Dead alternator in R1200GS LC

Make sure that you get it in writing that BMW will be accepting full responsibility for any further engine damage caused by metal filings/ impurities that may be left in the engine casings after the rebuild or any wear already caused by the problem.

If they intend going down that route I would insist that they at least stripped the oil pump and check it for wear foreign debris .
 
Thank you guys. I have already asked for a written position on liability for current and possible future damages due to alternator failure and failure remediation methods. So far I only have a letter (correspondence with local dealer) confirming that the repair will be made in accordance with the BMW procedure by replacing the damaged part. Other issues were handled only during a phone call with a service representative at a local dealer who told me that there is no possibility of providing me a written position of BMW Motorrad. This was explained by the fact that this is an internal correspondence between the BMW Motorrad headquater and the local dealer. It was stated that the BMW Motorrad technical department did not agree to the replacement of the engine due to the failure because of the fact, that there are no premises for this :D. Cleaning the engine by rinsing it completely eliminates all hazards, especially from ground chips (screws, plastic and copper). According to BMW Motorrad, myself as a customer can have a different impression of how to repair the engine but BMW-M is well oriented in the ways of repairing their own engines and takes complete responsibility for the repair technology and recommendations for specialists.
However, as mentioned above, that was quoted over the phone.
 
Hopefully any debris would be removed by the oil filter and rinsing out should remove any other bits. In fairness to BMW, if the bike was out of warranty and you were paying for it you would not be asking for a new engine, you would ask for what is being done now. There is no reason (if the work is done properly) that the life of the engine will have been reduced.
 
Despite tales of this problem being a one off, the internet reveals more examples of this failure, I would expect this problem will grow as bikes age.

Quote "I've got a low charge warning last Saturday and by the time I made it to the closest BMW dealership the battery was dead. The diagnosis was alternator failure, and this also killed the rectifier."

The problem wont be sorted by "Rinsing" the Engine after the event, The problem will be the Damage (Scoring) done from the debris in the oil from first noticing the fail to getting the bike into the dealers, and if rode long enough to flatten the battery as stated by OP quite a few miles must have been done

New motor would have been the way to go.
 
Hopefully any debris would be removed by the oil filter and rinsing out should remove any other bits. In fairness to BMW, if the bike was out of warranty and you were paying for it you would not be asking for a new engine, you would ask for what is being done now. There is no reason (if the work is done properly) that the life of the engine will have been reduced.

Well, if the bike was out of warranty I would let them put the whole engine apart meaning the short engine (http://parts.bmwmotorcycles.com/p/B...Short-engine-silver/68031836/11008554887.html) which at this point is not being dismantled at all ... therefore I'd know what I am paying for and I know what (if) happened to parts inside due do impurities in oil. The bike is just after second warranty check (first at 1000km, second 10k km), has done over 19months (minus 3 months of strong winter) only 13,5k km ... if my engine would be repaired at the BMW factory maybe I would be calmer and more confident about the procedures and equipment used to clean and assemble the engine. The truth is that many local authorized services do not have specialized tools for such repairs, which can be seen in the great BMW R1200GS engine assembly video on youtube. Such tools are just too expensive ...
 
Despite tales of this problem being a one off, the internet reveals more examples of this failure, I would expect this problem will grow as bikes age.

Quote "I've got a low charge warning last Saturday and by the time I made it to the closest BMW dealership the battery was dead. The diagnosis was alternator failure, and this also killed the rectifier."

The problem wont be sorted by "Rinsing" the Engine after the event, The problem will be the Damage (Scoring) done from the debris in the oil from first noticing the fail to getting the bike into the dealers, and if rode long enough to flatten the battery as stated by OP quite a few miles must have been done

New motor would have been the way to go.

At this point I should introduce you to the whole story of my BMW R1200GS, which BMW claims, the two things have nothing in common.

In December 2015 I got my NEW 2014 BMW R1200GS LC (produced August 2014). During Dec 2015 I did maybe 300km and put the bike to garage (heated). Over the winter I started it few times (not many, 2-3 times). Everything was ok. In March 2016 the weather finally got better so I took it for a ride. Another 300-400km. Heated grips on as it was still cold outside. Put it back to garage for about one week. After one week I went for a ride, however, the starter would not turn with no indication in controls that the voltage goes down during start. Just no response to the starter switch. Got BMW Assistance to come over. When it came, we finally managed to start the bike using cables. That was before 1000km check at the dealership so at the time I put the bike for the checkup I mentioned the problem I had so they can check if everything is ok. Everything (according to them) was ok.
Since that time I had no problems up until the time when retutrning from my Balkan trip last July. The bike had 7,5k km already and my last-distance-home was from Albania to Poland approx. 1,5k km.
Everything was ok until outside temperature, after midnight dropped down to 7deg C. I had to swith the heated grips on. While driving the highway (already 1050km done) at around 140km/h suddenly the LEDs went off so I experienced blackout riding 140km/h on highway. The only way to have lights was to flash the high beam ( with many high beam responses from the truck drivers riding towards :D ) on the clocks all controls went on, ABS, ASC ... discotheque! The Voltage indicated 16-17V! When I switched off the grips it even went up to 18V! I pulled to the side line, switched on blinkers and drove for approx 3km for the closest petrol station. There I made a picture what Garmin Navigator indicated, (eng. tmp 98deg C so was probably the battery as I touched it - strange it did not explode!) and called assistance. Still had approx. 400km home. I decided that the road assistance takes me to nearest (Wien, Austria) authorised dealer / service station. When I finally got there in the morning (BMW dealer/service) they took my GS straight away for check (I was very happy!). At the station they indicated battery failure. Because of worldwide BMW warranty I thought it will be done under it but - they told me that my dealer where I bought my bike did not register my GS in european central base so they can not replace my faulty battery under warranty and I have to pay 160EUR for it. I called the representative from my dealer trying to find out what is going on? What I heard was to pay and take all documents with me so they (BMW) can refund me those costs when I am back to Poland. So I did, Austrian service replaced my battery, put my GS under 2h computer check if everything was ok and I could go further home. Arriving to Poland I took my GS to my dealer next day and left it for the checkup leaving all documents from Austria. Diagnose - all is ok. Took my bike and was happy for the rest of the season with another 10k warranty checkup around September 2016 (still no solution to my battery case). Now the funny part :D in december I got BMW (dealer) written response that the BMW Motorrad headquaters will not pay me the cost of battery and service during my trip as it is difficult for them to investigate if that should be replaced under warranty ... crap! I was so embarrassed with their response that I let go of my quarrel. Since Sept 2016 up until 19th May 2017 I did another 3,5k km when the loose bolt thing in my engine happened.
Since I first heard strange noise (metal grinding) inside my engine and than noticed that there is no charging (batt V was 12,5) I made it approx 1km to the nearest parking so to call the assistance again. That was all distanse I drove with unscrewed bolt. Since I am not an electrician I was wondering if such damage (burned and swelled stator arms) could happen the year before, when I got 16-18 volts indicates of charging at time of battery failure or it happened due to unscrewed bolt and short circuit of the installation.
I asked for the written opinion (expertise) of an automotive expert and his opinion, due to the large amount of impurities that got through the grinding to the engine, is that it is reasonable to replace the shortblock in this case. The end (so far)...
 
Despite tales of this problem being a one off, the internet reveals more examples of this failure, I would expect this problem will grow as bikes age.

Quote "I've got a low charge warning last Saturday and by the time I made it to the closest BMW dealership the battery was dead. The diagnosis was alternator failure, and this also killed the rectifier."

The problem wont be sorted by "Rinsing" the Engine after the event, The problem will be the Damage (Scoring) done from the debris in the oil from first noticing the fail to getting the bike into the dealers, and if rode long enough to flatten the battery as stated by OP quite a few miles must have been done

New motor would have been the way to go.

From what I heard from a person who is "closer" to those issues than simple civilian ( customer ;) ) such an issue (like mine) happens and will be happening more and more, especially models of 2014 ... funny thing, for BMW reps my case "is the first time something like that happened to motorbike sold in their dealership" :D :D :D (almost like the recent case with common front suspension problems in the beginning) ...
 
Hi! I was just wondering how was your bike doing after such a big repair?
The search for alternator failure brought me here as I have the same problem right now with my R1200GS LC 2014.
The bike is still under warranty, however, what happened to me, was unscrewed bolt / screw of flywheel magneto that damaged alternator...
what more, all the grinded stuff got into oil and further to the engine ...
And now funny part: the repair will be done by replacing alternator (which, by the catalogue comes as one part flywheel/stator) and the engine will be "rinsed" with impurities / residue.
My demand was an engine replacement because there is a lot of filings that got into engine with an oil, however, that was rejected by BMW (headquaters, that what at the dealer they told me). I heard, that in such case, the way of repair depends on how the person / mechanic, who is responsible for such issues, describes the problem. After speaking to some people I investigated, that there is a dealership in Poland that in case of such failure replaces "short engine / short block" straight away. I spoke to the guy with similar case also (his bike - 3 bolts unscrewed, mine one) and his failure ended up (through alternator replacement at first) with engine replacement. I'm very concerned as I use my bike since december 2015, now it has 13k km and is all apart ... very, very sad ...
I will post some of the photos of my bike in next post and will be glad for your and anyone with similar issues response ... I don't want to leave this case just like that. Such thing should not happen to new bike/engine that supposed to be repair free for tens of thousands of kilometers!

I just did the 60k miles service on my bike last weekend (was 25k miles when this happened). After this issue I had an unrelated minor problem with an ignition coil a few months later and a change of front fork seals but nothing else. The bike still runs like new! :beerjug:
 
I just did the 60k miles service on my bike last weekend (was 25k miles when this happened). After this issue I had an unrelated minor problem with an ignition coil a few months later and a change of front fork seals but nothing else. The bike still runs like new! :beerjug:

thanks! good to hear the good news everything was put together as it should be ;) cheers to that! :beerjug:

the only difference now is, that you did not get anything loose inside the engine at the time of alternator failure ...
 
There was guy located in South Africa who had a similar failure. I accept it is not common but it does happen. Imagine having no warranty and having to pay for this work?
 
There was guy located in South Africa who had a similar failure. I accept it is not common but it does happen. Imagine having no warranty and having to pay for this work?

the bolt should never loose itself and unscrew. this is the factory design fault.
 
I had a problem with the Alternator http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/433809-Oil-blowout-and-flat-battery/page3

BMW replaced the alternator. 500 miles later the engine totally lunched itself nearly ending my days on the planet! BMW replaced the engine.

Bike sold and I am now riding a KTM.

I think we will, sadly, see this happening more and more and its a big job and if not done properly and hidden danger for future miles!
 
Nasty that, bits rattling around in the engine could lock it up.
BMW would have used the same thread lock fluid on every engine.
 

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There seems to be some sort of a problem with my case, as first BMW Motorrad decided to repair failure by "rinsing" my engine and replacing alternator (I was informed last week, that they will have all parts needed for repair by Wednesday, 21st June, so they can start the repair procedure, and that my motorbike should be ready by the end of June). On Friday, 23rd June, when I called with the issue of stanchion separation (front suspension) if meantime, they could check it, I was told, that someone from BMW (?) was there to have a look again at my engine and the dealer's service has to refrain from repair until final decision is made
Up until today I have no additional info what is going on...
 
Don't worry too much marecki. I am sure they will replace the complete engine for you.
Stupid place to put an Alternator, but there ya go!
 
My alternator died last week sub 4 yrs old lc gs with 32k on clock - dealer 1st said no way was it the alt as they have never had to fit one but hey they were wrong. Just my luck. Anyways £1500 min to sort!!! engine & gear box out, my mates got a ford kuga £300 for a new alternator. Bmw sort yourself out.
Oh & then there was the flapper jobbie in the exhaust, when that seized it was £1200 for a whole new set of tubes, coz guess what bmw don't do just the small part, bmw sort yourself out. I'm supposed to be mile munchkin circumnavigating the globe not poncing about in the garage skinting myself, I coulda bought a Honda for that.
 


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