Flat battery after 10 months

[martymcfly]

Good day everyone,

I bought my 1200GS new in July 2005 and have ridden it almost every weekend since then. On the occasion, I put it on the BMW charger (for CANBUS) for a few hours and top off the battery.

A few months back, the battery just went flat over the course of being parked in the garage for a week. It had been 10 months since I had gotten the bike new.

I charged up the bike and made it over to the dealer and had the battery tested. It was completely dead and not holding any charge at all. There was no choice but to install a new battery. What came next was a huge suprise, a bill for 8,000$nt (135.00GBP) for a new battery! .....The service clerk told me that BMW set the warranty for batteries at 6months and that was that!.....and that was the price to pay.

Since my bike has no electrical upgrades of any sort, I had them check the charging system and all turned out fine. A mate of mine who had also purchased his bike around the same time as me had ridden his just as much but hadn't had any battery problems at all. So all signs pointed towards a defective/faulty battery. Still, no support or understanding from the dealer here.

Next, I found out that the original battery that had come in my bike was a YUASA from Japan, and the new one they wanted to sell to me was an Exide unit from Germany....???...I asked them why my bike had come with a YUASA and that now they wanted to sell me a proper Exide battery from BMW?....The answer from them was that batteries in new bikes are like tires on new bikes...some come with Yuasa and others with Exide...like some with bridgstone tires and others with Dunlop. I'm not entirely convinced that this is true!...I didn't buy their battery. Instead I got the same Yuasa for cheaper, but I'm still thinking that there's something wrong here.

Has anyone had any battery problems with their 1200GS when still under the 2 year warranty?

Did the dealer replace it under warranty or did it come out of your pocket?

Have any of you gotten either YUASA or Exide batteries in your bikes when delivered new?

I appreciate all replies and thanks for your help.

Cheers

 

[LivNorway]

Hi!

You wrote:
''Next, I found out that the original battery that had come in my bike was a YUASA from Japan, and the new one they wanted to sell to me was an Exide unit from Germany....???...I asked them why my bike had come with a YUASA and that now they wanted to sell me a proper Exide battery from BMW?....The answer from them was that batteries in new bikes are like tires on new bikes...some come with Yuasa and others with Exide...like some with bridgstone tires and others with Dunlop. I'm not entirely convinced that this is true!''

I believe that is true.
In all pictures of the Scarver when it was new, it has Metzeler z4, but mine had Bridgestone.
I guess BMW are asking around for a good deal, and Bridgestone gave a good deal that year, for my wheels. And I believe the same thing happends with batteries.

If there was a label with the BMW logo at the Exide battery you didn't buy;
I think you'll find exactly the same battery for less money, from Exide, with no BMW logo!

-Do you know what is going on inside a battery?
Sometimes they just die... Batteries are like babies; they need to be looked after, to handle with care, not to loose fluid, charge - but not charge too hard or too little, not to be dropped, and temperature does matter.
You may put your battery in the fridge for months, but only if is charged and feeling 100% well.
Batteries is a living thing.

-Perhaps you just didn't have any luck with your battery?
But in my opinion BMW should have given you a new battery within a year (you bought a new bike!) - I would be mad too if they didn't!
And they could have told you there are cheaper batteris around!

I hope I helped you a little!

Liv.

 

[cookiemonster]

Hi - this, i think, is a reasonably common occurance on the 12.

You need two things: firstly a software update thats fixes the charging problem (you can tell whether this has been done as your aux socket starts turning itself off intermittently ), and a new battery to replace the knackered one. In your case I'd take the bike back and get them to check the software revision and ensure its up to date (they produce a ream of paper with all the details). I'm sure someone will be along with the actual version number of what you're looking for.

Given we know that the battery is failing due to a software problem, then this is something to expect bmw to pay for.

I went through the same thing, bmw replaced the battery for free.

Dont know about the exide / yuasa thing: i suspect Liv is right in that bm have two suppliers (both very well respected) and you've a 50/50 chance of getting one or the other.

cheers

jon

 

[Dahoum]

happened to me - battery replaced free under warranty (at 18 months) and software upgrade done.

get yerself a new dealer

 

[Eng]

SOFTWARE UPGRADE

Hi Guys,
will a new 06 bike have the upgrade to the charging done? Also, a silly question perhaps, but can I just put the bike on an optimate as per previous models?? (Pick up new 1200 1/9/06)
Regards
Eng

 

[martymcfly]

Thanks everyone,

At least I have something to go with once I meet the BMW service manager for Taiwan. The update was done to my bike about 5 months after I bought it, so I guess that gave enough time for the battery to go belly up.

Thanks again and if any others have similar experiences, please go ahead and post about it here. I'm going to print all the replies to show them I'm not mad!

Cheers

 

[birdseye]

Batteries would not normally be covered by the same length of guarantee as the rest of the bike - like tyres they are consumables, and it is often the case that if you let a lead acid battery go totally flat it is bu**ered.

That said you wouldnt expect a battery to fail in 6 months either, so the attitude of the dealer is unreasonable. You need to find a new one. Odd since the dealers over here seem to go in the opposite direction - people have had claims honoured that they wouldnt get away with elsewhere.

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

How much warranty do you get on a battery bought as a spare part ???

My guess is that it would be a minimum of 12 months and possibly as much as 36 months

 

[Oz1200]

My battery was replaced free of charge the day after my 12 month/10 000 km service. I'd had some battery issues before and asked the dealer to check things out - of course they reported no problems found. When the bike wouldn't start the very next morning, I had a small tantrum in their reception area (after ringing BMW Roadside Assistance to get the bike started). The result was a new battery and no problems since.

 

[JohnC]

Was given a new BMW gel battery by my dealer for my 6 year old 1100 (used bike warranty) as the battery was duff.

 

[martymcfly]

Thanks again for posting your own experiences in similar matters. I'm going to press-on and try to get my money back from the BMW dealership that charged me for a new battery.

Cheers

 

[Gecko]

I heard from soemone that if the R12GS is parked and the ignition key is simply removed that there is still some current being drawn to keep the electronic trickery alive but that is the key is removed with the ignition steering lock on then this doesn't happen and no current is drawn at all. Therefore when you park - put the steering lock on and remove the ley and you should be OK. The source of this was a BMW mechanic in Germany who seems to know his stuff according to my freinds but I don't know it from first hand experience. It's not a problem on my superior 1100GS