Exhaust Flap Fault

mrklunk

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Hi folks

Just had my 2018 1200GS Rallye in for a service. During the inspection, they pointed out a 'fault with exhaust flap'. No further information but I've emailed for details. I don't even know what the exhaust flap. is/does. They had a price next to it of £1348! The bike was purchased in Nov 2020. with a 2 year BMW warranty, and I just wanted opinions if this fault will be covered or am I going to have a fight on my hands? The bike has a full BMW service history with 16K miles.

Opinions/thoughts welcome :)
 
Known issue.
My sept 2019 1250 did it this year. Repeatedly.
Sorted under warranty obviously.
Push them but be aware the extended warranty will not cover "corrosion " as they deem that poor maintenance.
Car or bike regardless so they put the right words on the forms.
BMW UK are becoming arseholes though. When they replaced the LH cylinder, head and rocker cover for corrosion (refused the corrosion on the subframe as was within acceptable limits - on a year old bike they'd ACF'd) in June it was only 2 months off its obligatory annual service. They drained the coolant and oil and reused it, topping up whatever was lost/contaminated. I kicked off about this as to me thats not acceptable. I was told that BMW UK will not pay for any fluids, etc ONLY the parts needed to rectify the fault. Now to me, the fluids are an integral part of that! Sales, who were involved in the warranty claim asked why the service indicator hadn't been reset seeing as it'd been stripped and fluids done so it was "technically" its first service. This was when they said about the fluids being reused. Oil filter not changed either.
Put it in the van and took it home. First ride out 48hrs later and get an "engine fault, please take it to the nearest service centre"" on dash that cleared next time I ride it. Did this on and off randomly until it stayed on. That was when reading the codes said it was the exhaust manifold flap.
Called dealer - they had it back as "soon as they could". 2 months later!
Did annual service which they wanted me to pay for, were looking at engine fault message (which they agreed was flap and required a new part) and would review subframe.
Called them few days later to be told they were waiting on a new final drive from Germany to arrive for the corrosion along with the exhaust but STILL weren't doing subframe!
See where I'm going with all this?
They KNOW what the issues are but will only do the bare minimum they can get away with rather than what they should be.
Keep an eye out for a one owner, very clean (as I expect them to do subframe before it hits the showroom) Rally soon.
 
MrKlunk, BMW replaced my 2018 Rallye exhaust headers because of the exhaust flap. It was 1 year into the warranty. I don’t see why they wouldn’t replace it.
 
MrKlunk, BMW replaced my 2018 Rallye exhaust headers because of the exhaust flap. It was 1 year into the warranty. I don’t see why they wouldn’t replace it.
This is my experience too. Your servicing dealer ought to be keen to do the work and book the labour to BMW. My local dealer replaced my headers because the flap was squeaky. They also replaced a front wheel under warranty that I didn’t even know was faulty - too much weight to balance a tyre so they checked the wheel without a tyre and declared it to be outside the specification. It came out of the factory like that and wasn’t damaged in use but they acted on my behalf and scored themselves some workshop time expenditure from BMW.
Your warranty will cover it.
Alan R
 
This is my experience too. Your servicing dealer ought to be keen to do the work and book the labour to BMW. My local dealer replaced my headers because the flap was squeaky. They also replaced a front wheel under warranty that I didn’t even know was faulty - too much weight to balance a tyre so they checked the wheel without a tyre and declared it to be outside the specification. It came out of the factory like that and wasn’t damaged in use but they acted on my behalf and scored themselves some workshop time expenditure from BMW.
Your warranty will cover it.
Alan R

Great result
 
Known issue.
My sept 2019 1250 did it this year. Repeatedly.
Sorted under warranty obviously.
Push them but be aware the extended warranty will not cover "corrosion " as they deem that poor maintenance.
Car or bike regardless so they put the right words on the forms.
BMW UK are becoming arseholes though. When they replaced the LH cylinder, head and rocker cover for corrosion (refused the corrosion on the subframe as was within acceptable limits - on a year old bike they'd ACF'd) in June it was only 2 months off its obligatory annual service. They drained the coolant and oil and reused it, topping up whatever was lost/contaminated. I kicked off about this as to me thats not acceptable. I was told that BMW UK will not pay for any fluids, etc ONLY the parts needed to rectify the fault. Now to me, the fluids are an integral part of that! Sales, who were involved in the warranty claim asked why the service indicator hadn't been reset seeing as it'd been stripped and fluids done so it was "technically" its first service. This was when they said about the fluids being reused. Oil filter not changed either.
Put it in the van and took it home. First ride out 48hrs later and get an "engine fault, please take it to the nearest service centre"" on dash that cleared next time I ride it. Did this on and off randomly until it stayed on. That was when reading the codes said it was the exhaust manifold flap.
Called dealer - they had it back as "soon as they could". 2 months later!
Did annual service which they wanted me to pay for, were looking at engine fault message (which they agreed was flap and required a new part) and would review subframe.
Called them few days later to be told they were waiting on a new final drive from Germany to arrive for the corrosion along with the exhaust but STILL weren't doing subframe!
See where I'm going with all this?
They KNOW what the issues are but will only do the bare minimum they can get away with rather than what they should be.
Keep an eye out for a one owner, very clean (as I expect them to do subframe before it hits the showroom) Rally soon.

Thanks for this. The bike was sold to me by a dealer with a full 2 year warranty so I'm expecting them to reslove the issue for me.
 
MrKlunk, BMW replaced my 2018 Rallye exhaust headers because of the exhaust flap. It was 1 year into the warranty. I don’t see why they wouldn’t replace it.

Thanks for the reassurance! :) The report marked it as 'amber' so maybe not quite bad enough to replace, but they didn't advise any remedial action either and by the sound of things it will just get worse so I'll ask if they can replace it for me. Cheers.
 
Thanks for the reassurance Alan, I'll see what they say when they reply to my email. I bought the bike Nov 2021 from BMW with a proper 2-year warranty. I have ridden it through the winter but it was professionally ACF50'd twice and washed regularly so they can't cite 'poor maintenance. I've had a mixed experience with the dealer with a brand new F750GS and this bike. But to be fair, they replaced the rear wheel on my 1200 due to pitting without much persuasion. I take care of the bike and don't expect a £13K bike to disintegrate after one winter of riding. I didn't even realise the dealer actually financially benefits when replacing warranty parts. All the best, Gary
 
Thanks for the reassurance! :) The report marked it as 'amber' so maybe not quite bad enough to replace, but they didn't advise any remedial action either and by the sound of things it will just get worse so I'll ask if they can replace it for me. Cheers.

Wasn’t aware BMW worked like a traffic light system.....seems to be the fashionable thing at present . Your bike should 100pc be covered for the flap under your warranty
 
Wasn’t aware BMW worked like a traffic light system.....seems to be the fashionable thing at present . Your bike should 100pc be covered for the flap under your warranty

Thanks, DC, waiting to hear back from them today. Will update thread when I hear.
 
When they change, get used to putting a little nikel high temp paste every year in flappy, so when out of warranty you should be good to ride
 
I did that on my 2018 GSA Triple Black, made no difference. It still seized and like others was replaced under warranty - I wasn’t even aware, the dealer found it during a service. Best of luck trying to get it gratis once the warranty is up! It speaks volumes that after the exhaust system being in production for 8 years, and despite many, many failures, which are a clear sign of a fundamental design fault, BMW does not give a toss and continues to churn them out.
 
When they change, get used to putting a little nikel high temp paste every year in flappy, so when out of warranty you should be good to ride
.

That is a waste of time. Have done that regularly on both my 2015 and 2019 1250, still have had 2 sets of headers on the 2015 and one on the 2019 @ 6k
 
this a concern for those bikes that have come to the end of any warrantee ,as the flap is part of the header pipes and will be a fortune to replace .i wonder if there is a way of getting round the engine fault on dash light .as we all know generally the flap fails in the open position the bike will loose no performance .
the flap in the first place is there for noise regulations
 
.

That is a waste of time. Have done that regularly on both my 2015 and 2019 1250, still have had 2 sets of headers on the 2015 and one on the 2019 @ 6k

Suppose I get lucky I do 1 in a year still ok, now I say this bike will stick
 
I believe one takes the cables off the flap therefore the computer thinking all is well (There is also some widget that fools the ECU too). As mentioned above, if the flap is stuck open, there is no change in performance. I tried the old graphite grease trick, but still squeaked - never stuck though.
 
Suppose I get lucky I do 1 in a year still ok, now I say this bike will stick

There is no sense to the sticking issue. Some stick, some don't. I greased my flap spindle with high temp grease about 500 miles before it stuck :) I've come to the conclusion just to leave it whilst the headers are still in warranty. Once out of warranty, get a servo buddy or a GS911 to switch off the engine warning light. But it is a piece of crap design with no fix on the horizon, although I was told BMW are working on it, but its not as simple as it looks to fix - no shit!
 
.i wonder if there is a way of getting round the engine fault on dash light .

Loads of electronic exhaust valve eliminators out there. They plug into the wiring in place of the motor and cost around £40.
 
Oddly enough, I have just finished a quick wiggle of my flap (ooo err Mrs).

I got an error code about the exhaust flap failing to calibrate. So, exhaust end can and covers off for a little look. Sure enough it was failing to waggle when the ignition is turned on.

I disconnected the cables and then freed it off my hand. Graphite power AND spray and ten minutes open and closed with my fingers until all free and moving easily. This vid is pretty much what I followed.


I guess I've done it about 3 times over the last 2 years and it certainly has worked so far.

Now its moving freely again on a 14 plate with 55k miles.

It is really hard to see why BMW designed it like this. It would be easy for it to have been a separate section, to make replacement easy and cheap :mad:
 
Oddly enough, I have just finished a quick wiggle of my flap (ooo err Mrs).

I got an error code about the exhaust flap failing to calibrate. So, exhaust end can and covers off for a little look. Sure enough it was failing to waggle when the ignition is turned on.

I disconnected the cables and then freed it off my hand. Graphite power AND spray and ten minutes open and closed with my fingers until all free and moving easily. This vid is pretty much what I followed.


I guess I've done it about 3 times over the last 2 years and it certainly has worked so far.

Now its moving freely again on a 14 plate with 55k miles.

It is really hard to see why BMW designed it like this. It would be easy for it to have been a separate section, to make replacement easy and cheap :mad:

I have freed off a flap on a 2015 RTp a few times. But it always sticks again. The kicker is on the 1250s when it sticks the error code now shows and engine warning light. So if you free it, you will need a GS911 or similar to cancel the code. But as I said in warranty I'm not bothered. Out of warranty, servo buddy would work and leave the thing stuck open.
 


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