R1200GS R/H Cylinder failure

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Smarty

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HI all, new to this forum, tho have entered as a guest many times.
Recently my R1200GS has just suffered failure of right hand cylinder, apparently this has happened to a few others?? My bike is 3 years old, only 10k and out of warranty. It is (was) a pampered bike, no off road, no abuse and started correctly. I'm gutted as you might imagine. Has anybody experienced this before or can advise me of worst case scenario? I'm told it's probably exhaust valve failure. Anyone help??:confused:
 
Smarty said:
HI all, new to this forum, tho have entered as a guest many times.
Recently my R1200GS has just suffered failure of right hand cylinder, apparently this has happened to a few others?? My bike is 3 years old, only 10k and out of warranty. It is (was) a pampered bike, no off road, no abuse and started correctly. I'm gutted as you might imagine. Has anybody experienced this before or can advise me of worst case scenario? I'm told it's probably exhaust valve failure. Anyone help??:confused:
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Tough luck mate. Has it been dealer serviced and have you tried trying to get some warranty from your dealer?
 
Sgt Bilco said:
Tough luck mate. Has it been dealer serviced and have you tried trying to get some warranty from your dealer?
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Thanks for reply. Bike has been dealer serviced whilst in warranty (2 years), oil and filter since by local mechanic. Haven't tried BMW claim thinking out of warranty they won't want to know? :rolleyes:
 
Smarty said:
Thanks for reply. Bike has been dealer serviced whilst in warranty (2 years), oil and filter since by local mechanic. Haven't tried BMW claim thinking out of warranty they won't want to know? :rolleyes:
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If I recall, one or two folk on here have had some goodwill for this issue which may save you a lot of loot. I`d be on the phone to them tomorrow especially give the low mileage. If you get no joy out of the dealer, try BMW customer service.

If you don`t ask, you won`t get:thumb2
 
Haven't tried BMW claim thinking out of warranty they won't want to know?
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Worth a try. Nothing ventured.........

BM are on the whole quite good on goodwill but being dealer serviced helps - you obviously have a mixed history on that but enough to be worth a chat to your dealer I would have thought.
 
Thanks for tips everyone, will report back when I'm sorted if I can still afford to plug me lappy in!! AAaargh!!!
 
Happened to a mate, piston and barrel damaged, his was low mileage and pampered too but it had remus sports headers which may (but shouldn't) be a factor. It happened just after he agreed to trade it against a new GSA so he was very lucky with the timing. Dealer took it in and repaired it then he picked up his new GSA.

Praying it doesn't happen to me, 35,000 miles and five years use, well out of warranty and serviced by myself so probably zero support from the manufacturers should it let go.

Good luck with the repairs, be interesting to discover how BMW react.
 
Surely for such low mileages, this is a 'fit for purpose' issue?

I'd be thinking hard about Trading Standards as well, if the dealer et al start shuffling their feet and mumbling on about warranty timings.
 
original_concept said:
Surely for such low mileages, this is a 'fit for purpose' issue?

I'd be thinking hard about Trading Standards as well, if the dealer et al start shuffling their feet and mumbling on about warranty timings.
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Of course it isn't a fit for purpose issue. It's gone about it's purpose just fine for the past three years/10k miles.
 
10K miles?

Wow... really.. wow... so you bought a bike expecting it last 10K miles?

I've run over 10K on 2-strokes in six months without a piston going awol.
 
This happened to my first 1200 GS after 3000 miles...just set out from home and the noticed the power wasn't there...headed to the dealer and to be fair they where great. Stripped the engine down and discovered that the piston had skipped in the cylinder and stripped the inside of the cylinder.

The dealers rebuilt the engine but I had lost faith in the bike by then, so after a few conversations BMW offered me a new bike. Couldn't have been happier with the service and communication from both the dealer and BM...

It was the right cylinder too, so don't know if it's an engineering issue, but just shows the built quality of the engine when you can drop a cylinder and get not much less power from it.
 
Personally I wouldn't bother going down the dealer route as it would most likely be a waste of time. Best case scenario is they offer to pay for the parts and you have to stump up the labour which at a BM main dealer is just a sick joke. It would cost you more than getting the job done by an independent mechanic even with the parts paid for.

Its unlucky, but shit happens. Had (too many) similar experiences in the past. Now realise there is no point worrying about something breaking down. Just enjoy it and when it breaks fix it. Simples. Pursuing the manufacturer or trading standards is just a waste of effort and lifes too short.
 
original_concept said:
10K miles?

Wow... really.. wow... so you bought a bike expecting it last 10K miles?
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No, and I never said that, so do calm down dear, there's a love.:comfort

The fact is things can go wrong with mechanical appliances.
The simple fact that this one didn't in 3 years/10k miles means it WAS fit for purpose. Yes it's annoying it didn't last longer/more miles, but it DID go about it's purpose quite adequately for a fair while.
If it had failed pretty much straight away not fit for purpose would have been a distinct possibility. But it didn't.

That it my opnion. If you don't like it, feel free to disagree and discuss the reasons for doing so.
 
HondaMan said:
Personally I wouldn't bother going down the dealer route as it would most likely be a waste of time. Best case scenario is they offer to pay for the parts and you have to stump up the labour which at a BM main dealer is just a sick joke. It would cost you more than getting the job done by an independent mechanic even with the parts paid for.
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But on the flip side if you pay towards BMW fitting them the new parts are under warranty IIRC.
 
original_concept said:
Surely for such low mileages, this is a 'fit for purpose' issue?

I'd be thinking hard about Trading Standards as well, if the dealer et al start shuffling their feet and mumbling on about warranty timings.
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No offence mate but what a feckin dull response. Of course the bike is fit for purpose, it`s just had a mechanical problem which can happen to anything at anytime.

I know he hasn`t done much mileage but he`s been unlucky because the massive majority of 1200 motors purr on for mega mileage.

BumW will no doubt stump up some goodwill because the have a history of doing so. Also, if the warranty says 24 months, it`s 24 months not for as long as we think (or as you think) it should last.
 
HondaMan said:
Personally I wouldn't bother going down the dealer route as it would most likely be a waste of time. Best case scenario is they offer to pay for the parts and you have to stump up the labour which at a BM main dealer is just a sick joke. It would cost you more than getting the job done by an independent mechanic even with the parts paid for.

Its unlucky, but shit happens. Had (too many) similar experiences in the past. Now realise there is no point worrying about something breaking down. Just enjoy it and when it breaks fix it. Simples. Pursuing the manufacturer or trading standards is just a waste of effort and lifes too short.
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So whats to stop you taking the FOC parts and getting your own man to fit them? Its still worth a try with the dealer and BMW cu svcs.
 
Give Goodwill a Chance

Same thing happened to me last July. 55 plate with 17,000miles up and out of warranty. I went the goodwill route and ended up being given free parts and 80% labour costs. Big brownie points for BMW!

Not wishing to start a cat fight but I think if you look at the Sale of Goods Act, 'fit for purpose' is open to some interpretation and there would be good case to argue that based on the image, advertising and claims about such a 'machine' (not to mention cost) it would be reasonable to assume it should not be experiencing such a major fault with the kind of mileage you report. With modern manufacturing technology there is no reason why something like this should happen unless of course corners are being cut. Clearly BMW do not employ Six Sigma in their manufacturing process. If I hadn't got the result I did (for which, I stress again, I was extremely appreciative) I may well have considered going the small claims route and reckon I would have had a pretty good case. Of course in your case, fly in the ointment would probably be that it hasn't been serviced by an approved dealer for the duration.

Treat the dealership with respect, be polite and ask about goodwill... who knows?
 
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