Fuel gauge fiasco, -Dealer comments - your comments welcome

[simoto]

My R1200 fuel gauge failed under warranty - shows half full when empty
Bike in for repair - I understood they intended to fit a new fuel 'strip', absolutely no different.
I complained, they responded:

"Regarding the fuel strip, I understand your frustration, but for us to complete any warranty work or replacement of parts we have to prove a fault exists. It is equally as frustrating for us too.
In the case of electrical repairs this is usually straight forward because we can connect the bike to the diagnostic equipment, codes are then produced that can be read at both BMW Germany and GB headquarters
to support our claim. In the absence of any fault codes our only option is to do as we did, to recalibrate"

Does this ring true? Am I right that the fuel strip has to be removed and dried out for re-calibration? In which case surely you would just fit the new strip (which they said they had in stock)

If anyone has a link to the correct calibration/re-calibration procedure i would appreciate it.

 

[duckspeed]

But as the man said if they fit a replacement part without the evidence to prove a fault in the first place they won't get paid

 

[Beemerman59]

Did the recalibration fix the problem?

 

[Deleted account 200502001]

The fuel strips are shite. I paid my BMW dealer to replace it, and it failed a few months later under warranty. I booked it in for yet another replacement whilst it was having its MOT earlier in the year. I week or so later I realised they hadn't changed it, I phoned them and they confirmed it was an over sight. I booked it in again this week and was told the warranty on the strip had expired, I said "But I booked it in a few weeks ago and you forgot to replace it". They replied "We have no record of that, sorry". So now I'm left with a faulty strip. But then they are all faulty anyway.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

Yep it was standard practice. I am surprised they are still doing this since I think the fuel strip has to be sitting in at least a 90% + failure rate. You will eventually get it fixed but it will fail again. After you have been through this a couple of times you will do the same as many have done. Ignore it and use the trip.

Less than ideal but life is too short to be sitting around waiting in a shitty fuel sender getting repaired all the time!

 

[TLSgazza]

Mine was replaced on September 23rd last year and last night it packed up again. 210 quid it cost last year.
I shall be ringing th dealer today. Next Friday I'm off for a 3.000 mile trip to eastern Europe and would prefer it to be working.
It is getting beyond a joke now.
This is the fourth one since 2008.

 

[KMD]

Have BMW ever made any official comment on this ? Mine is also knacked but because it is such a repetitive issue I just got into the habit of re-setting the trip and the fuel warning on my sat nav at every fill up.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

They are warranted for life in the US but they never did that in Europe. Possibly happened in the US because they kept getting sued for running out of fuel but it is different law over here. It just isn't worth the effort.

 

[Bendy toy]

VW are paying USA diesel owners $10,000 and buying cars back; UK gets a cheap software fix. So don't expect any half decent solutions form BMW.

The fuel strip can be zapped with a piezo lighter to fuse the copper strips inside the mylar strip but its not a permanent fix.

I've fitted a pole & float sender to my bike with a small 10 to 180 Ohm instrument. It works but still a work in progress. Last week I "ran out of fuel" with at least a gallon in the tank so looks like I also have a fuel pump or fuel controller problem. At least that's nothing to do with my fuel gauge adventures.

 

[Andy63]

They replaced my fuel pump on recall on my 2006 GSA, that screwed up my fuel strip, the bike went back for calibration 3 times before a new fuel strp was fitted.
This took weeks and weeks as i had to ride around emptying the 33ltr tank to make sure it was fixed. Not really a hardship.

The replacement failed after a few weeks they fitted another that failed too so they contacted BMW who advised the replacement and process. So far 6 months later its still working.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

VW are paying USA diesel owners $10,000 and buying cars back; UK gets a cheap software fix. So don't expect any half decent solutions form BMW.

The fuel strip can be zapped with a piezo lighter to fuse the copper strips inside the mylar strip but its not a permanent fix.

.

This only works if the gauge shows zero fuel all the time. A lot of strips fail in an inaccurate way, so they show fuel left but there isn't any or they only read half a tank when it is full. Zapping these one will not do anything.

 

[agent2494]

Why are you guys relying on a fuel gauge that is known for been a problem!!! Best way is to re-set the speedo to zero at every fuel up and you should know how far your bike will go on a tank if your a true biker! As my dad says!!! My bike at 290 miles takes 30 Ltrs to fill so that when I fill up. Simples


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[Deleted account 200502001]

Why are you guys relying on a fuel gauge that is known for been a problem!!! Best way is to re-set the speedo to zero at every fuel up and you should know how far your bike will go on a tank if your a true biker! As my dad says!!! My bike at 290 miles takes 30 Ltrs to fill so that when I fill up. Simples


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But that doesn't stop the horribly annoying orange light coming on when the strip thinks the tank is empty, even though its not.

 

[TLSgazza]

Why are you guys relying on a fuel gauge that is known for been a problem!!! Best way is to re-set the speedo to zero at every fuel up and you should know how far your bike will go on a tank if your a true biker! As my dad says!!! My bike at 290 miles takes 30 Ltrs to fill so that when I fill up. Simples


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That's all well and good but I've had times when touring when I've put 22 litres in for 300 miles and times when I've put in 33 litre for 300 miles. Not so good when on a big tour and I could have gone another 100 miles before filling up.

But that doesn't stop the horribly annoying orange light coming on when the strip thinks the tank is empty, even though its not.

Exactly. Orange light on this Morning and flashing "fuel" bloody annoying

 

[Bendy toy]

Why are you guys relying on a fuel gauge that is known for been a problem!!! Best way is to re-set the speedo to zero at every fuel up and you should know how far your bike will go on a tank if your a true biker! As my dad says!!! My bike at 290 miles takes 30 Ltrs to fill so that when I fill up. Simples

It's only simples if you always ride the same route and always have the same fuel consumption. My bike does high 40s to the gallon on long runs and low 40s or worse on short runs. I can and do refill at 250 miles but it seriously pisses me off having to carry 10 litres of fuel that I can't use.

Ive fitted my own fuel gauge which works only to find the fuel pump ran dry sooner than expected and my 2.5 litres spare got me only 1/2 as far as expected. When refilled the tank only accepted 27 litres so although he pumps was dry, I still had more than 7 litres in the tank.

Fuel issues on these bikes are not only related to the crap fuel gauge. The way BMW extract fuel from the tank right-hand side is also dubious.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

The mpg figures are pretty accurate so it is simple to use the trip unless you can't count of course.

Its all academic, there are 2 choices. Keep getting it replaced or do some basic arithmetic. Oh there is a 3rd option, buy a bike where the manufacturer knows how to build a fuel gauge.

 

[howdoo]

I wish I was a True Biker.

 

[agent2494]

What a bunch on moaning women!!! All over a fuel gauge!!!! Never never never trust a fuel gauge as I learnt my lesson in the army.


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[Bendy toy]

Dead right. But running dry with 7 litres remaining in a 35 litre tank is not a minor issue. All solved by everyone else with a simple reserve fuel tap. But not at BMW.

Oh no! We do things differently.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

Dead right. But running dry with 7 litres remaining in a 35 litre tank is not a minor issue. All solved by everyone else with a simple reserve fuel tap. But not at BMW.

Oh no! We do things differently.

Can you name a bike with fuel injection and a reserve tap?