Bendy toy
Registered user
Replacement costs the thick end of £200 but you might get a "deal" if you play it right.
Fuel strip shite....again!
- Thread starter Lord Snooty
- Start date
Bendy toy
Registered user
Fuel strip stripped
The fuel sensor is a 1/2" wide mylar strip with two layers of coper track encapsulated inside. One is a heater the other senses resistance. The copper is soldered to one side of a 20mm x 15mm circuit board and the four wires are soldered to the other side. It's all sealed in a VERY hard resin. Such a shame they didn't use a petrol proof silicone. If such a thing exists.
The mylar strip on mine looks pristine even under a magnifier so I really don't think that is the issue. I suspected one of my connecting wires might have cracked internally but they are all fine.
The smart money is a component on the circuit board failing. Probably under specced so fails over time.
I managed to chip off some resin but its actually harder than the circuit board and used on on both sides. It was clear that enough effort to make any progress would trash any components on the circuit board. So for now its still a work in progress but don't hold your breath. I could do with a miniature Hilti hammer.
The fuel sensor is a 1/2" wide mylar strip with two layers of coper track encapsulated inside. One is a heater the other senses resistance. The copper is soldered to one side of a 20mm x 15mm circuit board and the four wires are soldered to the other side. It's all sealed in a VERY hard resin. Such a shame they didn't use a petrol proof silicone. If such a thing exists.
The mylar strip on mine looks pristine even under a magnifier so I really don't think that is the issue. I suspected one of my connecting wires might have cracked internally but they are all fine.
The smart money is a component on the circuit board failing. Probably under specced so fails over time.
I managed to chip off some resin but its actually harder than the circuit board and used on on both sides. It was clear that enough effort to make any progress would trash any components on the circuit board. So for now its still a work in progress but don't hold your breath. I could do with a miniature Hilti hammer.
I wont say much at mo Steve.... but if it fails within a month (if replaced) I wont hold back my disappointment..... but at mo grateful having it done FOC having only owned bike a month !
Called Blade BMW at Rednal and the bike is booked in for May 25th after I return from my 10 day trip to France. I told them I expect it to be done under warranty and there was no quibble.
Fuel strip changed but not a good experience
Blade BMW at Rednal duly replaced the fuel strip yesterday, all under warranty so that is good. However - I was there an hour longer than anticipated, this is due to them doing a bike health check (brake pads, brake discs, tyres etc) after doing the job, it is appreciated but I did rather want to get off as I have a shit load of work to do and would have rather done without it if they had asked me first.
My biggest gripe is that I did not get the bike back as it was presented to them. I have the comms lead from the 660 satnav mount routed over the tank attached by a couple of small pieces of velcro, I then connect a pair of earphones into it and wear under my helmet.
Because I was in a rush to get off I did not clock that the lead was not in place until I got home. Clearly they had rerouted everything back under the tank panels, rather than put things back as they were. So I had to sort this out myself last night but then found that when trying to remove the first outer panel that the gorilla who had done the job had totally chewed up one of the torx head screws so I was unable to remove it
He must have known he had done it so why return a bike to a customer in that condition? The least they could have done is inform me and given me the option of waiting while they sort it out (remove and replace the screw) but to say feck all is utterly shit customer service.
I only used BMW because it was a warranty issue and I know that my local independent that I use for other work would never return my bike like that without apologising and rectifying it. Different attitude entirely
Blade BMW at Rednal duly replaced the fuel strip yesterday, all under warranty so that is good. However - I was there an hour longer than anticipated, this is due to them doing a bike health check (brake pads, brake discs, tyres etc) after doing the job, it is appreciated but I did rather want to get off as I have a shit load of work to do and would have rather done without it if they had asked me first.
My biggest gripe is that I did not get the bike back as it was presented to them. I have the comms lead from the 660 satnav mount routed over the tank attached by a couple of small pieces of velcro, I then connect a pair of earphones into it and wear under my helmet.
Because I was in a rush to get off I did not clock that the lead was not in place until I got home. Clearly they had rerouted everything back under the tank panels, rather than put things back as they were. So I had to sort this out myself last night but then found that when trying to remove the first outer panel that the gorilla who had done the job had totally chewed up one of the torx head screws so I was unable to remove it
He must have known he had done it so why return a bike to a customer in that condition? The least they could have done is inform me and given me the option of waiting while they sort it out (remove and replace the screw) but to say feck all is utterly shit customer service.
I only used BMW because it was a warranty issue and I know that my local independent that I use for other work would never return my bike like that without apologising and rectifying it. Different attitude entirely
I contacted Blade BMW with my gripe and the Service Manager called me this morning. They apologised for rerouting the cables, apparently the tech did it as he thought it looked untidy - must be his OCD 
He said the chewed up torx screw head was already showing signs of damage so of course my reaction was well why did he not just replace it at the time? The Service Manager agreed and said that he has had a word so that this kind of thing will not happen in the future. The upshot is that I have arranged to take the bike in next week and they will find a way of removing the chewed up screw and replace it. A bit of a pain as it means another visit to them but I would rather they take responsibility rather than me trying to drill the fecker out.
All in all they have responded well and are doing the right thing so fair play to them.
He said the chewed up torx screw head was already showing signs of damage so of course my reaction was well why did he not just replace it at the time? The Service Manager agreed and said that he has had a word so that this kind of thing will not happen in the future. The upshot is that I have arranged to take the bike in next week and they will find a way of removing the chewed up screw and replace it. A bit of a pain as it means another visit to them but I would rather they take responsibility rather than me trying to drill the fecker out.All in all they have responded well and are doing the right thing so fair play to them.
Bendy toy
Registered user
The 2K across the sensor contacts makes sense but I don't understand why the spoof uses a resistor between the heater circuit and the sensor. The outer contacts drive the strip heater so will need a restore load enough to keep the ECU software happy. The inner contacts are the sensor. It seems 2K (or maybe 2.1K) is full and around 2.3 K is empty. What's the chance they use a 10 to 180 ohm sensor with a large bias resistor. (10 to 180 is a standard for analogue scales (fuel level, oil pressure, temperature, etc)
Honda use thermistors to signal low fuel (low and very low). These don't conduct when kept cool by the fuel, but warm up up outside the fuel and conduct enough to light the warning bulbs.
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