"Red TFT of death" issue

[TheStammeringBiker]

So I've had an issue since the bike was brand new where the starting of it was slow like the battery was struggling to give the starter enough juice to get it going. I don't think it was the "decompression valve" thing people talk about as my 1250 had that but always started. At times this would just give up and the starter button wouldn't even respond to being pressed or would cause the dash to go blank. That was (so I thought) fixed in July with a software update but since then I've had 5 instances of the "red TFT of death" as someone on social media coined it.

It looks to be the same issue Mark Hooton who runs Cymarc had which he said was fixed with a software update but I need to wait and see what BMW say as his was fixed before mine had a software update at it's 6000mile service so theoretically mine should be on the latest, but we shall see.

First 3 times it happened simply turning the bike off and on cured it but it happened a few nights ago while out on a blood bike run and my only option was to disconnect the battery, but the battery screws were so f*cking tight I couldn't get them undone with the tools under the seat so I was stranded for nearly 2 hours until a kind fella let me borrow a 10mm socket to undo them. I did consider ringing BMW Assist but I've heard thats often not a great experience.

Anyhoo, it happened again last night and again needed a disconnect and reconnect of the battery to get it going. Currently awaiting the dealers response as they've apparently never seen this and want BMW technical to take a look before they advise on a course of action. They've already asked me to check the usual things like are the battery terminals tight etc and is the bike kept on a trickle charger, which it is, the BMW proper one (in lithium mode) so who knows what'll happen. Hopefully it's just a software fix cause I'm getting pissed off with this thing either not starting when I need it to or now doing this. Weirdly when it does this the bike will start absolutely fine but the TFT is showing none of the associated info like revs. etc.

 

[Tyzer]

Not good, I hope you get it sorted
Mine was collected on Thursday to sort out the adaptive ride height problem, for the 3rd time I might add.

 

[theoneandonly]

Welcome to the customer testing phase.....

 

[TheStammeringBiker]

So, the dealer got back to me on Monday and said BMW technical think it's either the TFT itself or one of the control modules on the bike and said I should use BMW Assist to have it recovered to them, which I did and it was picked up and dropped off late on Monday. Haven't heard a peep since despite asking for an idea of when they might be looking at it so I'll see what happens.

The dealer have been generally great but getting hold of the right person over the phone seems nigh on impossible alot of the time.

 

[Frankh]

So, the dealer got back to me on Monday and said BMW technical think it's either the TFT itself or one of the control modules on the bike and said I should use BMW Assist to have it recovered to them, which I did and it was picked up and dropped off late on Monday. Haven't heard a peep since despite asking for an idea of when they might be looking at it so I'll see what happens.

The dealer have been generally great but getting hold of the right person over the phone seems nigh on impossible alot of the time.

Have you got a replacement bike or car ? I would insist on one

 

[TheStammeringBiker]

So a further update to this, by the end of this week I'll have been without the use of the bike for 4 weeks.

Dealer told me that to give me a courtesy bike they would need to speak to BMW UK to see if they would "support" this which I found a little odd.

My bike needs a brand new TFT screen and I was told last week it was due into Germany on the Thursday and would usually be with the dealer in 5-10 working days, but the response I got on Friday was that BMW UK have declined to support providing me with a courtesy bike as the part is en route to the UK allegedly and that they could do no more.

They are hoping to have the part by the end of this week but no firm date as to when it'll be booked into the workshop to actually fit and it also needs to be confirmed that it's fixed the issue so I reckon I'll easily have been bikeless for 5 weeks if not more.

Have to say although I think BMW warranty is great, this has left me disappointed to say the least as this combined with the 3 weeks the bike was off the road when it "caught fire" means it'll have been out of action for 2 of the 10 months I've owned it, or 20% if you wanna put it another way.

Fingers crossed I'll have another update this week.

 

[Frankh]

So a further update to this, by the end of this week I'll have been without the use of the bike for 4 weeks.

Dealer told me that to give me a courtesy bike they would need to speak to BMW UK to see if they would "support" this which I found a little odd.

My bike needs a brand new TFT screen and I was told last week it was due into Germany on the Thursday and would usually be with the dealer in 5-10 working days, but the response I got on Friday was that BMW UK have declined to support providing me with a courtesy bike as the part is en route to the UK allegedly and that they could do no more.

They are hoping to have the part by the end of this week but no firm date as to when it'll be booked into the workshop to actually fit and it also needs to be confirmed that it's fixed the issue so I reckon I'll easily have been bikeless for 5 weeks if not more.

Have to say although I think BMW warranty is great, this has left me disappointed to say the least as this combined with the 3 weeks the bike was off the road when it "caught fire" means it'll have been out of action for 2 of the 10 months I've owned it, or 20% if you wanna put it another way.

Fingers crossed I'll have another update this week.

I think you have been fobbed off, you have a right to transport, since your bike is not usable, they cannot not give you a replacement, if they could do this why supply anyone with a bike ?

 

[kwackless]

peej1977.. Dam.. not what us r1300 gs owners want hear. but do hope it's all sorted for you very soon. Surprised at BMW Assist and customer services response to loan bike as it's happened to other bike's. only had my r1300 gs since brand new September 2024 at 300 miles 2 weeks old and only had one error message on the tft saying adapted ride height malfunction proceed with caution and ride to the nearest Motoradd dealer.. so did just that! Tech plug the bike into the diagnostic machine but found no errors.. been ok ever since tech said it may have just been a Glitch.

The reason I said surprised at BMW customer services is.. my Previous 2021 model BMW R1250 GSA at 8 months old the battery went completely flat even thou I kept on a optimate charger.. call BMW customer services sent a tech out with-in 1 hour to my home and tested the battery and confirmed it's not recoverable.. he then phoned up 3 Motoradd dealers till he found the battery in stock then drove 65 mile round trip back to my home and fitted the new battery. hopefully your experience is a "one off" can't understand why they refuse you a loan bike your bike was under Warranty also surely it's the dealer who supplies loan bike's I'm always offered a loan bike if my bike was in for service but with the service only taking a few hours I never bother.. maybe the dealer knew it would take a while for the new TFT screen to arrive and did not want to loose a loan bike for that long time.. however BMW customer services should have provided the loan bike. I'm sure you would have kicked up a right fuss I would have done.. Recently my BMW car went in for a recall was told it would be few hours so just waited making use of the free coffee and cakes in their very expensive showroom.. 3 hours later the service adviser said they need to order a extra part and would need the car over night.. ok I said could have told me 2 hours ago! so I will be needing a loan car.. Sorry we have none spare.. but BMW will allow £30.00 for return travel costs.. well that didn't go down to well with me as the round trip is over 70 miles home and back to the dealers and £30.00 won't cover that! I then called BMW customer services and had a right rant at them I reminded them it's a recall meaning "your fault not mine" why should I be out of pocket.. reply was your quite right Sir.. let me call the dealers and arrange the loan car for you.. guess what! by Magic the dealer found a spare BMW X3 with 900 miles on clock and said they will also wave the £20.00 insurance excess that required.

 

[stever1]

I think the loan bike issue is because you request it from BMW recovery direct when ( not if ) you break down. Not via the dealer

 

[Neil W]

So I've had an issue since the bike was brand new where the starting of it was slow like the battery was struggling to give the starter enough juice to get it going. I don't think it was the "decompression valve" thing people talk about as my 1250 had that but always started. At times this would just give up and the starter button wouldn't even respond to being pressed or would cause the dash to go blank. That was (so I thought) fixed in July with a software update but since then I've had 5 instances of the "red TFT of death" as someone on social media coined it.

It looks to be the same issue Mark Hooton who runs Cymarc had which he said was fixed with a software update but I need to wait and see what BMW say as his was fixed before mine had a software update at it's 6000mile service so theoretically mine should be on the latest, but we shall see.

First 3 times it happened simply turning the bike off and on cured it but it happened a few nights ago while out on a blood bike run and my only option was to disconnect the battery, but the battery screws were so f*cking tight I couldn't get them undone with the tools under the seat so I was stranded for nearly 2 hours until a kind fella let me borrow a 10mm socket to undo them. I did consider ringing BMW Assist but I've heard thats often not a great experience.

Anyhoo, it happened again last night and again needed a disconnect and reconnect of the battery to get it going. Currently awaiting the dealers response as they've apparently never seen this and want BMW technical to take a look before they advise on a course of action. They've already asked me to check the usual things like are the battery terminals tight etc and is the bike kept on a trickle charger, which it is, the BMW proper one (in lithium mode) so who knows what'll happen. Hopefully it's just a software fix cause I'm getting pissed off with this thing either not starting when I need it to or now doing this. Weirdly when it does this the bike will start absolutely fine but the TFT is showing none of the associated info like revs. etc.

View attachment 352528
View attachment 352529
View attachment 352530
View attachment 352531

NEVER SEEN THAT BEFORE is the standard go to reply from BMW UK and most UK BMW dealers for every single issue I have ever had with one of their bikes. When the R1200GSA ECU packed up in Austria straight away they said it was a well known issue , BMW UK said they had never seen that before .

 

[kwackless]

I think the loan bike issue is because you request it from BMW recovery direct when ( not if ) you break down. Not via the dealer

It may be the dealers discretion to supply a loan bike for service/recalls/warranty e.t.c as dealers want your custom back as it make's good business sense to offer a loan vehicle.. but sometimes if they can get away with not providing a loan vehicle they will make a excuse like Sorry none spare or they are all lent out.. but if this happens then providing it's a recall/warranty work a call to BMW customer services should get you a loan vehicle.

 

[Smartbazza]

So, been through this from July until this week. If your bike is out of action phone Roadside on the breakdown and tell them you need a replacement vehicle and they will give you a car. The supplying dealer doesn’t typically get involved here.

Peej- suggest that they run checks on the lithium battery. If these have issues the dash won’t work and you get the various messages. The power supply issue is intermittent. When it does switch on everything is back to normal? Sounds similar.

Barry

 

[tomtom1200]

sorry old post but my bike has done the "red TFT" a few times now. It been solved by switching it on and off

After my last red screen episode the ABS light came on, I checked using the back brake and the ABS was still working.

Have any others had this red screen issue?

 

[botus]

circa 2009 BMW both cars and bikes were attacked and ruined by the accountants - they demanded the fitting of some telephone cable wiring between the starter and the battery - aside from suffering heat-soak allowing its electrical conductivity to decline alarmingly till you often get a slow crank after stopping from a long run and then trying to start with a hot engine - these days its such cheap rubbish, most of the battery power never gets a chance to leave the battery and you just get a length of heater cable and then low volts signals confusing the bike

if you have a lithium battery - most were connected up incorrectly by the Dealer selling the bike - meaning its never been charging correctly - at build the factory use a power supply to flash the software and check systems - so the battery only first gets connected when you buy it - and no one mentioned the lithium battery ones must be connected in a strange order

post #33 21 May https://www.ukgser.com/community/th...25-software-update.476148/page-2#post-5837496

today I re-read and finally understood the gibberish about the battery - Below info re ordered and re written so its intelligible


SIB 61 02 24
SERVICE SOLUTION: R 1300 GS Li-Ion Batteries
2024-03-25

Model Description Model Code
KA1 R 1300 GS 0M23

SITUATION
Situation 1) Li-Ion battery is discharged below 2.5 Vdc.
Situation 2) Fault stored for wrong battery.

Cause:
Situation 1) The new battery is in transportation mode and only has 2.5 Vdc of charge. Transportation mode is only relevant for new batteries.
Situation 2) The battery was not installed correctly.

PROCEDURE
Situation 1) Deactivate transportation mode by connecting the vehicle battery correctly (LIN connector and then terminals).
Situation 2) Check the battery fitted matches the vehicle order, if wrong, verify battery type and vehicle coding, and if its a Li-Ion battery, connect it correctly.

Note:
New bikes:
All have code present because the factory leave it in transport mode - during build we use an external voltage supply.

Bikes in service:
If an AGM battery is installed, option “0842 cold climate version” must be coded to the VO.
If a Li-Ion battery is installed, LIN Connector may not be plugged in, or it was plugged in after the positive terminal was connected.

 

[jefformston]

Pleased I bought one of the unreliable KTMs, they seem to have a lot less problems & no need for constant updates from the mothership. Warranty probably not as good but I’ve not needed it in the 4 years & 27,000 miles of having the bike.

 

[tomtom1200]

circa 2009 BMW both cars and bikes were attacked and ruined by the accountants - they demanded the fitting of some telephone cable wiring between the starter and the battery - aside from suffering heat-soak allowing its electrical conductivity to decline alarmingly till you often get a slow crank after stopping from a long run and then trying to start with a hot engine - these days its such cheap rubbish, most of the battery power never gets a chance to leave the battery and you just get a length of heater cable and then low volts signals confusing the bike

if you have a lithium battery - most were connected up incorrectly by the Dealer selling the bike - meaning its never been charging correctly - at build the factory use a power supply to flash the software and check systems - so the battery only first gets connected when you buy it - and no one mentioned the lithium battery ones must be connected in a strange order

post #33 21 May https://www.ukgser.com/community/th...25-software-update.476148/page-2#post-5837496

today I re-read and finally understood the gibberish about the battery - Below info re ordered and re written so its intelligible


SIB 61 02 24
SERVICE SOLUTION: R 1300 GS Li-Ion Batteries
2024-03-25

Model Description Model Code
KA1 R 1300 GS 0M23

SITUATION
Situation 1) Li-Ion battery is discharged below 2.5 Vdc.
Situation 2) Fault stored for wrong battery.

Cause:
Situation 1) The new battery is in transportation mode and only has 2.5 Vdc of charge. Transportation mode is only relevant for new batteries.
Situation 2) The battery was not installed correctly.

PROCEDURE
Situation 1) Deactivate transportation mode by connecting the vehicle battery correctly (LIN connector and then terminals).
Situation 2) Check the battery fitted matches the vehicle order, if wrong, verify battery type and vehicle coding, and if its a Li-Ion battery, connect it correctly.

Note:
New bikes:
All have code present because the factory leave it in transport mode - during build we use an external voltage supply.

Bikes in service:
If an AGM battery is installed, option “0842 cold climate version” must be coded to the VO.
If a Li-Ion battery is installed, LIN Connector may not be plugged in, or it was plugged in after the positive terminal was connected.

Thanks for the response. I haven't had any other signs of battery issues since one of the first updates. The battery always seems to change on correctly as well.

I will keep an eye on it though

 

[tomtom1200]

Pleased I bought one of the unreliable KTMs, they seem to have a lot less problems & no need for constant updates from the mothership. Warranty probably not as good but I’ve not needed it in the 4 years & 27,000 miles of having the bike.

The 1300 is a great bike, I am very happy I didn't get the adaptive ride height as that seems to be the cause of a lot of issues. I also didn't get adaptive cruise etc, just more things to go wrong.

It doesn't feel as well put together as my 1200 was and I think I have been back for 4 recalls since December 24 which is a joke.

 

[Deleted account 251212001]

The 1300 is a great bike, I am very happy I didn't get the adaptive ride height as that seems to be the cause of a lot of issues. I also didn't get adaptive cruise etc, just more things to go wrong.

It doesn't feel as well put together as my 1200 was and I think I have been back for 4 recalls since December 24 which is a joke.

Whilst a pain, and you could make a strong case for the bike being released too early given all the 'bugs', at least bmw to give them some sort of credit are sorting the issues before they occur under recalls such as swapping the switchgear en mass, some which can be done alongside a service etc Some manufacturers would leave the suspect parts on the bike and see what failed and then replace case by case, ktm did that with the 790 engine that chewed through camshafts and only caved in under pressure last year when the web exposed the full extent of problem, and even now its some sort of goodwill gesture on a case by case basis based on a comprehensive service history, so if the issue manifests a few years down the line chances are they will wriggle out of it if they can.

The 1300 is a great bike, looks only a mother could love for many but definitely the most fun GS ive owned, ridiculous power and torque, love it.

 

[Smartbazza]

Here’s an interesting observation. I’ve been having the adaptive ride height errors c.50% of my rides and always have my bike on the bmw trickle charger.

I’ve been on the bike on holidays from Wednesday thus haven’t been charging and have not had any error messages .

Barry

 

[botus]

all vehicles drain power all the time when connected and still switched off (alarms, nasty electronic switching, modern canbus insanity etc.) - if you ever connect a fly lead to charge the battery NEVER connect directly to plus & minus on the battery

the earth should go to a separate frame earth - this give the electrics a chance to determine the natural constant drain and the charger better copes feeding what the bike needs and not an instantaneous direct to battery fake voltage reading