed, is there something i can keep spraying with wd40 to stop it happening again? is there a spare bit one can keep, for long journeys (an RT ?)

 

[Firebird]

Geek, I think you'll find it has nothing to do with water ingress. Was on a trip with a mate in Morocco, his packed up in the desert! He had to nurse the bike back to Spain!

Don't let a dealer tell you it just needs a reset on the computer to solve the problem.

Probably a part BMW got made in China.

 

[Shep]

, is there something i can keep spraying with wd40 to stop it happening again? ?)

You could spray the BMW Assist card, it wont stop you breaking down but the card will slide out of your wallet much easier

Oh bad luck BTW

Shep

 

[Speedy23]

brilliant. today i joined the relay club. iQUOTE]

Nahhh, you just joined the fecked ring antenna club. Needs a new one, or the EWS cannot talk to the key, hence the lack of go.

 

[geek]

i think there should be a thread on this site devoted to showing the correct way to strapping the bike to the bike of the tow truck - it was interesting seeing two drivers doing it differently. I would have preferred to have known the best way beforehand....

 

[terayon]

no you wouldn't because if they strap it down, it's insured. If you strap it down or try to till them where you want it strapped, they get you to sign a waiver and then it's not insured

 

[Darren@Vines]

The key reader or ring anntena is the problem and BMW AG are aware and are in the process of updating and type approving this product we as dealers are not sure when this will be available so please bare with us while the AG sort this issue out
Thanks

 

[Fanum]

The key reader or ring anntena is the problem and BMW AG are aware and are in the process of updating and type approving this product we as dealers are not sure when this will be available so please bare with us while the AG sort this issue out
Thanks

Is there a way of bypassing the system though Darren?

I'd hate to have someone on a trip with this problem and it end their holiday

Obviously as it's a security issue it wouldn't be wise to post it here, but knowing there is a way around it is a start and I can look into it further

 

[cookie]

The key reader or ring anntena is the problem and BMW AG are aware and are in the process of updating and type approving this product we as dealers are not sure when this will be available so please bare with us while the AG sort this issue out
Thanks

any chance they could sort out the endless engine and gearbox oil seal failures, mystery battery discharges, bollocksed fuel pump energiser, self destructing final drive and leaky panniers while they're at it?

especially the leaky panniers in my case

 

[jonnie comet]

Not just a GS issue, it appears to be across the range (same part )

Recently, MCN tested (IIRC) a K1200GT......Constant trouble with the EWS. So much so, that they terminated the test early.

My ten year old Honda car uses a similer device......never a minutes trouble.....Mind you, it needs a new exhaust....

 

[Shep]

any chance they could sort out the endless engine and gearbox oil seal failures, mystery battery discharges, bollocksed fuel pump energiser, self destructing final drive and leaky panniers while they're at it?

especially the leaky panniers in my case

Fussy fekker

 

[Sadjim]

Is there a way of bypassing the system though Darren?

I'd hate to have someone on a trip with this problem and it end their holiday

Obviously as it's a security issue it wouldn't be wise to post it here, but knowing there is a way around it is a start and I can look into it further

Take a ring antenna with you and via a PM I will tell you how to make it work.

Jim

 

[Gipsy]

Take a ring antenna with you and via a PM I will tell you how to make it work.

Jim

Any chance of including me in the PM. Have had 2 fuel pump relay failures, and will carry a spare in future. Any other preventive spares would be a great idea. off to spain in 2 weeks. Many thanks

 

[cookie]

Any chance of including me in the PM. Have had 2 fuel pump relay failures, and will carry a spare in future. Any other preventive spares would be a great idea. off to spain in 2 weeks. Many thanks

and me please.

my mate's trying to get one going with a smashed sensor unit (he has a new one). any help appreciated.

 

[eclectic]

"Any other preventive spares would be a great idea."

Having had a fuel pump relay failure on a motorway in Slovenia a few weeks ago and of course no spare, such a list from those who know would be very much appreciated.

By the way the nearest BMW bike dealership in Slovenija is Trieste in Italy so an interesting few days! But as Grant Johnston of Horizons Unlimited sagely says "treat these situations as opportunities" I did, met a few Italian bikers on BM's who stopped and helped, and now I have two new friends and an offer of free accomodation anytime I am passing through Trieste!

 

[Sadjim]

Fanum, Gipsy and Cookie you have a PM

Jim

 

[Gipsy]

Hi Sadjim. No Pm as yet. can you give it another go?

 

[oldenoughtoknowbetter]

EWS

Join the club! I had an EWS failure in County Mayo Western Ireland. My eight month old 12GSA had been outside all night in pouring rain. Stopped to get fuel early next morning. Dead. End of holiday! Same situation as yours by the sounds of it. Failure might be caused by all kinds of things but I'm pretty certain mine (and yours?) was likely to have been triggered by the wet.
But that was the really the start of my problems. Eight or nine hours wait for a courtesy car and four days to get the bike over to Dublin to be fixed! Nightmare! But who's interested? BMW certainly aren't. Letter of complaint winged its way off to them over a month ago and nothing back but a letter of acknowledgement! AND they owe me money for my extended stay waiting for the bike to be fixed. Phone calls to find out what's going on haven't helped. Anyone recommend a KTM?
End of rant.
Dave.

 

[geek]

relaying from Ireland sounds terrible, my commiserations!

i find it hard to believe it isn't related to the waterproofing - the rain that came down in the hour before it happened was akin to just a nonstop hosing of the bike - anyone who has been out in some of the UK monsoons recently knows exactly what I mean.

i can't really grumble about the BMW bits of the service - my dealer was excellent as usual - but they contract out all the relaying and what-have-you to Mondial who I think contract it all out to whoever is nearest - bloody outsourcing!!!! you're just at the mercy of whoever happens to respond.

there is a monster thread on ADVrider devoted to this - doesn't seem to be any correlation to water or anything though.

its made me think very differently about taking it abroad.....

 

[oldenoughtoknowbetter]

Know what you mean. I had a later tour penned in for Germany but cancelled because no faith in the bike. But I think Mondial are pretty hopeless. Breaking down in central London and the like is probably fine and they'll get someone out to you in no time at all. Out in the sticks is a different matter altogether. Bloke that turned up to collect my bike said he'd never done a bike before and asked me how much it cost in the event that he might substantially damage it! He didn't want the job and I wasn't very keen for him to do it either. Then two days for Mondial to get a replacement carrier out! But EWS is a nightmare. Not sure why it's there anyway. It doesn't stop bikes being lifted into the backs of Transits. The tried and tested method of a bloody great chain between lamppost and bike doesn't break down and ruin your holiday!