Looking for collective thoughts and advice

Phill Elston

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Hi Guys,

I know that often threads like this tend to get witty replies and I'm often one stoking those fires. I this instance, I would ask that replies be kept on track and there be no piss taking.
I'm having an ongoing "discussion" with a BMW dealers service department and I'm rapidly losing my rag as I feel that I'm being fobbed off.

I own a 2017 GSA that I bought new. When it had done 2500 miles, I was told that it needed new rear brake pads. A cost that I hadn't budgeted for and, Ill admit I was a bit pissed off. I rarely use my rear brake and that mileage seemed VERY low. At it's annual service (at the 6000 mile point) I was again told that it needed rear pads. I discussed the matter with the service manager and I was advised to have the calipers cleaned as well. More expense that I hadn't budgeted for.
Further discussion and he agreed verbally that it seemed a low mileage. We agreed that I would go off on the trip that I had planned over the following weeks and return a couple of thousand miles later to see what the wear of the new pads was.
I did my trip and sent him an email. No reply. Several more emails throughout a few busy weeks for me at work... all with no reply. Finally I sent an email "snotogram" set at "high priority" on my mail system and I got a reply and made a date to have the bike looked at. It needed a new rear tyre, so I thought it the perfect time to have that rear brake checked - especially with the worry of rear calipers dropping into spokes on some machines!
The bike got a replacement rear tyre and a "health check" - which found the rear pads worn by 60%, the rear disk worn down to it's "minimum limit" and a small perforation in the rubber concertina gaiter on the drive shaft. As well as those things, I pointed out the fact that the centre and side stands were, in my opinion, excessively corroded for a 15 month old bike as well as the paint at several point around the engine bubbling.
The bike was valeted and ACF50'd (as I have had done several times since I bought it) and the service manager took some photos of the corrosion points that I was raising. He said that he couldn't do anything right then as his head of department was away on holiday.

Two weeks later I get a reply from said bod...
"After talking with ******* and looking through your bike history, I think it would be best to arrange an appointment in the workshop so our guys can take another look at the caliper, just to make sure we didn't miss anything last time. Once we've done this, are happy that there is nothing wrong with the caliper, have recorded the mileage and pad wear. I would suggest riding the bike and then at the next service or when passing, pop in and we'll check the wear of the pads and again record the mileage.

This will hopefully give us a more accurate picture of the wear on the pads."

This got an "NO! not happy with that" reply including a line that suggested that I considered their answer one that would have been received from "Motorcycle City" rather than a BMW dealership.

So yesterday he comes back with...

"I'm sorry if my e-mail has come across in the wrong way. If I'm honest, after speaking with ****** and the technician who worked on the bike I was happy that the braking system is ok, but because we're ****************** and not Motorcycle city, I didn't just want to tell you there's nothing else we can do. So my offer to take another look was purely an effort to show good customer service.

I understand you don't use the rear brake and yet it's worn out before the front pads, however in our experience we find this to be completely normal; front pads can last over 20,000 miles and rear pads anywhere from 4,000 miles to 12,000 miles depending how the bike is ridden. I'm led to believe that if the bike is ridden carefully and the front brakes not used hard then a lot of the braking is then apportioned to rear brakes, leading a lot more wear of the rear pads and a lot less on the front.

Something else to consider is exactly how worn the pads where when we replaced them each time, because if for example they were 80% worn, then you would have been advised to replace them as they are unlikely to make the next service. But this does mean that the pads would have still had 20% left of wear.

If we've told you that the rear disc is below the minimum thickness, then it'll be fine to leave until the pads need changing and I'll be happy to talk to BMW customer service tomorrow to see whether they can do anything to contribute to the replacement when it comes.

I would happily come and collect the bike to take another look, but my feeling is, because we've already looked at this several times before, we are not going to find anything this time?"

Not yet one mention of the corrosion issues just (as I see it) attempt after attempt to bodyswerve the (as I see it) shortcomings in the brake pad wear

Do the great collective think - as I do - that a) to be on the third set of rear pads and to have worn out a disk in 9000miles is a bit shit and therefore there must be a problem b) as a BMW dealer, they should be going that bit further?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts guys and, as I asked before... no 'smart' answers (I'm getting enough of those from the dealer!)
 
I think that the brake pads on any vehicle, particularly one with no brake wear warning system, should be expected to last a full service interval with ease. Not everyone who buys a motorcycle can be expected to be able to inspect brake pads and assess the remaining life. This should be able to be coped with within the annual or 6k mile service visits. If 3K is normal for brake pad replacement, then a 3K service visit should be specified as braking performance is critical to safety.
 
My 2017 GSA is at 9,300 miles and I use my rear brakes dragging ALL THE TIME, for slowriding etc.

They still have a lot of life left.

What the hell you doing to yours?
 
He's probably doing nothing ...could be the dealer pulling a fast one, there could be plenty of life left in the Pads
 
Post a picture of your rear pads. I have 25,000klms on my bike and both front/rear pads have lots of life left in them
 
Checked my pads last week in prep for my forthcoming trip to the Alps. 7500 miles and barely worn front or rear. Expect them to last well past 12000 miles. Discs are showing no wear at all. (2016 std GS LC)
 
My bike has 12K on it, and its still on the original pads and disc... and I do use them as its not an every day bike... when we go out is for a 'fun' run!!
I did however, play about with the rear caliper and bleed the rear brake as it was sticking on initally a bit (bought the bike at 9K)... the rear disc was getting hot even when not used so i knew it was rubing... the rear pedal was also going down a lot when pushed before braking....
Bled the system, took the caliper off and cleaned everything (pushed back pistons etc)... and its fine now.... pedal is higher and works ok... no rubbing any more.

I'd expect pads to last 15K or more... no way should they be down on the miles you are doing.. It is a linked system so you do use your back when applying the front... but unless your 30 stone or more, there is no way they should go down this quick...

did they do the brake fluid.. think thats how mine got the air in.. they didn't do it right :(
 
Well these are the state of my rear pads at 15 months from new, and the bikes has done 9,300 miles

I know they are getting low and need replacing soon, but should last another 1,000 miles at least.

I was out in Herefordshire today so the bike is still dirty as I never bothered to wash it when I got home (my apologies) :D
 

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good for another 9.3K I'd say... ;)

(where did my post go??)
 
Have you considered that the brake might not be fit for purpose?

This is a perennial and ongoing complaint about BMW 1200 motorcycles. Yours would appear to be the worst yet.

My wife's Citroen C4 Grand Picasso now has 87,000 miles on it. It is still on the original brake pads back and front.

BMW appear to have decided that Brake pads not fit for purpose on the rear are a way to take money from the gullible.
If it were me, I would be demanding that the brake pads last at least between their horrenously short service interval.

If I bought a new anything and the brake pads wore out before first service, I would demand replacements at manufacturers cost, and if refused, hand the damn thing back and ask for a refund.

Me: I fit Goldfren sintered at almost nothing in terms of cost, and change them with every rear tyre. They are well worn at that point, and would not do another tyre, or 6,000 miles.
My fronts aways exceed 30,000 miles.
Myke
 
11 replies in a matter of minutes. Thank you guys. This is going the way that I thought it would, backing my thought train up. At a point, I’ll send said repair shop bod the url to the thread - if he isn’t already reading this. Steam is coming from my little sailor ears at the moment... and not just coz I got out of the jacuzzi!
 
Hi Phil,

Sorry to hear your troubles.

My GSA is likely to be from same dealer as yours, since March last year my bike has covered just under 11k miles and has original pads all round. However I was told last time round that rears will need changing at 12k service. Might go with Brembo pads due to silly OEM cost.

There has to be something else. Question is, do you get going hard with plenty GSAP action? What riding mode do you run it it most of the time? I am not sure how system works but I understand that Traction Control works (detection) through ABS system, allot of hard acceleration in say Rain or Road mode would cause TC to kick in (anti wheelie) via rear brake. Perhaps you not realising and resting your foot on the brake ever so slightly causing it to drag?




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
11 replies in a matter of minutes. Thank you guys. This is going the way that I thought it would, backing my thought train up. At a point, I’ll send said repair shop bod the url to the thread - if he isn’t already reading this. Steam is coming from my little sailor ears at the moment... and not just coz I got out of the jacuzzi!

You going to post some pictures?
 
My 2013 GS ate its rear pads in less than 3K miles and I replaced them with red Brembo ones. If I remember correctly, part of the issue is down to the way the semi-linked brakes operate. Using the front brake lever applies the rear brake before the front ones. Light pressure on the front brake lever only applies the rear without the front being applied. So if you habitually brake early, using only a light application, as you might do in an urban environment, you're using only the rear brake. However, none of that applies to me as I live in a rural setting, don't comfort brake and ride pretty hard and yet the rear pads were trashed at about 2.5K miles.... :nenau
 
My 2013 GS ate its rear pads in less than 3K miles and I replaced them with red Brembo ones. If I remember correctly, part of the issue is down to the way the semi-linked brakes operate. Using the front brake lever applies the rear brake before the front ones. Light pressure on the front brake lever only applies the rear without the front being applied. So if you habitually brake early, using only a light application, as you might do in an urban environment, you're using only the rear brake. However, none of that applies to me as I live in a rural setting, don't comfort brake and ride pretty hard and yet the rear pads were trashed at about 2.5K miles.... :nenau

Wonder what the difference is though as many have had their pads last much longer. As I posted above, mine are still going strong after 25,000klms
 
My GSA is likely to be from same dealer as yours, since March last year my bike has covered just under 11k miles and has original pads all round. However I was told last time round that rears will need changing at 12k service. Might go with Brembo pads due to silly OEM cost.

There has to be something else. Question is, do you get going hard with plenty GSAP action? What riding mode do you run it it most of the time? I am not sure how system works but I understand that Traction Control works (detection) through ABS system, allot of hard acceleration in say Rain or Road mode would cause TC to kick in (anti wheelie) via rear brake. Perhaps you not realising and resting your foot on the brake ever so slightly causing it to drag?


I was thinking this as well, especially about resting your foot on the brake pedal without knowing? - also that there could be air in the front brake so the rear is doing a lot more of the work than it should as the front is slowing you less due to sponginess?

Being on your 3rd set of pads in under 9k miles is not normal - going through pads quicker than tyres is defiantly not right, same for the rear disk.

All I can suggest is that given the circumstances you ask them to totally dismantle, clean, and service the front and rear brakes, fit the new disk and pads at cost, and see where you go from there. This should be covered by warranty ideally, and I understand they may feel you have your foot on the brake but don't want to call you on it as it cannot be proven, but either way - something is not right.

James
 
I've just put a new set in (EBC HH again) as I was replacing the disc. I bought the bike at 14.5k miles and have no knowledge of replacements before this point, except the disc was not new at time of purchase. The bike is now just shy of 30k and the disc was down to 4.4mm and the pads around 5k miles. The pads could have gone back in if I was being tight as they were probably not half worn, but for what they cost why bother? Yours pads and disc are wearing much quicker than I have experienced on this or previous BMW with linked brakes.

The pad doesn't start with much friction material in the first instance (maybe 3mm?), it could be they're being cautious. From memory the disc starts at 5mm and reaches the service limit at 4.5mm - what is the thickness of yours?

A quick question. Why not do them yourself? They are really quite easy to do - no more than 15 minutes. The caliper doesn't need to be removed to change the pads.

You changing the pads and disc won't affect the warranty as they're consumables.
 
I recomend that you keep your relationship with your dealer as amicable as poss, dont go public with this as it can backfire. Be firm but not arsey about it, shouty emails just annoy people and lose any good will and put them on the defensive
Brake pads and discs should last at least the service interval, if not, the vehicle becomes unsafe due to a design fault, it should be a warranty issue.
 


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