Dead alternator in R1200GS LC

lrosales

lrosales

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Why do I feel this only happened to me?

BMWs are bulletproof, the alternator is over-engineered, the new version doesn't have a belt so it's maitenance free.... These are some of the things I've been reading about my bike, but guess what, things do fail.

This is my bike today:

attachment.php


My bike is 25000 miles, and I'm in the US in the middle of a trip from Alaska to Argentina. 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 next bad news were that they don't keep stock in the US, so a new part would take between 4 and 6 weeks to be shipped from Germany. A couple of days later and after some very good work from the guys at the dealership and they managed to find an engine in Florida that they could strip down and use the parts.

The next bad news were that as the alternator is supposed to last more than the engine, it is located in the most complicated place possible. So I'll have a bike that's still in warranty and whose engine has already been separated from the frame.

If I were in the UK I would probably ask for a new bike, but here that could be more complicated.

It is also heart-breaking to see my bike like this, especially when I'm riding it everyday for a long time and a very long distance.

Comments? Anyone been in a similar situation?

Cheers!
Leo
 

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Hi Leo, sorry for your troubles but looks like the dealer is doing a good job! Not heard of any other alternator problems, didn't realise what was involved to do the job on the LC. Can't believe you have to take the engine out, let's hope your bike is a one off. Hope the rest of your trip goes well, post photos etc!



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Sorry to hear about this. It sounds like the dealer is a good one, and is looking after you. Make sure they provide you with all the documentation, then take it up with BMW when you get back to the UK. They may still replace the engine and/ or the bike.:thumb

We can't see the guys face to the left, but looking at the way he's standing there, I'll bet he's thinking "oh fuck, how does this all go back together?":D
 
dave hendy said:
Hi Leo, sorry for your troubles but looks like the dealer is doing a good job! Not heard of any other alternator problems, didn't realise what was involved to do the job on the LC. Can't believe you have to take the engine out, let's hope your bike is a one off. Hope the rest of your trip goes well, post photos etc!



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Click to expand...


Quality engineering that

Put a service part that can fail with age, INSIDE the engine - unlike any previous BMW boxer ever produced

Hats off to BMW - quality

Packer will agree
 
JohnnyBoxer said:
Packer will agree
Click to expand...

Of that there is no doubt...........:rolleyes:

Components fail, it's a fact, this particular example seems a rare occurrence but I may be mistaken as I don't spend a lot of time in this section of the forum I'm sure you or Packer will correct me if I am wrong as you seem to spend a lot of time in here......

It appears the OP is being looked after as well as can be expected by the dealership I trust his bike problem will be over soon and can continue on his merry way.
 
2 wheel humvee said:
Of that there is no doubt...........:rolleyes:

Components fail, it's a fact, this particular example seems a rare occurrence but I may be mistaken as I don't spend a lot of time in this section of the forum I'm sure you or Packer will correct me if I am wrong as you seem to spend a lot of time in here......

It appears the OP is being looked after as well as can be expected by the dealership I trust his bike problem will be over soon and can continue on his merry way.
Click to expand...

You have to concur though, bit of a daft design to have an alternator, deep inside the engine, rather than a bolt on ancillary

Bit like the early 1200's - 'sealed for life' rear bevel - another engineering achievement that didn't last very long into the 1200 production cycle, did it?

:D

Still that's progress
 
They put a clutch in the middle of the bike for decades meaning breaking the bike in 2 when it went wrong. Some things never change in the world of bmw.
 
Marki_GSA said:
They put a clutch in the middle of the bike for decades meaning breaking the give in 2 when it went wrong. Some things never change in the world of bmw.
Click to expand...

At least the engine stayed in the bike, you just hinge up the subframe and pull the gearbox and clutch housing backwards, not like taking a WC engine out totally to split and just replace an alternator
 
I have never heard of an alternator fail, think you have been extremely unlucky. I don't think an authorised dealer who knows their stuff would be the slightest bit bothered or concerned about removing and replacing an engine. I would have no worries about it once it's fixed.
 
I trust that these guys knows what they are doing, they told me (and I could see) it's a big job, but there was an RT completely dismanteled next to mine, so at least I know the've done it before, well, I don't know about assemblying all together yet. As with service works, they have detailed instructions step by step of everything that needs to be done.

The guy who I first talked to didn't give me a good panorama, he told me I might have to pay for the repair costs (we are talking us$1800 + two full days of labour of two guys) and I would have to do some paperwork to claim the money back. Hopefully, after he talked to a US regional manager everything got sorted out and I don't have to do anything.

I'll take it for a couple of day rides before going on with my trip, I don't want to have problems in the middle of Baja.

I can't really complain so far, the only problem would be that they gave me a Harley as a loaner while they work on my bike ;)
 
I hope it hadn't just blown a fuse or canbus thingy, or heaven forbid a dud battery:D

Good luck anyway and hopefully we'll read about your trip.:thumb2
 
As an update on this issue, despite many bad news all together the guys at the BMW dealership in Grand Junction, Colorado did a great job and I was back on the road a week after I checked in. All the work was covered as warranty work.

Leo


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Good news that, still a pain to have to go through all that though. Didn't decide to keep the HD then and sell the Beemer?
 
Let's just say that now my judgements about Harleys are justified...

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I always say that everything that is man made may break; nothing is perfect. In fact, if you think about it, even things made by God break down; I guess we arfe the best example of this...

It is very nice that a dealer in the USA is taking such good care of a foreigner fixing his bike, lending him another bike, even if its a Harley, while his is being repaired. I wish all dealers were as correct as this one...

Hope your trip goes well and if you happen to come to São Paulo, Brazil let me know !

Andre
 
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 dont know what the laws are in Poland. Here in Ireland you can try to get the dealer to fix the problem as its the dealer who is obliged in law to remedy faults. Within reason. JJH
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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