Hi folks,help needed,I took my 2015 gslc out for a ride today and all was good until at about 5 mph in traffic it very suddenly started to run as if it was out of fuel.I pulled over and became aware of a burning smell.The catalytic converter was glowing red and the mudsling had caught fire,the servo cables to the flappy valve are burnt and the plastic on the silencer has melted.I put the fire out with a bottle of water from the top box.Has this happened to anyone on here before? Bike currently at rybrook bmw Wolverhampton awaiting inspection,I guess I'll find out how good this bmw extended warranty is! All helpful replies appreciated.
any idea what went wrong?
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Rememo
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A glowing red cat. is a pretty good indication that unburned fuel was making it to the cat.
If that's the case, there could be numerous causes. Bad coil stick, bad plug, a fueling issue, etc.
It unfortunate that the cat. got hot enough to cause a fire. Good luck. I hope they treat you right.
If that's the case, there could be numerous causes. Bad coil stick, bad plug, a fueling issue, etc.
It unfortunate that the cat. got hot enough to cause a fire. Good luck. I hope they treat you right.
FlyingPanda
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Wasn’t there a saga here a while back regarding glowing cats and Mudslings? Presumably an airflow issue but I can’t remember the outcome.
Deleted account 191119001
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This might be a good follow up for the guys suffering from heat from the right hand side, could quite well be linked.
Belco100
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I was complaining about the heat this after a ride out this weekend - I have a mudslinger (copy) on mine?
®win
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I have the heat issue at my right leg with and without the extra mudguard.
Funny that these reports coincide with the high ambient temperatures...
I know that when it is hot outside and I'm wearing thinner/mesh gear I can feel the heat much more... Pretty sure if I put my Rukka on it wouldn't be as noticable, I'd just be sweating like a pig.
I know that when it is hot outside and I'm wearing thinner/mesh gear I can feel the heat much more... Pretty sure if I put my Rukka on it wouldn't be as noticable, I'd just be sweating like a pig.
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All anecdotal and only a possible thought but..
Last year whilst in the Portuguese mountains and with temps at 40 deg the Ducati fueling was so terrible as to make it difficult to ride. Now as a riding God i managed but everyone who was behind me was saying how much un burnt fuel they could smell. It was no problem once the temps dropped below 30
Apparently or allegedly Ducati and indeed Aprillia have a hot weather map
So if the bike is designed to run very lean as BMW are set up to do the emissions thing but the sensors are overcome by the ambient temp and keep dumping fuel in to compensate would this or could this be the cause ....???
Last year whilst in the Portuguese mountains and with temps at 40 deg the Ducati fueling was so terrible as to make it difficult to ride. Now as a riding God i managed but everyone who was behind me was saying how much un burnt fuel they could smell. It was no problem once the temps dropped below 30
Apparently or allegedly Ducati and indeed Aprillia have a hot weather map
So if the bike is designed to run very lean as BMW are set up to do the emissions thing but the sensors are overcome by the ambient temp and keep dumping fuel in to compensate would this or could this be the cause ....???
Deleted account 191119001
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Surely the bike must have been running rough?
I've only seen this when a petrol car. It had been wrong fuelled with a diesel & ended up with around a 50:50 mix. The cat glowed red hot.
I've only seen this when a petrol car. It had been wrong fuelled with a diesel & ended up with around a 50:50 mix. The cat glowed red hot.
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Rick its boiling outside so bike is staying in the garage.............
Mine is staying in the garage too but for quite the opposite reason
Deleted account 191119001
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Bloody eck madness the weather, back to the thread, I wonder if the OP,s bike had had a bit of bad fuel in there and not burnt of as well, as like you said high temp petrol not burning off, and in Spain petrol although cheap is not always the best quality, might not count but just a thought, because we know manufacturers set their bikes and cars up differently for different countries due to the quality of fuel.
Thanks for your input gents..Ive been back to the dealer to return their loan bike. I struck lucky and manage to speak to the tech who was working on my bike. He says the oxygen sensor {help me out lads,is this the same as a lambda sensor? } had failed, the silencer had been removed and the flappy valve was working well, pleased with that as it isn't covered by the extended warranty. Haven't had an official reply from bmw as yet so I'll have to wait and see what happens. not sure if the cat/front pipes will require replacement as they got so hot.Not too much fire damage at first glance,the cover for the flapper valve and mudsling are fried but nowt else seems damaged, at first glance as I say. I'll update as soon as I know more just in case it happens to someone else.
Deleted account 191119001
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Just for info,s sake was your bike stock from BMW no different exhaust or anything else............
yes mate, as it left the factory
Deleted account 191119001
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Ta mate as other lads seem to have the same problem of over heating, and your thread might just help them find a solution...............
fred_jb
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That sounds like a dodgy design if a failed sensor tells the ECU that there is too much spare oxygen when there isn't really, so it keeps pumping in more and more fuel. Surely there should be some fuelling limits programmed in to keep things sane, and it should ignore the sensor input if it starts going outside of normal limits? Sound like the same sort of self-destructive response to a failed sensor that the Boeing 737 Max has. This may well have compromised the cat so it should probably be replaced as part of the repairs.
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fred_jb
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Recall time maybe Fred..............
Software developers are now in control of all of our vehicles and other devices, so maybe they need to start taking the handling of fault conditions a bit more seriously, though I'm not altogether sure that I believe the explanation BMW have given.
The engine has known limits on the amount of air it can flow into the intakes for a given throttle opening, so the system knows how much fuel should be injected for a given throttle opening for various conditions, and this must be stored in the base fuelling maps. The oxygen sensor should only be fine tuning those pre-mapped settings by a small percentage either way. However, if BMW's explanation is true, then it would mean that the software allows a faulty sensor to override the mapped values to such a large extent that the bike is in danger of going up in flames, which if true seems to be poor software design.
Sounds like complete BS so far. I would need to hear a far more persuasive argument before ever accepting return of the bike.
Surely complete Lambda sensor failure would throw the 'engine' light & drop you into a limp mode. As Fred says, the ECU knows the fuelling parameters & margin of discrepancy, so over-fuelling to the extent suggested seems highly unlikely. As I said previously, I have only ever seen this condition after major fuel contamination.
Surely complete Lambda sensor failure would throw the 'engine' light & drop you into a limp mode. As Fred says, the ECU knows the fuelling parameters & margin of discrepancy, so over-fuelling to the extent suggested seems highly unlikely. As I said previously, I have only ever seen this condition after major fuel contamination.
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